Tesla: Gigacasting Manufacturing Fundamentals

This is a snippet of the transcript, sign up to read more.

Just to give you some background, I've been studying the auto manufacturing market for some time now, also focusing on car repairs. One of the areas I would like to understand better is the gigacasting method that Tesla pioneered in car manufacturing. If I understood correctly, you are very knowledgeable about this process. Although you did not consult with Tesla directly, you did with other auto manufacturers.

You can't use casted parts everywhere because if you wanted to use them on the body sides, it would be fine until you start crashing the car. The problem is simple. The casted parts, maybe they are strong, but they are brittle. They don't deform, they don't absorb energy. Once you apply higher force, those parts basically break and the person inside the vehicle is killed. It's done.

This is a snippet of the transcript, sign up to read more.

Is this the case for any material or only for aluminum parts? For example, if I cast a steel door for a car, would it be able to bend, or would it break?

It depends on the crystalline structure of the material. If it's iron with a lower carbon content, it will bend nicely. However, if you introduce a higher amount of carbon, it can become brittle. In the car industry, there's a focus on CO2 emissions, and you want a nice balance between weight and strength. Aluminum is advantageous because it fills the form nicely, is light, and has high strength.

This is a snippet of the transcript, sign up to read more.

Is there a way to make aluminum less brittle? Maybe that's a better question.

That's a good question. To be honest, I don't know. I don't think there's currently a material or aluminum chemistry that makes aluminum not brittle. It can withstand some forces, but once you surpass a certain threshold, it will crack.

This is a snippet of the transcript, sign up to read more.