Gigacastings will be the most sustainable Castings

It sounds wrong just by reading this headline. Gigacastings require large DCMs, tools that weigh over 100 tons, massive amounts of aluminium, and an armada of heating devices. How can this colossal monster of a casting process be sustainable?

Let’s go through these points and then add a twist. The large DCMs, just like the small ones, can produce parts for decades. Once they’re installed, they produce generations of vehicles—and they’re efficient while doing that. As you can see in my Megacasting Rocks – Video, the support system is tiny in comparison.

Their origin defines the carbon footprint of the steel and aluminium used. The steel industry has advanced recycling routes compared to the aluminium industry. The main reason for that is iron’s position in the electrochemical voltage series. Every impurity in the scrap will stay within the melt of the recycled aluminium.

That is why gigacastings will enable the development of the world’s most sustainable cars. When you look at a current body-in-white structure like in the picture below, you can see a lot of castings, beams, and sheet metals. After years of service, you must disassemble everything for recycling. So, you need to determine the alloy specification for each part and separate it from the rest. But be aware that the parts are welded, screwed, glued, and riveted together. These joining methods must be separated because you cannot tolerate steel rivets in your recycling process. This process is labor-intensive and, therefore, expensive. Who is going to pay for that? Probably not the broad market.

Imagine a car made from three castings: front- and rear gigacasting and a battery box casting. Recycling will be easy if you replace that conglomerate of parts with three gigacastings. Therefore, most of the alloy can be used for the next gigacasting because it is easy! If we want to enable a circular economy, we must design it from the start.

Did you find this approach interesting? Why don’t you schedule a free Consultation Call now to inform yourself about the Sustainability Workshop? In this workshop, we will assess your best way to become greener.