Original Article

Functionally integrated castings (Giga-castings) for body in white applications: consequences for materials use and mix in automotive manufacturing

Jönköping University, School of Engineering, Materials and Manufacturing, Box 1026, 551 11, Jönköping, Sweden

^* Corresponding author: anders.jarfors@ju.se

Received: 10 June 2024
Accepted: 23 February 2025

Abstract

Three significant changes are driving the use of materials in the automotive industry today. First, the direct environmental load of materials drives the issue of climate change through the associated carbon footprint of the car from manufacturing to use and end-of-life phases. The new consumer attitudes and legislation force new requirements on the automotive industry. These requirements constitute the second driver, pushing the electrification of the drive line and the use of batteries. The electrification significantly simplifies the car’s architecture and allows for a more significant functional integration of the automotive components. This leads to functional integration in component design, considerably changing the conditions to the third driver, consisting of reduced raw material use, material efficiency and recycling and how to achieve cost-effectiveness and resource efficiency. Closing the circle to the climate impact and the carbon footprint changes dramatically. The current paper reviews and analyses the consequences of electrification and the use of Giga casting on aluminium alloys, especially alloying element streams, for recycling in the automotive industry, targeting a near-closed-loop approach. This analysis is made to identify potential resource quality and availability issues for the aluminium alloys and the alloying elements used. It was concluded that there would be a significant need for primary or non-automotive aluminium scrap to be introduced into the flow. All electrified drivelines will allow for a closed-loop scenario where Mg, Si and Mn are the first to reach surplus and Fe, Zn, and Cu are the last. Critical is that the additions of Si made in the recycling process can, in theory, be eliminated. Si is responsible for more than half the carbon footprint of aluminium alloy recycling.