Customised castings for construction, mining and off-road machinery

Since 1931, Zanardi Fonderie has focused on the production of cast iron castings, with an approach delivering high added value for the customer.

We provide the earthmoving, mining and off-road vehicle sectors with solutions in ADI, IDI and GJS capable of enclosing countless advantages, both in terms of mechanical properties and making mechanical components lighter. We stand out because of our attention to the balance between quality and total cost, our ability to offer a high freedom of design to designers, our ability to be the single point of contact in the supply relationships of the mechanically machined component, and our production flexibility.

Founded in 1931, Zanardi Fonderie is a family business in its fourth generation. Since the 1980s, the company has been known for its research and innovation, choosing to specialise in the production of ADI and austempering.

The entire production process takes place in the Minerbe – Verona production plant in Italy, allowing the company to centralise and integrate all the phases necessary to produce mechanically machined castings. More than 200 employees work in the plant.

Zanardi Fonderie is IATF 16949 certified, the international standard that specifies the requirements of a quality management system for automotive production, which can rely on the performance of our castings in spheroidal graphite iron (GJS), austempered ductile iron (ADI) and isothermal ductile iron (IDI), in particular for “on-road” vehicles, such as buses and trucks.

In terms of efficiency and cost savings, isothermal ductile iron (IDI) is highly suited to the production of components for which high and uniform mechanical and fatigue properties are required as the thickness varies, such as the joint spindles on suspension systems. The structure of the isothermal ductile iron (IDI) matrix consists mainly of ferrite and perlite, elements that, thanks to a different distribution compared to traditional spheroidal graphite irons, increase the mechanical performance of the castings.

Among the advantages of IDI are: lightness (with an average saving in overall weight of 10% compared to steel); cost savings, since it is obtained by heat treating a ferritic spheroidal graphite iron (GJS400-15); excellent resilience and fatigue properties as the thickness varies; the ability to create complex shapes using material only where necessary.

In short, IDI is also a valid alternative to ferritic spheroidal graphite irons reinforced in solid solution (also known as high silicon cast iron) both technically and economically, for producing components that require exceeding technical and production limits, with scrupulous attention to costs.

Isothermal ductile iron (IDI): a material patented by Zanardi Fonderie S.p.a.

ADI, IDI and GJS have properties and characteristics that make them preferable to steel, both in terms of performance and in making the mechanical components lighter, as well as reducing the total cost. Some of the main benefits are:

• Lightness: ADI, IDI and GJS have a specific weight which is 10% lower than steel.
• Complex shapes: spheroidal graphite irons (ADI, IDI and GJS) guarantee excellent castability of the material, providing the casting designers with more freedom compared to the forging and welding option, and ensure material is only placed where it is needed, with an important benefit in terms of costs and mechanical machining.
• Resistance to fatigue: the life cycle of a cast iron component is comparable to but not superior to steel.
• Wear resistance: this is a natural feature of austempered ductile iron (ADI), which is obtained without the need for any additional surface treatments and which increases the life of the part, thus reducing the number of replacements throughout the entire service life of the machine.
• Machinability: through Zanardi Fonderie’s advanced production process, the customer is guaranteed components with homogeneous hardnesses and optimised geometries, thus minimising the necessary machining and variations in hardness, all to ensure maximum cost containment.

In the automotive sector, the ability of a foundry to respond to the customer’s production and design needs is of central importance. The Zanardi Fonderie smelting plant manages orders promptly, processing castings in ADI, IDI and GJS from a few Kg to 120 Kg and with batches from hundreds to thousands of pieces.

In addition, our technical area offers a co-design service for a totally customised industrial design. Starting in the quotation phase, the product requirements given in the drawing are analysed: from standards to tolerances and much more, to then proceed with the development of a tailor-made design, together with the customer, with a focus always on performance and on reducing total cost.

Zanardi Fonderie is IATF 16949 certified, the international standard that specifies the requirements of a quality management system for automotive production, which can rely on the performance of our castings in spheroidal graphite iron (GJS), austempered ductile iron (ADI) and isothermal ductile iron (IDI), in particular for “on-road” vehicles, such as buses and trucks.

In general, we are equipped with sophisticated equipment and skills to offer customers products that are always checked and certified. Beginning in the early stages of the design of cast iron castings, the Zanardi Fonderie staff analyses all the product requirements requested by the customer and defines the quality controls necessary to certify the material and the product, both raw and machined.

The in-depth quality control process at Zanardi Fonderie involves process checks (thermal, chemical and metallurgical) and tests, such as dimensional and integrity checks (internal and surface) on raw and machined castings, for which we provide the 3.1B certificate.