One way to meet these challenges is to switch from hardenable alloys to naturally hard or self-hardening alloys. As a result, it seems possible to produce very large aluminum structural parts with significantly lower energy costs and fewer process steps. However, it has to be considered that changing the alloy can sometimes have an enormous impact on the further process steps. By dispensing with the energy-intensive solution annealing, residues of operating materials such as the separating agent are not removed from the cast parts during heat treatment with naturally hard alloys. Therefore, with naturally hard alloys, much more attention must be paid to adequate and process-reliable cleaning and pre-treatment of the structural parts than with hardenable alloys.
As a manufacturer of release agents, we dealt with this challenge at an early stage. Here we have developed new mold release agents that both meet the increased technical requirements, and at the same time they are as compatible as possible with the subsequent processes. Table 1 shows a comparison of our new development with a conventional release agent. With our new development, the same components can be produced without heat treatment, without aggressive etch passivation and with minimal quantity spraying.
