AMETEK Foundry Product’s CerraFlex TorrentFlow filter cup incorporates a unique refractory coating that effectively increases the working temperature threshold several hundred degrees to a new maximum of 3,500F/1,927C. This refractory composition significantly enhances the rigidity and overall strength of the filter cup, providing for increased pouring times and heavier metal flow. 

The TorrentFlow filter concept was developed exclusively for AMETEK by Comanche Technologies and is part of the larger CerraFlex product family that provides increased metal quality and reduced operating costs for investment casting and foundry customers worldwide.

“Given the challenging manufacturing landscape we’re currently facing, our goal is to provide investment casters an additional tool for reducing production costs and being more competitive in the global market,” noted Jason Hitchings, General Manager of Comanche Technologies.

In addition, the TorrentFlow design incorporates a distinctive interstitial space between the inner wall of the pouring cone and the outer edge of the filter wall that is custom calculated for each cup and pouring cone pair to deliver an optimal filtration area increase of up to 78% over traditional filter cup designs. Prior to this radical design, investment casters could only improve their metal throughput rate by increasing the size of the filter pores or mesh size of their respective filtration material, Hitchings added.

This increased throughput rate NEVER came at the expense of decreased filter effectiveness, which typically would permit slag and other impurities to pass through the larger pore and mesh openings and into the casting itself. The presence of additional impurities often resulted in defects and other quality problems that forced an entire production run to be scrapped. The TorrentFlow cup design offers users the ability to increase their throughput rate and to not only maintain, but increase, their filtration level.

AMETEK Foundry Products is a unit of AMETEK, Inc. a leading global manufacturer of electronic instruments and electromechanical devices with 2008 sales of more than $2.5 billion.  For additional information, contact AMETEK Foundry Products, 455 Corporate Blvd., Newark, DE 19702 USA. Phone: 800-441-7777. Fax: 302-456-4444. Web site: www.ametekfpp.com.