Giga Press

Die casting works by forcing molten metal alloy inside a reusable mold, then opening the mold to remove the finished piece after it cools and solidifies. The opened mold is cooled to and cleaned by robots, and fresh molten aluminium is prepared for the next cycle to begin 1‒2 minutes after the first cycle. Each fresh casting is trimmed to approximate size, measured, checked for imperfections, and sent for CNC machining to finished size. Die structure Tesla's Model Y rear casting dies have four known visible parts: • two large classic main facing dies, oriented vertically with injection from the bottom of the immobile one. • two smaller side wedging dies, moving in for injection and out for removal. The front casting suggests an identical die layout, with a possible fifth wedging die underneath (process) for the front-facing (car) crash rail mount. Metal alloy Sandy Munro analysed a Model Y casting in 2021 and reported that the casting aluminium alloy used in the large Tesla chassis parts is primarily an aluminium 89.5%‒silicon 8.5% mix, plus several other trace elements, falling within the categorisation of aluminium Association alloy "AA 386": Components Vacuum inside the closed mold is achieved using a 4,000-litre tank made by Fondarex in Switzerland. Molten metal is pumped through heated pipes, and rotary degassing is performed to reduce porosity. Steps and machinery involved: • StrikoMelter Melting and Holding Furnace () • Holding oven (~) • Giga Press ("DCM"‒Die-casting machine) • Quench oil tank • Mechanical trim press • X-Ray machine (porosity check) • Plasma arc trimming. • Drill and tap (machining) • Laser scanning (coordinate-measuring machine, ) • Fastener insertion • Scrap metal shredder (immediate closed loop recycling of aluminium offcuts) • Vacuum system ==History==

Tesla In 2019 Jerome Guillen indicated that Tesla Automation were working on a "giant, giant, giant machine" to "make full-size cars in the same way that toy cars are made". As of October 2021, Tesla had five casting machines installed at Giga Shanghai, two machines installed at Tesla Factory in Fremont, two machines installed at Giga Berlin, and two machines going into Giga Texas—plus foundations in preparation for many additional Giga Press machines. During May/June 2022, Idra were assembling a Giga Press. , two 9,000 ton presses were available at GigaTexas to cast Cybertruck rears, while Cybertruck front castings are cast on a 6500-ton press that is shared for casting Model Y frames. Total GigaPresses at Texas were two 9,000 ton plus four of the smaller presses. Fremont rear megacasting from Die Casting Machine #1 (DCM1) at Tesla Factory in September 2020 In June 2020, permits for foundations to support the Giga Press at Fremont were issued Germany plans for Giga Berlin included eight die casting machines. (Located at .) As of October 2021, five machines were available. Texas in January 2021 For Tesla Model Y car production at Giga Texas beginning in 2022, Tesla began to deploy a single-piece front in addition to the existing single-piece rear casting. During the night of 18/19 January 2021, concrete foundations for three Giga Press machines were poured at the Giga Texas factory location near Austin, Texas. () On 21 January 2021 the first Giga Press components started to arrive on site. , all major components of the first Giga Press at the Austin site had been craned into place. On 15 April 2021, components for a second Giga Press started arriving at Giga Texas. Glovitech LK Technology delivered one Impress-Plus DCC 6000 machine for Glovitech of South Korea, installed in the Vân Trung Industrial Zone, Việt Yên, Bắc Giang Province, Vietnam. The machine is used for producing large Faraday cages (radio-frequency enclosures) for 5G mobile base stations. Japan In June 2023 Toyota announced that it was adopting large casting technology for its electric vehicles. In 2023 Japanese auto parts supplier Ryobi announced plans to cast large electric-vehicle body parts and expects to reduce car body manufacturing costs by 20%. Volvo By November 2023, orders had been placed for two 9000-tonnes-force Giga Press machines for a new Volvo electric vehicle factory at Košice, Slovakia. 2.0 In September 2023 Tesla was reported to be considering a single-piece casting for entire underbody of its to-be-announced "small car", an easier task than single-casting their existing, larger models. This required learning how to use larger Giga Press machines, reduce mold design costs, and incorporate hollow subframes. Key innovations include using 3D printing to make cast prototypes with industrial sand. Making a large metal mold can cost $1.5 million. Typically, multiple iterations and tweaks are required, at great expense. ==References==