Tesla adopts integrated die casting technology.
So what is die casting?
Pressure casting (die casting for short) is a kind of casting, which is a method of filling liquid metal or semi-liquid metal into the cavity of die casting mold at high speed and solidifying rapidly at high pressure.
The remarkable characteristics of die casting process are high pressure, high speed and high temperature.
High pressure: its common pressure ranges from tens to hundreds of MPa;
High speed: the filling speed of die casting is about 10-50m/s, and sometimes even exceeds 100m/s, and the filling time is very short, generally 0.0 1-0.2s,
High temperature: the temperature of molten metal is very high during die casting. The die-casting temperature of zinc alloy is 400℃, that of aluminum alloy is about 6 10-670℃, and that of copper alloy can reach 1000℃. The temperature of the mold is generally one-third of the alloy temperature.
Understanding these characteristics of die casting process is helpful to design die casting parts reasonably to meet the requirements of die casting process.
I used to be familiar with sheet metal and stamping technology. Compared with sheet metal parts, the shape of die-casting parts can be more complicated, the wall thickness of parts can be changed and the strength is better than that of sheet metal parts. One die casting can replace several sheet metal parts, which simplifies the product structure. It provides a new reference direction for us to design simpler and stronger products.
Therefore, I think it is very necessary to learn a little knowledge of die casting.