Waterjet Cutting for Casting Risers

Forplus High Pressure Water Jet Intelligent Equipment Applications – Waterjet Cutting for Gating & Riser(G&R) System in Casting

In the production process of the foundry industry, efficient processing of casting G&R system and risers has always been a key link affecting production efficiency and qualities. Traditional manual thermal cutting methods have drawbacks， such as low precision, security risks and serious pollution, which are difficult to meet the needs of modern production. We have customized/automated casting G&R system cutting solutions for foundries.

Background and Customer Needs

The foundries mainly produces aluminum, magnesium alloy and carbon steel castings. Previously, it used manual thermal cutting technology to process the casting G&R system, which encountered four issues:

High Safety Risks.

Thermal cutting can easily cause fire, burns and other accidents, and produce a large amount of dust and harmful gas, which endanger the health of employees.

Low-efficiency.

Traditional cutting methods require manual operation, frequent tooling changes, and direction adjustments, which waste time and is difficult to adapt to mass production needs.

Inconsistent quality.

Manual cutting not only has low precision, but also rough cutting surface, requiring secondary processing, which increases costs.

Environmental Pressures.

The waste gas and residue generated by traditional cutting machines are difficult to pass environmental emission standards.

Customers need new technology cutting solutions that are automated, high-precision, and low-pollution to achieve the goals of “improving quality, reducing costs, and increasing efficiency.”

Solutions

1.UHP System.

Using Forplus 1+N 60K-6L UHP pump, it can quickly penetrate through 50mm thick aluminum-magnesium alloy and carbon steel.

2.Actuator.

An industrial six-axis robot is selected, equipped with a customized cutter head assembly, which can penetrate into narrow gaps to complete complex curved surface cutting.

3.Flexible Programming Mode:

Supports offline programming and teaching programming, preset cutting trajectories for different casting models, and switching time ≤ 3 minutes.

4.Visual Recognition System:

Using 3D laser scanning technology, workpiece positioning can be completed within 30 seconds, without manual precise alignment, and can be adapted to any placement angle.

5.Dual-station Rotary Platform:

Supports cutting and loading and unloading at the same time, and cooperates with servo motor to drive high-precision positioning, improving efficiency by more than 50%.

6.PLC+HMI:

One-click to start the automatic cutting process, real-time monitoring of parameters such as pressure, flow, consumable loss, etc., support fault alarm and historical data query.

7.Drag-and-Drop Coding:

The visual system does not require code programming. Engineers can complete the modeling of new models of workpieces independently after training, shortening the debugging time.

Core Technology Advantages

Deliverables of the Tech Solutions

The Waterjet Cutting Accuracy Meet the Standards:

The residual amount of casting riser is ≤3mm, and the surface finish of the cutting surface reaches the standard for direct assembly . Defect rate is reduced from 15% to less than 3%.

Safety and NO Accidents:

Adopting fully automated operation + soundproof and explosion-proof cutting rooms, we can eliminate the risk of manual operation and achieve the goal of occupational health and safety standard certification.

Environmental Upgrade:

Reduce dust, light pollution, thermal effects, etc. There is no exhaust gas, abrasive and water can be recycled, in line with environmental protection laws.

Application Expansion

This solution has been successfully applied to the UHP water jet cutting of casting risers for valve bodies, pump bodies, automotive parts and other castings made of various materials such as aluminum-magnesium alloy, carbon steel, and stainless steel. In order to increase the application of CNC water jet cutters in the casting field, we will continue to optimize the “visual recognition + robot collaboration” technology.

We are committed to providing intelligent equipment – using water as blades, providing precise, efficient and environmental 3 axis/5 axis CNC water jet cutting solutions for the intelligent upgrading of the foundry industry. If you want to know more cases or technical details, please contact us for customized solutions.