Ohio Aluminum Industries, Inc.

Customer Report

Foundry Operation

Ohio Aluminum has gained the reputation as a leader in the production of highly complex and detailed castings for the defense system, aerospace, and aircraft manufacturing industries. While also manufacturing castings for automotive OEM and commercial customers, their specialty is producing shapes with special quality and reliability requirements.

Their production methods include Green Sand, Permanent, Semi Permanent, and Dry Sand Molding. Melting of all of the common alloys is done in a variety of crucible and reverberatory furnaces. Customer proprietary alloys and A206 are also routinely poured.

Process Control

Hydrogen levels are considered to be one of the most important melting variables in their process control plan. Every casting has a targeted specific gravity level, which is achieved by a combination of rotary degassing with nitrogen and programmed additions of ammonium chloride powder to add hydrogen to the melt when needed.

Equipment Used

Rotary degas units are sized for the melter being treated, with portable units used on the crucibles and smaller units mounted on the reverb charge wells. In the past, vacuum samples were analyzed with traditional RPT units, but Ohio Aluminum has added a TRP (True Reduced Pressure) Vacuum Tester recently, and the Plant is enthused about the improved control that has resulted. The need for continuing adjustments to the traditional RPT units has been eliminated, and the bonus of accurate chamber vacuums is an additional plus.

All TRP and RPT samples are measured with a QCD-1 Porosity Measurement System to quantify the specific gravity level of the TRP samples (hydrogen level) in the melt before releasing for production. The test takes less than thirty seconds to perform, and is the final checkpoint before releasing an individual metal heat for casting.

User Comments

Ohio Aluminum is well pleased with the performance of both the TRP Tester and the QCD-1 Balance System. Jason Place knows that many of their customers require compensation for the machining cost involved in machining foundry scrap, and that any improvements in process control will more than pay off in increased customer satisfaction and fewer charge-backs. Two more units were purchased at the end of 2007, and all units now operating are TRPs from Q.C. Designs, Inc.

QCD2006/CR Ohio Al
Rev. 050208