Sometimes to understand how something works it’s important to understand what it doesn’t do. Many companies call us and ask about vacuum impregnation. Although this process has been used since the 1940's, many metal casters, machinists and engineers are not familiar with the process, how it works and how it can best be used to meet their needs and requirements.
Manufacturing activities are being shaped to an increasing degree by the demands of consumer taste. Consumer’s expectations of quality and performance define product design, which further determines the requirements of the supply chain. This is a landscape that rewards suppliers who identify opportunities to adapt to the changing circumstances. One example is a vacuum impregnation service center that seals a variety of aluminum die castings for various automotive and industrial OEMs, Tier 1, and 2 suppliers.
As manufacturing equipment ages, the maintenance and repair (MRO) of the equipment increases while the Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) decreases. Given this, companies must decide while bidding on new projects: “Use the aged equipment and invest in MRO while accepting a lower OEE” or “Invest in new equipment using the latest technology and generate a higher OEE.”
The goal of a foundry is to produce high quality die castings that meet or exceed the customer’s specifications at a competitive cost. In some die casting cases, those specifications require that the part must hold pressurized fluid or gasses.
The commercial turf care market is expected to reach USD 38.2 billion by 2025. The growing trend toward investing more time in one's home leads to a higher interest in outdoor & gardening-related activities.
Godfrey & Wing recently published in the Die Casting Engineer November issue titled: "Automated Vacuum Impregnation Enables Transmission Production"
The beginning of the 21st century was a turning point for vacuum impregnation equipment safety, and in less than two decades there have been significant improvements in that technology, a process that had been essentially unchanged for 70 years.
A previous blog What Size of Porosity Can Vacuum Impregnation Seal? discussed that porosity occurs naturally and that the purpose vacuum impregnation is to seal leak paths created by interconnected pores. This follow up blog discusses how to define what leak paths should be sealed.
A commonly asked question is "What size of porosity can vacuum impregnation seal?" What seems like a simple, straightforward question is actually a complicated one. This blog will address the topic by describing the basics of die casting porosity, and what vacuum impregnation will seal.
