Actuator Housing
ProductionA356ComplexHealthyactuator-housing
Where this job stands
Thin boss wall at the encoder end drove the first two trials. Wall grew to 3.2mm at R4 and the shrink porosity cleared.
Commercial
- Tooling cost
- $6,252
- Committed volume
- 1,200 pcs
- Quote
- Q-2601-RIDGE-01Geometry
- Quoted per piece
- $15.89
- Break-even against CNC
- 71 pcs
- Rework buffer
- Included in quote
Geometry
- Solid volume
- 218,400 mm3
- Intersection volume
- 262,080 mm3
- Bounding box
- 148 x 96 x 62 mm
- Casting weight
- 0.702 kg
- Parts per mold
- 8recomputed 8
- STEP file
- uploads/ridgeline/actuator-housing-r4.step
Casting trials
3Production runs
397.2% yield
| Date | Ordered | Delivered | Yield | $/pc | Margin | Batch |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 19 | 300 | 288 | 96.0% | $18.75 | 31.2% | A356-2603-E |
| May 7 | 400 | 392 | 98.0% | $17.48 | 34.8% | A356-2605-B |
| Jul 2 | 500 | 486 | 97.2% | $17.00 | 36.1% | A356-2607-A |
Rework
28.5 hrs
| Logged | Trigger | Status | What happened | Hrs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 9 | Dimensional | Resolved | Eight parts out of tolerance on the bolt circle after the tool was re-seated. Fix: Re-machined the bolt circle. Added a tool seating check to the run sheet. Run of May 7 | 3.0 |
| Mar 21 | Porosity | Resolved | Twelve parts from the first run showed porosity at the encoder boss on x-ray. Fix: Scrapped. Riser height raised 8mm for the remainder of the run. Run of Mar 19 | 5.5 |
Porosity observations
3| Logged | Where | Severity | Cause | Fix | Resolved |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 4 | Top rib, trace | Minor | Temperature | Mold temp held tighter with a preheat cycle. | Yes |
| May 8 | Encoder boss, trace only | Minor | Design | Accepted. Below the customer x-ray threshold. | Yes |
| Mar 20 | Encoder boss, 6mm below the top face | Severe | Design | Boss wall thickened to 3.2mm in R4. | Yes |
Post-mortem
completed Jul 24, 2026
- Tooling actual
- $6,971
- Tooling delta
- +$719
- Per piece actual
- $17.74
- Per piece delta
- +$1.85
- Rework cost
- $1,275
- Labour
- 226.5 hrs
What went wrong
Two trials were spent adding feeding to a section that was simply too thin. The wall fix was available from the first x-ray.
What to do differently
When porosity sits in a boss, check the wall against the section rule before touching the gating.
Notes
Three runs in and per piece cost is still falling as the crew learns the tool.
Knowledge from this job
2- Fixture on cast pads, not cast wallsAdding three small pads to the casting whose only job is to be clamped on. Repeatability across the bolt circle improved immediately.Machining
- Check the wall before you chase the feedGrowing the encoder boss wall from 2.4mm to 3.2mm. Porosity cleared completely on the next trial.Pour
Job opened Jan 20, 2026 · 3 trials · 3 runs · 1,166 pieces delivered