On the whole, China’s technology is still at a low level. There is still a big gap between China and advanced industrial countries in terms of the complexity and quality of lost foam castings, as well as in terms of complete sets of technology, commercialization, mechanization and automation. Advanced industrial countries have successfully produced large quantities of complex castings such as automobile four cylinder bodies and cylinder heads, with a productivity of up to model hours, At present, only some relatively simple castings such as intake and exhaust pipes and shells are stably put into production in China. The productivity is only less than molding hours, and there is a considerable gap between the accuracy and surface roughness of the castings produced. At present, the main problems of lost foam casting in China:
The degree of commercialization is poor, and all research units and lost foam casting manufacturers operate alone and in a closed manner, which inevitably leads to low-level repetition. Industrial developed countries have relatively mature experience in the complete set and commercialization of lost foam casting technology, which is worthy of our reference. For example, American foaming materials are provided by powerful Ashland and Arco companies, coatings are supplied by Foseco companies, and raw sand and compaction equipment are distributed by wedron companies. There are special mold and complete equipment suppliers and general contracting companies such as ulkon companies. They work together, each has its place, and the overall level of the country is rapidly improving. Japan attaches great importance to the digestion and redevelopment of imported technology, so that it can catch up from behind.
China should pay full attention to the comprehensiveness of technology, organize all forces, coordinate operations and give full play to its overall advantages. According to the current technical level, it is difficult to undertake major engineering projects and provide complete and effective technical services only by a certain unit. Universities, research institutes, design institutes and foundry equipment factories with conditions and foundations need to be combined to provide complete sets of technical services for lost foam casting plants. The design institute has accumulated rich experience in engineering design. The university has a strong research team composed of tutors and graduate students, which has obvious advantages in applied basic research and process technology. Design institutes, universities and equipment manufacturers unite to meet market demand, complement each other’s advantages, contract higher-level projects, discuss with users, and realize technical services in the whole process from ideas, plans to products. This is an important measure to avoid low-level duplication and make China’s lost foam casting technology leap to a new level faster.
While learning from foreign advanced experience, we should attach great importance to strengthening our own ability of introduction, digestion and research and development. It is necessary to introduce foreign lost foam casting technology and production lines, but it must be digested in time and put the introduced technology into the domestic market as soon as possible to turn it into productivity. Enterprises that cannot digest by themselves should cooperate with colleges and universities or research institutions to digest. They should avoid being closed to the outside world and block some high priced technologies and equipment, leaving them idle, resulting in waste of repeated imports.
