Audi 2015 Annual Report Download - page 44

01 // THE MILLING HEAD STREAKS
BACK AND FORTH AT INCREDIBLE
SPEED. A fi ne white powder fi lls the
room. The form gradually takes on
its contours. Curve after curve emerges
from the styrofoam block. It has
a light, almost delicate appearance,
rather like an oversize leaf.
A long process must be completed be-
fore the sharp tornado line of the Audi
Q can be produced in the side panel,
for example, or the two design-defi ning
“sizzlers” can be stamped into the highly
sensitive and relatively brittle aluminum
on the engine hood of the Audi A and
TT. Toolmaking is a core competency at
Audi and covers the entire process chain
of sheet metal production. Method plan-
ners in the Toolmaking division support
each new design from the very fi rst mo-
ment, since there are often details in the
initial design sketches that will present
new challenges for Toolmaking.
First of all, a styrofoam model is con-
structed which serves as a template for
casting precisely fi tting forming tools.
An employee uses a milling machine to
cut the form out of the polystyrene
foam material with millimeter precision.
It can take up to ten days to complete
the model of a side panel frame tool for
the new Audi Q. In what is known as
the smoothing process, it gets a refrac-
tory coating, is dried and then lined with
quartz sand. As soon as the sand is hard-
ened, it guarantees the necessary stabil-
ity for the casting process. Liquid iron is
then poured through a system of pipes –
as much as  metric tons of iron for
large press tools such as those for side
panel frames. In the process, the styro-
foam model embedded in mold sand
evaporates and the iron replaces it – the
tool blank is complete.
In the future, Toolmaking will use new
technologies such as the D sand print-
ing method to produce the casting molds.
PHOTOS : Klaus Mellenthin
The Audi Q2 is not yet available on the market.
It does not yet have Whole Vehicle Type Approval and is therefore not subject to Directive 1999/94/EC.