Hanover/Augsburg, April 17, 2002. A wind wheel hub, nine tons in weight and with a diameter of approx. three meters, is being presented by MAN B&W Diesel AG, Augsburg at the Hanover Industrial Fair since Sunday. The oversized exhibit can be viewed at the joint stand of the German foundry association in hall 3, stand 25, until Sunday, April 20. The fair visitors may even make themselves comfortable in the wind wheel hub: it is equipped with seats and tables and this foundry product serves as a meeting point for discussions during the fair.
“With this unusual presentation, we would like to draw the attention to the high quality and precision of our casting products” said Rolf Vinck, General Department Manager of MAN B&W Diesel AG’s foundry.
For more than 100 years, the foundry has been one of the most important facilities of the MAN B&W Group. In addition to Diesel engine and printing press castings, the Augsburg location also produces complicate gearbox casings, gas compressor casings and machine tool beds for machining centres as well as highly stressed hubs and frames for wind power plants with a capacity of 1.5 Megawatt. High-quality cast iron brands within a weight range of over 100 tons per piece are used as materials. Selling 25 000 tons of casting products, MAN B&W’s foundry is one for the three largest hand-moulding foundries in Germany. The share of outside castings amounts to approx. 25%. For the time being, a complete set for wind power plants, consisting of one hub weighing 9 tons – as shown in Hanover – and a basic frame with 8 tons in weight leave the foundry daily.