In late autumn 2014, MAGMA hosted its biannual International MAGMA User Meeting in Potsdam, situated in the heart of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. More than 250 MAGMASOFT users from different industries and research institutes from all over the world joined the two-day event to learn more about casting process simulation software, including the new release of MAGMA5 Rel. 5.3. Attendees exchanged their experiences regarding process improvements and the optimization of cast components.
Practice-oriented user presentations were an important part of both days. They revealed how foundries improve casting quality and identify critical design conditions, while demonstrating how simulation is employed for smaller light metal castings up to 660 ton steel castings. Additionally, research experts showcased extracts from their work, involving product and process developments supported by simulation.
With regard to the upcoming release MAGMA5 Rel. 5.3, the users enjoyed a play put on by MAGMA’s technical experts as an introduction to virtual optimization and the main features of the new software release. The four actors portrayed a common situation in a foundry, where casting defects led to the danger of not meeting customer specifications and missing the delivery date. They demonstrated how virtual experimentation using MAGMA5 Rel. 5.3 helps to find the best casting design to meet customer specifications and at the same time provides further benefits to the different departments in the foundry (e.g. engineering, quality management, production).
This was followed by workshops dedicated to different casting materials or processes, which offered MAGMA contributions for each specific application and allowed a more in-depth look at virtual optimization. All the workshops were opened by dedicated user contributions.
In addition to the play and the workshops of the first day, the next morning opened with several user contributions presenting results from the first production related projects using the new optimization methodology.
Subsequent MAGMAforums offered 10 kiosks at which MAGMA specialists answered specific material, process or utilization related questions with respect to current and upcoming MAGMA5 releases.
To conclude the event, Dr. Marc Schneider, CEO and president of MAGMA
GmbH, gave an overview of the company’s ongoing research and development activities, including an outlook to future software releases.