Foundry Magazine

Doncasters Precision Castings in Bochum, Germany, has started three-year, $52-million capital improvement program it reports will establish “one of the world’s most advanced facilities with the capability of producing the most complex, large industrial gas turbine castings in production today,” and also support capacity growth.

It’s light, strong, corrosion resistant, and thermally conductive. Automotive, aerospace, and industrial designers are finding a lot of value in aluminum foam. Key Highlights Aluminum foam sandwiches with phase change materials enhance thermal management in lithium-ion batteries for EVs. The material's impact resistance and energy absorption capabilities improve crash safety and military armor applications.

Pace Industries is closing two aluminum diecasting plants in Muskegon, MI, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) filing posted on February 24. The closure is scheduled for April 25, 2026 affecting 145 workers in total, both hourly and salaried employees. The federal WARN Act regulations require employers to provide notice at least 60 days in advance of high volume layoffs or plant closures.

Some manufacturers view digitalization as an inevitable step in the progress of process control technology. But for global organizations like Aalberts NV, digitalization also represents a leap forward in data management and toward more informed decision-making. Aalberts is an engineering group that operates in four market segments: flow control, integrated piping systems (IPS), advanced mechatronics, and surface technologies.

Ram Krishnan became executive vice president and chief operating officer of Emerson in February 2021. In this role, he oversees the business segments, global sales, supply chain, information technology, mergers and acquisitions, and strategy. He is a member of Emerson’s Office of the Chief Executive. Krishnan joined Emerson in 1994 as a project engineer.

General Motors Corp. announced a new capital investment program for its Saginaw (MI) Metal Casting Operations, indicating the new production equipment and tooling will support production of the automaker’s “sixth generation” V-8 engine blocks and cylinder heads for full-size pickup trucks. Those models include the Chevrolet Silverado HD and GMC Sierra HD vehicles, the production volume for which GM recently announced it will increase by an estimated 1,100 vehicles per day.

Ontario-based Linamar Corp. reported it has a definitive agreement to acquire two plants from Winning BLW GmbH, a German-Czech manufacturer of precision forgings for automotive, commercial vehicle, and construction markets. The plants in Remscheid and Penzberg, Germany, follow Linamar’s deal to purchase Georg Fischer AG’s ductile iron foundry in Leipzig, completed earlier this year. Widely known as a manufacturer of automotive components and assemblies, Linamar Corp.

Additive manufacturing of sand cores has been understood in its basic functionality since the 1990s, and it allows for a considerable increase in the complexity and functional integration of castings. Market development has shown that additive - or 3D printing - processes offer significant advantages as a future technology for the foundry industry.

After a New York newspaper reported Mark Twain’s demise in 1897, the renowned (and very much still alive) author notified the paper, “The report of my death was an exaggeration.” If given the opportunity, Uncle Sam might offer the same retort. In the decades between the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the Great Recession, American manufacturing, commerce, culture, defense strategy and foreign policy dominated the globe.

Nearly every metalcasting benefits from some improvement that takes place after it emerges from its mold. Grinding cast parts can be complex and labor intensive, but it's also physically demanding. Workplace safety rules covering grinding are as detailed as the process itself. Even so, grinding castings is an essential step before any other processing - blasting, inspection, sealing, coating, heat treatment, assembly - that a buyer may require.