Tech Story

sign and manufacture. Magnesium, the lighter substitute for aluminium, is catching up, finding ways to com‑ bat hazards in processing and the costs involved. Innovations in ma‑ terials and processes in steels have also significantly contributed to this transformation. Thinner and stron‑ ger sheets combined with unique‑ ly designed body structures have been ably supported by the evolu‑ tion in micro‑alloyed high‑strength steels. Critical loading points in a car are still made of high‑strength steels or titanium. The progress in substitution of metal by plastics and carbon/glass fibre composites has advanced quite rapidly. Prod‑ uct innovations have reduced metal content with help from improved bonding techniques and research in resin and adhesive manufacturing.

While in pursuit of light‑weighting, the bumps that confront the die casting industry are many. Alumin‑ ium and magnesium alloys have limited reach in matching special steels. Cast aluminium components need to be manufactured thin and light and competitively stronger through creative design architec‑ ture. Capable machines and die de‑ signs that meet these requirements have to evolve continually when newer product designs are aggres‑ sively gravitating to other materials and manufacturing methods. With the advent of battery‑powered electric vehicles, the die‑casting in‑ dustry should search for fresh op‑ portunities to stay and excel in a competitive environment.

In the light‑weighting process and with the advent of thin‑walled, light‑weight castings in aluminium and magnesium, especially tested with inert gases like helium, nitro‑ gen or SF6, vacuum impregnation of castings is an accepted process.Especially for components such as computer hard disc castings (to avoid corruption of data), oil and gas regulator bodies (for safety), automotive brake components (for safety), automotive aircon com‑ pressor castings (to prevent leak‑ age of refrigerant gas), etc., it is rather a production tool and a qual‑ ity assurance process specified by design engineers and accepted by foundrymen worldwide for safety as well as quality assurance.