Periodic Reporting for period 1 - MAGIT (Magnesium and Aluminium Gas Injection Technology for High Pressure Die Casting)
Reporting period: 2018-05-01 to 2018-07-31
TiK – Technologie in Kunststoff GmbH (TiK) was founded in 2004. The company is Europe-wide and especially in the automotive sector known as specialist for plastic injection moulding and the use of gas injection technology. In recent years, the company developed to one of the most innovative companies in product and process development for plastic components. The European automotive industry is faced with wide-ranging challenges in the common years. Especially electric mobility, lightweight design and intelligent use of materials is essential for current and future car development. In modern cars, many components are already produced in die casting, which is the most promising technology regarding cost-effective large-scale production.
To extend the application possibilities of this technology, TiK developed a new and disrupting process, which enables the use of gas injection in aluminium or magnesium high pressure die casting and the production of components with hollow structures. Through this, significant cost savings can be achieved by the elimination of upstream and downstream manufacturing processes and weight can be reduced drastically by using lighter materials, but also new constructional possibilities for complex, hollow and thin-walled components with a load-adjusted design. By MAGIT, fluid-transporting components can be realized. These can be used for cooling of power electronics or temperature controlling of vehicle batteries.
To extend the application possibilities of this technology, TiK developed a new and disrupting process, which enables the use of gas injection in aluminium or magnesium high pressure die casting and the production of components with hollow structures. Through this, significant cost savings can be achieved by the elimination of upstream and downstream manufacturing processes and weight can be reduced drastically by using lighter materials, but also new constructional possibilities for complex, hollow and thin-walled components with a load-adjusted design. By MAGIT, fluid-transporting components can be realized. These can be used for cooling of power electronics or temperature controlling of vehicle batteries.
During the action, a feasibility study was conducted assessing market and competition landscape. Moreover, technological design, functions and specifications were verified by customer involvement. This was done by interviews with potential customers and other stakeholder groups. An implementation plan was elaborated for successful market introduction and the results of the feasibility study were integrated in a business plan including a commercialisation strategy and ideal sales concept for defined markets.
TiK is the first company in the world which has successfully developed gas injection technology for metal die-casting. Current state of the art for creating hollow structures and cavities in die-casted metal parts refer to lost cores (sand, salt) or pipe inlays. Both require a sequence of several process steps and rework which is time-consuming and costly. In contrast to state of the art, in the newly developed process hollow structures and cavities in metal die-casting can be produced automatically in one process step, directly during the die-casting process. This allows faster, more reliable and cost-efficient production of die-casted metal parts in a multitude of possible applications.