Gautschi has been a supplier of casting machines for both billets and slabs for many years, and offers several types of molds on the market. These include the well- known Gautschi billet mold, which has demonstrated its advanced quality and performance at many locations over the last 20 years, and the recently-developed and newly-introduced Gautschi slab mold. The new Gautschi slab mold was developed by an international team comprised of casting experts and experienced Gautschi design engineers. Making use of their extensive experience in casting difficult and highly-demanding alloys, including slabs used in aircraft and automotive body applications, the experts focused on providing real 100 % hands-free casting, significantly less scalping scrap and significantly less butt curl for all alloys, even as they ensured that the strictest safety standards were maintained in the manufacturing process. In light of their experience, the team of experts expects that the new Gautschi slab mold will have a definite impact on, as well as meet, the highest demands currently placed by the market – as well as those expected in the future.
The Gautschi billet mold is based on the Air Glide technology developed by VAW. An excellent surface, a low segregation zone, high pit recovery and easy maintenance have made this mold a huge success. The full range of alloys has been cast successfully with Gautschi billet molds, including the most demanding aircraft alloys. This billet mold has been improved over the last few years, and will be further improved at the CRC by making use of the pilot caster.
The complete process is connected to a data logging and analysis system, enabling continuous data recording and process evaluation throughout the entire plant. By recording and analyzing the properties of the semi-finished product, such as the microstructure, surface quality, tensile strength and hardness, parameter effects can be derived and precise prediction models generated. These models allow a direct derivation of the effects of process conditions on the quality and properties of the end product. The prerequisites for qualitative and quantitative optimization of the customer’s production are thus given. The affiliated laboratory enables detailed evaluation and analysis of the metallurgical properties of a product. In addition to a spectrometer for measuring the chemical composition, the lab also includes a thermal analysis facility to determine the solidification behavior of the alloy and a device to record the hydrogen content in the melt. Small crucible and heat treatment furnaces round out the available equipment in order to, for example, reproduce small melts (a few kilograms), homogenization tests and aging tests.