Chemical milling facility completes major investment
Release Date: 2009-08-19
Bestwig. The titanium and aluminum investment casting specialist TITAL GmbH located in Bestwig, Germany, concludes its investment program for the large titanium casting facility, which was put into operation in December 2008, with a new chemical milling facility. In the new facility titanium parts with an edge length of up to 60 inches and a weight of up to 661 lb can be chemically milled. The old chemical milling facility which still exists is too small for finishing parts of this size. The chemical milling of titanium castings is a necessary step in the production process to remove the brittle casting skin (alpha-case). As the gating material (leftover raw material that is not usable) can be completely due to the chemical milling facility, TITAL was able to further optimize the process flow. The investment for the new chemical milling facility was approximately $720,000. It was produced and delivered ready-for-use to TITAL by ADRIAN Galvanotechnik GmbH & Co. KG located in Hückeswagen, Germany.
Dr. Ralf Gerke-Cantow, Head of Titanium Production: "Although we use very reaction-stable materials, oxygenation and accumulation of nitrogen in the casting surface cannot be completely avoided. Consequently the titanium material is reacting at the surface with the molding material of the casting." If the cast parts were not chemically milled after the casting process, alpha-case would occur. This means: The surface layer becomes brittle. Dr. Gerke-Cantow: "In this case the components are not suited for dynamic forces and cracks can form deriving from the brittle surface. Therefore a chemical milling facility with adequate dimensions was essential."
The key element of the chemical milling facility is a basin filled with acid which is 5.9 ft wide and 6.5 ft long. This basin is located in a pit with a depth of 6.5 ft and is partially enclosed so that the access is limited. Therefore the semi-automatic operation of the carriage is carried out from the switchboard. Up to 100 rough castings are placed into a pivot mounting and submerged into the acid for about half an hour. After the dip the castings are rinsed off with clear water and then dried in an oven with hot air.
The old chemical milling facility with dimensions of 3.9 x 3.2 ft is still in use. However, it can only accommodate parts with an edge length of up to 23 inches.
By using the newly added chemical milling facility more than twice as much gating material as before can be recycled. Thus the investment optimizes the process flow at TITAL and reduces the costs. Dr. Gerke-Cantow: "Titanium scraps are machined, freed from impurities and as a result reusable. For this reason we have practically no material loss anymore."
About TITAL GmbH
TITAL supplies industry leading companies around the world in the field of aerospace, defense, motor sport and engineering with sophisticated aluminum and titanium investment casting products using the lost wax process. TITAL was founded in 1974. In 2006, the management took over the company with the support of DZ Equity Partner GmbH - an investment company of the DZ Bank AG from Frankfurt. Today TITAL employs 400 people with 2008 revenue of $68M.
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