Extreme Thin Wall Castings

By Alex Monroe
and Steve Udvardy
 Outline
• Overview of Thin Wall
– Advantages
– Challenges
• Strategies to Achieve Thin Walls
– New HF zinc alloy
– Aluminum Alloy Considerations
– Process Parameters
Overview of Thin Wall
Advantages
 In die castings a thinner casting is
generally a better casting.
• Advantages
– Light Weight
– Shorter Cycle Times
– Lower Energy
– Less Material Cost
– Stronger (skin effect)

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 Reducing the thickness reduces the
weight linearly.

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The skin increases the strength of thin
wall castings.

Alloy tested = AZ91

Paper: 20462
Thin wall castings use less energy.
Thinner castings use less material, this
reduces the material cost contributor.

Cost structure for 250,000 parts/year

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 Thinner walls can be harder to make.
• Challenges
– Filling
– Distortion
– Die Wear
• These are affected by
– Process Design
– Die Design
– Thermal Control
– etc…
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Summary of HF alloy in Zinc
Controlling the alloy achieves higher
fluidity.
Zinc Aluminum

T08-041 NADCA Pub #307

 The HF zinc alloy has 40% higher fluidity
than ZAMAK 7.
0.3 mm(.03cm) wall thickness

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The HF alloy is a high purity zinc alloy and it
has good mechanical properties.

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 The HF alloy does not sacrifice
mechanical properties.

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The HF alloy does sacrifice some creep
strength compared to Alloy 3.
Silicon helps fluidity in aluminum and
zinc helps magnesium.

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Other strategies to produce thin
wall castings.
Keep the melt clean to keep fluidity
high.

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 Use proper melting and handling
procedures to minimize oxides and dross.

Solid
Entrapped dross can cause resistance
Mushy Zone
during filling and feeding. Oxides
reduce fluidity. Primary alloys are
Liquid more fluid than secondary alloys.
In aluminum keep temperatures above
the sludging temperature.

91-064
 Questions?
• Poll: Do you consider melt cleanliness in
troubleshooting fill defects?
– Yes
– No
– Did not know it could matter
 Thin castings require short fill times.

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 In cold chamber die casting, what happens in
the ladling, pouring, and wait time may have a
larger effect on filling.

To be presented at 2012 Congress in Indianapolis

 Low percentages of fill increases the
temperature lost in the shot sleeve.
Larger solidification intervals
favored in die casting.

30938 T05-082
 Fill time and gate velocity work
together to fill the cavity.
• High gate velocity
– Improved surface finish
– Increased porosity
– Reduced die life
• Flow should be atomized
• Many ways to calculate
– Use unit analysis
• v = in/s
• Q = in3/s
• t=s
• A = in2
 Atomization gives us our minimum velocity.

• Substituting viscosity and

surface tension for specific
alloys results in:
Dv 1g.71  0.029 s 0.071  K

Dv 1.71
g  J
• J = Atomization value
• D = depth of gate, in. (m)
• ρ = density of molten
metal, lbs/in3 (kg/cm3)
• vg = gate velocity, in/sec
(m/sec)
 Critical J values can be used to determine
whether atomization occurs.
• Example:
– J = 750 
D vg  1.71
J
– D = 0.050 in(0.00127m), depth of gate
– ρ = 0.093 lbs/in3 (0.0026kg/cm3) density A380
– vg = 1500 in/sec(38.1m/sec) gate velocity
– Dρvg1.71=(0.050in(0.00127m))(0.093lbs/in3
(0.0026kg/cm3))(15001.71in/sec(6,854.1m/sec))
– Dρvg1.71=1255
– In this case, with 1255 more than 750, atomization is
assured.
Increasing the depth of the gate alone does
not encourage atomized flow

• Lets double the gate depth from above

– D = 0.10 in(0.00254m)
– Gate area doubles
– velocity / 2
– Dρvg1.71=(0.10in(0.00254m))(0.093lbs/in3
(0.0026kg/cm3))(7501.71in/sec(2,095.0m/sec))
– Dρvg1.71=767
– In this case, with 767 more than 750, atomization is
assured.
 Higher velocities are used to fill the
casting.

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 Higher velocities are used to fill the
casting.

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Higher velocities help fill regardless of
alloy.
 As the velocity increases make sure you have
adequate venting.

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Vacuum can help fill the part by reducing
the backpressure in the cavity.
Die lube composition and dilution can
affect the filling of thin wall castings.

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 Higher metal temperatures and die
temperatures help fill thin wall castings.

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 Hold die temperature to the high end of
the range for better fill
Suggested Operating Temperatures (oF)
Good Finish Average Finish
Al 475 – 600(246.0 – 316.0C) 375 – 600(191.0 – 316.0C)
Zn 450 – 550 (232.0 – 288.0C) 375 – 550(191.0 – 288.0C)
Mg 425 – 550(218.0 – 288.0C) 400 – 550(204.0 – 288.0C)

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Keep metal temperature on the high end and maintain a tight
tolerance (+/- 10oF) (+/-12.2oC)

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 Conclusions
• Thin wall casting continues to be important to
die casting.
• The HF alloy can be used to make extreme
thin wall zinc castings.
• Tightly controlled processes are needed to
create thin wall castings regardless of alloy.