THE CHALLENGE

Manually pouring wheel castings led to process variation, lower yields, lower production rates, wasted material, and inferior mechanical properties.

AUTOMOBILE WHEEL CASTING PROCESS

THE SOLUTION

A new process enabling consistent directional solidification of wheel castings. It requires:

Precision mold cavity features
Coordinated control of injection rate
Pinpoint control over mold cooling

The solution is to develop a reliable automated equipment infrastructure in support of new tooling and processes for reducing casting variation and improving productivity: The AP2300 Low Pressure Casting Machine

LOW PRESSURE INJECTION CASTING

TOOLING IMPROVEMENTS

MINIMIZING VARIATION IN MOLD CAVITIES

CNC Machined Rim Features

All rim features in top, bottom, and side cores are precision turned on vertical CNC lathes.
Bottom Core Electrode Abrading

Graphite electrodes used in EDM process are developed using computer controlled abrading process.
Bottom Core EDM

As-Cast cosmetic wheel features are cut accurately using CNC Orbiting Electrical Discharge Machine.

PROCESS CONTROL INNOVATIONS

MINIMIZING PROCESS VARIATION

MAIN CONTROL PANEL

Machine Controls

Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) used for all motion control, analog and discrete I/O.

PNEUMATIC PANEL

Pressurization Control

PLC sends user defined pressurization profile to dedicated pneumatic control valve and synchronizes with mold cooling.

TEMPERATURE CONTROL

Process Temperature

Dedicated temperature controllers monitor and control furnace temperature utilizing silicon controlled rectifier and step down transformer for PID control of four silicon carbide rods.