Rongtai Die Casting Project Advances with New 9000 T Giga Press

Yangzhou, China – The expansion of the Rongtai Precision Die Casting Project in Jiangdu District marks a significant milestone with the commissioning of its second phase.

Central to this development is the deployment of a 9,000 ton die casting machine, now operational, as reported by the Yangzhou Daily. The introduction of the 9,000 ton machine underscores Rongtai's commitment to scaling up its manufacturing capabilities, aiming to meet the growing demands for high quality, large scale die cast components.

In addition to the new super large die casting unit, the Yangzhou facility is well equipped with an array of die casting machines, ranging from 3,000 to 3,500 tons in capacity.

About Rongtai. Jiangsu Rongtai Industry is a high-tech enterprise integrating tooling development and manufacturing, high pressure die-casting, precision machining and assembly. They specialize in automobile steering, new energy electrification (motor, battery, electric control units), power train parts, structural parts, integrated die-casting, energy storage parts, etc. They mostly utilize IDRA and TOYO die casting machines.

Visiting TPI

On Tuesday October 1st I had the honor to be invited to the International Magnesium Association visit to Thixotropic Piston Injection Technology in Lebring, Austria.

At the event there was a 900 ton conventional cold chamber die casting machine equipped with a TPI prototype which is equivalent to the available today SuperPlast module. The machine, although it was born as a die casting machine, it was transformed into a thixomolding machine and was running, you can see the videos I took by clicking here. We also had the opportunity to learn more about their products through a presentation by their CEO, Christian Platzer and later visit the Lightweight Technology Center facility and meet their CEO, Markus Fritz. LTC is a foundry specialized in magnesium thixomolding.

What differentiates the TPI module from traditional thixomolding machines is the versatility of the product. In fact a TPI module is capable of transforming any existing cold chamber die casting machine into a thixomolding machine and allows you to switch between the two processes on the same production cell in 8 hours. The design of the TPI module allows for the use of a conventional injection system, like those used in die casting, instead of the screw used in conventional thixomolding. The absence of a check valve in this setup eliminates the leakage problem and allows the injection system to deliver high pressures up to 1,000 bars and sustain it for several seconds during the intensification phase.

The day after the event I was lucky enough to be invited for a discussion with the team (I’ll write about it in the coming days) and witness the trial production of parts for some customers who were testing the machine.

I would like to thank Marco Tropper and and Christian Platzer for the invitation, as well as Martin Tauber and the IMA members.

Tesla Won NADCA Award

At the North American Die Casting Association (NADCA) Congress and Exhibition in Indianapolis, Tesla won the “Emphasis on Education” Award.

“The Emphasis on Education Recognition Award recognizes a die casting company that has had a specific focus on die casting education and training for their workforce. The award is chosen by NADCA Education Staff and Educational Committee Chairman.

The selection criteria for outstanding contribution to the promotion of die casting education includes the number of NADCA courses held over the past year, the total number of employees exposed to the courses, and consistency in offering courses over the past three years.”

Tesla operates tens of die casting machines all around the world, most notably in North America Tesla is operating eight 6,000 ton Giga Presses and two 9,000 ton machines.

Another 3000 T Magnesium Thixomolding Machine Begins Operations

Haitian announced that its flagship product, the HMG-3000T magnesium Thixomolding machine, has been successfully installed and is now operational at the Weishi Technology production facility in the Jiangsu province.

Haitian General Manager stated earlier this year: "We plan to launch larger tonnage 3,600 and 5,000 ton Magnesium Thixomolding machines this year. We are developing disruptive thick-walled Magnesium (Mg) alloy Thixomolding technology"

About Weishi. The Weishi Electronics Group is a company focusing on the research, development, production and sales of liquid crystal display hardware as well as back light display hardware.

EU Tariffs on Chinese made EVs

On Friday the EU members voted in favor of placing tariffs on China made electric vehicles. The outcome of Friday's vote was not publicly available, although several diplomats told Euronews how each member state positioned itself.

• 10 in favor: Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, France, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Latvia, the Netherlands and Poland. (45.99% of the EU population)

• 12 abstained: Belgium, the Czech Republic, Greece, Spain, Croatia, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Austria, Portugal, Romania, Sweden and Finland. (31.36%)

• 5 against: Germany, Hungary, Malta, Slovenia and Slovakia. (22.65%)

These tariffs are in addition to the current 10% import duty. This is the addition which OEMs will get;

• Tesla +7.8%

• BYD +17%

• Geely +18.8%

• SAIC and other non-cooperative OEMs +35.3%

• OEMs cooperating +20.7%

This Week’s Gallery

Tesla Gigafactory Texas by Joe Tegtmeyer