1. Talent training and platform construction
The development of the industry is inseparable from the support of professional talents, especially technical talents and craftsman masters, connect with China’s dream of becoming a powerful foundry country, establish and improve a multi-level and multi type vocational education platform system for the foundry industry, strengthen the technical training of the staff, improve the technical level and labor quality of employees in the whole industry, and strengthen the foresight, guidance and pertinence of talent training, Optimize the talent development environment, cultivate and bring up a team of casting professionals with sufficient quantity, reasonable structure, excellent quality, vitality and international vision. Vigorously cultivate the craftsman spirit in the foundry industry, advocate the foundry spirit with the craftsman spirit as the core, carry forward the excellent industry culture and enhance the soft power of China’s foundry industry. Establish a platform for industry university research cooperation and exchange, implement the international development strategy of “going global” and promote international exchanges and cooperation in the field of foundry; Accelerate the transformation and industrialization of scientific and technological achievements, and focus on cultivating a group of “Chinese foundry masters” who are dedicated to their duties, superior in skills, excellence and innovation, so as to provide a solid talent and platform support for realizing the sustainable development strategy of China’s foundry from big to strong.
2. New steel casting materials and manufacturing processes
The performance of steel casting parts, especially high-end steel casting parts, depends on the materials and manufacturing process used, and can also determine the size and structure of castings. Improving the performance of steel casting parts can reduce the casting size, optimize the casting structure, save energy and materials, and meet the application requirements of castings in special environments. Improve the performance of steel casting parts through material composition design, alloying and modification, and develop new manufacturing processes of cast high-strength steel, ultra-high strength steel and ultra-low carbon stainless steel with Chinese intellectual property rights. Focusing on the major demand for new materials in China’s key basic industries, strategic emerging industries and national defense construction, carry out the R & D and application of high-end special steel casting parts such as corrosion resistance, heat resistance and wear resistance and large steel casting parts, increase the application of computer technology in the casting process, and improve the accuracy of simulation software in filling flow field, stress field, heat treatment and performance prediction, The simulation results are closer to the actual production. Popularize the application of computer simulation software in steel casting part design, solidification simulation, stress analysis and defect prediction in virtual space, shorten the product development and trial production cycle and reduce the trial production cost. Break through the key technologies in the design and development of new steel casting materials, manufacturing process, process optimization, intelligent and green transformation, and improve the competitiveness of China’s high-end steel casting parts in the international market. This will still be one of the development directions of steel casting production in China.
3. Near net casting
The production of steel casting parts is a long cycle and complex process, which requires melting, composition control, casting process design, modeling, core making, pouring, solidification, cleaning, heat treatment, machining and other processes. Near net casting is to strictly control various processes in the casting process, such as model design, mold manufacturing, selection of molding materials and molding operation, improve the surface quality and dimensional accuracy of castings, make the dimensional accuracy and surface quality of castings close to or reach the design size and surface quality of parts, realize near net casting molding with little or no processing, and reduce the processing cost, Improve the utilization rate of materials, economic benefits and market competitiveness of enterprises. The development and application of near net casting technology is of great significance for the foundry industry to improve casting quality, reduce scrap rate, improve casting dimensional accuracy and surface finish, and save energy and reduce emission. The application of 3D printing technology, solution casting and EPC Technology in the production of steel casting parts should be accelerated, new EPS (polystyrene) materials and substitute materials should be developed, the coating, thermoplastic and air permeability of EPC coatings should be improved, the R & D and application of new EPC process should be accelerated, and the internal defects of EPC Castings should be eliminated, Overcome the technical “bottleneck” of carbon enhancement in the production of low-carbon medium-sized steel casting parts by EPC, improve the mechanization and automation level of steel casting enterprises, increase the application of robots in the casting production process, and realize the application of computer technology in the whole system. For large steel casting parts, environmental friendly resin self hardening sand, modified ester hardened sodium silicate sand and special sand (such as chromium ore sand) are preferred, Strictly control each process of the casting process, ensure the dimensional accuracy and surface quality of steel casting parts, reduce processing volume, improve material and energy utilization, and realize near net casting molding of steel casting parts.
4. Cleaning treatment
Cleaning treatment is to accurately control the composition of liquid steel, reduce the content of gas, harmful elements and inclusions in steel casting parts, and improve the performance of steel casting parts. Actively promoting the application of electric furnace smelting + refining treatment technology is undoubtedly the development direction of steel casting enterprises to improve product quality. LF (ladle) furnace method, RH furnace method (RH vacuum circulation degassing refining method), VD furnace method and other off furnace refining technologies have been widely adopted by some large steel casting enterprises. Out of furnace refining can effectively decarbonize, desulfurize and remove [H], [O], [n] and other gas impurities in molten steel. LF refining method can effectively remove gases and harmful elements in steel, reduce the sulfur content of steel casting parts to less than 0.005% and the hydrogen content to 2% × Below 10 – 6, the oxygen content decreases to (30 ~ 40) × 10- 6。 For high-end stainless steel castings for special purposes, VOD (vacuum oxygen decarbonization) method and AOD (argon oxygen decarbonization) method out of furnace refining process shall be adopted to reduce carbon and protect chromium and smelt ultra-low carbon stainless steel castings.
Electroslag casting technology is a casting process to complete material remelting refining and casting solidification at one time. The use of electroslag casting technology can effectively reduce the content of S, P (0.007% ~ 0.015%) and impurities of steel casting parts, and improve the microstructure compactness, mechanical properties, fatigue resistance and cavitation resistance of steel casting parts. Yes, small blank machining allowance, high material utilization rate (more than 78%), etc. Research and popularization of clean and purifying treatment technology is not only an important means to obtain high-quality liquid steel, but also one of the directions to realize the production of high-end steel casting parts.
5. Green casting
Green casting is not only the need for the development of foundry enterprises, but also the pass to enter the international market. It is not only the embodiment of human sustainable development strategy in the manufacturing industry, but also the inevitable trend of the development of foundry industry in the future. Research and promote the use of new energy-saving, clean, non-toxic, low emission and low pollution casting raw and auxiliary materials, and vigorously develop new technologies for old sand reuse and environmentally friendly molding sand treatment and regeneration; Increase equipment investment in environmental protection, energy conservation and emission reduction, technological transformation and equipment upgrading of existing environmental protection equipment, reduce pollution and improve the working environment of employees; Through structural adjustment, a number of foundry enterprises with small scale, backward technology, poor quality and serious pollution were shut down to reduce pollution sources; Strengthen the “green casting” concept of energy conservation, emission reduction, health and safety in casting enterprises, actively promote new casting environmental protection technologies, new materials and equipment suitable for China’s national conditions, increase the R & D and application of cleaner production and environmental protection technologies, and take the road of intensive cleaner production. The establishment of green, environmental protection and energy-saving mold casting production system with circular economy mode will be the development trend of foundry enterprises in the future.