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Die Casting Manufacture

Die Casting Manufacture

Die casting is a permanent mold manufacturing process that was developed in the early 1900’s. Die casting manufacture is characteristic in that it uses large amounts of pressure to force molten metal through the mold. Since so much pressure is used to ensure the flow of metal through the mold, metal castings with great surface detail, dimensional accuracy, and extremely thin walls can be produced. Wall thickness within castings can be manufactured as small as .02in (.5mm). The size of industrial metal castings created using this process vary from extremely small to around 50lbs. Typical parts made in industry by die casting include tools, toys, carburetors, machine components, various housings, and motors.

The Process

The Mold
Like in all permanent mold manufacturing processes, the first step in die casting is the production of the mold. The mold must be accurately created as two halves that can be opened and closed for removal of the metal casting, similar to the basic permanent mold casting process. The mold for die casting is commonly machined from steel and contains all the components of the gating system. Multi-cavity die are employed in manufacturing industry to produce several castings with each cycle. Unit dies which are a combination of smaller dies are also used to manufacture metal castings in industry.

In a die casting production setup, the mold, (or die), is designed so that its mass is far greater than that of the casting. Typically the mold will have 1000 times the mass of the metal casting. So a 2 pound part will require a mold weighing a ton! Due to the extreme pressures and the continuous exposure to thermal gradients from the molten metal, wearing of the die can be a problem. However in a well maintained manufacturing process, a die can last hundreds of thousands of cycles before needing to be replaced.

Die Casting Machines
In addition to the opening and closing of the mold to prepare for and remove castings, it is very important that there is enough force that can be applied to hold the two halves of the mold together during the injection of the molten metal. Flow of molten metal under such pressures will create a tremendous force acting to separate the die halves during the process. Die casting machines are large and strong, designed to hold the mold together against such forces.

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