Casting plant for car rims: safe cable guidance in extreme heat

Profile

• What was needed: High-temperature energy chains and energy tubes; chainflex cables
• Requirements: The cable solution had to withstand extremely high outside temperatures and falling drops of hot melt without any problems
• Industry: Wheel rim production, motor vehicles
• Success for the customer: Feedback from the first test after three months confirmed, not a single incident had been reported, and the cables and chains continue to run safely and reliably despite the high temperatures

Problem

Endurance Technology Pvt Ltd., an Indian company, manufactures aluminium rims for two-wheeled vehicles for well-known customers such as Bajaj, Yamaha, Suzuki, and Harley Davidson. The aluminium rims are produced in the plant with the permanent mould casting process. As part of a casting process automation project, the project managers were looking for suitable components that could withstand the extreme conditions in the casting plant. The plant contains barrel-shaped holding furnaces which move the melt along a fixed path to a specific position over one of four moulds. Once there, the barrel is tilted, pouring the melt into the moulds. This process runs on a strictly timed cycle and is automated. But the holding furnaces require a wide variety of cables to conduct power and signals, for example. It was not only a matter of finding the right high-temperature cables for the hot ambient conditions. All the cable harnesses also had to be guided in a safe and orderly manner. In addition to heat, there was also the danger of individual hot droplets falling from the molten metal onto the cables and cable guides. The solution therefore had to withstand extremely hot, molten metal without any problems.

Solution

A wide variety of thermoelectric leads for power and signal cables from the chainflex product range are used for the cables themselves. The cables in the application are 18 metres long and travel with the holding furnaces. In the vicinity of the blast furnace, they are continuously exposed to extremely high air temperatures. In addition to drops of hot melt, they can also easily withstand temporary contact with a hot high-performance rotor for degassing the melts.
Equally important are the energy chains and energy tubes used in the application to safely guide the cables. 
The cable guides, which are made of igimud HT, can now easily withstand swarf at temperatures of up to 850°C and drops of hot molten metal in the application. Extremely tight plastic energy tubes are used when metallic grit or molten metal must be kept from getting to the cables inside the tube. At the same time, the RX e-tubes are highly flexible and easy to open for maintenance. The first three months of use, during which the customer did not report a single incident, already showed that the effort was worthwhile. The customer is so satisfied that e-chains and chainflex cables have already been planned for another caster.