Rear Door Frame

Development & Production

This aluminum rear door frame is another great example for integrating functions into one big structural part. It is produced in Austria to serve the production for the European market. At the same time, it is the first rear door frame for an electric car - in line with GF's strategy of offering lightweight solutions for electric vehicles. During production, a new quality control technology was implemented. After the casting process, the frame is scanned and optically measured, while computers compare the data with a digital geometry model to assess quality. 

Challenges & Special Features

This cast aluminum rear door frame exceeds the usual dimensions of similar components for other vehicles and prior generations. It is not only larger, but also very thin-walled with a thickness of only 3 millimeters. Furthermore, the casting is in line with the unique design aspects of the vehicle's rear design: beyond the large dimensions, the large continuous tail light of the vehicle needs to be taken into account for the mold design. In addition, a special focus is on the surface quality.

Features

Customer
Daimler
VehiclesEQC 
ProcessAluminum high-pressure die-casting
MaterialAlSi10MnMg
Weight7.2 kg
Value ChainCasting, trimming, punching, heat treatment, laser cutting, polishing

Highlights

  • Largest tailgate produced by GF Casting Solutions 
  • Very thin walls
  • Combining a lot of parts into one-piece casting
  • Decreasing joining effort

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