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Finding The Balance Between Lightweighting and Part Performance

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The rapid growth of a new generation of automobiles is driving new engineering innovations and advancements in technology but it is also creating challenges for automotive designers, engineers, and their suppliers. Strategy no longer comes from just removing and replacing a few steel side panels with aluminum, lightweighting is now a whole-vehicle concept to improve not only fuel economy and emissions but performance and handling. At Dynacast, we understand that finding the balance between design, cost and part performance can be very challenging and we’re here to offer design solutions to fit your needs.

Sensitivity to Weight Through Design

Our thin-wall aluminum casting capabilities are often the solution to many design engineer’s challenges. We can cast aluminum parts that are almost as lightweight as their magnesium counterparts but offer better physical properties like higher tensile strength and additional finishing options. We find the perfect balance between proper overflow placement and runner system and gate design to offer our customers aluminum castings with walls as thin as 0.5mm.

Additionally, our engineers offer precise design for manufacturing techniques such as removing the core of a component to make the part lighter. With their die casting expertise, they can predict exactly where to remove unnecessary material without compromising the strength of the component. This technique is used time and time again with any of our die casting alloys.

Alloy Dependent

While we may excel at thin-wall aluminum, it is not the alloy for every project. Fortunately, we offer a variety of alloys that can best suit your project, rather than having your project meet the restrictions of the alloy—or the die casting manufacturer that offers it. If you’re looking for something that has excellent strength-to-weight ratios with outstanding EMI and RFI shielding, consider casting with magnesium. Perfect for electrical housings and connectors, magnesium has been a choice alloy for automotive designers looking to really cut down on weight. Additionally, the accuracy we can obtain casting zinc makes it a great option for wear resistance. Its structural integrity makes it a perfect fit for automotive safety and electrical components. 

Did you know that many of today’s automotive design engineers are turning to aluminum when thermal management is required?

Engineering Horsepower

Our best-in-class engineering team not only offers expertise in die casting but has decades of experience designing for the automotive industry and we continue to help our customers realize their design potential through rigorous design for manufacturing strategies. Whether it’s our top of the line software to ensure accuracy for your component’s design, tool, and manufacture, or our predictive engineering methodology to identify possible manufacturing problems, by the time your part goes to full production you can rest assured it is fully optimized for the die casting manufacturing process.

To learn more from our engineering team, request an on-site design seminar!

Stability in a Global Footprint

No project is too large or too geographically dispersed for Dynacast. With 23 plants across 16 countries, our global footprint matches yours. So, while many automotive manufacturers are often plagued with shops that close, our customers can rest easy knowing our process stability goes far beyond our casting accuracy. Our 80-years of manufacturing experience is backed by the customer-focused local service you receive in each region. We understand that trust and relationships are very important in terms of support, delivery, and reliability and we believe that we can deliver on that—our top automotive customers have been with us for over 25 years!  With Dynacast, you can seamlessly launch programs anywhere in the world with minimal risk and lower total costs.

If dealing with distant suppliers is causing your business to have longer delivery times and extra freight costs, contact Dynacast today.

Your Automotive Die Cast Manufacturer

Through years of building relationships with our automotive customers, we've found that by working together on designs from the very beginning we are able to not only offer the best solutions to new-age challenges but also price more effectively. By recommending the best casting solutions up-front with a variety of alloy options and design techniques, we are able to create a better performing part that will be lighter and more reliable. Contact our team today to get your business moving forward.

 

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Last updated 06.19.2023