Oct 26 2006
Foundry or metal-casting, a major method for metal forming, is the foundation for hot working processing. The metal-casting history in China could be traced back to the early years of the time-honored Chinese civilization. Chinese ancestry has cast such ingenious bronzes as those unearthed from the 4,000-year-old Sanxingdui Site in Sichuan Province.
In modern time, especially following the reform and open policy in the late 1970s, Chinese foundry industry has seen tremendous development. Over the past six years, its annual casting output has surpassed that of the US, becoming the top cast producer in the world. It is estimated that the total output value from China in 2005 was more than 250 billion yuan (about US$31.5 billion), accounting for one fourth of the world total.
Despite of the production progress in China, its technological level in the industry lags behind that of developed countries, observes a recent report by the CAS Academic Division of Technological Sciences.
Generally speaking, the industry in China now is about 20 years behind the world advanced level, and is unable to meet the pressing demands posed by the soaring growth of the national economy. Some of the major problems pinpointed by the report include outmoded technology, primitive equipment, high consumption of energy and raw materials, heavy pollution, and very bad working conditions.
In order to make China's metal-casting industry a competitive one, the study says, efforts must be made to overcome the knotty problems in energy, resources and labor force, and to raise the product quality by introducing high-tech means.
Basic and applied research has to be enhanced for developing new technologies, new materials and new equipment for the industry, the report states. For instance, new technologies like computer simulation should be introduced to improve the production process and quality of commonly-used metallic materials, which play a critical role in the development of the industry.
The development of environment-friendly raw and subsidiary materials should be given greater consideration, the report suggests. The 3-R principle of reducing, reusing and recycling should be made a conduct standard of the industry.
The study urges the government to make further investment on engineering centers for the development of general-purpose and high technologies in this regard.
The legislation on energy and environmental protection should to be stressed, says the report. All casting mills with out-moded technology and serious pollution have to be closed for good and the workers enjoy a better treatment, including the acquirement of the professional insurance and technical renewal of the energy management and installations of high power consumption.
To address the problem of worker shortage of the industry, the report points out that new policy measures should formulated to attract and stabilize workforces and improve its working skills.
The report emphasizes that efforts should be made to enhance the capacity building of independent innovation for the industry so as to produce more high-quality and high-precision products for the market.
http://english.cas.ac.cn