Reducing Die Soldering

in
Die Casting
NADCA Course
December 2015

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 Outline
• What is Soldering – The Mechanism
• Variables That Affect Soldering
• Adverse Effects
• Mitigation of Soldering
• Summary

2
 What Is Soldering
• Reaction Between Molten Metal and
the Die
• Metallic Bond Between the Casting
and Die
• Results in:
– Firmly Attached Area(s) of the Casting
to the Die
– Interruption of the Operation

3
 Soldering Mechanism
• Soldering phenomenon occurs when the
molten aluminum enters the die and contacts
directly on steel die cavity
• The molten aluminum stream removes the
applied surface lubricant film and the iron
oxide layer or other coatings then erodes grain
boundaries and pits the die surface
• At a high enough temperature and pressure a
reaction takes place that causes the formation
of an aluminum-iron intermetallic and a direct
fusion between the die and the casting
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 Soldering Mechanism
• Molten Al Reacts with Bare Die Steel

• Layers of Intermetallics are Formed

• 1st layer: higher in Fe, may have 3-4% Cr & no Al
• Intermediate layers: 55-60% Al and 14–25% Fe
• Final layer: 64% Al, 28% Si and up to 2% Fe
(some possibility of copper if copper is in alloy)
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 Example of Solder

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 Variables That Affect Soldering
• Velocity
• Impingement Angle
• Metal Pressure
• Die Spray
• Temperatures
• Casting Alloy Composition

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 Ways to Mitigate Soldering
• Velocity
• Impingement Angle
• Metal Pressure
• Die Spray
• Temperatures
• Casting Alloy Composition
• Die Design Features
• Die Coatings and Surface Treatments
• Die Materials
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 Poll Question 1
• What is the estimated amount of
downtime caused by soldering in
your plant?
– 0-5%
– 5-10%
– 10% or greater
– We don’t measure it
– Don’t know

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 Adverse Effects
• Down Time
• Die Life Reduction
• Casting Defects

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 Velocity and Impingement
• Incoming Metal Acts to Remove Coatings
• Lower Velocity Lower Solder Tendency
– Keep as low as possible
– Al: 1000-1600ips (typical range)
– Zn: 1200-2000ips (typical range)
• Lower Impingement Angle Lower Solder
Tendency
– Avoid direct hit of surface with incoming
metal stream
– < 90o angle, the closer to 0o the better
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 Pressure
• Static: Keep as Low as Possible
• Intensification: Keep as Low as Possible

Static (min) Intensified (min)

ALUMINUM 3,000 psi 8,000 psi
ZINC 2,000 psi NA

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 Die Spray
• Primary Purpose – Parting/Separation
• Different Formulations
• Strong Enough to Withstand Metal Flow
• Apply Correctly and Consistently
– Concentration
– Proper die temperature range
– Nozzle distance and direction

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 Temperatures
• Metal and Die Temperature
– Lower temperature, lower solder tendency
– Keep as low as possible
– Metal
• Hypo Eutectic Al: <1270oF
• Zn: <810oF
– Die Range
• Al 375-600oF or 475-600oF for better finish
• Zn 375-550oF or 450-550oF for better finish
– Side benefit: potential cycle time reduction

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 Keeping the Die Cool
• Ensure Good Internal Cooling
Design or Add Cooling Lines
• Focus Spray on Hot Spots
• Alternate Material Cores
• Slow the Cycle Speed
• Design Features
– Minimize casting wall thicknesses
– Minimize thin die sections and sharp
corners
– Other: Maximize draft, Good finish
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 Poll Question 2
• Do you use, or have you used, any of
the following to reduce soldering
tendency? Please indicate.
– Bi-metallic cores
– Casting alloy modifications
– Die surface treatments or coatings
– Die materials other than steel

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 Bi-Metallic Cores

Problem: Cores in a
Tecumse/Peerless
aluminum housing have a
record of overheating and
soldering.

Action: Extract heat more efficiently from core to lower maximum

temperature, prevent soldering and allow shorter cycle times.
Result: Temperature was reduced by 100F, cycle time was reduced 27%
(55 to 40 seconds) and occurrence of soldering was greatly diminished.

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 Bi-Metallic Cores
Why Bi-metallic (H13 over Copper)?
• Just H13 doesn’t draw heat out as
fast as Cu
• Cu dissolves in molten Al but H13
does not
• Optimization of bi-metallic cores
has balanced longevity of the H13
laser deposited layer and ability
of the core to extract heat more
quickly

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 Alloy Composition
• Aluminum Has a High Affinity for Iron
– Need 0.8-0.9% Fe in Al
• Strontium (Sr) Additions
– Need ~0.02-0.07%
– Allows for < 0.4% Fe
– Fe at 0.4% or less improves ductility

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 High Performance Aluminum
• Problem or Opportunity
– An increase in performance and durability was
required for a 50 HP Marine Propeller
• Action:
– Die caster developed high ductility
high toughness solder resistant alloy
– Marketed as Mercalloy 366
• Results
– Higher deflection in load vs. deflection testing
– Best energy absorption as determined by drop
testing
– No soldering observed in 500,000+ castings
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 Die Coatings and Surface Treatments
• Treatments
– Nitriding, Carbonitriding, Nitrocarburizing
• Coatings
– CrC, CrN, TiN, AlN, AlCrN, (TiAl)N, Al2O3

LUMINA ALCRONA TiN

(AlN) (AlCrN)

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 Die Coatings and Surface Treatments

Nitrocarburizing effect on soldering and washout

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 Die Coatings and Surface Treatments

Effect of PVD coatings on solder and washout

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 Single Layer Coatings
• Problem
– A core for a valve body die was
causing excessive down-time
due to soldering
• Implementation Strategy
– Coat the core with CrC
• Results
– $25,000/year in scrap reduction
– Reduced downtime by 400
hr/year
6,000 cycles Coated vs Uncoated – Energy savings = 0.8x109
BTU/Year
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 Other Case Studies

• A 2-cavity valve body die in A380 alloy

improved from cleaning cores every
15,000 to 180,000 shots

• A 16-cavity A380 engine mount support

die improved from 5,000 shots to 32,269
shots before disassembly.

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 Multi-Layer Coatings
Optimized Ti-TiN-TiAlN-Al2O3 Coating
Process: Pulsed closed field unbalanced magnetron sputtering (P-CFUBMS) or
modulated pulsed power (MPP)

Working layer Al2O3 Al2O3

Ti-Al-N AlN
CrN
4-7m Intermediate layer Graded
or
Superlattice
TiN

Adhesion layer Ti Cr

 plasma nitrided
H13 steel substrate  ferritic nitro-carburized

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 Alternate Die Materials
• Non-wetting and/or Faster Heat
Extraction
• Anviloy Type (W base), TZM (Mo base)
• Niobium (Nb)
• High Thermal Conductivity Steel
– Toolox 44
– DHA-THERMO
– HTCS

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 Alternate Die Materials

Soldering and washout of alternate die materials as compared to H13

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 Poll Question 3
• If you use die surface treatments or
coatings for cores, what is the level
of life improvement you experience
over untreated H13?
– 25%-50%
– 50% to 2 times
– 2 to 5 times
– 5 to 10 times
– Over 10 times

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 Summary
• Soldering Mechanism is Understood
• Many Variables Affect Soldering
• To Mitigate Soldering:
1. Keep incoming metal velocity directed at a shallow angle to the
die surface
2. Use an effective die spray and apply properly
3. Reduce molten metal temperature to a minimum
4. Reduce die temperature at the location of soldering to a minimum
5. Fe content of the aluminum alloy should be 0.9% when allowed,
consider Sr
6. The addition of surface treatments and coatings can reduce
soldering
7. Alternate die materials, typically only used in troublesome areas,
can reduce soldering

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 Additional Resources
• A Guide to Correcting Soldering (527)
• Die Coatings for Die Casting Dies (230)
• Transactions Papers
– http://www.diecasting.org/technology/archive/

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32
 Questions
Name: Steve Udvardy
Phone: 847-808-3163
Email: udvardy@diecasting.org

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