CIREX develops and produces a multiplicity of cast pieces for the food and pharmaceutical industry. For example, we cast pumps and transport wheels for the food industry, knife heads for the meat processing industry, and sensor housings and pump components for pharmaceutical applications.
Stainless steel is usually used in these markets because the cast pieces produced often operate in environments that can be corrosive, subject to high temperatures and that must comply with strict hygiene requirements. By using stainless steel, no corrosion takes place after cleaning. Furthermore, the formation of bacteria is countered by smooth transitions and low roughness values: bacteria have difficulty adhering to the surface. This ensures that the components comply with the strict hygiene requirements.
The cast pieces are designed to be ‘Near Net Shape’ as much as possible, so that the casting requires only minimal or no post-processing. Stainless steel’s extreme toughness makes it difficult to process and so processing must be prevented as much as possible. In addition, the ‘lost wax’ method offers considerable freedom of design. This makes it possible to cast products with complex geometries in types of steel that are difficult to process. Thanks to the high degree of dimensioning precision in the casting process, complex products can usually be cast without further processing.
