FOUNDRY ALLOYS
We produce specialty foundry alloys at our Ohio, USA and Mendoza, Argentina
facilities. We are among the largest suppliers of magnesium ferrosilicon
"nodularizers" and ferrosilicon "inoculants" worldwide.
Our specialty foundry alloys are made of silicon combined with iron in the
form of scrap steel to produce ferrosilicon, along with other additions
which can include precisely measured quantities of other metals and rare
earths incorporated to create alloys with the desired metallurgical
characteristics.
In addition to our lump foundry alloys, our Globe Metales and UltraCore
Polska units produce a variety of alloys in cored-wire form under the
Ultracore© brand. Cored wire is a delivery method long preferred in the
steel industry and now being adopted by a growing number of manufacturers in
the foundry industry. In this form, the alloy is ground to a fine size,
encapsulated in a sheath of steel roll-formed into a tube and then wound
into a coil. The steel sheath protects the alloy from oxidation and its fine
size aids in the integration of the alloy into the molten metal. Globe
Metales and UltraCore Polska produce a wide range of formulations, diameters
and lengths of cored-wire alloys to suit foundry customer needs.
Our specialty foundry alloys can be divided into two general categories:
- Magnesium-Ferrosilicon-based "nodularizers"
- Ferrosilicon-based "inoculants"
Magnesium-Ferrosilicon alloys are known as "nodularizers", because, when
combined with molten grey iron, they change the graphite flakes in the iron
into spheroidal particles, or "nodules", thereby increasing the iron's
strength and resilience. The resulting product is commonly known as ductile
iron. Ductile iron has a growing market as a substitute for steel in
applications requiring a lighter and more resilient material, such as in the
manufacture of automobile crankshafts and camshafts, steering gear, exhaust
manifolds, hydraulic valve bodies and cylinders, couplings, sprockets and
machine frames, as well as in commercial water pipes. Ductile iron is
lighter than steel and provides better castability (i.e. intricate shapes
can be more easily produced) than untreated iron. According to the metals
industry publication, "Modern Casting", growth in specialty alloy
consumption is projected to exceed overall GDP growth as ductile iron
replaces steel in manufacturing applications requiring a stronger, lighter
material. We sell our Magnesium-Ferrosilicon alloys under the Glomag™,
Inmold™ and Flotret™ brands.
Ferrosilicon-based specialty foundry alloys (without magnesium) are known as
"inoculants" and can contain any of a large number of combinations of
metallic elements. Inoculants act to evenly distribute the graphite
particles found in both grey and ductile iron and refine other microscopic
structures, resulting in a product with greater strength and improved
casting and machining properties.
TECHNICAL SUPPORT
We strive to distinguish ourselves from our competitors by excelling in
providing extensive technical advice and service to our specialty alloy
customers. In addition to providing our foundry customers with advice on
their manufacturing processes, we can tailor the chemical composition of our
products to the specific requirements of each customer's product line and
foundry processes -- often on a plant-by-plant basis.
QUALITY
Our specialty alloy customers are extremely quality conscious, as an error
in chemical composition or even product sizing can result in the scrapping
of an entire casting run. Our intensive quality control measures at each
stage of the manufacturing process act to ensure that customer
specifications are met. As testimony to our dedication to manufacturing
excellence, we have received numerous industry awards including the Malcolm
Baldrige National Quality Award, the Shigeo Shingo Prize for Manufacturing
Excellence and the U.S. Senate Productivity Award, as well as numerous
supplier quality certifications.