Die Casting News

NADCA Video News & Information

The material presented in this video include highlights from NADCA’s online webinar - High Integrity Die Casting: The Market, Applications and Commercial Aspects of High Integrity Die Casting. In this webinar the rapidly growing market for high integrity die castings is presented and applications in the various market segments are discussed. The main growth sector is automotive, where there are increased car body applications like shock towers. This is not the only market segment where structural high integrity die castings are increasingly used. We can find structural high integrity die castings more in motorcycles, recreational vehicles and also boats.

Upfront Collaboration Between Casting Supplier and End User Can Improve Post-Casting Processing, from Finishing to Painting

by Joe Miller, Chicago White Metal Casting Inc., Bensenville, Illinois

A plastic bumper joining this two-part case conceals all parting lines, thus avoiding any edge polishing.

In the die casting process, metal molds—or dies—are preheated and coated with a die release agent prior to the injection of molten metal that is forced into the die under extreme pressure (usually from 10,000 to 15,000 psi). But once they are ejected from the die, most parts have a journey ahead of them before arriving at the shipping department.

The large majority of die castings require specific coatings and finishes, polishing and/or painting. These processes are necessary to meet cosmetic/decorative appearance requirements, enhance wear resistance and/or provide a protective barrier against corrosion. Read the entire article here, on the MetalCastingDesign.com site.

The various factors from the plunger tip, plunger gap, shot sleeve, temperature and other factors are important to get right to avoid scrap.

In this article, Paul Robbins, with Castool Tooling System, identifies multiple methods to improving die casting processes of injecting molten alloy to the die cavity.

Factors to consider
The best opportunities for improvement is found in the delivery of the alloy to the die. Both the shot sleeve and the plunger offer opportunities for improvement. Read the entire article here, on the Castool.com site.

Understand the advantages of die casting inspection processes

The advantage of the die casting process is to create highly complex geometry parts quickly. Couple this with the disadvantage of die casting, producing parts with internal porosity, and the job of ensuring quality becomes more challenging. This series will take a look at some of the technology and processes for inspecting die castings.

Part 1 - Internal Inspection - This session will look at how to detect porosity in a die casting. From simple density analysis through Computerized Tomography (CT) scanning, this series will look at how the process/technology works and the advantage and disadvantages of each.
Date: July 23, 2019

Part 2 - External Inspection - This session will look at measuring the geometric dimensions of a die casting. Coordinated Measuring Machines (CMMs) have been used extensively for measuring the dimensions and form of die castings, but technology is developing new ways.
Date: July 24, 2019

Part 3 - Functional Tests - This session will look at how functional tests are developed and implemented for die castings. Parts that require pressure or leak tightness need some way to measure that.
Date: July 25, 2019


Presented by Beau Glim 

Register for a Single Webinar: 
Part 1 - Internal Inspection
Part 2 - External Inspection
Part 3 - Functional Tests

Register for the Webinar Series:
Quality Inspection Series
 
These webinars will take place at 12 pm CST on the dates listed. The cost per webinar is $69 for Corporate Members, $99 for Individual Members or $119 for Non-Members. Please note that registering for a webinar grants you access to the live broadcast on the given date. No recordings or pdfs of the presentation will be issued.

This NADCA series will look at, die sprays, plunger lubricants and their effect on casting quality.

With an in-depth discussion of both die and plunger lubricants we will look at their chemistry, function, application and effects on casting production and quality. The course will review pulse spray, its application and results at two production facilities. Hydrostatic spray will also be reviewed with application examples and use of hydrostatic spray.

(Illustration from the Hill and Griffith Company archives.)

Part 1 - Fundamentals - This course will go through the fundamentals of die casting lubricants. The course starts with the basics of the conventional use of external lubrication and cooling of die cast dies. The methods of spray application and the reason lube is applied to die casting dies. The function, chemistry, care and maintenance of the lubricants is reviewed. The spray section ends with review of potential defects caused by variation in spray application. For each defect, solutions to resolve those defects are taught. 
Date: July 9, 2019

NADCA EC-515 Die Casting Defects Course Review, Basics for controlling die casting defects - By Dr. Steve Midson

Gas porosity is the biggest single problem in die casting. High gas content prevents heat treating or welding and makes strength unpredictable.

• There are three major sources of gas porosity for die castings: Trapped air, Steam, Gas from lubricant
• Gas porosity is round and generally smooth, although it can be flattened to some extent by pressure
• The actions to reduce gas porosity, in general, are not the same as the actions for reducing shrink porosity

Article for North America Die Casting Association (NADCA) “Die Cast Engineer Magazine” 2007 by Tim Cowell, Technical Director for The Hill and Griffith Company

Introduction

Early on in the Die Cast Industry, die lubricants were usually a concoction of various compounds that the die caster had available to him.

1. He would create different mixtures and whatever yielded the best results for his specific application was what he used. Although much was learned from this trial and error type of evaluation, this method of die lubricant development was considered more of a “Black Art” than a science. Several decades later, there are some who still believe it. Over the years, die lubricant manufacturers and others have gone to great lengths to develop laboratory methods aimed at correlating a product’s performance in the lab with how it will perform in production, and yet there are still no standardized scientific methods within the industry for evaluating die lubricants. The only true test to determine the functionality of a new die lubricant is by its introduction to the production environment.

The die casting industry depends on the skill of the machine operator for efficient production of high-quality products.

The effective machine operator understands the basic function of the process, the proper care of the die casting machine, die setup, recognition and control of basic casting defects, and the procedures that ensure his/her personal safety.



The North American Die Casting Association has created an eleven part webinar series geared towards educating operators on the do's and don'ts of running a die casting machine. Signing up for all eleven parts of this series will also grant you access to these courses through the NADCA Online Education System, which allows you to view the recordings, pdf's and support material for a full year.

NADCA EC-515 Die Casting Defects Course Review, Basics for controlling die casting defects - By Dr. Steve Midson

Gas porosity is the biggest single problem in die casting. High gas content prevents heat treating or welding and makes strength unpredictable.

• There are three major sources of gas porosity for die castings: Trapped air, Steam, Gas from lubricant
• Gas porosity is round and generally smooth, although it can be flattened to some extent by pressure
• The actions to reduce gas porosity, in general, are not the same as the actions for reducing shrink porosity

NADCA EC-515 Die Casting Defects Course Review, Basics for controlling die casting defects - By Dr. Steve Midson

The die temperature’s effect on surface defects and the die temperature operating window will be discussed next

• A low die temperature affects surface defects by cooling the fluid metal stream and increasing the percent of solidified metal in the metal stream
• If the percent of solidified metal is high, then it becomes stiff and solid and does not knit together well; And the flow forms "wrinkles", or cold flow
• A cold die can be compensated for by having a shorter fill time - this means a higher plunger speed
• In other words, we can exchange plunger speed for die temperature.