Giga Press

Giga Press are a series of aluminium die casting machines manufactured by Idra Group in Italy. They are notable for being the largest high-pressure die casting machines in the world, with a clamping force of 55,000 to 61,000 kilonewtons (5,600 to 6,200 tf).[2][3] Each machine weighs 410–430 tonnes (900,000–950,000 lb).[2][3]

Giga Press
Die Casting Machine #2 at Tesla Factory, Fremont, 2020
ClassificationHigh-pressure die-casting (HPDC)
IndustryMetal casting
ApplicationCar chassis production
Dimensions19.5 m × 5.9 m × 5.3 m
64 by 19 by 17 feet
Weight410–430 tonnes
900,000–950,000 lb
Fuel sourceElectric
Powered
  • 2 × 132kW motors[1]
  • 4 × 90kW motors[2]
Invented~2018
Examples6+ (Tesla, Inc.)
Model
  • OL 6100 CS (Idra)
  • DCC 6000 (LK)

Base specification Giga Press machines had been included in Idra's catalogue since 2018,[4] with usage of a customised OL 6100 CS Giga Press started by Tesla, Inc. in late-2020 for the production of chassis parts for the Tesla Model Y.[5]

Shots of molten aluminium weighing 80 kilograms (180 lb) are injected into the cold-chamber casting mold with a velocity of 10 metres per second (22 mph; 36 km/h).[6] The cycle time is ~80‒90 seconds,[2] allowing an output rate of 40‒45 completed castings per hour, or ~1,000 castings per day.

Tesla

In 2019 Jerome Guillen indicated that Tesla Grohmann Automation were working on a "giant, giant, giant machine" to "make full-size cars in the same way that toy cars are made".[7]

With our giant casting machines, we are literally trying to make full-size cars in the same way that toy cars are made

Elon Musk, (18 January 2021)[8]

The two biggest casting machines in the world had been purchased by Tesla, according to Elon Musk in April 2020, to enable casting the Tesla Model Y rear chassis and crash rails as a single component.[9][10] In January 2021, Elon Musk announced that also the rear chassis of the Tesla Cybertruck would be produced using an over-8,000-tonne-force (80,000 kN) casting machine.[11]

Principle of operation

Giga Press in open position for robot removal of casting + cleaning; and in closed position during casting + after removal of previous casting

Vacuum inside the closed mould is achieved using a 4,000-litre tank made by Fondarex in Switzerland.[12]

Molten metal is pumped through heated pipes, and rotary degassing is performed to reduce porosity in the casting.[13]

Steps and machinery involved:

Internals of second Tesla-customised Idra OL 6100 CS Giga Press, with gap for die casting molds, between plattens and moving compression toggles
  • "Giga Press: OL 5500 / 6200 CS". Idra.
  • Idra Introduces Idra OL 5500 CS (stock footage). Intro Idra Group. Idra. 24 June 2019. Retrieved 24 April 2020 – via Youtube. Idra Introduces Idra OL 5500 CS … perfect die casting machine for structure parts … think big … first production Giga Press sold … welcome to the future … welcome to the Giga Press
  • "IDRA Giga Press #3" (factory assembly timelapse). October 2020 – via Youtube.
  • Musk, Elon; Baglino, Drew (22 September 2020). Model Y Giga Casting. 2020 Annual Shareholder Meeting and Battery Day (offset 1:20:53). Tesla, Inc. – via Youtube. [Elon Musk] single-piece casting for the front body and the rear body … we commissioned the largest casting machine that has ever been made, and it's currently working just over the road at our Fremont plant … our own alloy, because we wanted a high-strength casting alloy that did not require coatings or heat treatment. … interfaces to what we call the "structural battery" … filler that is a structural adhesive, aswell as flame retardant, it effectively glues the cells to the upper and lower sheet … honeycomb sandwich with two basesheets … [Drew Baglino] worth another 7% dollars-per-kilowatt∙hour level reduction at the battery pack level

References
  1. OL CS Compact Series (PDF) (Brochure). Idra. 4 July 2019. p. 2. Retrieved 24 April 2020. OL 5500 CS … Pumps motors power: kW 2x132
  2. "OL 5500 CS" (PDF). Technical data sheet. Idra. 4 June 2019. Retrieved 20 April 2020. Clamping force: kN 55.000; Ton 5.607 … Tie bar spacing: mm 2300x2300 … Tie bar diameter mm 450 … Max. shot weight (Al alloy): kg 84 … Dry Cycles (as per DIN 24480) n/1’ 1,5 … Pumps motors power; kW 4x90 … Machine weight: Ton 410 … Machine dimensions (LxWxH): m 19.2x6.9 [sic]x5.22 Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  3. "OL 6200 CS" (PDF). Technical data sheet. Idra. 4 June 2019. Retrieved 20 April 2020. Clamping force: kN 61.000; Ton 6.218 … Tie bar spacing: mm 2350x2350 … Tie bar diameter mm 470 … Max. shot weight (Al alloy): kg 104,6 … Dry Cycles (as per DIN 24480) n/1’ 1,3 … Pumps motors power; kW 4x90 … Machine weight: Ton 430 … Machine dimensions (LxWxH): m 19,5x5,9x5,32 Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  4. Ferrario, Riccardo (11 October 2018). "PDC School interviews Riccardo Ferrario, Idra General Manager" (offset 01:00) (in Italian). Idra. Retrieved 24 April 2020 – via Youtube. Quali innovazioni propone Idra, nel settore delle pressofusioni … La Idra a costruito per prima di tutti i nostri concorrenti una presse da quattromila duecento (4,200) tonnellate. Ora siamo orgogliosi di potervi dire che abbiamo a catalogo la mille-cinque, cinquecento (5,500) tonnellate e anche la seimilacinquecento (6,500) tonnellate.
  5. Visnic, Bill (2 June 2020). "Tesla casts a new strategy for lightweight structures". Automotive Engineering. Vol. 7 no. 5. SAE International. ISSN 2331-7647. Retrieved 3 June 2020. world's largest aluminum die-casting machine to manufacture entire rear underbody structures. … Tesla is the first customer for IDRA's hulking OL6100 CS (with upgraded locking force to handle the special Tesla casting), destined for installation in the company's Fremont, California and Shanghai, China, plants. IDRA's "Giga Press" measures some 64 feet (19.5 m) long and 17 feet (5.3 m) tall. Along with the higher clamping force is a maximum aluminum-alloy "shot" weight of 104.6 kg (231 lb). … weighing in excess of 410 tons.
  6. "Idra introduces the world's largest die cast machine". Asosiasi Italia Pemasok Foundries. 1 February 2018. Retrieved 20 April 2020. capable to produce castings well beyond 80 kgs in weight over an unbeaten maximum allowed projected area. … manufacture of high-integrity Aluminium and Magnesium Die Cast components for the automotive sector, with focus on structural and safety critical components. … Injection velocity exceeding requirements of 10 m/sec
  7. Guillen, Jerome (23 June 2019). "Our Interview With Tesla President Jerome Guillen, Part Deux". Cleantechnica (Interview). Interviewed by Zachary Shahan. Retrieved 20 April 2020. building a giant machine using Tesla's Grohmann sub-division, … emphasized that it was a "giant, giant, giant machine" that duplicates everything, is modular, is simple on the modular level, and … is gigantic.
  8. Musk, Elon [@elonmusk] (18 January 2021). "With our giant casting machines, we are literally trying to make full-size cars in the same way that toy cars are made" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  9. Musk, Elon; Munro, Sandy (14 April 2020). "Tesla Manufacturing with Sandy Munro and Elon Musk!". Third Row Tesla (offset 09:29) (Episode 14). Retrieved 20 April 2020. The current version of the Model Y has basically two big high pressure die casting aluminium castings that are joined, then there are still a bunch of other bits that are attached. And then later this year we will transition to the rear underbody being a single-piece casting that also integrates the rear crash rails. … It gets better: the current castings—because they have to interface to so many things—we have to CNC machine them; CNC the interfaces … the single-piece casting has no CNC machining; it doesn't even have datums. … (10:36) It does require the world's biggest casting machine, which we have two off. Basically around a 6,000-tonne casting machine—the size of a small house basically. One coming from Italy, and one coming from China. We should be starting to set up the one from Italy, … next month. … about a 30% reduction in the size of the body shop … (12:59) going back and retro-fitting the Model 3 production at Fremont with a single-piece casting—it might be something we'd do, but it would probably in two years or something like that…
  10. Musk, Elon [@elonmusk] (14 August 2020). "Will be amazing to see it in operation! Biggest casting machine ever made. Will make rear body in a single piece, including crash rails" (Tweet). Retrieved 14 August 2020 – via Twitter.
  11. Musk, Elon (27 January 2021). Tesla Q4 2020 Earnings Call (Interview). Missing or empty |title= (help); |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  12. "Giga Castings, not a wild idea anymore, but a market trend to follow". Foundry Planet. 14 December 2020. Retrieved 17 December 2020. Fondarex … vacuum systems Modular Cell 6C 4000 liter tank [built] in our workshop in St-Légier – Switzerland, now equip the first 6 Giga Presses in the world … with 6 fully independent vacuum channels connected to the die and setting one channel dedicated to the shot sleeve. … evacuation capacity of this vacuum system allows the production of large structural castings … [Idra] … two Giga Presses in production … and we will be delivering another two machines before the end of 2020 into Europe. This will be followed by an additional eight machines in 2021 for the production of underbody castings. … 20th of August [2020] the first batch of mega castings were produced thanks to the new patented Idra 5S injection system.
  13. Keller, Jeff (12 January 2021). "Larger Automotive Castings Drive Innovation in Molten Metal Delivery". Melt Pour. Foundry Magazine. Retrieved 18 January 2021. creation of closed-loop systems in which alloys can be recycled and repurposed for a consistent application, almost infinitely. … reduce the total number of parts needed for vehicle assembly … over 70 parts were eliminated from the overall assembly. … new project at a large, California-based OEM of electric vehicles. … 105 kgs of molten aluminum … delivered in each shot. … solution requires a pump that can deliver this amount of metal to the diecasting machine. A second MMEI pump … is used to measure the biscuit after each dose … In testing … 4 seconds delivery time, … in production 7-8 seconds is the rate. … proprietary heated-launder piping that maintains constant metal temperature throughout the process. … incorporated a rotary degasser into the system to ensure the highest degree of metal quality and to prevent any porosity from getting into the part.
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