Meet Our Giants: In-cell melting ideal for giant casting simple.

Today’s aluminium castings are getting bigger all the time, especially thanks to the global shift towards electric vehicles. Giant casting machines with massive closing forces are needed to meet this demand. They also need feeding with a lot of metal – up to 200 kg per shot in some cases.

Transferring the volume of molten aluminium required, either by forklift or transfer ladle, is not practical or efficient, especially when melting furnaces are located separately to die casting halls. In-cell melting is the ideal solution, supporting the high metal throughput you need for casting large structural components at the speed and quality expected by end-customers.

Thanks to decades of experience in high-efficiency, melting, holding, and dosing technology, we’ve developed a flexible, modular suite of options to meet your needs. Perfectly.

In-cell melting presents the opportunity to carry out melting, holding, and dosing within the cell, removing the need for transfer processes ill-suited to large volumes of liquid metal. And with full automation options between each component, the efficiency gains are even greater.

We configure a package to fit your process.

We know every foundry’s needs are different. Do you want to fine-tune alloy composition in the cell? Or need to degas with a lance? Dose with metal ladled from the melting furnace or incorporate a high-capacity dosing furnace for precision dosing accuracy?

All this and more is possible thanks to the flexible nature of our LeanMelter range of in-cell melting solutions. Find your perfect match by selecting from a variety of tried-and-trusted equipment that we constantly develop and upgrade.

Step one: Tell us your spec and we’ll find your furnace

LeanMelter is based on StrikoWestofen’ s high efficiency, high metal yield shaft melting furnaces StrikoMelter. With a range of design options to match you specific melting rate, layout constraints and charging material combinations, we’ve got a furnace solution to match.

 

Step two: Choose what’s next for your metal

When it comes to what happens next, we also have a variety of options to meet your specific needs:

  1. LeanMelter “just” with bale-out: Your LeanMelter melting furnace connects directly to our efficient, highly durable flanged bale-out pocket. If you want to, you can ladle directly from here to the shot sleeve. If not, we’ve got a couple more options for you. 
  2. HBT + metal treatment: If degassing with an impeller pump, fluxing or re-alloying are an important part of your process, don’t panic. This can all be carried out in your holding furnace. Once your molten metal is treated, you can ladle directly from the HBT 4000’s pocket. But what happens if your ladle isn’t big enough or your robot isn’t strong enough to cope with the large volumes required? We’ve got that covered to. A pump system ensures fast, efficient transfer to your dosing furnace. 
  3. HBT + dosing furnace: Any of our proven dosing furnaces are compatible with your In-cell-melting set-up: Westomat Classic, Duomat or Westomat Plus+. Direct connection with the holding furnace via the fully automated pumping system and launder ensures the dosing furnace is fed with the right amount of metal at the right time. Our dosing furnaces are designed for melt quality optimization (metal loss of just 0.06%), very high dosing speeds and precision. And with models like the Westomat 4300 Duo able to hold large volumes of melt, this combination is perfect for fast, high quality giant casting. 

Your questions answered:

- Can I add alloys just before transferring the melt to the casting machine?

Yes. Re-alloying can be done in the holding furnace, either with pucks or using a wire feed.

- My die casting machine’s shot sleeve height varies frequently. Is this a problem?

No. In this situation, our LeanMelter solution with dosing furnace is ideal. For example, the Westomat Plus+ dosing furnace has adjustable height mechanisms to perfectly match your height requirements for the optimal dosing process.

Should I choose a very large dosing furnace?

Pumped delivery with in-cell solutions can keep up with large shot sizes, even with a smaller Westomat. But high-capacity dosing furnaces like the Westomat 4300 Duo, which can hold over 4 tons of melt, offer more consistent temperature and metal quality during refilling.

Is there any limit on in-cell shot size using a Westomat dosing furnace?

Westomat dosing weight is only limited by the furnace size and the pressure controls. In fact, some Westomats have been used to dose 400 kg per shot. Unlike ladles, the right Westomat with the right software solution means there are no apparent restrictions on shot volumes

Our suite of LeanMelter solutions means that whatever your foundry’s objectives and existing set-up, we’ve got the answer to your giant casting challenges.

Any questions or enquiries? Get in touch with us and we'll get back to you asap!