Steel Castings to Improve Performance,
Reduce Weight, and Cut Costs |
Benefits
of Using a Steel Casting
The total assembly weight could
be reduced by 15% (compared to the original weldment) by using steel castings. This weight
reduction was achieved by reducing mass in unstressed sections.
Conversion to a casting improved the strength
of the components with more robust cross-sections in stressed areas and generous radii on
the contours to reduce stress concentrations.
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Production costs were reduced with castings by --
Saving final assembly time
by eliminating the variability in tolerances and alignment that occurred during fixturing,
assembly and welding of a multi-piece weldments.
Limiting machining to carefully
defined pad areas with targeted machining stock.
These
benefits were achieved by a concurrent engineering effort by Grede foundry engineers and
the vehicle design engineers. |
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