One of the most significant benefits of die casting aluminum is that it creates lighter parts - with more surface finishing options than other die cast alloys. Aluminum can also withstand the highest operating temperatures of all the die cast alloys. Moreover, cast aluminum is versatile, corrosion resistant; it retains high dimensional stability with thin walls and can be used in almost any industry.
What's the Aluminum Die Casting Process?
Die casting aluminum is a manufacturing method to create metal parts. An aluminum bar should be heated and melted entirely at a high temperature and then forced into the pre-shaped mold cavity to create desired metal parts. The aluminum die casting process uses the casting machine’s cold chamber. The reason for melting aluminum in a cold chamber machine is that the high molten aluminum temperature would damage the machine if the injection mechanism is submerged like the hot chamber process. The end product comes out with a smooth surface. Most of the time, the finished products don’t need minimal machining and move into the delivery stage quickly. Moreover, the die-cast mold is recycled to manufacture the same parts before it deteriorates. Therefore, aluminum die casting is an ideal manufacturing process for large-scale production. And that is why manufacturers prefer to die casting this and it is popular in various industries.
Aluminum Die-Casting Advantages
Aluminum casting has extensive surface finish options. The dimensional stability is another big advantage of the aluminum die casting process. Moreover, they are versatile, and you can use them for nearly any industry.
Here we have listed some of the benefits of aluminum casting:
Surface Finishing Options for Die-Cast Aluminum
Parts made from die-casting aluminum processes need minimal machining. But nothing is perfect. So, sometimes you need to perform surface finish operations for aesthetics and other functional purposes.
Here are some of the most popular surface finish options for aluminum casting parts.
Anodizing die cast aluminum is an affordable option to make parts corrosion-resistant and durable. It comes with a non-conductive protective layer on the parts.
Aluminum is a highly conductive material, but the oxide layer has ceramic-like chemical and physical properties that is electric insulation, Therefore, the anodized die-cast aluminum becomes non-conductive.
However, the anodized aluminum shows limited electric conductivity through contact. It’s because of the thinness of the surrounding oxide layer. But the conductivity is very low compared to untreated aluminum. So if your application requires electric conductivity through aluminum you should pick another surface finish option.
Powder coat is one of the most popular surface finish methods for aluminum die casting parts. It happens at a higher temperature and is comparatively tough to do. But this method makes the parts ding and scratch-resistant. In addition, you will get a wide variety of colors, textures, and gloss levels.
This is another popular surface finish option for aluminum die casting materials. You can apply this by many means such as spray, dipped process, brush, etc. The only difference is that it is electrically conducted.