Together with 18 global partners from the automotive and metal industries, FEV has investigated the potential of gigacasting in the MeGiCast project.
The aluminium die casting of entire assemblies enables efficient production and reduces development and production times. FEV is taking this approach one step further and developing highly integrated body designs that can achieve significant savings in costs, weight and CO2 emissions. The hybrid manufacturing technologies used could represent the next evolutionary stage of gigacasting with weight savings of up to 18 per cent.
The MeGiCast consortium partners are analysing a gigacasting front end and comparing it with a modern multi-material approach. In addition to technological aspects and the weight comparison, the project also includes a CO2 analysis. An economic evaluation and a comprehensive lifecycle assessment (LCA) complete the investigations.
For this purpose, a front end in gigacasting design is being analysed and compared with a modern multi-material approach
Component reduction for efficient production
“FEV is continuously working on innovative, integrated design approaches that take into account customer-relevant safety and quality requirements as well as production-related aspects. These include simplified assembly, a reduced number of variants and an optimised cost structure in production. FEV pursues the philosophy of integrating as many functions as possible directly into the vehicle structure in order to achieve maximum efficiency. A holistic approach to lightweight construction, taking into account technological and economic factors, plays a central role in this. Gigacasting is one of several key technologies for achieving these ambitious goals,” explained Christian Kürten, Managing Director of FEV Vehicle.
“In our opinion, gigacasting will remain a permanent fixture in vehicle construction. Nevertheless, innovative production processes such as gigastamping or hybrid solutions should not be overlooked when it comes to a holistic view of production.”
Front end made of three components is up to 18 per cent lighter
FEV has developed a hybrid production technology to implement this design. This involves using large sheet metal components for flat structures to which reinforcements are applied using the casting process. This combination unites the advantages of both manufacturing processes. The result is a front end consisting of three components that is up to 18 per cent lighter than a variant based purely on gigacasting. The reduction in component weight brings obvious advantages, but also poses challenges for the industry. These arise not only from the complexity of the cast parts, but also from high investment costs, production requirements and questions regarding service life.
“Ultimately, design, cost and sustainability aspects must be in balance,” said Dr. Hagen Wegner, Director of FEV Consulting.
