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Home arrow Media arrow Photo Gallery arrow 2010 Casting Competition Winners

2010 Casting Competition Winners

Dotson Iron Castings, Mankato, Minn., earned top honors in the annual competition for its Alternator/Air Conditioning Bracket. The component supports and attaches the 12 pound high output alternator, 14 pound air conditioning compressor on the engine of John Deere skid loaders and replaces an 11 piece weldment. The cast version of the alternator bracket accommodates the various angles and surfaces necessary for accurate mounting surfaces and hold alignment. Dotson’s component was made using ductile iron, weighs 10.7 lbs., measures 15 x 6 x 5 in. and was cast via horizontally-parted green sand molding. Converting the alternator and air conditioner bracket from a weldment to machined casting saved 48% of the cost of a welded assembly. Additional savings are realized with 10% reduced scrap rejections at the assembly line.

2010 Casting of the Year: Dotson Iron Castings 		The single piece magnesium casting achieved a more than 20% weight reduction over the traditional steel liftgate and integrated six parts into one panel, the largest of its type in the world.

Best-In-Class: Meridian Magnesium Products 		The high performance automotive aftermarket manifold was less expensive to manufacture than the sheet metal alternative and provided a 5% engine performance boost.

Best-In-Class: Eagle Aluminum Cast Products
The seven tiny parts have wall thicknesses as low as 0.035 in. and slots of 0.04 in. The “stationary jaw” part has a 0.04-in. diameter hole through two interior walls and could not be machined.

Best-In-Class: Aristo-Cast Inc. 		A complex coring design included seven independent passages that had to be tight to 2.5 cu. cm per minute at 6 bar units of pressure. The original design was simpler, but lost foam allowed the more complex coring.

Best-In-Class: BRP Powertrain GmbH & Co. KG 		The cast part eliminated many of the finishing requirements of the weldment and is 600 lbs. lighter with no sacrifice in strength. The customer realized a $1,500 cost reduction.

Best-In-Class: Sioux City Foundry Co.
The casting provided a 34% cost savings over the steel weldment by eliminating the need to laser cut and weld together the steel pieces. Lead times were reduced from two to three months to two to four weeks.

Honorable Mention: Pier Foundry & Pattern Shop Inc 		Nemak produced the part for General Motors, which received a part with strengthened main bearing bulkheads and cylinder bore walls, a refined oil distribution system and more than a dozen additional cast-in features from the original lost foam part.

Honorable Mention: Nemak Dillingen GmbH 		The lubrication system component for large, off-road vehicles provided reductions in cost and lead time over the previously produced fabrication through a complex core assembly and tight process controls.

Honorable Mention: Denison Industries
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