Megacasting, a new process in aluminium diecasting in car body construction, is revolutionising manufacturing in the automotive industry.
Tesla, the pioneer in this field, is already using it because of its numerous advantages, along with other major car manufacturers. The trend was very much one of the topics of conversation at EUROGUSS 2022 earlier in June at the Exhibition Centre Nuremberg. After a turbulent period, the leading international trade fair for diecasting brought the industry together again in person to experience the latest manufacturing technology, processes, products and innovations on site. The 21st Die Casting Conference was held in parallel, offering participants a platform for discussions and first-hand knowledge.
As the meeting point for the international diecasting sector for technology, products and processes along the entire value chain, EUROGUSS highlights the wide range of applications for diecasting, ensuring that different customer sectors meet, thus creating a lively exchange and new ideas for manufacturers, suppliers, buyers and developers. The trade audience took a close look at trends such as giga-casting, discussed possible applications for diecasters, and debated advantages and optimisation potential in production.
Opportunities for manufacturers and suppliers in the automotive industry
Is it possible to produce entire vehicle components in diecasting? A new trend that makes this possible and is on everyone’s lips is giga-casting (or megacasting), which is used especially in the automotive industry. The process reduces the number of components and keeps the weight of the cast components low. Some large car manufacturers like Volvo and Tesla are betting on the future of this process. They are hoping above all for a reduction in complexity, more versatility, and lower costs in production. But only a personal exchange can answer how giga-casting can produce components more efficiently, what other applications are possible, and what technologies and equipment are needed.
“When it comes to new topics, personal dialogue with all those involved is particularly important to achieve effective and sustainable development,” says Christopher Boss, head of EUROGUSS. “The EUROGUSS trade fairs offer the perfect platform for this, especially in these stormy times, and puts current trends and topics as much in the foreground as future ones.”
The era of Giga Press
In an article in Charged in 2021, Charles Morris explained how at Gigafactory Texas, Tesla is “using an enormous Giga Press to cast a single rear body piece for the Model Y, which replaced 70 parts…the giga presses Tesla is using in Texas are made by IDRA. In 2019, Tesla commissioned what it called the world’s largest casting machine from Chinese manufacturer, the LK Group.”
IDRA is reported to be the first company worldwide that has Giga Press solutions already producing parts for the automotive body in white sector. This innovation revolutionises the manufacturing of the car body structure, substantially reducing assembly time and costs.
The Italian machine manufacturer focuses on powerful and sophisticated machines for a demanding market such as the automotive industry, and it became the first company to build machines for structural elements, with many years of experience, including magnesium components. Today IDRA produces the largest machines in the world, 8,000 and 9,000 ton diecasting machines that are being used to accelerate the global move towards electric and hybrid vehicles.
IDRA was the first company to receive production orders for 9,000 ton machines that can be used for SUV and small truck markets. The company says it can now provide Giga Presses with “fairly standard delivery times.”
IDRA gave customers the chance to preview the 9000t Giga Press diecasting machine during an open house event held during and immediately after EUROGUSS, so that international customers could extend their trip and use the opportunity to view the machine.
Those who took advantage of the offer were amongst the first to preview the new 9000t Giga Press under test including the 5S injection system as well as other medium sized fully integrated manufacturing cells.
IDRA said it gave customers: “The chance to be up close and see first-hand a production machine that is destined to cast the biggest and most complex structural parts being manufactured today.”
www.idra.com