Die Casting Advantages and Disadvantages

Die Casting comes with a whole lot of advantages. Admittedly, this is the reason for its prevalent popularity in the industries. Yet, die casting also has some disadvantages as well. Which, in fact, implies that it may not always be the best production solution.

Here in this article, we will be discussing die casting advantages and disadvantages in detail.

Advantages of Die Casting

Short Lead Time: A typical casting cycle of a die casting process is very short. In fact, depending on size and material properties, it can be as low as a few seconds only.

Economical: Die casting is very economical for large batches of production. With time, the cost per part becomes surprisingly low.

Good Mechanical Properties: While not as strong as forged parts, die casting yields excellent mechanical strength. It can yield parts with enhanced durability, hardness, and conductivity as well.

Complex Details: You can manufacture complex parts in a very short period with die casting.

Excellent Precision: Die casting offers tighter tolerances than most other manufacturing techniques. Thus, it is suitable for many delicate applications.

Superior Finishing: You can design Die casting parts to have a smooth or textured finishing according to your requirements.

Disadvantages of Die Casting

Support Non-Ferrous Metals Only: It is a major drawback of die casting. Casting ferrous metal is not impossible, but manufacturers normally don’t prefer it due to the complexity.

Very High Initial Investment: A reason why many small companies and startups can’t afford to die casting is the extremely high initial investment.

Prone to Defects: Die casting parts are prone to defects such as porosity, misruns, cold shuts, etc., unless carefully designed.

Not Suitable for Small Scale Projects: Most big suppliers aren’t interested in providing die casting solutions for small-scale projects. Often, it ends up being costlier than other methods.

Grow Your Die Casting Knowledge with Sunrise Metal

Are you someone who is looking for die casting solution and wants to learn about its secrets? Then we welcome you to join us in your venture.

Sunrise Metal is a die casting service provider in China. We are always eager to learn the latest die casting trends and achieve maximum proficiency in what we do. That’s why we make a substantial investment in our research and development sector.

 

We have highlighted some facts below that support our strong core competency.

Professional Team of Experts

We have a team of specialists dedicated to each of our departments. Our workforce consists of engineers, quality control specialists, customer service agents, and production employees. They all have exclusive expertise and intensive experience in their respective roles.

Our organized corporate structure promotes better work efficiency and allows us to provide superior die casting service to the customers.

Advanced Research Facility

We thoroughly discuss and review all of our projects. We run tons of tests and simulations to find out the best possible solution for a problem. Our engineers and designers are ready to take on challenging projects that meet your requirements.

Do you have a challenging project at hand that needs careful supervision? Contact us for assistance. We can help you understand die casting advantages and disadvantages. So, you will be able to make meaningful decisions for your project to achieve the maximum result.

How Can You Minimize the Die Casting Defects?

There are various types of die casting defects that can occur during production. You have to approach each problem differently based on your situation.

Porosity is the most common form of defect in diecast parts. It is very difficult to eliminate a porosity defect from a casting completely. You have to maintain strict quality control during several stages of production. During melting the metal, we suggest using additives to release dissolved gases from it.

 

Use lubricants in the die after each casting process to reduce the chances of inducing porosity in the surface. During the casting process, you can get the best results by creating a vacuum inside the cavity. It can greatly reduce the chances of having entrapped air in hard-to-reach areas of the part.

Improper design and too much injection speed can cause turbulence in the flowing metal. Thus, it can cause porosity as well. So, properly design the mold and run mold flow analysis to determine a proper shot speed.

Several other forms of defect may occur while filling the die cavity, such as cold shuts and misruns. Taking the aforementioned mentioned measures can help mitigate these issues as well.

Some problems can occur during the solidification process as well. Bad design or timing can cause shrinkage defects. It can cause damage in both casting and the die itself. You can deal with it by improving the part and die design. For instance, remove hot spots in design, add gates and runners in die.

How Can You Minimize the Cost of Tooling?

You can reduce the tooling cost by following some guidelines during design. We have highlighted some of the important tips and tricks below:

• First and foremost, simplify your design as much as possible. Intricate features can significantly increase your tooling time and cost. Consider removing intricate features that do not add to the structural integrity and performance of your parts.
• Try not to keep thin walls in your design. Thin walls have to be machined carefully and thus adds up additional tooling costs.
• Don’t ask for tolerances that exceed your needs. Tooling cost will increase along with your precision requirement.
• Try not to keep undercuts or features that will be hard to access with a 3 or 4 axis CNC machine.

We recommend you to check out our Die Casting Design Guide to learn about efficient design approaches.

When is Die Casting Better than Investment Casting?

Both die casting and investment casting are popular manufacturing techniques for casting metal. However, one can’t always be considered an alternative to another. So, you need to have a clear idea about both processes to determine which one you need.

Die casting is great for casting non-ferrous metals. If you can afford the initial tooling cost, it will prove to be very cost-effective in the long run. So, if you need a large-scale die casting solution, then die casting should be enough.

Investment casting should be preferred when you need to cast ferrous metals. There are no viable die casting methods that can cast ferrous metal successfully. So, when you have high-quality requirements and are not concerned about budget, investment casting can be chosen.