Delaying thermal cracks reduces maintenance costs

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Meusburger Georg GmbH & Co. KG

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Deutsche Edelstahlwerke Services GmbH

Customers place highest demands on cast parts

Production at the plant in Bielsko-Biala, Poland, is in excess of two million cast parts for the automotive industry per year. In future, Nemak also hopes to expand the site for the manufacture of important aluminium structural components for the automotive industry. The operational efficiency of production and the quality of the die-cast components largely depend on the tool input stock. “Our customers in the automotive industry place the highest requirements on our cast parts. They expect flawless surfaces and absolutely precise geometries. The basis for this is a tool made of hot-working steel that is purpose-designed,” says the head of tool manufacturing at Nemak Poland.

High expectations during the test phase

Specifically those mould inserts that give the later cast part the desired characteristic shape and complexity are subjected to an extreme environment during the manufacture of die-cast aluminium. The actual production of a part only takes approx. two minutes. In the process, mould inserts must withstand high pressures and temperatures of over 700 °C. “The thermal cracks that occur sooner or later cannot be prevented, only delayed, as Thermodur E 40 K Superclean does very effectively. Sooner or later they will result in the failure of the mould because at the very latest when the cracks fuse and fractures occur, this would affect the surface of the cast part produced,” explains DEW Sales Manager Hans-Georg Maschetzke.

This is also confirmed by Nemak. The company is now testing mould inserts made of Thermodur E 40 K Superclean under actual operating conditions. “The entire test phase takes a bit more than a year. We will compare the parameters taken after the test phase with the present values, while paying particular attention to surface quality, which has a direct and decisive impact on the overall life of the tool. So far, we are using Thermodur E 38 K Superclean from Deutsche Edelstahlwerke for the engine housings and gearbox housing, which has proven reliable,” Nemak explains.

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