UPCAST® Pilot Plant Exploring the future with copper magnesium

Upcast Oy has always been very R&D focused and active in seeking to improve existing processes, but at the same time actively looking at the market needs of the future. What kind of end products will the customers need and what kind of UPCAST® casting process they need in order to produce the perfect cast rod, tube or flat profile for their needs. Last year was very important year for R&D people when the second casting line saw its start up at the Pilot Plant. Now in addition to traditional Cu rod and tube the development engineers in Markku Koivisto’s team got their hands on in various Cu alloys to develop completely new upwards casting processes with alloys and further develop the ones which were already familiar from the ast.
One of the interesting alloys is copper magnesium (CuMg). The requirements for end products are changing and at the same time they become very demanding. All the time the design engineers for example in the automotive, train or aeroplane industries – where copper products are used for multiple purposes due to their excellent properties, especially for the excellent electrical conductivity
– Are looking for lighter weight, more durable solutions and stronger raw materials CuMg seems very attractive for many reasons. It still has good electrical conductivity, excellent formability at medium strength and with the right composition very high strengths can be achieved. These characteristics are utmost important when further developing the end products where CuMg is used – such as automotive, electrical and electronic connectors, conductor and connector wires, wire harnesses, pins, telecommunication cables, catenary cables and contact wire for high speed trains.
UPCAST® Pilot tests
The first challenge was to be able to cast continuously high quality CuMg0.5 cast rod suitable for further processing. Casting copper magnesium is a bit trickier than that of pure copper.
– We took the challenge and already in autumn 2015 we started with the UPCAST® upward casting tests for the CuMg05 alloy. We tuned our equipment, software and other parameters for the new raw material and already before the end of the year we reached the first target and got a full coil of the new alloy, of which the mechanical values as well as the surface quality and gain structure were acceptable, Koivisto tells. Now we have already cast several good quality coils with various rod diameters successfully.
The CuMg rod is being further processed and refined into grooved contact wire for high speed rails and into thin wire dimensions for other industrial applications.
– Soon we can be certain on the high quality of UPCAST@ CuMg05 alloy.
Utilizing copper magnesium in the UPCAST® products brings new opportunities for our existing customers to widen their customer base.
– Our development has raised a lot of interest among our customers. I trust that by the end of this year we have progressed far with regard to utilization of copper magnesium, Koivisto continues.