SAG invests in new Rheocasting facility

The demand for lightweight and particularly robust components is rising strongly. Production capacities at SAG’s Lend site have therefore been greatly expanded recently thanks to major orders from the automotive industry. A total of more than 3.6 million euros has been invested in the expansion of the rheocasting facilities in recent months.

Innovative technologies for processing light metal alloys have undergone enormous development in recent years. These include rheocasting – a special casting process in which liquid aluminium is cooled and stirred until it reaches semi solid. SAG is the only manufacturer in the world to use this innovative foundry process to manufacture components such as safety cab suspensions for trucks or air reservoirs for the automotive industry.

The advantages of rheocasting are versatile: The parts can be manufactured in all shapes – specifically adapted to the respective installation space. This is extremely cost-efficient due to the elimination of mechanical post-processing. In addition, the parts are extremely robust and have a low weight. Another important feature that distinguishes rheocasting from standard die casting is that the components are very easy to weld.

The SAG plant in Sweden produces more than 250,000 rheocasting components annually for major truck manufacturers such as Volvo and Scania. Rheocasting parts for the automotive industry are produced at the Lend site. Demand is rising steadily, not least because weight reduction is becoming an increasingly important issue for the automotive industry due to the strict EU climate targets. The SAG development team in Lend and Ronneby (Sweden) works together with the OEMs on the ongoing further development of the application areas of rheocasting.