Foundries, to the same extent today as in the past, represent one of the strategic branches of all industry. In fact, all aspects of modern life depend on the casting and production of brake discs, medical implants, marine engines, and even aircraft components like turbine blades. Foundries provide supplies to all sectors of modern industry, including automotive, aircraft, medicine, power generation, etc. The Slovak economy largely depends on the automotive industry for which casting is necessary. Cast components are used not only for engines, chassis, and drives but also in vehicle bodies. This article reports information on the current number of foundries in Slovakia, the number of produced casting tons and melting methods, the casting techniques in various foundries, and the types of cast metals. It considers the income of individual foundries, the impact of the economic situation, and assumptions regarding further development.

This article presents a analysis of the impact of varying amounts of a specific additive in the core mixture and adjustments in shooting pressure on the elimination of surface defects in castings, particularly veinings. These defects, often located in inaccessible areas of the casting, cannot be effectively removed through conventional methods like punching, making the optimization of the core mixture composition crucial. Additives are frequently incorporated into the core mixture, as they have become an essential component in its production. For the core mixture to be effective, it is not only essential to identify the appropriate type of additive but also to precisely determine the optimal quantity of the additive and accurately set other critical production parameters, such as shooting pressure.This study investigates the influence of additive concentration and shooting pressure on the surface quality of cast iron castings, employing the cold box method for core production. The findings reveal that higher shooting pressure contributes positively to the reduction of veining defects. However, an increased additive content in the core mixture does not necessarily ensure vein-free castings. The additive also plays a role in reducing the gas content within the core, and increased core hardness is associated with a decrease in the occurrence of veining defects. The casting with the highest surface quality and the fewest veinings was produced using cores made from a mixture with 1% additive content, subjected to a shooting pressure of 4 bars.

This paper analyses internal defects in aluminium gearbox castings manufactured using the high-pressure casting method. Two defective parts were examined using X-ray imaging, optical and electron microscopy. The results revealed that these defects were a combination of gas and shrinkage porosity. The aim was to identify the causes of these defects and suggest ways to improve the technological process. Analysis of the defects revealed that they were caused by the molten metal's inability to flow freely in the mould cavity.

Modern foundries are being challenged by current trends such as lightweight construction, advanced core and casting design with controlled material properties, and high precision requirements. Core production plays a critical role in casting, as the cores have a significant impact on the final quality. One key factor is the choice of materials for molds and cores, with silica sand being the most commonly used. However, even the highest-quality silica sand cannot always prevent defects in the final casting. A possible solution to reduce such defects is the addition of additives to the mold and core mixtures. This paper explores the effects of commonly available additives on the surface quality of test castings. In the study, five additives were tested, including energy ash, and 14 test castings were evaluated using visual comparators to assess surface quality.