Die Casting’s Blog

Casting Processes Including: Sand Casting, Automated Disa Moulding Lines, Low Pressure Die Casting, High Pressure Die Casting, Investment Casting. Materials Including Various Grades of: Cast Iron Grey & SG, Steel Castings, Aluminium Castings, Copper, Zinc, High Alloy Castings and Stainless Steel

Die casting is the process of forcing molten metal under high pressure into mold cavities (which are machined into dies). Most die castings are made from non-ferrous metals, specifically zinc, copper, aluminium, magnesium, lead, and tin based alloys , but ferrous metal die castings are possible. The die casting method is especially suited for applications where a large quantity of small to medium sized parts are needed with good detail, a fine surface quality and dimensional consistency. This level of versatility has placed die castings among the highest volume products made in the metalworking industry.
In recent years, injection-molded plastic parts have replaced some die castings because they are cheaper and lighter.Plastic parts are a practical alternative if hardness is not required and little strength is needed. 

Facilities for effective quality control:

      Micro Hardness Testing

      Metallographic Analyzers

      Plasma Spectrometers

      Tensile Testing

Automotive components made by aluminum die casting, gravity casting, sand casting, or machining directly from stock bar. Quality system TS16949, quality control plan, PPAP procedure to be sure the high quality components used for Auto Industry.

Automotive Components Automotive Components

Automotive Components Holdings is a temporary company managed by Ford, established in October 2005 with former Visteon component operations. ACH’s mission is to ensure the flow of quality components and systems while preparing the ACH automotive component operations for sale or idling. The $4 billion company and its 12 plants are currently supported by about 12,000 full-time employees, mostly leased from Visteon or Ford.

Richard Newsted, Meridian’s president and CEO said, “Acquiring the Sandusky, Ohio facility is a logical extension of our engineering and manufacturing expertise in lighting.”

“We are excited about the opportunity to improve the long-term competitive position of this operation and expand our strengths and capabilities in lighting technology.”

The sale is contingent upon reaching a new and competitive agreement with the United Auto Workers.

One of the most efficient and economical means of shaping metal into a particular form is called casting- a process in which metal is heated to a molten state can be poured into a mold of choice and left to harden by foundry workers. Malleable iron is made from white cast iron by “cooking” it at temperatures from 1,500 too 1,850 degrees Fahrenheit over several days. This enables the iron carbide to break up, producing rosettes of graphite in the process. This particular iron is known for it’s strength, pliability, shock resistance, and it’s ability to be machined. This is one of the more popular ways of producing engine blocks, valves and iron ornaments among other items for the automotive and agricultural industries, plus many bits and pieces for the military.

Even on the most blustery winter day with every window open, casting iron is very hot, sweaty work. The temperatures of the raw materials heating up to an average of 2,850 degrees Fahrenheit (or more) can have quite the warming effect within the surrounding atmosphere.

In recent years, both the iron casting and the automotive industries have gone through some significant changes. For starters, the current higher than expected oil prices have created a demand for a smaller, lighter style of passenger vehicle. The result is a rise in car imports, leaving the Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) market and it’s heavy, automotive parts with a less than positive outlook. New fuel economy standards are expected to drive the renovation of iron blocks, suspension castings and carriers to aluminum in light trucks and increase the development of all lightweight metals.

Sand casting is utilized to make large components of iron, Bronze, Brass and Aluminum. Melted metal is poured into a mould cavity made out of sand. Patterns: The cavity in the sand is made by utilizing a pattern (a rough duplicate of original) which are generally made of wood and rarely of metal. The cavity is contained in an aggregate housed in a box called the flask. Core is a sand shape put into the mould to produce the inner features of the component like holes or internal passages. Core is put in cavity to form holes of the desired shapes. Core print is the portion added to pattern core or mould which is utilized to find and support the core within the mould. A riser is an extra cavity made in mould to hold excess molten material. The reason of this is to feed the molten metal to the mould cavity and as metal solidifies and shrinks and therefore, prevents holes in the main casting. In a two part mould, the upper half is called cope and the lower half is called drag. The parting line separates cope and drag. The drag is filled with sand in part and the core print, the cores and the gating process are put close to the parting line. The cope is then joined to drag and sand is poured covering the pattern, core and the gating system. The sand is made compact by vibration and mechanical method. After that the cope is separated from drag and the pattern is removed carefully. The purpose is to remove the pattern without breaking the mould cavity. This is facilitated by designing a draft, a slight angular offset from the vertical to vertical surface of the pattern. This is generally of 1° or 1.5 mm (0.060 in) whichever is more. The rougher the surface of design, the more the draft to be given. Sprues and runners: The melted material is poured in the pouring cup, it is part of gating process that provides the melted metal to the mould cavity. The vertical part of gating process connected with pouring cup is called sprue and the horizontal part is called the runners and lastly to the multiple points where it connects to the mould cavity is called gates. Alongside there are extensions to the gating process called vents that give the way for built-up gases and the displaced air to vent to the atmosphere. The cavity is generally made oversize to allow for metal contraction as it cools down to normal temperature. These are linear factors and apply in each direction. These shrinkages for allowance are approximate because the exact allowance is decided by shape and size of casting. Besides different components of casting need separate shrinking allowances. Sand casting is a way of making rough metal castings utilizing a mould generally made of sand made around a duplicate of the part to be cast that is removed once the sand becomes compact. Castings made this way may be refined by hammer preening, shot preening, polishing forging, plating, rough grinding machining sand castings not refined further are easily recognizable by sand like texture given by the mould. Therefore, the accuracy of part has to be improved by polishing or grinding. And the mould is broken after every casting to take out the part, a fresh mould is to be made for every casting. Paths for metal pouring during pouring into mould casting are called the runner system and include sprue, various feeders which maintain a good metal ‘feed’ and ‘runners’ and ingates which attach the runner system to cavity. Gas and steam made during casting exit via the permeable sand and riser are added either in the pattern itself or a separate pieces.

Sand casting is one of the most popular and simplest types of casting that has been used for centuries. Sand casting allows for smaller batches to be made compared to permanent mold casting and at a very reasonable cost. Not only does this method allow manufacturers to create products at a low cost, but there are other benefits to sand casting, such as very small size operations. From castings that fit in the palm of your hand to train beds (one casting can create the entire bed for one rail car). Sand casting also allows most metals to be cast depending on the type of sand used for the molds.

Sand casting requires a lead time of days for production at high output rates (1-20 pieces/hr-mold) and is unsurpassed for large-part production. Green (moist) sand has almost no part weight limit, whereas dry sand has a practical part mass limit of 2300-2700 kg. Minimum part weight ranges from 0.075-0.1 kg. The sand is bonded together using clays (as in green sand) or chemical binders, or polymerized oils (such as motor oil). Sand can be recycled many times in most operations and requires little additional input.

Sand casting is one of the most popular and simplest types of casting that has been used for centuries. Sand casting allows for smaller batches to be made compared to permant mold casting and a very reasonable cost. Not only does this method allow for manufacturers to create products for a good cost there are other benefits to sand casting such as there are very little size operations. From castings that fit in the palm of your hand to train beds (one casting can create the entire bed for one rail car) it can be done with sand casting. Sand casting also allows for most metals to be cast depending in the the type of sand used for the molds.

Sand casting requires a lead time of days for production at high output rates (1-20 pieces/hr-mold), and is unsurpassed for large-part production. Green (moist) sand has almost no part weight limit, whereas dry sand has a practical part mass limit of 2300-2700 kg. Minimum part weight ranges from 0.075-0.1 kg. The sand is bonded together using clays (as in green sand) or chemical binders, or polymerized oils (such as motor oil.) Sand in most operations can be recycled many times and requires little additional input.

Plaster casting (of metals)

Plaster die  casting is similar to sand molding except that plaster is substituted for sand. Plaster compound is actually composed of 70-80% gypsum and 20-30% strengthener and water. Generally, the form takes less than a week to prepare, after which a production rate of 1-10 units/hr-mold is achieved with items as massive as 45 kg and as small as 30 g with very high surface resolution and fine tolerances.

Once used and cracked away, normal plaster cannot easily be recast. Plaster die casting is normally used for nonferrous metals such as aluminium-, zinc-, or copper-based alloys. It cannot be used to cast ferrous material because sulfur in gypsum slowly reacts with iron. Prior to mold preparation the pattern is sprayed with a thin film of parting compound to prevent the mold from sticking to the pattern. The unit is shaken so plaster fills the small cavities around the pattern. The form is removed after the plaster sets.

Plaster die casting represents a step up in sophistication and requires skill. The automatic functions easily are handed over to robots, yet the higher-precision pattern designs required demand even higher levels of direct human assistance.

Sand casting is a widely used form of casting. As the name implies, sand is used to create the casting mold. In sand casting, a pattern of the finished part is placed in sand. The sand is then packed around the pattern to form the mold. If the pattern must be removed before pouring the metal, the mold will be made in two or more pieces. The mold must be modified to include a hole through which the metal will be poured. The mold remains in tact until the metal has solidified. The mold is destroyed when the part is removed, so a new mold has to be made for each casting. Large parts can be cast by sand casting service companies. Sand molds can be used in iron casting, bronze casting, brass casting, and aluminum casting.Another type of sand casting, green sand casting is inexpensive and can produce parts in a wide range of sizes, however the surface finish is generally not smooth and the dimensions cannot be controlled to a small tolerance. Additional machining of the casting may be required. Green sand molds are use in the production of iron casting, steel casting, stainless steel casting, and casting alloys of copper, magnesium, and nickel.