ESI Group strengthens position across Italy’s casting industry

ProCAST casting-process simulation software enables manufacturers to evaluate rapidly the effects of mould design and allows decisions to be made at an early stage in the manufacturing process. Based on proven Finite Element technology, ProCAST can simulate a wide range of processes, from high- and low-pressure die casting, gravity and sand casting to lost foam and investment casting. Compared to a traditional trial-and-error approach, ProCAST is a key way to reduce manufacturing costs, shorten lead times for mould development and improve the casting quality.

"To accomplish this sales performance in Italy, we joined forces with Ecotre to align customer requirements with product quality. This achievement more than doubles our customer base and highlights the renewed optimism of the Italian foundry market, as well as the competitiveness of our ProCAST solution," says Marco Aloe, in charge of Business Development for Italy. "The Italian market, ranked fourth in the world after the USA, China and Japan, has a very high concentration of small to mid-size foundry companies supplying the industry worldwide. Over the past 12 months only, 15 new companies have adopted our casting solution, recognizing ProCAST as the best simulation tool on the market," explains Lorenzo Valente, Casting Simulation Manager of Ecotre.
ProCAST allows for the simulation of mould filling, solidification (including porosity predictions) and microstructure. To optimise their runner system and eliminate possible shrinkage areas, Fonderia Casati, Industrie Metallurgiche Spoleto, Inossman and Modelleria ed Administeria Franciacorta all selected ProCAST to meet their industrial needs.

ProCAST also has dedicated features to address the specific needs of investment casting foundries. Automatic generation of shell layers, radiation with view factors and shadowing effects are some of the features which motivated the choice of Europea Microfusioni Aerospaziali and Microcast.

The specific requirements of Alupress, Metalpres, FOMT, Bieffe, Flow Service, Costamp, SCS and TOORA for high- and low-pressure die casting as well as gravity die casting were also met by the ProCAST solution, and simulation is now being used to optimize piston velocities, gating designs and overflow positioning and reduce lead time for mould development.

Casting process simulation is now widely accepted as an important tool in product design and process development to improve yield and casting quality. ESI Group’s casting portfolio includes ProCAST, CALCOSOFT, for fast and efficient modelling of continuous casting processes, and PAM-QUIKCAST, the finite difference solution for casting process evaluation.

About ESI Group

ESI Group is a pioneer and world-leading supplier of digital simulation software for prototyping and manufacturing processes that take into account the physics of materials. ESI Group has developed an entire suite of coherent, industry-oriented applications to realistically simulate a product’s behaviour during testing, to fine-tune the manufacturing processes in accordance with the desired product performance, and to evaluate the environment’s impact on product usage.

ESI Group’s products, which have a proven track record in manufacturing and have been combined in multi-trade value chains, represent a unique collaborative, virtual engineering solution, known as the Virtual Try-Out Space (VTOS), enabling virtual prototypes to be improved in a continuous manner. By drastically reducing costs and development lead times, VTOS solutions offer major competitive advantages and make it possible to gradually eliminate the need for physical prototypes.

ESI Group is listed on the Nouveau Marché of Euronext Paris, and generated sales of €60m in 2004. The company employs almost 500 high-level specialists worldwide, and covers more than 30 countries.

For further information, please go to: www.esi-group.com