Vacuum Impregnation of Automotive Casting Parts
Prevent Porosities from Thinner Castings in Vehicle Engine Components
Reducing vehicle weight means increasingly thinner castings for engine components. Because thin walls are at risk of porosity, the need for vacuum impregnation is more important than ever before.
In this segment of On the Road with Henkel, we take a closer look at the growing need for impregnation at our facility in Muncie, Indiana.
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT
Speaker 1: [00:00:00] As automakers reduce vehicle weight, they use increasingly thinner castings for ending components. But thin walls are at risk of being too porous, which can cause leaks and reduce durability and performance. So we're on the road with Henkel in Muncie, Indiana, not far from Indianapolis, at one of their nine regional processing centers, to see how Henkel's vacuum impregnation process can protect against leaks.
Speaker 2: Ferocity and porosity sealing has evolved as where we used to have a lot of iron castings, ferocity wasn't that relevant in those castings and as we move to aluminum, ferocity is. A large percentage of the cast components of an automobile are aluminum. I would guess over 50%. As it evolves, there will be more and more aluminum content in a vehicle. Some of these castings will get additional machining after impregnation. There has actually been a transition in the industry in the last few years, moving towards 100%. Impregnation before final machining ensures that any ferocity is there won't be opened up and fail later. Therefore, 100% upfront seems to be a more viable option. Henkel's involvement in the casting impregnation industry creates a number of new opportunities, from beginning to end. It helps reduce inventory. It helps with loss due to scrap. One of the new opportunities in the market is battery cases for the electric and hybrid vehicle. Each battery is encased in aluminum casting. That casting has to be pressure tight, therefore, impregnation will become a part of that process. We also have electronics sealing here in this facility. We do that at three locations. That's a whole another avenue, mainly automotive, similar to the castings. We provide a couple of types of impregnation systems. One is called the CIS, which is Circle Impregnation System. It's automated. It runs recycling resin, which is good for the environment. We also have a linear system and it's adjustable to the customer size. What we've designed into our new equipment are several advantages. They include ease of maintenance and access to the equipment, water usage, and water management. Quality standards in the industry continue to rise. Oil on the floor is not acceptable. Something leaking out of an engine is not acceptable. Worn tissues are unacceptable. Casting impregnation helps with that to allow the auto manufacturer to provide that higher quality standard.
[00:02:44] [END OF AUDIO]