Quality
Quality-Assurance
Quality is the main pillar of our business. Being a one-stop shop is not only beneficial for production speed, but also quality. Because we do everything under one roof, we have a good line of communication between all the process steps and the crucial lines of feedback between our design, casting, and quality departments ensures customer requirements are met or exceed for each piece. Our engineers evaluate castings and analyze designs very quickly without delays caused by outsourcing to external vendors
Our in-house lab offers the ability to carry out Brinell, tensile, metallography, surface scan, leak, ultrasonic, and penetration testing. With a CT inspection system for precise internal evaluations, we also assess parts with non-destructive methods to guarantee quality castings. Having this ability also means we can provide direct feedback to our engineering team on how accurate the pre-casting simulations are while reducing material waste without the need to section cast parts for testing.
Kimura Foundry America is ISO9001:2015 certified for the manufacture of iron, steel, and specialty alloy castings for various industries utilizing 3D sand printing.
Material Quality Advantage
Kimura uses a patented formula of 100% artificial ceramic sand to avoid the temperature limitations of silica sand. By suppressing the expansion of the material, even at melting temperatures exceeding 2,552°F (1,400°C), we are able to prevent deformations in the shape of sand molds and cores since expanding sand can lead to broken molds.
While it is traditionally expected that an iron or steel pour with natural sand will exhibit veining defects, our team is able to eliminate the presence of veining as well as sand burn-in in the process. By binder jetting with our unique ceramic sand material we are able to take advantage of the low thermal expansion to prevent veining and other defects.
Planning is Key to Quality
Each step of our process optimization allows us to evaluate a customer’s project to deliver the best quality castings on the market
Filling simulation
Solidification simulation
Trace simulation
Simulation
Utilizing MAGMA simulation software, we are able to optimize quality, lead time, and casting design according to a customer’s requirement. We can also adjust the parameters of production to take all the possible actions to avoid defects.
Patented Sand technology
By 3D printing molds and cores in our patented artificial sand that maintains its form up to 3600 F (2000 C), we can preserve the precise geometry our customers’ products. Furthermore, we are equipped with a thermal reclamation system to recycles our sand at every step of the process. This sand recycling system contributes to a cleaner workplace, lower environmental impact, and reduces costs so we can deliver savings for our customers.
Sand Mold Selection with two types of resin
We offer two types of production resin, furan and phenol. Furan can be processed quickly and is used for efficient production. Phenol resin creates high-strength sand molds after thermal heat treatment and is used for sand cores in difficult applications like hydraulic control valves and turbocharger bearing housing prototypes. Our CHP (Cold-Hardening Phenol) process offers more precise dimensional accuracy than hot hardening processes.
Quality Check and Inspections
Microscope
Tensile strength machine
Brinell Hardness Tester
Equipment
Kimura Foundry America
offers various inspection equipment in order to meet customers’ requirements and also to continuously improve our internal quality standards.
Specifications
Manufacturer: YXLON
Work size: Max 600x750mm
Work weight: Max 50kg
X ray tube: Y.TU450-D11
CT scanning time: Min 15sec/slice
Voxel size: 70µm
Scan mode: Fine beam CT
Manipulator: 3 axis (variable magnification)
Detector type: YXLON CT Scan 3-0780Lisenser and panel detector
X ray output: Max 450kv
Specifications
Manufacturer: Creaform
Resolution: 0.050mm (0.0020 in.)
Part Size Range: 0.1 – 4.0m (0.3 – 13 ft)
Standard Inspections
Chemical Composition:
Chemical composition analysis is conducted before tapping by a SPECTROMAXx Spark OES, ensuring strict control over material grade.
Culture of Quality
Kimura Foundry America has a dedicated team of engineers able to propose innovative solutions to realize the highest quality castings. Additionally, we are supported by the Research and Development department and the Advanced Technology Center in Kimura Foundry Japan for continuous quality improvement and new technology development to have solutions prepared for your most challenging castings.
