GF Casting Solutions, a subsidiary of Swiss industrial giant Georg Fischer, has introduced an advanced robotic system to automate the cleaning and deburring of heavy cast iron structural parts. Traditionally reliant on manual labor or partial outsourcing for smaller cast components, the company has now closed a key automation gap with a novel approach developed by machine builder Fill.
Cast iron remains a vital material for highly stressed components in engines and drivetrains of commercial and mobile machinery, despite being less common in traditional applications like street lamps or manhole covers. GF Casting Solutions manufactures complex iron castings for agricultural, forestry, construction machinery, and renewable energy sectors, covering the entire production chain from molding to CNC machining under certified environmental standards.
Challenges in Deburring Cast Iron Parts
Post-casting, components require removal of excess material such as runners, burrs, and risers. While existing automated cleaning stations equipped with industrial robots handle most parts efficiently, smaller components with variable nesting patterns posed difficulties. Frequent tool changes and dimensional variations increased cycle times, often forcing manual cleaning or outsourcing—a costly, labor-intensive, and unreliable approach.
Production Manager Andriy Malaschkin emphasized the urgency of automating deburring for parts weighing up to 250 kilograms, ensuring short cycle times and adaptability to residual material differences from multiple mold nests.
Reversing Machining Logic for Efficiency
Fill, an Austrian mechanical engineering company specializing in foundry technology, devised a unique system named the Grind Performer. Unlike conventional setups where tools move to the workpiece, the Grind Performer features a robot that moves the cast part to fixed-position grinding and cutting tools. This reversed machining logic eliminates time-consuming tool changes, significantly speeding up processing.
Parts are loaded onto a rotary table without clamping. An integrated camera system identifies each piece’s position and orientation, allowing the robot to handle components precisely. Another camera reads nest identification markings in plain text on the castings, enabling retrieval of nest-specific machining programs tailored to each batch’s unique requirements.
High-Quality, Consistent Results
The automated workflow begins with a hydraulic hammer knocking off risers, followed by the robot guiding the workpiece through various grinding and milling tools to fully remove burrs. Achieving complete burr removal required extensive testing of different tools and techniques to meet stringent quality standards.
Fill’s proprietary Cybernetics Studio software simplifies programming and operation. Operators need no coding skills; they define machining steps and parameters visually on a 3D CAD model, indicating expected burr locations based on mold parting lines. All programs run on a digital twin simulation, preventing collisions and allowing real-time monitoring and adjustments to maintain smooth operation.
Rapid Deployment and Impact
Following thorough trials at Fill’s test center, GF Casting Solutions commissioned the system, which was delivered and installed within a year. Initial tweaks focused on improving the accuracy of plain text recognition for nest IDs, accommodating variations in handwriting styles.
The Grind Performer enhances working conditions by removing manual cleaning tasks and ensures high process stability, reproducibility, and product quality. Nest-specific programming guarantees minimal rework, marking a significant step toward full automation of GF Casting Solutions’ manufacturing chain.
Matthias Heinrich, Managing Director at GF Casting Solutions Leipzig, hailed the system as “a critical advancement securing our production location and delivering almost rework-free parts unlike previous machines.”
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