Manufacturing of High Pressure Die Casting Die Inserts Using SLM

Dies for high pressure die casting are normally manufactured by machining of slabs of tool steel to the required dimensions. This manufacturing requires several steps such as rough machining, heat-treatment, EDM (electro discharge machining) and polishing. With the AM (additive manufacturing) method SLM (Selective Laser Melting) it has become possible to print the dies fully or in part. Several advantages are expected, such as a better thermal distribution in the die in service and thereby extended die life and better component quality. This is due to the possibility of making the cooling channels conformal. There are also expectations of reduced time and cost in the manufacturing process due to fewer manufacturing steps and better material utilisation. Hopes are to print a net shape or near net shape that can be used directly as a die component. In this paper it is investigated to what extent this can be fulfilled by printing two die inserts to be used for casting fatigue test samples of aluminium. They were printed on a 3D Systems ProX DMP 300 in maraging steel powder. The result is that it is possible to obtain a sufficiently smooth surface die surface. However, the current design with an SLM insert fitted in a machined die makes extensive post printing manufacturing necessary.

A Systematic Approach for Computer-Aided Gating-System Design for Die Casting Dies

Multi-gates are often used in the die-casting die design to provide proper feed of the molten metal to the cavity for obtaining a sound casting. Although a number of systems for design of gating-systems are available they do not help much to design multi-gates. A computer aided system for gating-system for die-casting die-design with multi-gates is proposed in this paper. The proposed system helps to generate parameters of the multi-cavity die taking into account a multitude of factors, such as part design, material properties, process data and die-casting machine information. The parameters so generated are applied on selected gating-system feature existing in the library to complete the design of gating-system. The system generated results for industrial case-study parts are in tandem with the industry practices. The proposed system would greatly help bridge the existing gaps between design and manufacturing for die-casting die-design.

A system for computer-aided gating design for multi-cavity die-casting dies

The gating system design for a die-casting die is a non-trivial task that involves a number of steps and computations, in which many factors related to part design, material, and process need to be accounted. In case of a multi-cavity die-casting die, the non-triviality of the gating system design increases manifold. The main contribution of this article is to develop a computer-aided system for design of gating system for multi-cavity die-casting dies. The proposed system applies design knowledge and rules, accounting for various influencing factors to design gating system elements and generate their computer-aided design models in an efficient manner. To demonstrate the capabilities of the developed system, the results for an industrial case study part are presented. We expect that the proposed system would help reduce manufacturing cost and lead time, alongside bridging gaps between design and manufacturing of the die-casting process.

Casting Die Designing for Drive Cover

The driving covers casting with complex shape belongs to irregular casting. According to the requirements of size and performance of the thin-walled castings, the expanding-type runner of the trapezoid shape section was adopted, conducive to the production of thin-walled castings. The parting surfaces of the die-casting die are the interface of the movable die and fixed die and that of left and right slider. The left and right slider would be reset by spring. Proved by actual production, the mold operated smoothly, without clamping stagnation, and the production of die castings meet delivery requirements.