{"id":6808,"date":"2024-02-05T19:23:49","date_gmt":"2024-02-05T19:23:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jstconsultancy.cz\/?p=6808"},"modified":"2026-08-01T06:03:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T06:03:16","slug":"giga-casting-a-giga-dies-iii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/intelligent-kalam.80-240-27-133.plesk.page\/en\/giga-casting-a-giga-dies-iii\/","title":{"rendered":"Giga casting a Giga dies III"},"content":{"rendered":"

From the previous blog, it is clear that even if the pioneer of the new concept of car production is Tesla and Elon Musk, in terms of localization, Asia, especially China and Japan, is the furthest in this technology. But how is it with the production of dies for these GIGA presses? And how will it be with Volvo in Ko\u0161ice at Slovakia?<\/p>\n

If we have a classic tool room, we will not succeed with such dies. It is simply the difference between David and Goliath. The mould for GIGA presses can weigh up to 200 tons, the clamping plates for a 9,000-ton press are 4×4 m.<\/p>\n

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Fig. 1<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 Giga Press IDRA with 9,000 Ton Clamping Force (<\/em>https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/tesla-cybertruck-idra-9k-ton-giga-press-teaser-images-video\/<\/em><\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\n

The price of a GIGA press with a clamping force of 16,000 tons is USD 18 Mio, the price of the mould is up to USD 4 Mio. The lifetime of the GIGA press can be estimated at 20 years, but the lifetime of the die is roughly 100,000 shots, i.e. 1 year. Therefore, if the car should look the same for twenty years, at least 20 duplicate dies will be needed during the lifetime of the press.<\/p>\n

But is the lifespan of the mould for GIGA presses really 100,000 pieces? With the Tesla brand, it is noted that each GIGA press has two identical dies, always one mounted on the machine and the other in repair or maintenance. And since it is stated that the service life of individual insert can be 30 to 80 thousand pieces, then the maintenance requirements of such a mould will also be high. The economy of the GIGA factory can be partially seen in this video, but it seems misleading to me. If the cost of the die is USD 4 Mio and the lifetime is 100,000 pieces, then the cost per piece will be USD 40 and not USD 2 as indicated in the video. However, it can still be seen that the major cost item for GIGA castings is the material.<\/p>\n

. https:\/\/youtu.be\/5kX31zSoxlo<\/a><\/p>\n

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Fig. 2<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 Breakdown of casting costs at the GIGA press<\/em><\/p>\n

Interesting information about how a tool room should look for such large dies can be found at this link.https:\/\/schaufler.de\/en\/new-production-hall-for-giga-dies\/<\/a>. Dies weighing up to 200 tons will be produced here, and for GIGA presses with a clamping force of up to 10,000 tons. The basis of all this is a crane with a load capacity of 120 tons and the spotting press up to 200 tons. The rest is just classic machining. But we can’t find anything about thermal processing here either.<\/p>\n

So, what should the heat treatment look like for such large dies? What does Nadca 207: 2022 actually define for us? How to find the right quenching furnace? How temper? These questions are becoming common and I have to admit that I have been asked about it even from Japan. What does Nadca 207: 2022 say?<\/p>\n