Hodge Foundry, a Leader in the Wind Power Industry

Hodge Foundry’s deep roots in traditional energy markets and unique manufacturing capabilities have made the wind power and renewable energy markets a natural fit.

In the rapidly growing area of wind power, Hodge Foundry supplies customers throughout the world with mission-critical components such as hubs, bedplates, and gearbox housings, along with other complex cast components. Large ductile iron castings such as these, manufactured to demanding specifications and requiring impeccable metallurgy, are Hodge’s specialty. The company’s organization-wide commitment to continuous quality improvement ensures that customers consistently receive castings that are precisely manufactured, on time, and within specifications.

Proven Wind Industry Experience and Leadership…

Hodge Foundry has experience in the production of hub, bedplate and gearbox housing castings for wind turbines ranging from 1.5 to 2.5 MW, which can measure more than 15 feet in dimension and exceed 40,000 lbs. As ever-larger second- and third-generation turbines move from the drawing board to reality, Hodge’s unique engineering, manufacturing and quality assurance capabilities, will enable the company to keep pace with the global wind industry.

In working with customers in the wind power industry, Hodge has become both familiar and comfortable with the demanding metallurgical and technical specifications that the market requires, as well as the extensive non-destructive testing (NDT) requirements that are mandated for mission critical castings. Hodge consistently meets the stringent metallurgical requirements that are standard in the wind power industry such as EN-GJS-400-18U-LT (GGG 40.3 material), and an experienced team of ANST certified NDT technicians give the company an in-house capability to perform all of the non-destructive tests that wind industry castings commonly require.

Augmenting Hodge’s production and quality assurance capabilities are advanced technological and computer modeling tools such as the Adaptive Thermal Analysis System (ATAS) and MAGMASOFT®, the most advanced mold fill and solidification software available in the marketplace today. Armed with these tools, Hodge engineers are able to monitor and observe anticipated temperature and volume changes before any metal actually hits the mold, as well as proactively identify and analyze potential in-mold turbulence and hot spots that can result in casting imperfections. Computer modeling software such as MAGMASOFT® and advanced tools such as ATAS are some of the important technologies used at Hodge to maximize the probability of success on the first pour.

Armed with this comprehensive set of production, technical and quality assurance capabilities, Hodge is not only positioned to handle the wind power industry’s casting requirements today, but the company is also positioned to keep pace with the industry as ever-larger “next generation”, multi-megawatt designs move from the drawing board to reality. Working in combination with the company’s 100-ton crane capacity, Hodge’s largest molding pits (measuring 20 by 40 feet, and some up to 12 feet deep) enable Hodge to produce even the most challenging large-dimension castings.

Celebrating 130 Years of Excellence! The History of Hodge Foundry…

In 1876, an English immigrant named E.W. Hodge started a brass foundry in a town about 80 miles north of Pittsburgh. What began in a back-lot garage in Greenville, Pennsylvania, would ultimately grow into a world-class manufacturing company.

In the first several decades following its inception, the Hodge family foundry enjoyed an era of success and steady expansion. Its production capability was changed to gray iron, and a machine shop was eventually added. Business flourished again during World War II and in the years that followed. The company moved to larger facilities, where it embraced newer technologies. Ductile iron capabilities, electric melting, and the introduction of Styrofoam patterns, all enabled Hodge Foundry to expand its customer base to a multitude of different industries.

In 1979, the business was acquired by Koppers Company of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and was eventually owned—for more than a decade—by European parent companies, Svedala Grinding and Metso Minerals Industries. On December 31, 2002, Hodge Foundry again became an independent, privately held company when members of the Hodge family, a group of senior managers, and Pittsburgh-based Commonwealth Capital Group purchased the company.

Since the acquisition, Hodge Foundry embarked on a comprehensive multi-million dollar capital investment and development program that enhanced the company's manufacturing capabilities across the entire size spectrum. With broad-based investments in facilities, personnel and supporting technologies, Hodge Foundry has enhanced its status as a world-class ISO 9001 : 2000 certified manufacturing facility, specializing in the production of some of the largest engineered castings on earth. Hodge is one of only a handful of foundries throughout the world that can pour such large, engineered gray and ductile iron castings, some as large as 200,000 pounds.

The Hodge Foundry Team…

A key driver of Hodge Foundry’s success over the company’s 130-year history has been its people, who represent some of the most skilled and experienced foundry workers in the world. The fact that many third-generation—and even a number of fourth-generation—foundrymen call Hodge their home is a testament to the commitment, experience and stability of the Hodge Foundry workforce. Today, that workforce—more than 160 strong—remains the very heart of the company.

Hodge Foundry’s journeyman work force is developed in-house through a comprehensive, state-certified apprenticeship program. The program takes four to five years to complete and consists of 8,000 hours of on-the-job training, across every department in the foundry, including engineering, lab and quality control. Each apprentice attends 280 hours of classroom instruction structured around basic foundry practices, including basic metallurgy, no-bake sand control, and blueprint reading. Upon completion of the program, apprentices can become journeymen in the job classifications of molder, coremaker, maintenance, machinist and pattern maker.

Hodge Foundry offers a Full Range of Cutting Edge Engineering Technologies to Better Serve the Wind Power Industry...
Hodge Foundry makes full use of the modern tools of the trade—including advanced computer modeling and spectrographic analysis—to ensure that castings meet the demanding requirements and quality specifications of its customers.

Modern mold fill and solidification modeling allows Hodge to predict temperature and volume changes, as well as in-mold turbulence and potential “hot spots,” prior to actual melting and pouring. Hodge Foundry’s on-site modeling programs include MAGMASOFT® —the most advanced mold fill and solidification software tool available today. Using such tools, Hodge Foundry engineers can work directly from customer-supplied solid models in multiple formats, or create their own using CAD software. In order to ensure the highest probability of success on the first pour, some complex castings have been modeled over 20 times prior to being released into production.

Hodge Foundry produces castings in a wide variety of metal specifications, ranging from standard grades of gray and ductile irons to high-alloy irons utilized in the global mining industry and demanding low-temperature nodular irons (GGG 40.3 materials) required for wind-industry applications. Hodge routinely produces to specifications supplied by customers, but Hodge’s staff of specialists is also on hand to help customers to select the best specifications for their needs. The grades of gray iron and ductile iron that the company produces conform to ASTM metallurgical standards.

Hodge Foundry – An Organization-Wide Commitment to Quality and Customer Service…

Since its founding more than 130 years ago, Hodge Foundry has prided itself on a track record of manufacturing excellence and commitment to customer service, as well as a reputation for delivering castings of the highest possible quality. In so doing Hodge has firmly established its place as a trusted casting supplier to a variety of demanding end markets, including the global wind power industry.

Hodge’s commitment to quality encompasses all facets of the production process. The metallurgy of each casting is tested to ensure that it meets the stringent standards necessary for Hodge customers to be successful, and the properties of the company’s sand system are optimized to provide a quality casting surface finish. Hodge’s Leco GDS-750A argon spectrometer (23-channel) measures the elemental composition of the iron to meet ASTM, EN, JIS, or customer-supplied metal specifications.

Hodge Foundry offers a full-range of non-destructive testing (NDT) services to its customers as part of the company’s comprehensive Quality Assurance Program. On-site ANST certified technicians perform a full range of testing for the castings Hodge produces, including:

• Ultrasonic testing (UT)
• Magnetic particle testing (MT)
• Dye-penetrant testing (PT)

In addition to these in-house NDT capabilities, Hodge can also coordinate Radiographic (X-ray) examinations with certified vendors. These non-destructive tests and other procedures ensure that their customers are getting the desired properties.

In addition, Hodge Foundry offers a variety of other testing procedures, including dimensional testing (Metronor and Romer) and hardness/impact testing (Charpy Impact), which are used to ensure that castings meet tensile strength, yield, elongation, hardness and dimensional/tolerance requirements.

A Strong Commitment to Research and Development in Heavy-Section Ductile Iron Technology…

In addition to investments in equipment, technology and personnel, Hodge Foundry has embarked on a vigorous research and development plan that will enable the company to remain one of the technical and engineering leaders in the production of heavy-section ductile iron castings for the wind power industry.

Hodge Foundry's R&D program is focused on several key areas of interest, including:

• Quality assurance in heavy section iron castings, including determining appropriate NDT specifications to match design criteria
• Research/analysis of the impact of casting imperfections in ductile iron
• Research/analysis of advanced repair techniques for ductile iron
• Research/analysis into new, advanced ductile iron alloys

This comprehensive yet focused research & development effort—undertaken in conjunction with a growing team of customer, vendor, trade/technical association and academic partners—will ensure that Hodge Foundry remains a market leader in ductile iron technology.

In Addition to the Wind Power Industry, Hodge Serves a Variety of Global Markets…

Mining & Mineral Processing
Throughout its history, Hodge Foundry has been a leading supplier of large castings for the global mining and mineral processing industry. Today, world leaders in the design of grinding equipment rely on the expertise of Hodge Foundry for quality cast components. Hodge castings are installed in processing facilities throughout the world, from the Americas to the Australian Outback. Hodge specializes in applications for cement and ore grinding applications, supplying a full range of large component castings for SAG and Ball Mills.

Traditional Energy: Fossil Fuels
For many years, Hodge Foundry has been a major supplier for customers in the conventional energy and power generation industry, producing large gray and ductile iron castings for a variety of fossil fuel applications including coal, oil and natural gas.

Plastic Injection, Die Casting, Machine Tools & Other Engineered Castings
Many customers in the plastic injection, die casting and machine tool assembly businesses have converted to gray or ductile iron produced by Hodge Foundry. Hodge produces a variety of castings for these markets, including platens, machine bases, tables, frames and other structural components.

Hodge quality castings can also be found in a variety of industrial applications, including stamping dies for the automotive industry; pots used in the production of dyes, galvanizing of steel, and handling of slag from melting processes; coke oven doors and jambs for the steel industry; venturi tubes and exhaust heads used in paper and pulp processing; and spin tools for the aerospace industry.

Conversions to Ductile Iron
Hodge Foundry regularly works with customers to convert high-cost and long lead-time fabrications and forgings to castings. Not only can Hodge provide one of the lowest per-unit costs for an engineering material, but ductile iron’s inherent flexibility allows Hodge to pour in a variety of shapes and sizes to meet customers’ needs.

In working with customers to convert fabrications and forgings to castings, Hodge is acutely aware of the hurdle that upfront tooling and pattern costs can be in the decision-making process, especially in low-volume production applications. To address these concerns, Hodge makes extensive use of polystyrene foam patterns (single-use and multi-use) which can save up to 40% of the cost of traditional pattern equipment.

In addition to cost advantages, Hodge Foundry's ductile iron provides excellent rigidity and sound/vibration dampening properties that give the design engineer a distinct advantage over steel weldments in the production of industrial equipment, especially where cyclic vibrations and stresses are key factors in component design.

Hodge Foundry – A Trusted and Reliable Foundry Partner…

With over a century's worth of casting expertise, combined with the best of modern engineering technology and manufacturing techniques, Hodge Foundry is confident that they can help you secure the quality castings you need to succeed in your business.

Joe Simko
Jim Hammerschmidt
President & General Manager
Sales Manager
Joe.simko@hodgefoundry.com
jim.hammerschmidt@hodgefoundry.com

Hodge Foundry, Inc.
42 Leech Rd.
P.O. Box 550
Greenville, PA 16125
Phone: (724) 588-4100
Fax: (724) 588-0152