The Castle suite of PiQ², simulation software for die casting that pays particular attention to the automotive world, in particular for OEMs and Tier 1s, differs from the competitors for its constant commitment to the search for innovative solutions deriving from the direct experience gained in foundries.
What characterizes PiQ² is therefore its innovative approach that comes directly from the field, from the experience of its staff, and its many years of collaborations with the automotive world: features, performance, and functions that allow the Castle simulator software to play a fundamental role for its users.
A design tool available to the foundry
Castle is conceived as a design tool capable of assisting the designer’s work in all its phases. It is not just a software dedicated exclusively to the foundry or the mold maker for the development of the molds: Castle is designed to be used also in the component design phase to evaluate their feasibility and improve their design, following step by step the development of the project of a casting.
These features, fundamental to all die casting sectors, are decisive in the automotive world of OEMs and Tier 1s, where Castle software plays a supporting role for designers around the world in three main product lines.
Experience in Traditional Powertrain Components and Structural Components.
PiQ² software from the first moment has been used by various mold makers and foundries that deal with the production of traditional components in the automotive field. Now, with decades of experience behind it, it can boast references from important and primary players in the OEM and TIER1 sectors. With this wealth of experience, PiQ2 has also become the casting simulation software provider for many leading companies in the production of structural components. PiQ² thus has for years been able to directly validate what is developed in the production of its customers: verifying the reliability of the work, especially for thin-walled products, or for large parts such as the structural castings that are used in the frame part which have become the last frontier of die casting.
Giga Casting
The Castle software is the protagonist of the trend of Giga Casting, structural parts of large dimensions with a thin thickness that combine several dozen components in a single casting.
PiQ² is involved in the development of huge structural casting technology for automotive chassis which are produced on machines with over 6000 tons of clamping force. PiQ² works daily with various partners engaged in the production of molds or the supply of technologies for this type of product. These currently represent only a niche but they represent the future of the sector. With the Castle suite, PiQ² has developed a software that, with dedicated technological solutions, is capable to support the development of the casting and mold design for this technology.
Components for the interior and exterior of the car
PiQ² has been collaborating for years with manufacturers of car interior and exterior components, both for die casting of aluminum alloys and die casting of zinc alloys. His collaborations range from very large OEM companies to smaller companies, but ultra-specialized in the production of automotive mass production. Being a user-friendly software, it can be easily used by any designer or Project Manager who is not necessarily a simulation expert. It can therefore have widespread use within the same technical office and become a fundamental tool for daily use on every designer’s desk.
In addition to this vast experience as a die casting simulation software specialized in the automotive world of OEMs and Tier 1s, Castle by PiQ², thanks to Dual Phase technology, distinguishes itself from the competition in identifying some types of imperfections related to porosity defects and air trapping, particularly critical in automotive components.
Also making use of innovative solutions such as hybrid meshing and the possibility of multi-CPU parallel computing, allows you to mesh components with very reduced thicknesses very effectively while maintaining high calculation reliability in a reasonable time. A decisive advantage for the automotive world.
It is precisely for these pluses that the Castle suite casting and foundry simulation software is capable to meet the needs of OEMs and Tier 1s, resulting in reliable and feature-rich support in the automotive sector.