Die-casting is a manufacturing process wherein molten metal is poured into a mold to cast parts. The molten metal in the mold will be allowed to cool off and solidify to form the desired part inside the cavity. The solidified metal is called the casting, which will be ejected out of the mold and finished properly to complete the manufacturing of components. Die casters in Mexico use several patterns to make multiple types of mold that has design variances.
The Loose Piece Pattern
When a single piece pattern has back drafts lying below or above the parting plane, it will be difficult to withdraw the casting out of the mold. Thus, the foundries will make the back drafts with the help of loose pieces. A drawback of loose pieces is they may shift during the ramming process.
The Sweep Pattern
A sweep is a section of contour, which is rotated by about one edge for shaping mold cavities having a rotationally symmetric design. When the prototype designers want to make a casting of large size in short time span, the sweep pattern will be used. .
The Skeleton Pattern
For the larger castings with a simple geometrical design like water pipes, turbine casing and so on the skeleton patterns are used. Just like the sweep pattern, the skeleton patterns are simple wooden frames, which outline the shape of the to-be cast part and are also used as guides by molders for shaping the mold with the hands. The skeleton patterns are used in floor or pit molding process.
The Single Piece Pattern
The pattern is used to manufacture simple castings, like stuffing box of the steam engine by die casters in Mexico. Though single piece pattern is a simple pattern to execute, the foundries may still help in making the casting with thin-wall separations, deep undercuts, and small diameter holes if clients want.
The Split Pattern
Such patterns are split along the flat or irregular parting lane for facilitating the extraction of the pattern out of the mold. The extraction is bone before pouring the molten metal into the mold. For a more complex casting type, the pattern can be split into more than two parts by die casters.