Choosing the Right Die Cast Mold Components:
How the right materials and design affect performance
Choosing the right materials for and perfecting the design of each die cast mold component is important. The mold design is vital for ensuring the quality of die cast parts. The mold has a significant effect on the shape, configuration, quality, and uniformity of your products, and having an effective, well thought-out design can improve production time and efficiency.
Here are some things to consider when designing the components for a die-cast mold for your project.
Materials
Die cast mold components are most commonly made from high strength steels, due to their excellent resistance. The service life of the die is highly dependent on the material that make up the components of the mold, which should be chosen based on the temperatures each component will undergo during operation. The higher the temperature, the more serious the damage and wear that can occur.
Another thing to consider is that each part of the die cast mold works under different conditions of impact and wear. Parts that come directly into contact with the liquid metal need to be much stronger than those that don’t. The requirements of each component largely depends on its specific purpose.
That being said, many parts of the mold will come into direct contact with liquid metal at high temperatures, pressures, and speeds. As a result, these parts are the most susceptible to scouring, wear, high-temperature oxidation, and corrosion. Hence the need for high strength casting steels. These steels must have high thermal fatigue resistance, thermal conductivity, wear resistance, and resistance to corrosion in order to maintain the performance of the die casting die.
There are many different types of die steels to choose from, and your material choice will depend on the characteristics required, as well as the type of metal being cast. For instance, molds for zinc die casting operate under lower working temperatures, so common die steels, alloy steels, and even low carbon steels perform well. However, aluminum die casting requires much higher strength steel as a result of the much higher operating temperatures. Be sure to invest time into researching the steels that you want to use in your die cast molds so that you find one with properties that meet your requirements.
Design
The mold’s design will depend heavily on the product design of the part being cast. However, die cast mold design will affect the final quality, uniformity, and configuration of the finished parts. Proper design can boost production time and efficiency, and also should account for what may occur during production, such as features of the part that could potentially be difficult to cast. The design of a die-cast mold and its components also determines its function. Prototyping dies for instance, tend to be specialized and complex, while production molds are designed to produce simpler parts at high volumes and rapid speed.
When it comes to design, for both the mold and the product that it will create, there are several fundamental aspects of the part to keep in mind. The most important include looking for undercuts, examining the draft angle, keeping the thickness of the walls as uniform as possible, and looking for other features as well, such as the locations of the parting line, fillets, bosses, and more. Each of these features will greatly affect the design of the mold. For more information about these and other specific die features, check out our Product Design page where we have a much more in depth guide on each aspect.
Are you looking for a supplier of die casting services?
Cast-Rite Corporation has been a leading supplier of die cast parts for over seventy years. We provide zinc and aluminum die casting services for a variety of industries, as well as several quality control checks to ensure that each part conforms to the customer’s design specifications. To learn more, check out our website today.
