How is the quality of a cast part controlled?

The short answer: at CYM Materiales the quality of every cast part is controlled in-house and heat by heat, with our own laboratory. From the molding sand to the final chemical composition, no control is outsourced.

The key control is chemical composition. Each heat is verified with an optical emission spectrometer, which measures the exact percentage of every element before pouring. This guarantees that the part is really the steel the customer ordered —not a similar one— and it ships with its composition report.

To that are added the controls that ensure the soundness and geometry of the part: hardness testing, non-destructive testing (ultrasound and dye penetrant) and dimensional control. And upstream, the molding sand is also controlled —permeability, compression, grain size and temperature—, because sand out of range causes surface and internal defects. (The full equipment is on our foundry equipment page.)