Die Casting for Fabrication of Metallic Components and Structures

Abstract

Die casting process is an efficient casting process for mass-production of metallic components and structures with complex geometries and shapes. The process is widely applied in many modern industries such as automotive cluster where the productivity is one of the key business drivers to be considered in selection of manufacturing process for the large-batch production of parts and components. Die casting is a metal casting process by using die and the corresponding die casting machine to force molten metal to flow into the die cavity in between the two halves of die under high pressure. Die casting is suitable for large-scale production of components with low cost of each part. In this article, the principle, characteristics, sub-categories and application of die casting process are symmetrically introduced and delineated. The workflow to develop a casting part and the detailed procedure are summarized, and the relative die design and the equipment-selecting rules are given. As a case study, a simulation-enabled die casting process development is presented. Through this case study, how CAE simulation helps design and development of casting process, tooling, and identification and prediction of process-related defects is illustrated.