04. March 2021
By Michael R. Fredbloom - Roberts Sinto Corporation, Grand Ledge, Michigan
As the foundry industry strives to improve quality, reliability and maintainability along with reducing their carbon footprint, many companies are starting to explore replacing fluid power (hydraulic, pneumatic or a combination of both) driven systems with electrical actuation (servo-cylinder, electric rack-and-pinion drives). Electrical actuator systems typically offer lower overall noise and reduction in power requirements, eliminate the need for hazardous hydraulic fluids and offer a consistent form of locomotion that can be difficult to achieve using fluid power. This paper will focus on the differences in motion technology, and the advantages and disadvantages of the various systems available today.