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. Companies use vacuum impregnation when the part must hold fluids or gasses under pressure. A common question asked about vacuum impregnation is “When Should I Impregnate a Casting?” This video addresses this question by answering if vacuum impregnation should be done before or after machining and finishing.
Powder coat, paint, chromate conversion, or anodizing, are common finishes applied to die cast parts to improve their performance or appearance. In some die casting applications, components must also be pressure tight to hold pressurized fluid or gases. Companies use vacuum impregnation to meet these requirements by sealing the internal leak paths without impacting any other features of the casting.
A common question asked about vacuum impregnation is “Should vacuum impregnation be done before or after finishing?”
The casting industry is in a transitional period adjusting to new trends and products. Manufacturers require flexibility in their equipment to account for shorter program life cycles while still being able to be competitive. In many instances this requires assets to be spread across multiple programs. It is a landscape that rewards companies who identify opportunities to adapt to the changing circumstances. One example is a case where vacuum impregnation requirements unexpectedly and suddenly increased in one manufacturer's location while another of its locations had underutilized impregnation capacity.
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.
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Godfrey & Wing recently published in the Die Casting Engineer November issue titled: "Automated Vacuum Impregnation Enables Transmission Production"