Die casting is a very effective and economical manufacturing process that is used for high volume productions. This process is used across the globe to make a wide range of parts like gears, housings, bushings, light fixtures, pumps, valves, electrical cases, and many more.
Benefits
- Can be used to manufacture parts with a variety of textures
- Can be used to make parts with thinner walls than the other casting methods. Parts made with die casting are much stronger than the parts that are made with plastic injection moldings
- Offers integral fastening areas like studs and bosses and this can help in assembly savings
- Non-metal and metal inserts can be cast in place with die casting
The process involves the injection of molten metal into a die under pressure. Dies that are actuated by pressure or gas can help to make the process automated and will help increase production speed. This is the best technique to manufacture mechanical parts in high quantities. Nevertheless, the technique needs complex heat resistant metal tooling, which is expensive and so it cannot be used for small-scale manufacturing processes.
Die Casting Materials
Die casting process can be used with many of the copper alloys like Yellow brass, manganese bronzes, silicon brass, alloys like C85800, C86200, C86500, C87800, and special die casting alloys like C99750 and C99700. Besides that, Copper alloys can be die cast easily, as they have high beta phase contents and narrow freezing ranges.
Rapid freezing of the molten material is very essential to have fast cycle times for the process. It can also help to avoid hot shortness that is linked with prolonged solidification. Beta phase contents contribute to the ductile properties of the alloy in use to avoid cracking when the casting shrinks in the mold while it cools down.
If the alloy in use has extremely high cooling rates, it will result in fine grains and will offer good mechanical properties to the finished product. Lead alloys like C99750 and C85800 can offer castings that are pressure tight, even though lead is added to offer machinability to the finished products instead of sealing porosity.
The process makes use of non-ferrous alloys, as it offers much more flexibility than using ferrous alloys. The four most commonly used die casting alloys are Aluminum, Magnesium, Copper, and Zinc. Some of the important properties of these alloys that make them ideal for die casting needs are optimal density, resistance to corrosion, improved dimensional stability, ease of casting, can be used to make castings of very thin walls, and improved life.