Project set to develop aluminium shape casting for aerospace components

According to Kirkbymoorside, North Yorkshire headquartered Sylatech, aluminium shape casting for aerospace components is under exploited due to concerns over process and product consistency, plus mechanical performance.

Now, Sylatech’s £3.4m Digital Liquid Metal Manufacturing (DLMM) project will use a metal casting innovation called MeltX to elevate the mechanical properties of post-consumer aluminium to reduce weight and increase the in-service life of each casting.

Described as a world first, MeltX delivers a digitally twinned, automated casting process that removes oxides (bi-films) from aluminium in a continuous process, and delivers super clean aluminium for onward processing.

Rupert Sexton, sales business development, Sylatech, explained that the primary focus of DLMM is to develop a repeatable and reproducible process for casting ultra clean aluminium components, adding that the initial focus will be on geometrically complex castings including fuel pumps, using 3D printed sand moulds.

“Ultimately, the intention is to develop MeltX to a point where it can be used to produce structural castings for aerospace, defence and automotive applications,” he said.