Energy
voestalpine additive manufacturing makes die casting more sustainable
3. February 2020
voestalpine additive manufacturing makes die casting more sustainable
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Sustainability
Volkmar Held
As a freelance writer, Volkmar Held reports for voestalpine on topics that move people. The content of his stories ranges from archaeometallurgy to future technologies.
3D-printed tools produced by the voestalpine Additive Manufacturing Center ensure sustainability. Die casting enterprises benefit from fewer rejects and reduce their CO2 footprint.
voestalpine experience in developing exceptional tool steels, and its power to innovate in additive manufacturing, is supporting today’s die casting industry. In turn, die cast products are securing ever-increasing market shares in the automotive industry. This is hardly surprising, because they help meet the demand for reduced component and vehicle weights. Plus, lighter vehicles emit fewer pollutants.
voestalpine experience brings numerous advantages
Manufacturers of lighter die cast components with reduced wall thicknesses benefit from the entire voestalpine range of offerings.
"The voestalpine Additive Manufacturing Center supports die casting companies by providing everything from technical support in selecting the correct material, through to construction and simulation of the finished tool insert. We can use innovative special steels such as our BÖHLER AMPO W360 to manufacture inserts efficiently. This provides our customers worldwide with the chance to benefit from the advantages of a 3D-printed die casting insert."
The die casting industry is striving to advance lightweight construction, by means of the process-reliable manufacture of 2 mm wall thicknesses, for example. This relies on the near-net-shape tempering of tools which, thanks to voestalpine additive manufacturing, is becoming increasingly feasible—leading to more sustainable die casting.
voestalpine 3D printing for sustainability
The tool inserts produced by the voestalpine Additive Manufacturing Center Düsseldorf are already proving their sustainable credentials in practice. “The 3D-printed tools produced by the voestalpine Additive Manufacturing Center are demonstrably sustainable in many respects,” notes CEO Armin Wiedenegger of the voestalpine Additive Manufacturing Center Düsseldorf. With perfect material selection and optimized tool design, die casting industry customers have access to customized solutions which are not only economically efficient but also environmentally friendly.
Specific customer advantages
In everyday manufacturing, optimized 3D-printed tools from voestalpine reduce the scrap rate, increase the service life of the tool insert, and reduce CO2 emissions. Using innovative voestalpine tool inserts allows voestalpine customer DGH Heidenau to reduce its annual CO2-footprint by around 80 tons. This is achieved primarily by:
- Reducing the scrap rate;
- Extending the service life of a tool insert; and
- Reducing cycle times per shot.
DGH Heidenau in Dohna, Saxony, offers a broad spectrum of modern aluminum and magnesium die casting. It includes the majority of the prestigious automotive manufacturers amongst its customers.
Armin Wiedenegger stresses the potential savings gained through the optimum use of BÖHLER W360 and voestalpine additive manufacturing:
"Every year our customer DGH produces at least 20,000 fewer rejects, saving a total 160,000 kWh of energy and 40 tons of aluminium."
3D-printed tool components for die casting. The near-net-shape cooling channels which can only be manufactured using this process are visible on the inside.
Volkmar Held