On the occasion of EUROGUSS 2024 European (Nuremberg) Die Casting Industry Exhibition (January 16-18, 2024), organizer organized experts to select "2024 European Aluminum Die Casting Award".

Describe design, casting and molding requirements for castings and their function, including assembly components:
Mechanical gearbox for rig control height adjustment is housed in an aluminum die-cast housing.
Design, casting and styling requirements:
Shell must not have any defects (such as cold flow) and is a 100% visible part. Die-cast production uses six spools, two of which hydraulically block the other two, in order to produce a bore that matches dimensions.
Why use die castings?
Casing was previously milled from "solid" material. Customers are convinced of advantages of die castings. In addition, material was not only saved by changing process, but also a further 30% weight reduction was achieved by adjusting/optimizing original design.
Why did this part win European Diecasting Award?
▪Weight optimized casting. Save materials -> reduce carbon footprint.
▪Replace other manufacturing processes -> reduce waste/scrap generated during processing.
▪Requirements for mold concept are not low.
Technical data:
▪Length: 160mm
▪Width: 120mm
▪Height: 120mm
▪Weight: 787 grams
Alloy: AlSi9Cu3(Fe)
Submitting company: Matthies Druckguss GmbH

 

Describe design, casting and forming requirements for castings and their functions, also applicable to assembled components:
Steering column area, central part of instrument panel | High requirements in extreme climatic conditions (-35℃/+80℃) | Safety (threaded connections like steering column/knee airbag) | Weight requirements (=>formerly Mg).
Design, casting and forming requirements:
Reduced runners by direct casting with multi-plate mold technology | Removal of gate system by innovative mold kinematics | No change in weight by reducing wall thickness and replacing magnesium with aluminum (functionally optimized design, not runner optimized design) .
Why use die casting?
▪High complexity and functional requirements (e.g. dimensional accuracy, surface quality) at wall thicknesses greater than 2 mm.
▪Weight advantages compared to steel tube structures and higher rigidity compared to pure plastic structures.
▪High-volume production has cost advantages compared to other manufacturing processes.
▪Aluminum has cost advantages compared to magnesium (limited raw material and supplier markets, high process-related costs).
Why did this part win European Diecasting Award?
▪Innovative 4-plate mold technology enables wall thickness up to 1.5mm.
▪Due to use of 4th mold plate, demoulding of casting and gate system is optimized and repeatable.
▪Reduced runner and molding area => enables larger parts on existing systems.
▪Replace magnesium with aluminum (75% less CO2 emissions compared to magnesium).
▪Improved occupational safety (reduced fire risk during casting and machining).
Technical data:
▪Length: 630mm
▪Width: 436mm
▪Height: 355mm
▪Weight: 3135 grams
Alloy: AlSi10MgMn
Submitting company: BMW Group Plant Landshut

 

Describe design, casting and molding requirements for castings and their function, including assembly components:
This component has a large number of pre-cast sealing surfaces and numerous magnetic armature cores, and is quite complex in terms of casting technology; sealing requirements of this component are also very high.
Design, casting and forming requirements:
Completely cast sealing surfaces, high sealing requirements, 12 magnetic armature cores -> good filling required, complex mold and slide geometry with part inserts, complex cooling with many jet coolers .
Why die casting?
Lightweight structure, low mass production cost and reduced machining. Not possible with other manufacturing processes.
Why does this part deserve European Diecast Award?
Design was complex, with component having many large pre-cast sealing faces and 12 magnetic armature cores, mold design and layout was time-consuming and laborious as there were multiple component inserts even in slider area.
Technical data
▪Length: 360mm
▪Width: 192mm
▪Height: 140mm
▪Weight: 4115 grams
Alloy: AlSi12Cu1(Fe)
Submitting company: alupress AG

 

Describe design, casting and forming requirements for castings and their function, including assembly components:
Since it is an electronic component, requirements for cleanliness are very high.
A very good microstructure is required, especially in weld area, but also in circumferential sealing surface area, since this is fully cast. Dome on the inside for self-tapping screws (no. 71) is also fully cast.
Design, casting and forming requirements:
Design of welding geometry and filling of welding area are critical.
Consider welding simulation results of a casting mold. It is necessary to simulate welding process multiple times so that measures to prevent welding distortion can be incorporated into mold design from beginning.
Near-contour cooling of self-tapping screw cores.
There are a variety of slide rails to choose from.
Why use die castings for production?
Reduces mechanical processing, saves costs, and is suitable for mass production.
Why did this part win European Diecasting Award?
▪Microstructure of weld area is particularly demanding.
▪Strict process tolerances to ensure stable casting quality (microstructure).
▪Over 70 self-tapping screw holes pre-cast. Most of cores adopt a near-contour cooling design.
▪Precision machined cast sealing surface.
▪Cost-efficiency through savings in machining time (casting near net functional surface).
Technical data:
▪Length: 418mm
▪Width: 342.6mm
▪Height: 87.3mm
▪Weight: 3505 grams
Alloy: AlSi12 (Fe)
Submitting company: alupress AG

 

Describe design, casting and forming requirements for castings and their function, including assembly components:
Complex crash-related safety components on the front end of electric vehicles that house electric motors and other devices such as compressors and voltage transformers. There are high demands on dynamic stiffness (LDAS) to obtain optimal vibration performance (NVH) and to minimize component weight taking into account loads such as operational stability, abuse and crashes, and limited installation space.
Design, casting and forming requirements:
Thanks to die-casting process, open profile features stiffeners that are arranged according to topology optimization. Despite its open cross-section, the overall stiffness is very high, it has strong energy-absorbing capabilities and is about 30% lighter than original. In some cases, deep and narrow grooves need to be created, which can be very challenging for casting techniques. Due to numerous interfaces with adjacent components, these connection points must be optimized both structurally and in terms of casting technology to ensure the best quality.
Why use die casting technology?
Increasing cost pressures on electric vehicles require cost-effective manufacturing processes. Closed cross-sections achieve extremely high stiffness values, but require additional cores. As long as necessary ribs do not add unnecessary weight and material properties meet component requirements, coreless manufacturing processes such as die-casting are preferred.
Why did this part win European Diecasting Award?
▪Successful realization of crash- and safety-related die-cast components for high-pressure applications with multiple requirements
▪Successful implementation of in-house developed and validated material cards with representative series of properties during early development, thus achieving goals in development cycle (precision and rapid development)
▪Reduced 30% weight through design optimization alone while meeting product load specifications
▪Innovative topology-optimized rib design not only achieves high rigidity, but also achieves necessary deformation and energy absorption in the event of a collision.
▪Safety components that require extremely high casting quality despite long flow channels, a wall thickness of only 2 mm, and the use of up to 80% recycled aluminum.
Technical data:
▪Length: 831mm
▪Width: 543mm
▪Height: 146mm
▪Weight: 13700 g
Alloy: AlSi10MnMg
Submitting company: Nemak Europe GmbH Nemak Europe GmbH

 

Describe design, casting and molding requirements for castings and their function, including assembly components:
Challenge was converting a permanently cast part into a die cast part.
Die cast has two large water channels formed using a salt core. Annual output of die-casting parts is more than 100,000 pieces, which greatly reduces costs and weight.
Design, casting and styling requirements:
Molding of two composite salt cores - including high sealing requirements.
Why die casting production?
Save costs and reduce weight.
Why did this part win European Die Casting Award?
Component was converted from permanent mold casting to die casting using salt core technology and series production will begin in 2022.
Technical data:
▪Length: 550mm
▪Width: 300mm
▪Height: 170mm
▪Weight: 4000 g
Alloy: 226
Submitting company: Jungherr Casting Department Gnutti Carlo Group