Have you ever wondered how products made of metal are created? With the wonderful variations of different metals, it would almost be impossible to bend, melt, shape, and turn them into rigid structures if not for die casting.
What Is Die Casting? How Does It Work?
Die casting is a metal fabrication process where metal is subjected to high temperatures to turn it into a molten liquid before being pressed into a mold cavity with a high pressure. Manufacturers typically use alloys, metals made of a combination of metals, in this casting process because of its ideally low melting point.
Additionally, other metals that work best for die casting are:
The steel mold regularly filled with molten metal should be made of two or more sections to allow easy removal of casting without damaging itself. Several molds can create thousands of metal castings without interruption. Here’s a quick rundown of the steps involved in die casting:
The metal injection time for every casting project varies due to the wall thickness of the required casting and the metal’s thermodynamic properties. Thicker casting walls and castings made of zinc and lead have slower injection times.
Advantages Of Die Casting
Die casting is a preferred metalwork technique because of its speed, simplicity, efficiency, and reliability. Perhaps automotive manufacture is the top market for die casting, as a lot of castings for auto parts are required to make vehicles work on a small and large scale. From cosmetic finishing to under-the-hood components, die castings can find their way through automobiles.
In 2020, the die casting market was valued at a whopping USD$65.5 billion and was expected to increase by almost USD$100 billion in the next six years. What makes die casting an appealing metal fabrication method for industrial-grade materials and components?
Die Casting Development Through The Years
Die casting first appeared in 1838 when printing manufacturers had to find a way to produce newspapers in a flexible, quick, and cost-effective manner. The first die casting machine was a manually operated machine for mechanizing printing type production, which used a lead-tin alloy for casting letters.
Then came the rotary printing press in 1846 and the Linotype setting machine in 1886. When the manufacturing and production of die cast parts emerged, eventually, die casting machines became widely known not only inside the printing industry.
In the first few decades of the 20th century, companies recognized the potential of die casting across various industries. Watches, typewriters, children’s toys, and cash registers were the first products to try out die casting.
Applications Of Die Casting
Die casting widely involves metalwork in various industries like the industrial, commercial, and consumer industries. Whether an engineered product is entirely made out of metal or only has a small percentage of it, die casting plays a significant role in manufacturing it as desired.
Check out some applications of die casting in products, tools, equipment, and machinery in different fields:
Conclusion
With die casting’s numerous capabilities, there’s no doubt that the manufacturing landscape will continue to use this process for many years to come unless they can possibly find a faster, more efficient, cheaper, and more reliable approach to producing metal parts.
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