Gigacasting- A New Technologies in Automobile Manufacturing

Gigacasting‌ is an innovative manufacturing process that integrates multiple complex parts on the white body of a car into a single part through die casting. This technology uses integrated manufacturing to integrate the work that originally required multiple parts and multiple processes into one piece using casting technology, omitting the welding process and directly obtaining a complete large part.

The integrated die-casting technology(gigacasting) was first proposed by Tesla in 2019 and applied to the production of the rear floor of Model Y in 2020. This technology uses a large die-casting machine to inject liquid metal into the mold to form the final part, thereby achieving one-time molding of multiple parts. This technology not only simplifies the manufacturing process, but also improves production efficiency, bringing new possibilities for lightweighting in the automotive industry.

In the field of gigacasting technology, material selection is crucial. Traditional die-castings often need to undergo heat treatment to improve mechanical properties, but due to their large size, deformation and surface defects during heat treatment are difficult to avoid, which increases costs. Therefore, heat-treatment-free alloys, as a key technology for integrated die-casting, have become the main barrier in the industry.

At present, many companies at home and abroad are committed to the research and development and promotion of heat-treatment-free aluminum alloys. Tesla has even applied its self-developed patent of "die-casting aluminum alloy for structural components" to its gigacasting process. This material is not only strong and durable, but also has good ductility, which effectively reduces production costs.

Since the technology is still in its infancy, rich experience and technical accumulation are crucial to ensure the yield rate of mass production. This requires not only improving the strength and toughness of the mold, but also in-depth research and practice in temperature control, vacuum management, molding scheme optimization, process parameter adjustment and post-processing. Compared with ordinary die-casting molds, the design and manufacture of integrated die-casting molds are undoubtedly more complex and challenging.

The promotion and application of gigacasting technology requires close collaboration between the upstream, midstream and downstream of the industrial chain. The upstream of the industrial chain mainly involves material supply, equipment manufacturing and mold research and development, the midstream is the production and manufacturing of die-casting companies, and the downstream customers are mainly OEMs. All links need to be efficiently connected to jointly promote the continuous development of integrated die-casting technology.