Since 2003, Messe Düsseldorf and the Confederation of German Foundry Industry (BDG) have presented the NEWCAST Award – and every year, the competition proves just how innovative the industry is. This year, this is doubly true: The prize-winning products aren’t the only things to stand out. The winners’ trophies are characterised by their extraordinary production method and represent the foundry industry’s innovative spirit.
Who can enter the competition? NEWCAST 2019 exhibitors can register with the Messe Düsseldorf team until the end of May (contact: Caroline Schmidt, e-mail: SchmidtCa@messe-duesseldorf.de) and compete for one of the coveted awards. The BDG jury will award the best work in the following three categories:
- The best substitution for a different manufacturing procedure
- The cast part with the best integration of functions
- The best lightweight construction solution
But what makes the trophies so special? There is an easy explanation. The trophies, which are approx. 20 centimetres large and weigh 1.2 kilograms, were cast in aluminium. This was not done in the past. Thomas Krüger, Managing Director of the Professional Association for Non-Ferrous Metal Casting (Fachverband NE Guss) within the BDG, discovered ACTech in Freiberg, Saxony. ACTech is a specialist for rapid prototyping and was able to transfer this award from a solid to a cast part.
No sooner said than planned and done: Quick as a flash, ACTech optically scanned the part, created the data set, designed and created the mould using 3D printing with sand, assembled, poured, cleaned and milled the rear of the newly cast trophy! Finally, ACTech integrated a tiny channel to equip the NEWCAST Award with a little something special that sets it aside geometrically from previous awards and demonstrates the possibilities of innovative manufacturing procedures in the field of foundry. To create this channel, they produced a core with cross section measurements of a mere 2.8 x 5.0 mm and a length of 30 mm using a laser sintering method, the pioneering method of additive core production and injection moulding. And they finished all this in just one week, thanks to a completely installed process chain.
On 26 June, the wait will finally be over and the much sought-after trophies will be awarded by Wolfram Diener, Managing Director at Messe Düsseldorf at the NEWCAST Awards 2019 at the NEWCAST Forum.
