AssessorsJournalMagSpring2024 web - Flipbook - Page 28
JOURNAL
MATERIALS
BREAKING
THE MOULD:
WHAT MEGA
CASTING
MEANS FOR
REPAIR
With many manufacturers now following the lead of Tesla, Darren Bright, Principal
Engineer – Automotive Repair at Thatcham Research, examines whether mega casting
is gaining momentum and the impact that the vehicle manufacturing production
process could have on repairers.
Y
ou might 昀椀nd it riveting
to bolt together vehicle
parts but big changes
are coming to this
traditional aspect of
body repair.
Technicians may soon need to adapt
their approach in response to vehicle
manufacturers’ investment in mega
casting production processes.
Mega castings are manufactured using
large high-pressure die-cast (HPDC)
machines, where molten metal is
injected into moulds to produce large
die-cast aluminium body parts, such
as an entire rear one-piece chassis
assembly.
Known in some quarters as giga
casting, the technique originally
took off with Tesla using HPDC to
manufacture the one-piece aluminium
chassis sub-assemblies in its Model
Y. Some car executives and analysts
believe Tesla’s process is setting a new
benchmark for building cars.
Other vehicle manufacturers including
Toyota, Volkswagen and Volvo are
reportedly following suit. Volvo’s
28
Geely-owned stablemate Zeekr is
using HPDC for the 009. NIO is also
incorporating it into the ET5 model.
When you consider that mega casting
combines anywhere between 70 and
100 individual panels of the body
structure into one large chassis
sub-assembly part, it’s easy to see why
companies are investigating
the process.
Many questions
remain about the
feasibility and
complexity of
assessing mega
casting damage
that will cause
uncertainty around
claims and repair
options.
While it isn’t possible to compare exact
repair costs, a replacement part for
a section of the Model Y mega cast
is almost 50% cheaper than a typical
steel construction equivalent section.
The latter often resembles the layers
of an onion: you need to peel away
several levels of material before you
get to the damage, building in higher
cost of repair and increasing the claim.
Price is therefore a big factor in mega
casting gaining momentum. So is the
promise of shorter production times.
There are other potential material
gains, with the use of lighter materials
counterbalancing the additional weight
of new technology that’s included in
electric vehicles – not least the battery.
Meanwhile, vehicle manufacturers are
quick to suggest that mega casting
reduces carbon footprint, helping
them to hit sustainability targets. From
what we know so far, mega casting
also introduces additional stabilising
elements such as nickel into vehicles,
increasing the recyclability and integrity
of parts for potential future use.
THE ASSESSORS JOURNAL | SPRING 2024 | www.iaea-online.org/news/the-assessor
