Case Study: EV Motor Housing -Vacuum HPDC + T6 Structural Casting | KastMfg
How KastMfg solved a BEV motor housing requiring T6 heat treatment, IP67 cooling jacket, and H6 bearing bores -using vacuum-assisted HPDC to achieve Class 1 porosity.
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Case Study: BEV Motor Housing -Vacuum HPDC + T6
Customer: European Tier 1 automotive supplier Program: Front axle motor housing, battery electric passenger vehicle Annual volume: 80,000 pieces/year Material: A380 aluminum, T6 heat treated Finished weight: 4.2 kg
The Challenge
The customer's existing motor housing was gravity cast A356-T6. Converting to HPDC for cost at 80,000 units/year created three simultaneous requirements that conflict in standard HPDC:
- T6 heat treatment -requires near-zero gas porosity (standard HPDC causes blistering at 510°C solution treatment)
- Pressure-tight cooling jacket at 4 bar operating pressure
- H6 bearing bores with DE/NDE concentricity >=.025 mm
Standard HPDC A380 fails on all three counts -gas porosity causes blistering, micro-porosity fails the leak test, and castings warp non-uniformly.
KastMfg's Solution
Vacuum-Assisted HPDC (VADC)
Dedicated VADC machine, cavity vacuum <30 mbar at injection trigger. Mold flow simulation optimized gate position for vacuum-driven fill rather than turbulence-driven fill.
X-ray result: ASTM E505 Class 1 porosity across all sections including cooling jacket walls.
T6 Heat Treatment
- Solution treatment: 508°C, 8 hours
- Water quench: 60°C controlled temperature
- Artificial aging: 160°C, 6 hours
Mechanical property results (n=30):
| Property | Requirement | Achieved |
|---|---|---|
| Tensile strength | >=40 MPa | 368 MPa avg |
| Yield strength | >=80 MPa | 302 MPa avg |
| Elongation | >=% | 5.1% avg |
| Hardness | >=7 HRB | 89 HRB avg |
Bearing Bore Machining
H6 bores machined on horizontal machining center in single setup. DE/NDE concentricity achieved: 0.018 mm (requirement: 0.025 mm). Face perpendicularity: 0.012 mm (requirement: 0.020 mm).
Cooling Jacket: 100% Pressure Test
100% nitrogen test at 8 bar, 30-second hold, decay limit <1 cm³/min. Production pass rate after gate velocity optimization: 100% over 2,400 consecutive pieces.
PPAP Outcome
Level 3 PPAP approved first submission. Cpk on bearing bore diameter: 1.87 (requirement >=1.67). Cpk on cooling jacket leak test: 2.1.
Results
- Zero field warranty claims in 18 months of production
- 100% pressure test pass rate in production (100% test, not sampling)
- T6 scrap rate: <1%
- PPAP first-time approval, no resubmission
Contact KastMfg: yaoqingpu1983@gmail.com | +86 138 1403 4409 | No.6, Rungu Road, Nanjing, China
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