New model in the Carat series

The Swiss company Bühler presented the Carat 840 megacasting solution at the "Megacasting unveiled" event in Austria, together with machine builder Engel.

At the event in St. Valentin, Austria, in June, the Carat 840 with a clamping force of 8,400 t was presented for the first time in Europe. The machine has a height of 7.6 m and requires a floor space of around 160 m². According to the manufacturer, the machine can pour over 200 kg of liquid aluminium into a mould within milliseconds. The solution can produce structural castings for body shells, reducing complexity in production as between 70 and 100 workpieces can be replaced by a single die-cast part.

According to the company, aluminium castings have the potential to drastically reduce CO2e emissions during production, as fewer work steps are required and all processes can be powered by renewable energy. The reduction in CO2e emissions per part also results from minimising waste and using aluminium alloys with low CO2e emissions. The material that flows into overflows and channels can be directly remelted and reused in the plant. This avoids transport for recycling.

Engel builds the clamping units for the megacasting systems developed by Buhler. Synergies in the different fields of competence of the two companies mean that new solutions in die casting are always possible. "The implementation of the clamping units for the currently largest machines in Bühler's portfolio - the Bühler Carat 920, which was built in our plant in Asia, and the Bühler Carat 840 in St. Valentin - are milestones for us of which we are very proud," Stefan Engleder, CEO of the Engel Group of Companies, and Franz Füreder, Head of the Automotive Business Unit at Engel, emphasise the importance of the cooperation with Bühler.