Die Casting Design Guide
Die casting is very suitable for manufacturing small and medium batches of aluminum alloy, zinc alloy, and magnesium alloy parts. We make high-quality die-casting molds and provide precision die-casting, post-processing and finishing options.

Design for Manufacturability (DFM)
Similar to injection molding, we will conduct design for manufacturability (DFM) analysis in the early stage. At the most basic level, DFM means considering the manufacturing process before drawing the first sketch of the part. This means that instead of designing an ideal component first and then considering how to manufacture it, it is better to incorporate manufacturing considerations into the design itself. If the manufacturing process/equipment is difficult to make the specific structure of the part, the detail must be changed or removed at the beginning.


Die Casting Materials
Our commonly used raw materials are: aluminum alloy-ADC12, A380. If you need other types, please contact us.
Thickness & Uniformity
Even the thickness design of the product can effectively suppress warpage and deformation, and produce high-quality castings. Similar to injection molding, the basic design concept is the same. * Product thickness minimum 1mm maximum 10mm as a reference. * To prevent sudden changes in wall thickness, for non-uniform wall thickness joints, the thickness change should not exceed 20% of the thin side. * If the position is thick, it needs to reduce the thickness or to add a rib shape.

Gate & Overflows
In aluminum die casting, the gate and overflows will be designed on the parting line.
It is usually not reflected in product drawings. Therefore, in order to minimize the impact on customer parts, we will design it very carefully.
The final position will be decided after consultation with the customer and recognition. Since the gate design has a great influence on castability and product mass production, it is carefully designed based on past performance data. Since the inserts of the mold are standard parts, it is necessary to consider the size of the product to determine.

Gate Processing
According to the condition of the parts after die-casting, there will be marks at the gate and overflows. Processing methods include cutting, grinding and finishing.

Parting Line
Like injection molding, die-casting molds also need split surfaces, also called PL. There are slight steps on the dividing surface, so it looks like the product has lines. Many molding methods such as injection molding and blow molding use split molds. Therefore, many plastic products have parting lines somewhere in the product.


Draft Angle
Compared with injection molding, the draft angle of the die-casting mold will be larger. The recommended draft angle for general structural parts is 2°+.

Undercut

In actual product design, when the molded product is taken out of the mold (released), it is a shape that cannot be released only in the mold opening direction. The shape that cannot be simply divided into two and taken out is called an undercut. To manufacture products with undercuts, more complex mold designs may be required. For example, a mold design with a slider and a core-pulling structure is used, and the slider part of the mold moves in different directions. Due to the special structure of the mold, the undercut processing will increase the cost of the mold.


Radius & Corner

Sharp corners should be avoided in part design. They are the main reasons for component failures, stress concentration, poor raw material flow patterns and increased die-casting die wear. On the one hand, when we use CNC machining to make molds, it is much easier to machine corners with radii. Designing for sharp corners requires higher accuracy, so more time and cost are required.