The right mineral casting for any application

SCHNEEBERGER Mineralgusstechnik has been successfully represented in various industries for many years with its in-house developed components made of mineral casting. Compared to other materials, mineral casting in mechanical engineering offers several remarkable advantages.

Customer benefits
The primary customer benefit of SCHNEEBERGER mineral casting is the variety of applications for machines of all conceivable sizes. Mineral casting is not only less expensive than gray cast iron, for instance, but also demonstrates five to ten times better vibration behavior and high chemical resistance. Furthermore, because the polymer concrete (gravel with synthetic resin as a binding agent) is only cast at approximately 60 °C connecting parts, pipes and cables, as well as sensor systems and measuring technology can also be cast into the structures.

Example of a machine bed
A look at the shape of a machine bed for an electrical discharge system prior to casting shows some of the above-mentioned benefits of mineral casting. You can see plastic pipes that are firmly cast into the machine base. They are used later in the finished system for various supply lines. Various threaded inserts can also be seen, which later serve as interfaces to other machine components. After shaping, all that's left to do on the finished casting is to finish the precise connecting surfaces. All of this results in considerably less effort – and lower costs – in comparison to a machine bed made of steel or cast iron materials. And last but not least, mineral casting is an ecologically sustainable material that is virtually 100 % reusable.

Combined with linear motion technology
It goes without saying that SCHNEEBERGER mineral casting and linear motion technology can be optimally combined. Especially because mineral casting has thermal expansion properties that are similar to steel. The combination with the SCHNEEBERGER MONORAIL profile linear guideways has already proven itself many times in applications with the highest precision.

Extensive range of applications
However, with its typical characteristics and benefits, mineral casting is by no means only suitable for machine tool construction. Customers in many other sectors also acknowledge and take advantage of the benefits of this material, which opens up an extensive range of applications for them. This means that SCHNEEBERGER mineral casting is also used with a high level of success in medical technology, the solar, electronics and packaging industries, to name just a few examples.