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Since its inception, General Die & Engineering has partnered with world-class manufacturers, creating innovative solutions for the most challenging manufacturing problems. General Die & Engineering is on the cutting edge of design and manufacturing technology for large structural dies used in the most demanding applications.

Here are some examples of award-winning designs General Die & Engineering has helped create:

AFS American Foundry Society logoAmerican Foundry Association (AFS) Casting Source Casting of the Year with Magna Cosma Casting Michigan

Date - April 26, 2021

Part - Aluminum-Front Subframe Engine Cradle for the 2021 Acura TLX

Magna Cosma Casting Michigan (CCMi) was awarded the American Foundry Association (AFS) Casting Source Casting of the Year

"The potential weight reduction of a single casting over a steel weldment is considerable, plus fewer parts means fewer welded areas and weakened points. CCMi with a die-cast die engineered and built by General Die & Engineering, pushed its capabilities and design engineering expertise to produce a 1159 x 1070 x 199-mm front subframe engine cradle on the largest commercially available die-casting equipment at the time--a 4200/4400-ton press. The 38.5-lb. (17.46 kg) die-casting resulted in a 29% weight savings over a 17-part stamped and welded steel assembly and helped the 2021 Acura TLX achieve 'Top Safety Pick+' status, which is the highest safety rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), including a “Superior” rating for frontal crash prevention."

 

 

 

NADCA North American Die Casters Association Logo2020 Die Casting Design Winner - Magnesium Die Casting over 0.5 lb.NADCA GDE 2020 Award

Date - September 2020

Part - Magnesium Door Upper Beltline Reinforcement

Die Caster - Meridian Lightweight Technologies

Customer - General Motors LLC

Part Function - Door upper belt line reinforcement provides stiffness and fracture resistance, allows for glass travel through slot, bonds directly to Class A outer panel and rivets to inner door panel, supports side mirror.

Previous Process - Steel stampings, aluminum brackets, SMC panel; five pieces; three materials; five tools with three separate joining operations.

Advantages Gained - four-kilogram weight savings and reduction from five components to one casting.

Die-cast die engineered and built by General Die & Engineering.

 

 

  

 

 

NADCA North American Die Casters Association Logo

2017 Die Casting Design Winner - Magnesium over 0.5 lb.

Date - September 2017NADCA GTE 2017 Award

Part - Side Door Inner Casting

Die Caster - Wanfeng-Meridian

Customer - General Motors and U.S. Department of Energy

Part Function - Structure of the side door and door components.

Previous Process - Multiple steel stampings and reinforcements welded together.

Advantages Gained - Magnesium casting results in a 48% weight reduction and five-part reduction over steel design.

Die-cast die engineered and built by General Die & Engineering.

 

 

 

 

 

NADCA North American Die Casters Association Logo

 2016 Die Casting Design Winner - Magnesium Over 0.5 lb.

Date - September 2016NADCA GDE 2016 Award

Part - Inner Liftgate

Die Caster - Wanfeng-Meridian

Customer - Fiat Chrysler Automobiles

Part Function - Casting is the integral part of a four-piece assembly with aluminum sheet outer panels and stamping wiper bracket.

Previous Process - The magnesium replaces several steel stampings and two plastic pieces that were welded and/or joined together including steel reinforcements in the hinge and latch areas.

Advantages Gained - Liftgate inner casting is a 40% mass reduction from combined weight of previous steel stamping and reinforcements. The die casting has an added benefit of reducing the number of parts in the assembly (replacing seven stampings and two plastic pieces with one casting) and joining technologies required (reduced from 84 to 10).

Die-cast die engineered and built by General Die & Engineering. 

 

 

 

 

 

The General Die & Engineering Story Behind the Single-Piece Magnesium Inner Panel Program and the 2010 PACE Award from Automotive News

D472 Lift Gate 020The "Single-Piece Cast Magnesium Liftgate Inner Panel" program started with Ford going to our customer and asking if this rear door could be produced in magnesium. With all the current technology that was used, the answer was "No, it can’t be done." You couldn’t flow magnesium that far and hope to get a good casting.

So it was brought to our attention about this door and we were asked if there was a way we could get the thing manufactured so that they could run it. There were two problems. One, we couldn’t get the magnesium to flow far enough.  Two, they didn’t have a big enough die-cast machine to run it in.

The first thing we needed to do was overcome how to get the magnesium to flow far enough. Because of our thermoset mold build experience and being able to heat up the molds, we knew we could integrate that  heating technology into the die to be able to get it hot enough to allow the molten magnesium to flow far enough.

The second thing we needed to do was overcome the tonnage that the die-cast machine needed to overcome the pressure resulting from the large molding surface area. We solved that problem by developing an external locking system on the die.

Between both of those concepts, we had a way to get the material to flow far enough and we had a way to clamp the die to produce the part. We presented the concept to our customer and said that we could do it. They went back to Ford, who reviewed the concept and determined that it looked possible. They decided to move forward with the program.

Ford wanted all of our models as we were designing the die. They wanted to see what we were doing and how we were doing it. They conducted their own simulations on our models while we were designing it and gained even more confidence that it would work.

We also built vacuum assist into the die. This not only helped reduce gas entrapment during metal injection, but also helped with the long material flow.

Once completed, we had everything there to demonstrate that it could be done -- a proof of concept. We built the tool and our customer produced the parts.

The annual PACE Award from Automotive News rewards innovations (a) developed primarily by a supplier, (b) that are innovations new to the automotive industry, (c) that are innovations in use and (d) that "change the rules of the game." In 2010, the PACE award recognized this new technique that has gained worldwide acceptance as a part of global efforts to reduce vehicle weight and increase mileage.

Die Casting Engineer