Pressure and injection molding "Think big" – what advantages does large-scale casting offer?

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With over 8,000 tons of clamping force and shot weights of well over 100 kilograms – record-breaking performances are being achieved in aluminum die-casting and plastic injection molding. What is causing the current boom in mega facilities?

Less weight, better packaging, and lower costs in material use and logistics: These are the advantages Volvo expects from the two mega-casting facilities that will manufacture large parts of the aluminum floor structure of a new electric vehicle in a single "shot" at the Torslanda plant starting in 2024.

Bühler recently presented such a facility, the Carat 840 type, with a closing force of 8,400 tons, to a professional audience from the die casting and automotive industry at an event in St. Valentin/Austria. The opportunity to see such a facility will not come often. With a base area of 160 square meters and a height of 7.60 meters, the Carat 840 is hardly suitable as a trade fair model. Moreover, it is not even the largest megacasting facility from Bühler: The Carat 920 even brings a closing force of 9,200 tons.

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The facility shown in St. Valentin can pour more than 200 kilograms of liquid aluminum into a mold within milliseconds, creating complex contours with high precision.

Cornel Mendler, Managing Director Die Casting of the Bühler Group, describes the advantage of so-called megacasting: "Large cast parts reduce complexity in production because between 70 and 100 parts can be replaced by a single die-cast part of a size up to 1.80 x 1.80 meters." To simplify the logistics of these large parts, the cast parts are mostly manufactured in the immediate vicinity of the vehicle's final assembly.

An attractive, but limited market

This concept pays off for Bühler. Cornel Mendler: "More than ten OEMs have already decided to apply megacasting." Suppliers are also interested. For instance, Handtmann will commission a "Carat 610 extended" with a clamping force of 6,100 tons and a shot weight of up to 128 kilograms of aluminum in its light metal casting production in Biberach later this year.

As attractive as this technology currently seems for the automotive industry - at Bühler, there is an openness to also discuss its limits. So far, applications outside the auto industry are rare. Martin Lagler, Director Global Product Management & Marketing Die Casting: "Facilities with a closing force of 8,000 tons are primarily used to manufacture rear ends, front ends, or battery housings. Other industries rarely require such large components in comparable quantities." However, the potential is significant enough that the automotive experts at Bühler are well-utilized: "Die casting of large structural components is now part of the process of car production," says Martin Lagler.

Injection molding: The 10,000-ton mark falls

The "Mobility Days" took place at the plastic machinery manufacturer Engel, which not only produces its own large-scale plants in St. Valentin but, as a partner of Bühler, manufactures the closing units for the Carat machines – and in its field of competence, is driving forward exactly the same trend as Bühler in aluminum die casting. Franz Füreder, Head of the Business Unit Automotive at Engel: "In the automotive industry, injection molding machines with closing forces of over 5,000 tons are increasingly being used - a demanding market segment in which we are very present with a share of over 50 percent."

Currently, the largest Engel machines have a closing force of 8,400 tons. Two of these facilities were recently delivered to the USA, and the delivery logistics alone, with 29 truckloads, is a challenge. Engel points out that the facilities, with a length of 29.3 meters and a width of 6.4 meters, are relatively small in relation to closing force and shot weight (maximum 122 kilograms) thanks to the two-platen design.

However, even with 8,400 tons, the limit has not yet been reached in injection molding. Anders Nybäck, Vice President of the Business Unit Technical Moulding at Engel: "We are currently planning an injection molding machine with a clamping force of 11,000 tons – for a company from the automotive industry."

The technological trend behind this is very similar to die casting: "We see that increasingly more very large components are being produced by injection molding. Components for which other processes were used until now or that were assembled from several individual parts – such as large-scale structural components and lightweight body components or glazing. Here, the production of very large components in a single process step saves energy, time, and raw materials."

Micromobility: The bodywork from a single shot?

The market situation for mega injection molding is similar to that of megacasting. "We see increasing need and demand. However, injection molding machines with closing forces of over 5,500 tons remain a niche market," explains Anders Nybäck. This niche is highly interesting for Engel, however, as they have extensive experience and competence to offer and can efficiently build and deliver the mega machines with their worldwide production network. Engel is also targeting new applications. Franz Füreder: "For instance, the growing market of micro-mobility, especially in China, is exciting for us: small vehicles with a plastic body in one shot – that's highly efficient." (kt)