What are die casting advantages and disadvantages?

Die casting is a manufacturing process with distinct advantages and disadvantages. Here's a detailed look:

Advantages

• High production efficiency: Die casting allows for rapid production of a large number of parts. The process is highly automated, enabling short cycle times, which is conducive to mass production, thereby increasing productivity and reducing production costs.
• Good dimensional accuracy and surface finish: It can produce parts with high dimensional accuracy and excellent surface quality. The tolerance range can be controlled within a relatively small value, and the surface roughness is low, which often requires little or no additional processing, reducing subsequent processing costs and time.
• Complex shape and thin - wall part manufacturing: It is capable of producing complex - shaped parts, including those with fine details, internal cavities, and thin walls. This reduces the need for assembly of multiple components, improving the integrity and reliability of the parts, and also reducing the weight of the parts.
• High - strength and wear - resistant parts: The parts produced by die casting have high density and good mechanical properties. Due to the rapid solidification of the molten metal in the die, the grains are refined, resulting in higher strength, hardness, and wear resistance, which can meet the use requirements of various mechanical parts.
• Material utilization rate: The die - casting process has a high material utilization rate. Compared with some other manufacturing processes, there is less material waste, as the excess material can be recycled and reused.

Disadvantages

• High die cost: The manufacturing of die - casting dies requires high - precision processing equipment and advanced manufacturing technology. The die materials are also relatively expensive. Therefore, the initial investment in die manufacturing is large, which is not suitable for the production of small - batch parts.
• Limited material selection: Although a variety of metals can be die - cast, the process is most commonly used for non - ferrous metals such as aluminum, zinc, and magnesium alloys. The die - casting of ferrous metals is more difficult due to their high melting points, which require special dies and process conditions.
• Porosity and shrinkage defects: In the die - casting process, the molten metal fills the mold cavity at high speed, which can easily trap air and form pores and shrinkage cavities inside the parts. These defects can affect the mechanical properties and tightness of the parts, and are not suitable for parts that require high - pressure resistance and airtightness.
• Surface quality problems: Although die - casting parts generally have a good surface finish, in some cases, surface defects such as cold shuts, flashes, and pitting may occur. These defects need to be repaired by post - processing, which increases the production cost and time.
• Difficulty in process adjustment: The die - casting process involves many process parameters, such as injection pressure, injection speed, die temperature, and cooling time. The adjustment of these parameters is complex and requires a certain amount of experience and technical knowledge. Improper parameter setting can lead to various quality problems.