INFORMATION SHEET
Metal casting
Improve cast quality and reduce production costs
CARBO Industrial Ceramics provide a range of high performance
casting media products and technologies that improve casting quality
while reducing production costs.
Our ACCUCAST ID intermediate-density and ACCUCAST LD low-density
ceramic casting media products provide higher core or mold volume,
improved casting performance, and reduced production costs compared
to specialty sand.
Engineered for performance
Technology innovation
ACCUCAST® media is an engineered product manufactured to provide performance
that equals and significantly outperform specialty and silica sand products,
respectively. Unlike sand types such as zircon and silica, our media is inert with
a non-hazardous make-up which reduces HSE concerns and associated costs.
CARBO Industrial Ceramic is constantly
developing innovative ceramic-media
based technologies for industrial
processing applications that enhance
production quality, improve efficiencies
and assure operational continuity
while lowering costs.
••
Reduced media costs – The lower density of ACCUCAST ID and ACCUCAST LD
ceramic casting media provides up to 69% lower cost per cubic foot of product
compared to zircon sand as less product by weight is required to create equal
volume core or molds.
••
Fewer production defects – Low thermal expansion results in high quality,
precision castings that reduce defects such as veining, penetration and burn-on
to minimize finishing, cleaning and scrap costs.
••
Reduced media consumption – Increased strength and durability enables high
media reuse and the media composition improves reclamation which results in
reduced disposal and replacement costs.
••
High media flow – High media flowability reduces energy use while increasing
production cycle rates to further reduce overall production costs.
Cost
($/ft3)
ACCUCAST ID offers increased strength and
durability for demanding applications while
retaining excellent economic performance.
+44%
+27%
Volume
(ft3/lb)
Zircon sand
+2%
-55%
-55%
-69%
Chromite sand
ACCUCAST ID
ACCUCAST LD
Zircon sand used as baseline for all calculations
The ceramic media compared to sand delivers significant cost and value advantages
Supply security
We operate six ISO 9001:2008 certified manufacturing facilities worldwide with
the capacity to produce 2 billion pounds (weight) of ceramic products each year.
We also own or control our feedstock supplies to ensure security of supply, and
environmental responsibility and sustainability throughout the entire supply chain.
ACCUCAST LD low-density ceramic casting media
offers outstanding cast quality while delivering
lower product costs.
Metal casting
Improve cast quality and reduce production costs
Proven performance
Our products and technologies have addressed challenges and delivered value
for our clients across a wide range of metal casting applications.
Process and metal poured
Foundry challenge
Performance result
Cast media replaced
Lost foam – aluminum
New part project jeopardized by
unacceptable dimensional capabilities.
Required tolerances met. Multibillion-dollar
project salvaged.
Olivine sand
Faced with a capital investment to add a
new production line to meet increased
production demand.
Increased production 27% per production line
(3 total). Eliminated a 9% scrap rate. Negated
the new line addition and all associated cost.
Silica sand
New foundry start-up. Owner wanted
to use the most advanced technology
available.
No start-up delays due to product. Casting quality
and capabilities met or exceeded expectation
assisted in gaining new business.
New start-up
Costly cleaning. Burn-on and veining
defects. Inconsistent dimensions.
Penetration burn-on minimized, veining
eliminated, tighter and consistent dimensions
and reduced cleaning cost.
Olivine sand
Reduce scrap and cleaning cost
with regard to dimensions, veining
and penetration. Enhance thin-wall
capabilities.
Minimized penetration, eliminated veining,
reduced casting defects and scrap, reduced
cleaning cost.
Silica sand
High cleaning cost.
Significantly reduced cleaning cost.
Competitive ceramic
Zircon sand reduced availability
and increased cost.
Matched zircon sand performance at a
lower effective cost. Met customer product
availability requirements.
Zircon sand
Shell – gray & ductile Iron
Faced with a capital investment to
add automated cleaning equipment
to reduce cleaning cost.
Reduced cleaning cost and improved dimensional
precision 10%-50% with respect to casting
complexity, negating the multimillion-dollar
purchase of new automated cleaning equipment.
Silica sand
PUCB – Gray & ductile iron
Dimensions, veining and penetration.
Improved dimensions, minimized penetration
and eliminated veining defects.
Silica sand
PUCB – steel
Zircon sand reduced availability
and increased cost.
Matched zircon sand performance at a lower
effective cost. Eliminated hot tear defect. Met
customer product availability requirements.
Zircon sand
Shell – steel
Zircon sand reduced availability
and increased cost.
Improved performance vs. zircon sand.
No burn‑in, no veins and comparable surface
finish. Improved dimensions. Improved pricing
and availability.
Zircon sand
(currently still used)
Lost foam – gray & ductile Iron
V-process – gray & white iron
Talk to CARBO to find out how we can help you
enhance your production.
carboceramics.com/industrial
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