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Run your analysis now →https://www.patsnap.com/resources/blog/rd-blog/porosity-and-defect-control-in-large-castings-patent-landscape/ · Patsnap · data cut-off 2026-07-31 · downloaded from the live page
Patent Landscape · Automotive Lightweight CastingPorosity and Defect Control in Large Castings: Patent Trends
- Filings jumped +800% from 2021 to 2024, the fastest sustained run in the dataset before publication lag starts understating 2025-2026.
- The top 5 assignees hold 29.8% of all 255 records, while the top 10 combined reach just over half at 50.2% — concentrated but not locked down.
- B22D metal casting classes cover 56.9% of records, but control-and-sensing classes like G05B and G01N sit under 5% each, leaving inspection and closed-loop control comparatively open.
255
Published Records
30%
Top-5 Share of All Records
+800%
Filing Growth 2021→2024
US
Leading Jurisdiction
Filing growth compares 2021 (1 records) with 2024 (9) — a three-year span. 2024 is the most recent year we treat as complete: publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so 2025 onwards are still filling in and any growth rate that ends there would understate the field. Top-5 share is the combined record count of the five largest assignees divided by all 255 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
Published byPatsnap Research··6 min readSourced from Patsnap Eureka
Overview
What this landscape covers
This landscape tracks 255 published patent records at the intersection of casting defect control and process monitoring — filings that combine porosity, shrinkage or gas-content problems with the instrumentation and process levers used to manage them, such as vacuum level, spray lubricant, radiographic inspection and leak testing. The scope spans large automotive and industrial castings rather than casting in general, so records that discuss porosity without a stated control or inspection mechanism fall outside it.
Filings run from 2015 through the 2026-07-31 cut-off, with United States, EPO, Canadian, Japanese, WIPO and Australian receiving offices all represented. Because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, the most recent one to two years in any trend understate actual filing activity and should be read as a floor, not a ceiling.
Filing activity and technology composition, 2017-2026
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Assignee ranking and totals. Derived from a Patsnap search on Porosity and Defect Control in Large Castings covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
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The Data
Filing trends and technology composition
Two views of the same 255 records: how filing activity has moved year over year, and which IPC subclasses the underlying inventions actually sit in.
A slow build, then a sharp step up
Annual filings moved from 4 in 2017 to a peak of 12 in 2023, with the sharpest single stretch between 2021 (1 filing) and 2024 (9 filings) — a +800% rise. 2025 and 2026 figures are still incomplete due to publication lag and should not be read as a slowdown.
Casting and alloy classes dominate; sensing and control lag
B22D (metal casting) appears in 56.9% of the 255 records and C22C (alloys) in 28.6%, confirming that most inventive activity is still framed around the casting process and metallurgy itself. Classes tied to measurement and control — G05B, G01N, G06F — each sit at or below 4.7% of records, a gap worth checking before assuming the mechanical side is where the open claim space is.
Shares are the percentage of the 255 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Filing trend and technology composition. Derived from a Patsnap search on Porosity and Defect Control in Large Castings covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.
Go deeper on Porosity and Defect Control in Large Castings with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about porosity and defect control in large castings and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaKey Patents
Representative and most-cited filings
Representative Filing
Methods to control macro shrinkage porosity and gas bubbles in cast aluminum engine blocks
GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
A method for estimating proper eutectic modification level in a liquid metal to minimize macro shrinkage porosity and gas bubbles during casting of aluminum automobile components, and a system and article for casting.Filed by GM Global Technology Operations, this 2015 filing frames porosity control as a modification-level estimation problem rather than a post-cast inspection problem — a claim strategy worth checking against before filing on either side of that line.
Most-cited records in the dataset
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US7024342B1 | Thermal flow simulation for casting/molding processes | 161 |
| 2 | US5335711A | Process and apparatus for metal casting | 85 |
| 3 | US3690367A | Apparatus for the restructuring of metals | 65 |
| 4 | US20050163647A1 | Aluminum-silicon alloy having reduced microporosity | 55 |
| 5 | US5979534A | Die casting method | 51 |
| 6 | US7611590B2 | Wear resistant alloy for valve seat insert used in internal combustion engines | 50 |
| 7 | US4505764A | Microstructural refinement of cast titanium | 44 |
| 8 | US6499529B1 | Centrifugal countergravity casting | 43 |
| 9 | US7754142B2 | Acid resistant austenitic alloy for valve seat inserts | 39 |
| 10 | US20230191543A1 | System and method to perform dissimilar operations in a single machine | 38 |
Citation counts accumulate over time, so older records such as the 2006-era thermal flow simulation patent and 1990s die-casting patents lead the table; treat this as a measure of historical influence rather than current relevance.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Citation counts and representative records. Derived from a Patsnap search on Porosity and Defect Control in Large Castings covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
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What the numbers mean for a filing decision
Three read-throughs from the concentration, technology and citation data above.
Concentration
29.8% / 50.2%
top 5 / top 10 share of 255 records
Leadership is real but not exclusionary
The top 5 assignees combined hold 29.8% of the 255 records in scope, and the top 10 reach 50.2%. That leaves close to half the field spread across a long tail of single- and few-filing entrants, which is a workable environment for a new entrant with a genuinely different mechanism claim.
Ranking covers 96 assignees total.
Growth
+800%
filings, 2021 to 2024
Activity stepped up sharply, then the record thins from lag
Filings rose from 1 in 2021 to 9 in 2024, and the dataset's peak year so far is 2023 at 12. The apparent dip after 2024 is a publication-lag artefact, not a real slowdown, since records from 2025-2026 are still being published.
Peak year: 2023, 12 filings.
Technology mix
56.9% vs 4.7%
B22D casting share vs G05B control share
Process control and inspection are thinly claimed
B22D and C22C together account for the bulk of filings, but classes covering control systems (G05B), material testing (G01N) and digital data processing (G06F) each sit under 5% of the 255 records. That imbalance suggests defect detection and closed-loop process control are less crowded than the metallurgy itself.
G05B, G01N, G06F each below 5% of records.
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Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to porosity and defect control in large castings, with the prior art for and against each one.
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Co-assignee relationships and derived observations. Derived from a Patsnap search on Porosity and Defect Control in Large Castings covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
Players
Who is filing, and where the crowd thins out
The ranked assignee list spans 96 companies, from a leader at 17 records down to single-filing entrants; the concentration figures above describe how that spread breaks down.
Leader
17
records, top-ranked assignee
One clear leader, no runaway monopoly
The top-ranked assignee holds 17 of the 255 records, well ahead of fifth place at 14 and tenth place at 8 — a gap that narrows quickly rather than a single dominant blocker.
Fifth place: 14 records.
Mid-field
8
records, tenth-ranked assignee
A crowded middle tier
By tenth place the count has already dropped to 8 records, meaning the top 10 combined (128 records, 50.2% of the field) is achieved by assignees each holding relatively modest counts rather than one or two giants.
Top 10 combined: 128 records.
Collaboration
9
co-assignee pairs identified
Co-filing is limited and mostly bilateral
Only 9 co-assignee pairs appear in the dataset, with the strongest pairings linking a single corporate assignee to individual named inventors, plus one cross-border pairing between a major automaker and a university research partner.
Strongest pairs recur twice each.
Recent-year filing momentum by assignee
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Metal Casting Technology Inc. | 0 | — |
| Hitchiner Manufacturing Co Inc. | 0 | — |
| Sloan Valve Co. | 0 | — |
| Brunswick Corp. | 0 | — |
| Rockwell Automation Technologies Inc. | 0 | — |
| GM Global Technology Operations LLC | 0 | — |
| Proterial, Ltd. | 0 | — |
| Delaware Machinery and Tool Co. | 0 | — |
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Assignee-level momentum. Derived from a Patsnap search on Porosity and Defect Control in Large Castings covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
What's Next
Where to take this analysis
The dataset points to a field with real leadership but plenty of open claim space, particularly outside the core casting mechanics.
Map the control and sensing gap in detail
G05B, G01N and G06F classes each cover under 5% of the 255 records despite the field's dependence on vacuum level, gas content and radiographic inspection as control levers. A targeted search inside Eureka can confirm whether that gap holds once narrower claim language is tested.
Explore this gap in EurekaWatch the top-10 tier for renewed filing
With recent-year momentum flat across several ranked assignees, a fresh filing from any top-10 player would be an early signal worth tracking as 2025-2026 publications continue to arrive.
Track assignee activity in EurekaSource: Patsnap Eureka. Forward-looking reading of the same dataset. Derived from a Patsnap search on Porosity and Defect Control in Large Castings covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
FAQ
Common questions on this landscape
This landscape identifies 255 published patent records matching the combination of casting defect terms (porosity, shrinkage, gas content) with process-control or inspection terms (vacuum level, spray lubricant, radiographic inspection, leak testing, scrap rate). The count spans filings from 2015 through the 2026-07-31 data cut-off. Because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, the true number of 2025-2026 filings is higher than currently published records show.
The ranked list covers 96 assignees, with the leader holding 17 of the 255 records and the top 5 combined accounting for 29.8% of all records in scope. The top 10 assignees together reach 50.2% of the field, meaning roughly half of all filings come from a broad base of smaller or single-filing entrants rather than a handful of dominant players. This spread suggests the field rewards a distinctive technical angle rather than requiring a large existing portfolio to compete.
Filings grew sharply, rising from 1 in 2021 to 9 in 2024, an increase of 800% over that span, with the dataset's peak year so far at 12 filings in 2023. Figures for 2025 and 2026 appear lower, but that reflects publication lag rather than an actual drop in filing activity, since patent applications typically publish about 18 months after they are filed. Anyone judging momentum should treat the last one to two years as incomplete rather than declining.
Casting process and alloy classes (B22D and C22C) dominate the dataset, covering 56.9% and 28.6% of the 255 records respectively. Classes tied to control systems, material analysis and digital processing — G05B, G01N and G06F — each sit at or below 4.7% of records, despite the field's reliance on vacuum level, gas content and inspection data as control inputs. That gap points toward sensing, closed-loop control and predictive analytics as comparatively open filing territory.
US20150148936A1, filed by GM Global Technology Operations in 2015, describes a method for estimating the proper eutectic modification level in liquid metal to minimize macro shrinkage porosity and gas bubbles when casting aluminum engine components. It frames defect control as a compositional and process-timing problem addressed before or during casting, rather than a downstream inspection or rework problem. Filers working on post-cast detection methods, such as radiographic or leak-testing approaches, are less likely to run into direct claim overlap with this type of filing.
Answers are grounded in the same dataset. Derived from a Patsnap search on Porosity and Defect Control in Large Castings covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
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Disclaimer. This page is generated from Patsnap Eureka data drawn from a limited snapshot of global patent and scientific-literature records, and is provided for general information and reference only.
Patent data carries inherent limitations: recent filings (typically the most recent 18–24 months) are under-counted due to standard publication lag; counts may be reported at either a patent-family or a patent-record basis and are not always directly comparable; classification, applicant-name, and citation data may contain errors, duplicates, or omissions; and the underlying search query defines and constrains the scope shown. As a result, the analysis may be incomplete or inaccurate and may not reflect the full technology landscape.
Nothing on this page constitutes an exhaustive prior-art, novelty, freedom-to-operate, or validity search, nor does it constitute legal, financial, investment, or professional advice, and it should not be relied upon as such. Any patent, commercial, or strategic decision should be verified independently and reviewed with qualified patent, legal, and domain professionals. Patsnap makes no warranties, express or implied, as to the accuracy, completeness, or fitness for any particular purpose of the information presented.
Machine translation. Assignee and organisation names originally recorded in Chinese, Japanese or Korean have been rendered into English by an AI translation step so that the tables stay readable. These renderings are best-effort and may not match a company's registered English name; the original name is what the underlying patent record carries, and it is what any Eureka query launched from this page uses.