6 ways of metal casting, die casting is the most efficient one

The development of modern society is inseparable from metal, let alone metal casting. Metal casting is an ancient industry with a long history. For example, bronze casting, which has been widely used in ancient China during the Shang and Zhou dynasties, is a type of metal casting.
In modern times, metal casting includes sand casting, investment casting, lost foam casting, metal mold casting (die casting), centrifugal casting and pressure casting. Metal casting refers to the entire industry in which liquid metal is injected into a mold to obtain the desired shape.
Sand casting, investment casting and lost foam casting processes all use gravity to fill the mold. The solution is filled in the mold and then cooled to form, and then the formed metal parts are taken out by destroying the mold. These molds are single-use.
Mold making is an important part of the entire production process, and during the entire production process, liquid metal must be guided by gravity to fill the entire mold cavity. The flow rate of the liquid metal and the wall thickness of the casting have become important factors that affect the production time. At the same time, due to the slow heat dissipation of the mold material and the long cooling time of the metal solution, the casting production cycle time is also long.

Metal mold casting can be regarded as the cousin of die casting. Metal mold casting, also known as die casting, is a casting method in which liquid metal is poured into a metal mold to obtain a casting. Casts are made of metal and can be reused hundreds to thousands of times. The castings produced by metal mold casting have certain limitations in terms of weight and shape. This process also uses gravity to fill the mold, so the solution flow rate control is similar to that of sand mold casting. The metal flows slowly, but because the mold is steel, it has better Thermal conductivity, so the efficiency of metal mold casting is improved a lot.

Centrifugal casting refers to a casting method in which liquid metal is poured into a rotating mold, filled and solidified into a casting under the action of centrifugal force. The machine used for centrifugal casting is called centrifugal casting machine. The casting mold used in centrifugal casting, depending on the shape, size and production batch of the casting, can be a non-metallic mold (such as a sand mold, a shell mold or an investment shell mold), a metal mold, or a coating layer or a resin sand layer inside the metal mold. of casting.

Die casting is a process in which molten metal is injected into a mold under high pressure and then cooled to form. It is the most efficient method for mass production of products in the metal processing industry. Its products cover consumer, commercial and industrial products, such as automobiles, electrical equipment and ordnance, power tools, computers and other business equipment, instruments, toys, etc.
Die castings were first used commercially in 1892, when parts were produced for phonographs and cash registers. Later, HH Franklin began to die-cast and produce Babbitt bearings for automobile connecting rods and began to be widely used.
Today, aluminum alloy castings are the most widely used, followed by zinc alloys. Modern science and technology, metallurgical controls and research have made it possible to further refine metals, producing new alloys with greater strength and stability.

The main advantage of die casting is that the castings are net shape or near net shape, that is, they are cast to their final size with no or minimal machining operations, which greatly improves the efficiency and reduces the cost of production. . Therefore, die casting has become a popular process in the production and manufacturing of modern hardware parts.