Items Tagged with 'automotive components'

Wisconsin Oven designed, built and shipped an electrically heated horizontal quench system to a manufacturer of products for the automotive industry. It will be used for the solution treatment of aluminum. The maximum temperature is 1200°F (650°C), and the interior chamber dimensions measure 2 feet wide x 2 feet high x 2 feet long. The system has the capacity to heat 450 pounds of aluminum parts and the steel basket within 60 minutes. Temperature uniformity of +/-10°F at setpoints of 850°F (455°C) and 1050°F (565°C) was verified with a nine-point profile test prior to shipment.

Wisconsin Oven Corp. designed, built and shipped an electrically heated conveyor oven with forced air cool-down to an automotive manufacturer. The oven will be used for tempering automotive parts and features a chain-style conveyor system with vertical pins. It has a maximum temperature rating of 500°F (260°C) and interior chamber dimensions of 3 feet, 6 inches wide x 20 feet, 10 inches long x 9 inches high. Guaranteed temperature uniformity of ±2.5°C at 163°C was documented with a temperature uniformity test. The recirculation system is designed with a top-down, bottom-up airflow configuration.

Rio Tinto plans to provide responsibly sourced aluminum to the BMW Group’s vehicle production plant in Spartanburg, S.C., for use in body components starting in 2024. Low-carbon primary aluminum from Rio Tinto’s hydro-powered operations in Canada, combined with recycled content, could generate a reduction of up to 70% in CO₂ emissions compared to BMW Group’s benchmark for aluminum. The two companies signed a Memorandum of Understanding that will see technical experts working together on how to embed low-carbon solutions into BMW Group’s supply chain while ensuring the highest standards of vehicle quality are maintained.

Alabama Governor Kay Ivey announced that that Samkee Corp., a South Korean automotive supplier, plans to invest $128 million to open its first U.S. factory in Alabama through a project that will create 170 jobs in Tuskegee. Samkee is poised to begin construction on the new manufacturing facility in the Tuskegee Commerce Park. The company will serve as a Tier 1 supplier to Hyundai Motor Co. Founded in 1978, Samkee specializes in high-pressure die-cast aluminum components, including parts for engines, transmissions and electric vehicles. Parts production at the advanced casting facility in Macon County is expected to begin during 2024.

General Motors Co. plans to invest $918 million in four U.S. manufacturing sites, including $854 million to prepare these facilities to produce the company’s sixth-generation Small Block V-8 engine and an additional $64 million in Rochester, N.Y., and Defiance, Ohio, for castings and components to support EV production. These investments will enable the company to strengthen its full-size truck and SUV business and continue to support the company’s growing EV product portfolio. These investments bolster GM’s U.S. manufacturing operations and highlights the company’s commitment to continue providing customers a strong portfolio of ICE vehicles well into the future while continuing to accelerate its transformation to an all-electric future.

SECO/VACUUM received an order from an electric-vehicle (EV) manufacturer for a two-chamber vacuum furnace that will be used in the company’s R&D lab to low-pressure carburize (LPC) and oil quench prototype gears. The CaseMaster Evolution (CMe) has a working hot zone of 16 x 16 x 24 inches (400 x 400 x 600 mm) and a load capacity of 440 pounds (200 kg). It has a separate heating chamber, where product is heated and carburized, and a quenching chamber, where the load is immersed in an oil bath for rapid quenching. Both chambers are isolated with a vacuum door.

Desktop Metal received a $9 million order from a German automaker for binder-jet additive-manufacturing systems used for the mass production of powertrain components. This is the second order from the same automaker in less than 12 months, bringing the total amount of production AM systems ordered to $16.9 million to support digitally casted powertrain components for a popular car line.

SECO/WARWICK is scheduled to deliver two controlled-atmosphere brazing (CAB) lines and one universal chamber furnace for aluminum brazing to a manufacturer of diesel engine components. The CAB lines will enable the company to win more contracts for brazing large battery coolers. One of the systems will incorporate a furnace equipped with a 90.5-inch-wide (2,300-mm-wide) conveyor belt for large-dimension battery coolers. It is the widest CAB line sold to date by SECO/WARWICK in China. The CAB lines consist of a radiation preheating chamber, radiation brazing furnace, cooling chamber with an air jacket, final cooling chamber and control system. The universal chamber furnace provides brazing for low-scale production. This type of furnace is designed to braze a variety of heat exchangers in horizontal or vertical positions.

SECO/WARWICK will supply a continuous controlled-atmosphere brazing (CAB) line to an automotive manufacturer’s facility in Slovakia. The CAB line, designed for aluminum brazing, will be used for the mass production of various heat exchangers. It will provide reliability and energy savings while meeting environmental requirements. The furnace will be delivered with a gas heating system, but the design is flexible and can be adapted to fully electric heating. The fully automated solution will allow the manufacturer to increase its overall production and meet the challenges associated with the brazing process.

SECO/WARWICK received an order from an international company in the automotive industry for an EV/CAB (electric vehicle/controlled-atmosphere brazing) line. The system, which is designed to braze car battery coolers for the EV industry, will be installed at a newly established factory in Mexico. The EV/CAB line includes a brazing furnace, convection preheating chamber, cooling chamber with air jacket, final cooling chamber and control system. The furnace was designed specifically for the production of oversized battery coolers. The key to successful production is the perfect temperature uniformity on the 75-inch-wide (1,900-mm-wide) belt and the design of the curtain and cooling chambers.