Development and Process Integration of an Alternative Demoulding System for High-Pressure Die Casting Using a Contoured Vacuum Mask

This study presents the development and process integration of an alternative demoulding system for high-pressure die casting. The system is aimed at the removal of large structural castings, which are becoming increasingly popular in the industry under the terms mega- and gigacasting. The development differs from conventional systems in the fact that it completely avoids ejectors and realises the demoulding via the principle of vacuum suction cups. Preliminary tests were carried out in which various established materials for vacuum cups were initially identified and the suitability of the selected cup concept was investigated by varying influencing variables from the high-pressure die casting. These tests showed that a suction pad material combination of an elastomer with a thermal barrier and an aramid felt on the surface provides the best results under the given process boundary conditions. Based on this, a multi-segmented vacuum mask with contour adaptation to the casting to be removed was developed. This vacuum mask is used to build up the holding force between the casting and the removal device. The necessary removal force is applied via pneumatic cylinders. The functional capability of the concept and the system integration was verified by experiments on a real die-casting mould for test specimens. The shrinkage and demoulding process can be successfully modelled in the simulation and the real measured demoulding force is only approx. 15% higher than in the simulation. During demoulding in the high-pressure die-casting process, vacuums of up to 88.7% were achieved at temperatures up to 395 °C.