STINCO specializes in copper alloy castings for a range of industries and high-precision marine pumps. Our production capacity is both substantial and flexible, with individual castings weighing up to 20 metric tons. Our largest customer group includes leading Japanese marine pump manufacturers.

Copper alloy pump castings for seawater pumps

Copper Alloy Castings for Seawater Pump Applications

As a seawater pump casting foundry, we understand the demanding conditions marine and offshore equipment must withstand. Seawater pumps used in ships and offshore applications need to resist seawater corrosion and cavitation. Materials are therefore often selected from high-strength aluminum bronze, such as ASTM C95800, or other bronze alloys, according to the application and customer specifications.

Choosing the Right Casting Process

The casting process plays an important role in producing pump castings. Large or heavy castings are generally made using furan sand molding or gravity casting, while smaller, complex precision parts may be better suited to investment casting, also known as lost-wax casting.

Before production begins, our technical team reviews the drawings and application with the customer. This helps determine a suitable and cost-effective manufacturing process for the part.

Heat Treatment Capabilities

STINCO provides heat treatment services for castings to help achieve the required mechanical properties and hardness. These services can support components intended for demanding environments involving corrosion and wear.

Drawing on our casting experience, we provide heat treatment processing for pump castings and other cast components according to project requirements.

Heat treatment furnace

CNC Machining from Casting to Finished Component

Some pump foundries supply castings in their as-cast condition, leaving customers to coordinate machining with separate suppliers. STINCO has CNC machining equipment suited to copper alloys and pump component geometries, providing casting and finish machining as an integrated service.

Depending on the drawings, machining operations can include boring, face machining, pin holes, set-screw holes, and keyway drilling. These operations help bring critical pump casting dimensions to specification.

Machining Capacity and Equipment

STINCO’s production system is designed to handle a range of machining requirements. We can process castings from 5 cm³ to 5 m³ in volume, with individual part weights from 100 g to 10 metric tons.

Our main equipment includes:

Horizontal lathes: including machines from Leadwell and Victor Taichung, with a maximum swing of 900 mm.
Horizontal milling machines: including Victor Taichung, AWEA AHM800, KURAKI, and MAZAK machines. Maximum X-axis travel is 2,000 mm, and the largest table size is 1,400 × 1,600 mm.
Vertical lathes: including Victor Taichung, WELE, and O-M equipment, with a maximum swing of 2,500 mm.
Vertical milling machines and five-face machining centers: including equipment from Kaibo, Fair Friend, and a WELE five-face machining center with 6,100 mm of X-axis travel and a 6,000 × 3,000 mm table. This equipment supports machining for medium and large seawater pump castings.
Horizontal lathe machining
Vertical machining center
Horizontal milling machining

Inspection and Production Support

Our production support includes:

In-house non-destructive testing (NDT): Level I and Level II personnel provide on-site NDT services across the stated inspection levels.
Flexible production: We can support small-run loose-pattern production and flexible manufacturing.
Pump and impeller casting: Our core expertise includes casting pumps and impellers.
Integrated production: Material processing, machining, and inspection are completed in-house.
Customer experience: Our products are trusted by major Japanese manufacturers and international customers.

Composition Analysis and Material Quality Control

The performance of seawater pump castings depends in part on controlling chemical composition and material properties. STINCO uses inspection equipment to check products against customer specifications and composition requirements.

Our inspection and testing equipment includes:

Molding sand testing: Permeability testing and moisture analysis help monitor molding sand quality.
Mechanical testing: Hardness, tensile strength, and wear testing equipment is used to assess copper alloy properties.
Gas and porosity control: A copper melt gas analyzer and ELTRA ON-900/OH-900 equipment measure oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen content in molten metal to help prevent porosity.
Composition and internal inspection: A spectrometer checks chemical composition; a metallurgical microscope supports analysis of casting quality; and ultrasonic testing equipment checks for internal defects.
Electrical conductivity testing: Conductivity meters are used to test copper conductor products.