3D Printing
News Contact us Seen on social
Home / News / MIT Team Develops Tool Steel for Printed Giga Press Dies

MIT Team Develops Tool Steel for Printed Giga Press Dies

October 10, 2022

Die-casting has been used for the mass production of toy cars such as Hot-Wheels and Matchbox for decades. It’s a great way of churning out dimensionally accurate parts in vast quantities.

Now thanks to a student team from MIT, the process has the potential to be scaled up to full-sized vehicles, and it’s all thanks to a new tool steel that has been developed for 3D printed conformally cooled dies.

Die-casting

The principles of die-casting are similar to injection molding in the sense that a molten metal is forced under pressure into a die where it takes the shape of the final parts. The part must then cool and solidify before it is released from the die/mold.

Giga Press
A Giga Press at Tesla. (Image credit: Tesla)

Obviously metals have much higher melting points than plastics, so this extra heat combined with the pressure can damage the dies by cracking and corrosion. And when you scale up to casting large parts, the time required for cooling is increased significantly.

To accelerate this, cooling channels can be added to the die where a coolant draws the heat away allowing for faster cycle times and higher production rates. 3D printing allows curved channels to be added to the die or mold that more closely match the surfaces of the tooling and the shape of the part, allowing heat to be drawn away much quicker than traditional cooling channels. It not only reduces cycle time but can improve part quality, material characteristics and also reduce cost.

Contest

The team of MIT undergrads (Ian Chen and Kyle Markland) and their supervisor Gregory Olson submitted their new printable tool steel design to the ASM Materials Education Foundation’s 2022 Undergraduate Design Competition, and received third place for their work.

The students utilized knowledge gained from the Computational Materials Design course at MIT, which is taught by Olson who is the Thermo-Calc Professor of the Practice at MIT. His methods have been utilized in designing the Apple Watch.

Tesla’s “Giga Press” casting machines are designed and manufactured by Italian company Idra Group. They make the largest high pressure die casting machines on the planet, and Tesla owns the biggest of them all.

tesla model Y part
This large part (orange) is currently cast by Tesla for the Model Y. (Image credit: Tesla)

The Idra dies are currently machined with CNC and consequently do not have the conformal cooling features of the kind allowed by 3D printing.

“To get affordable electrical cars with good range, [Musk] had to make aluminum structures affordable,” said Olson.

“So he looked at the kind of die casting for little car models and said, ‘Why not scale it up? We’ll cast the whole car.’”

Currently there are several large parts of the Tesla Model Y that are cast with the Giga-press, although with an aluminium shot size of around 50kg, they are still a way off from casting an entire car body shell.

Olson and his team are already in talks with Tesla regarding how to employ the new tool steel in the production of even bigger dies that could allow the casting of larger parts, quicker than what Tesla is currently already doing.

And it may well bring the company a step closer to casting full body shells, just like a Hot-Wheels.

featured image 3d printing model y tesla
Related Story
The Mysterious 3D Printed Part in the Tesla Model Y
Share:
WhatsApp Twitter Facebook LinkedIn Buffer Reddit E-mail
About the author | Phillip Keane
Phillip is an aerospace engineer from UK. He is a graduate of Coventry University (UK), International Space University (France) and Nanyang Technological University (Singapore), where he studied Advanced Manufacturing at the Singapore Centre for 3D Printing.
Latest posts

3D Printed Switchable Explosives Offer Safer Solutions for Mining and Military Applications

Researchers at the Los Alamos National Laboratory have developed "switchable" high explosives that require an inert fluid, like water, to be activated, minimizing... read more »

Military
Experimental setup and detonation time lapse

Engineer Wins Prize for 3D-Admix Concrete Printing Additive

Fort Bragg resident and civil engineer, Michael Butler, has won the Most Innovative Product Award at the 2023 World of Concrete International Exhibition.... read more »

Construction
concrete and 3D-Admix

Patent Granted for 3D Printing Embossing Technology

Northann Corp has obtained a European patent for its innovative "DSE Embossing Technology." This new method combines positive and negative embossing techniques in... read more »

News
DSE embossed example

USAF Global Strike Command Embraces 3D Printing for Future Weapon Sustainment

The Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC) is turning to 3D printing to address its weapon sustainment needs. As the field of additive... read more »

Military
USAF mechanical engineer

Particle Accelerator Sheds New Light on Solidification of Metals During 3D Printing

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden, and other institutions have made a... read more »

3D Printing Metal
Shooting X-rays

CyBe to 3D Print Florida’s First Villa

Dutch construction printing company CyBe Construction is set to print their first 3D concrete villa in Florida, utilizing mobile printing technology to construct... read more »

Construction
CyBe Render

Custom 3D Printed Gaming Mouse Now on Kickstarter

Canadian start-up Formify has launched a Kickstarter campaign for their custom 3D printed gaming mouse, designed to enhance player performance in Esports. Already... read more »

News
custom 3d printed gaming mouse

3D Printed Titanium Cranks Now Available for Electric Mountain Bikes

Cane Creek is taking electric mountain bikes to the next level with the introduction of their 3D printed titanium Electric Wings crankset. Designed... read more »

3D Printing Metal
Swanky and robust

New Technique Produces Ultra-Lightweight, Waste-Free Concrete Structures

Researchers at the University of Michigan's Taubman College have developed an innovative 3D printing method that creates ultra-lightweight, waste-free concrete structures. The "Shell... read more »

Construction
Tubular

Social

  • Facebook Facebook 3D Printing
  • Linkedin Linkedin 3D Printing
  • Twitter Twitter 3D Printing
  • Geeetech Mizar S Geeetech Mizar S
    255 x 255 x 260 mm
    $279
    Buy Now
  • Geeetech A30T Geeetech A30T
    320 x 320 x 420 mm
    $449
    Buy Now
  • Geeetech ALKAID Geeetech ALKAID
    82 x 130 x 190 mm
    $99
    Buy Now
  • Geeetech THUNDER Geeetech THUNDER
    250 x 250 x 260 mm
    $489
    Buy Now
  • Geeetech Mizar M Geeetech Mizar M
    255 x 255 x 260 mm
    $399
    Buy Now
  • Fusion3 F410 Fusion3 F410
    355 x 355 x 315 mm
    $4,599
    Buy Now
  • Modix BIG-60 Modix BIG-60
    600 x 600 x 660 mm
    $4,900
    Buy Now
  • Hands-On Review: The Mole 3D Scanner
    Hands-On Review: The Mole 3D Scanner Learn More
  • Hands-On Review: Creality Ender 5 S1
    Hands-On Review: Creality Ender 5 S1 Learn More

Featured Industries

  • Automotive
  • Aerospace
  • Construction
  • Dental
  • Environmental
  • Electronics
  • Fashion
  • Medical
  • Military
  • Industry MAGNUM Industry MAGNUM
    1500 x 1200 x 1200 mm
    €159.000
    Request a Quote
  • Modix BIG-120Z Modix BIG-120Z
    600 x 600 x 1200 mm
    from $7,500
    Request a Quote
  • Modix BIG Meter Modix BIG Meter
    1010 x 1010 x 1010 mm
    from $13,500
    Request a Quote
Join our newsletter

Our newsletter is free & you can unsubscribe any time.

Company Information

  • What is 3D Printing?
  • Contact us
  • Join our mailing list
  • Advertise with us
  • Media Kit
  • Nederland 3D Printing

Blog

  • Latest News
  • Use Cases
  • Reviews
  • 3D Printers
  • 3D Printing Metal

Featured Companies

  • Modix
  • Industry
  • Geeetech

Featured Industries

  • Automotive
  • Aerospace
  • Construction
  • Dental
  • Environmental
  • Electronics
  • Medical
  • Military
  • Fashion
  • Art
2023 — Strikwerda en Dehue
  • Home
  • Join our mailing list
  • Contact us
Featured Industries
  • Automotive
  • Aerospace
  • Construction
  • Dental
  • Environmental
  • Electronics
  • Medical
  • Military
  • Fashion
  • Art
Blog
  • Latest News
  • Use Cases
  • Reviews
  • 3D Printers
  • 3D Printing Metal
Company Information
  • What is 3D Printing?
  • Contact us
  • Join our mailing list
  • Advertise with us
  • Media Kit
  • Nederland 3D Printing
We serve cookies on this site to analyze traffic, remember your preferences, and optimize your experience.
Details
Close