Automotive supplier relies on Grenzebach's FSW know-how

• The Albert Handtmann Metallgusswerk GmbH & Co. KG collaborates with Grenzebach Maschinenbau GmbH for the industrial series production of inverter housings for electric vehicles.
• Grenzebach has already been supporting early in the development phase and produced the pre-series in their machine park.
• From summer 2022 on, Handtmann will start their own serial production of the component using a friction stir welding gantry machine from Grenzebach.

HAMLAR, BIBERACH AN DER RISS/ Germany. From 2022, Handtmann, a strategic system partner for the automotive industry in aluminum and magnesium casting, will start the in-house series production of inverter housings for electric vehicles. Automation specialist Grenzebach will provide the friction stir welding (FSW) equipment, including pre-series monitoring of the component as well as supply and integration of the right welding system. The commissioning of the FSW gantry machine at the Handtmann site in Biberach an der Riß is scheduled for summer 2022.

Solution from a single source: From engineering to commissioning

The partner project has already started in 2019 with the engineering of the inverter housing: In cooperation with a Tier-1 of the automotive industry, Grenzebach assisted in the development and manufacturing of the prototypes. The development phase, with several sample processes, took about one and a half years.

After the successful development phase with the Tier-1, Handtmann was nominated as supplier and is nowresponsible for producing the inverter housing. The pre-series production of the components has started at the end of November 2021 at Grenzebach's Hamlar site.

Handtmann will still rely on Grenzebach's expertise beyond this phase: By the middle of the year, a DSM 14-10 FSW gantry machine will be delivered to the automotive supplier, enabling Handtmann to weld the inverter housings in-house in the future. "Being a direct development partner to the automotive industry, the technological development and casting implementation of intelligent light metal cast components is a significant core competence of our light metal casting business unit. Thanks to Grenzebach's many years of experience and knowhow in friction stir welding, we are able to quickly expand our portfolio with another lightweight design concept and develop our production processes in a future-oriented way", says Patrick Werner, Project Management at Handtmann Metallgusswerk Produktions-GmbH & Co. KG.

High-performance welding technology for e-mobility

Christian Wissmüller, Sales Manager FSW at Grenzebach, adds: "Lightweight construction for e-mobility requires high-performance and innovative welding technologies. In our successful cooperation with Handtmann, Grenzebach demonstrated the capability to supply welding technology as a reliable solution and journey partner, which not only meets the requirements of the automotive industry, but also revolutionizes metal processing. We are happy about the trust in our expertise and technology."