DISAMATIC is an automatic

production line A production line is a set of sequential operations established in a factory where components are assembled to make a finished article or where materials are put through a refining process to produce an end-product that is suitable for onward ...

used for fast

manufacturing Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of the secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer ...

sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is usually defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural ...

molds for

sand casting Sand casting, also known as sand molded casting, is a metal casting process characterized by using sand—known as ''casting sand''—as the mold material. The term "sand casting" can also refer to an object produced via the sand casting proces ...

. This process is often used to mass manufacture metal castings for the automotive and machine industries.

History

In 1957, Vagn Aage Jeppesen, professor at the

Technical University of Denmark The Technical University of Denmark (), often simply referred to as DTU, is a polytechnic university and school of engineering. It was founded in 1829 at the initiative of Hans Christian Ørsted as Denmark's first polytechnic, and it is today ran ...

, claimed a

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an sufficiency of disclosure, enabling discl ...

for a device producing flaskless molds of sand mixtures with vertical parting lines for casting metal parts. In 1960, the Danish company Dansk Industri Syndikat A/S (

DISA Disa is the heroine of a Swedish legendary saga, which was documented by Olaus Magnus, in 1555. It is believed to be from the Middle Ages, but includes Old Norse themes. It was elaborated by Johannes Messenius in his drama ''Disa'', which was th ...

) acquired the patent and began its implementation. In 1962, a half scale

prototype A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototype ...

of a DISAMATIC sand molding machine with flaskless and vertically parted molds. During the International Foundry Trade Fair (GIFA) in 1962 in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

, the

scale model A scale model is a physical model that is geometrically similar to an object (known as the ''prototype''). Scale models are generally smaller than large prototypes such as vehicles, buildings, or people; but may be larger than small protot ...

was demonstrated on DISA's stand. This resulted in sales of two first DISAMATICs to

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

an foundries. The first automatic DISAMATIC molding lines could produce up to 240 complete sand molds per hour.

Process

DISAMATIC consists of a molding machine and mold transporting

conveyor A conveyor system is a common piece of mechanical handling equipment that moves materials from one location to another. Conveyors are especially useful in applications involving the transport of heavy or bulky materials. Conveyor systems allow ...

. A molding sand mixture, usually green sand or

bentonite Bentonite ( ) is an Absorption (chemistry), absorbent swelling clay consisting mostly of montmorillonite (a type of smectite) which can either be Na-montmorillonite or Ca-montmorillonite. Na-montmorillonite has a considerably greater swelli ...

, is blown into a rectangular steel chamber using

compressed air Compressed air is air kept under a pressure that is greater than atmospheric pressure. Compressed air in vehicle tires and shock absorbers are commonly used for improved traction and reduced vibration. Compressed air is an important medium for t ...

. The molding sand is then squeezed between two

pattern A pattern is a regularity in the world, in human-made design, or in abstract ideas. As such, the elements of a pattern repeat in a predictable manner. A geometric pattern is a kind of pattern formed of geometric shapes and typically repeated l ...

s, which are on the two ends of the chamber. After squeezing, one of the chamber plates swings open and the opposite plate pushes the finished mold onto a conveyor. Finally, any cores are automatically set into the mold cavity while the next mold is being prepared. The cycle repeats until a chain of finished molds butt up to each other on the conveyor. The molds are then filled with

molten metal Melting, or Enthalpy of fusion, fusion, is a physical process that results in the phase transition of a chemical substance, substance from a solid to a liquid. This occurs when the internal energy of the solid increases, typically by the appli ...

and placed on a cooling conveyor, which moves at the same pace as the fabrication conveyor. At the end of the conveyor the

solidified Freezing is a phase transition in which a liquid turns into a solid when its temperature is lowered below its freezing point. For most substances, the melting and freezing points are the same temperature; however, certain substances possess dif ...

castings are separated from the molds and processed further, while the sand is directed to the sand preparation plant for reconditioning and reuse in the next cycles of the DISAMATIC molding process.

External links

DISAMATIC vertical molding process explainedDISA Group's homepage: Vertical Flaskless Sand Molding
{{DEFAULTSORT:Disamatic Casting (manufacturing)