Process
The integrated process of Zanardi Fonderie S.p.a.
At Zanardi Fonderie we look after all stages of part manufacturing
Thanks to a highly integrated process, combined with the company’s winning mix of cross-disciplinary skills, we manufacture finished parts in spheroidal graphite iron (GJS), austempered ductile iron (ADI) and isothermal ductile iron (IDI).
We look after all stages of part manufacturing: design, melting, heat treating, burr removal, mechanical processing, quality control, certification and delivery. This allows us to provide a comprehensive service, offering clients a one-stop shop for all their needs.
Design
We support clients in the definition of product requirements and optimisation of the production process, not only to guarantee the best technical and qualitative result, but also to reduce total manufacturing costs to a minimum. The tools we use during the co-design stage are proE CAD, proE FEM to calculate stress and Magmasoft to simulate the melting process.
Core Shop
80% of our core shop activities are covered by the internal core shop department, which produces cold box cores using the Ashland process with BZV type machines. The cores produced are then stored in the Trascar automated warehouse.
Foundry
The foundry department, the company’s beating heart, is composed of 3 electric melting furnaces, each with a 28 tonne capacity, and an automatic “Savelli” green sand moulding line, with flasks measuring 900 x 710 x (250 + 350) mm. The line is suited mainly to medium series production for castings weighing from 1 kg to 120 kg.
Deburring
We have an internal fettling department that looks after burr removal on 100% of castings in spheroidal graphite iron (GJS), austempered ductile iron (ADI) and isothermal ductile iron (IDI). The department was upgraded in 2019 thanks to the purchase and installation of two new EVOLUT automatic deburring robot cells, to remove burr on castings up to 25 kg and up to 90 kg.
Austempering
We have been investing in austempering technology for more than 30 years: today it is one of the company’s key strengths and strategic elements. We internally manage austempering heat treatments on our own and third-party castings in spheroidal graphite iron produced by other foundries (through the Zanardi Austempering brand), in a dedicated department equipped with three AFC Holcroft UBQA 36″ x 72″ x 36″ furnaces, currently a cutting-edge solution for the manufacture of austempered ductile irons (ADI).
Mechanical Machining
Always with a view toward highly integrated processing, an entire department is dedicated to the mechanical machining of cast parts in spheroidal graphite iron (GJS), austempered ductile iron (ADI) and isothermal ductile iron (IDI). In order to upgrade our machine shop and strengthen our market offer, two new OKUMA (MU4000 and B550) 5-axis horizontal lathes were installed, representing the best-in-class for complex mechanical machining on the materials we produce.
Coating
We internally manage the application of water-based coatings on our cast parts in spheroidal graphite iron, in three different colours (red, black and grey), in order to guarantee the protection of pieces in accordance with client requirements.