A large-scale work continues at the Central machinery and repair plant under the Localization program, aimed at reducing imports and saving the plant's foreign exchange. Today, more than 6,000 items of various products are manufactured here, new scientific and technical developments, modern progressive technologies are mastered and implemented into production. This year, as an innovation in foundry production, a new software product ESI ProCAST was launched. Its development and implementation into industrial operation were carried out by specialists from the design bureau of the technical department of CMRP.

Andrey Efremov, the Manager of the design bureau, Technical department, explains what the new computer program represent: - Casting is a complex technological process that includes a large number of factors, each of which affects the quality of the finished product. One of these components is a correctly selected technology. This is especially true for parts of complex configuration. Previously, when developing a method for obtaining a high-quality casting of a unique shape, during industrial tests we had to use an expensive method, the so-called "trial and error" method, which first involves developing the technology, manufacturing labour-intensive equipment, then conducting experimental casting, and only after receiving the result did we have the opportunity to evaluate the correctness of the technology and change it if defects occur.

Not only does this method bring large costs of material, labour and time resources, it also does not always lead to the desired result. Leading specialists of the Technical department, CMRP started to deal with this problem several years ago. After considering all possible options, we settled on the currently relevant mathematical computer modelling using CAE (Computer Aided Engineering - a system that allows to model physical processes, and already at the development stage to identify all the shortcomings of the technology, point out problem areas of the casting, control the factors affecting the defects of the final product).

After studying all the functional capabilities, it was decided to use at the plant, in particular, in the foundry production, a new program - the leader today in this field - the French-Czech association ESI Group with the ProCAST software product, which provides fully coupled modelling of the thermal, hydrodynamic problem and stress-strain state for all casting processes and alloys, including the determination of defects, residual stresses, product deformations, microstructure and mechanical properties of the casting, and also allows you to solve problems of related production processes, such as the manufacture of sand cores and heat treatment. After carrying out all the preparatory work and studying the positive characteristics of the new complex, it was put into operation in March of this year. Currently, the ESI ProCAST system works great, helping us solve many issues. First, it is aimed at identifying defects in parts already at the initial stage of development. To date, we have already modelled more than fifteen different spare parts that are manufactured at CMRP at the request of our main customers: Copper concentration plant, "Kalmakyr" mining plant administration, Copper smelting plant. These are covers, cups, centre plates from 2KSN-30 classifiers, brackets from the GraT-700 pump, bearing pins from mills, feeder crowns, split nuts from the cone of the KKD crusher, half-coupling from the central discharge ball mills, toothed wheel M10Z91, track link from the EKG-15 excavator, etc. More than ten parts are under development.

The designers of the Technical department have been trained in the operation of the ESI ProCAST software product by a representative of the ESI Group. I would also like to note that Kamronbek Ibragimov, a graduate of the Almalyk branch MISIS, who completed his research work in the ProCAST program at the CMRP base, won the A. Bochvar competition held in Moscow in the direction of "Metallurgy Advanced Engineering School". This gave him the opportunity to enter the master's program of the main MISIS without exams.

Today we can already talk about the great prospects for the implementation of this program, I am sure that in the future it will significantly affect the reduction of resource costs and time for the development of foundry technology, a decrease in the percentage of defects and an increase in the quality of foundry products of the CMRP.