Casting Small Aluminum Parts: When you have an aluminum part that needs to be manufactured in small quantities for prototype, design, testing, or small-volume production, you might want to consider aluminum die casting. The right prototype manufacturing company can help you get the project done on time and at economical costs.

Die Casting Parts

The main benefit of die casting is that you can achieve parts that look good, have all of the details required for the design, are repeatable, and have a good stiffness and strength-to-weight ratio. Aluminum die-cast parts are lightweight, durable, and have great corrosion resistance with excellent electrical conductivity. Therefore, aluminum die castings are ideal for applications such as structural brackets, air/fuel delivery components, housings for numerous applications, as electrical connectors, heat sinks, and many others.

Die casting is accomplished by forcing molten metals into a mold/die form, using high-pressure systems. The process is more cost-effective than alternative casting processes for high volume applications. However, to achieve the high volume yield requires durable steel dies and complex cooling systems with many movable parts and systems. The tooling (mold/die) design can be complex and together with the time to produce the tool may require large initial investment of significant time (as much as 12 weeks) and cost. Due to the required durability and quick cycle times, the tools (dies) are always hardened or ‘nitrided’ and it is, therefore, difficult to make any changes to the design once these tools are produced.

Low Volume Aluminum Casting: But, what do you do if you are trying to prove a new design or test out changes to an existing design? What if you want to create a very low volume of parts that need to be quickly assembled and tested to prove out a product? What if you want to find out if the product can withstand the ambient environmental conditions? Or, test the durability of the product? Surely, you cannot invest into an expensive design and build of a die tool to create only a few hundred parts!

To help you to achieve all this in a reasonable amount of time and cost, we can use a prototype die casting process.

Prototype Die Casting Process/Method

The process of die casting aluminum is a highly efficient and precise method used to create complex metal parts. Die casting is a manufacturing process in which molten aluminum is injected into a steel mold, known as a die, under high pressure. This results in the rapid solidification of the aluminum, forming the desired shape of the part.

The die casting process begins with the preparation of the mold. The mold consists of two halves, an ejector half and a cavity half. These halves are precisely machined to create the desired shape and features of the final part.

Once the mold is ready, it is clamped together and molten aluminum is injected into it at high speed and pressure. The high pressure ensures that all cavities within the mold are completely filled with molten aluminum.

After injection, the molten aluminum rapidly cools and solidifies within the mold. This cooling process takes only a few seconds, allowing for fast production cycles and high productivity.

Once solidified, the mold is opened and the newly formed part is ejected using ejector pins or other mechanisms. The part may then undergo additional processes such as trimming, surface finishing, or machining to achieve its final specifications.

Die casting offers numerous advantages in terms of precision, repeatability, and cost-effectiveness. It allows for complex shapes to be created with tight tolerances and excellent surface finishes. Additionally, die casting can produce parts with exceptional strength-to-weight ratios.

In conclusion, die casting aluminum involves injecting molten aluminum into a steel mold under high pressure to create complex metal parts efficiently and accurately. This process has revolutionized manufacturing by providing a reliable method for producing high-quality components used in various industries worldwide.

Aluminum and magnesium parts are two of the most widely prototyped metals in many industries. Today most automotive companies use prototype die casting to do design validation and at times production validation before initiating the production.

Prototype applications for die casting do not require the long life, short cycle times, high output rates, and cheaper part costs for which production die casting tools/molds are designed. As a result, prototype die casting tools are made from cheaper steels like P20 and in many cases reuse existing mold bases to reduce time and cost. This technique permits prototype development of parts using exactly the same materials that would be used for large-volume production without the initial investment in costly and complex production tools.

Other strategies like use of single cavity dies, modular tool design using interchangeable or exchangeable tool inserts, and manufacture of inserts from pre-hardened steel and non-nitrided steel reduce build time and costs significantly. The cooling systems can also be optimized to reduce costs since the cycle times do not need to be as fast as required in high volume production. In contrast to production die casting, prototype tools can be made quickly in 4 to 6 weeks depending on final part geometry.

It is also relatively easy to make design changes when using aluminum die casting prototypes. Since the die inserts can be interchangeable and are manufactured from inexpensive steel, design changes can be implemented quickly. Similarly, a family of parts that differ slightly in their features can be manufactured using inserts, avoiding costly multiple tools. This allows rapid validation of design scenarios prior to full level production, creating parts that closely mimic the final product.

Where Can I Find Prototype Manufacturing near Me?

A good prototyping manufacturing company can quickly and economically meet your R&D goals through prototype die casting at a fraction of the cost and time of other approaches. When selecting your vendor, look for focused prototyping experience with die casting, modern setup for manufacturing, and having good post-production setup for milling, turning, inspection, and finishing know how for your specific industry. If you want to work with a top prototype manufacturing company, turn to Global Technology Ventures, Inc. Let us help you choose the right method to get the project done on time.