Aluminium Design Books

Aluminium casting methods

Source:
Aluminium Automotive Manual – Manufacturing – Casting Methods

Aluminium casting methods

Aluminium casting methods are differentiated according to (Figure 1):

  • (A) mould filling and
  • (B) moulding technologies.

1) Green sand casting
2) Modified DISAmatic casting
3) Core package casting
4) Gravity die casting
5) Low pressure die casting
6) High pressure die casting
7) Vacuum die casting
8) Squeeze casting
9) Thixocasting
10) Vacuum riserless casting
11) Lost foam casting

Green sand castings 

  • Green sand casting (Horizontal moulding) 
  • Moulding process 
  • DISAmatic casting 

Core package casting 

  • Introduction 
  • Design features 
  • Process description – Core manufacturing 
  • Process description – Mould filling 
  • Process description – Roll-over and solidification 
  • Process description – Process features 

Gravity die casting  

  • Characteristics of process 
  • Process description  
  • Rotacast® 

Low pressure die casting  

  • LPDC description and product examples 
  • LPDC machine 

High pressure die castings  

  • The HPDC process 
  • HPDC process cycle 
  • Typical automotive applications of aluminium High Pressure Die Castings  
  • Design considerations 
  • Common and special purpose HPDC alloys 

Vacuum die castings  

  • Characteristics of VDC 
  • VDC Process 
  • Examples of VDC parts 
  • Vacuum Die Casting product examples 
  • Mechanical properties 

Squeeze castings  

  • Squeeze Casting – Characteristics 
  • UBE squeeze-casting machines and particular tilting-docking shot unit 

Thixocastings 

  • Semi-solid forming 
  • Suitable alloys and their mechanical properties 
  • Examples of part produced for the automotive industry using semi-solid forming processes 
  • Main process parameters of semi-solid forming and their influence on quality 
  • Possible defects and ways to avoid them 

 Vacuum riserless castings  

  • VRC/ PRC – Introduction 
  • VRC / PRC – Process  
  • VRC / PRC – Processing of chassis parts 
  • VRC / PRC – Mechanical Properties 
  • VRC / PRC – Examples of parts 
  • Ultra Large Caster (ULC) 

Lost foam castings  

  • Introduction 
  • Pattern making & cluster assembly 
  • Coating & embedding 
  • Pouring & finishing 
  • Advantages and disadvantages 

Some very usuful figures from this Manual

aluminium casting methodsFigure 1
Automotive aluminium casting methods
ordered for casting and moulding technology,
size
shows market importance
(Source: VAW)

1) Green sand casting 2) Modified DISAmatic casting 3 )Core package casting
4) Gravity die casting 5) Low pressure die casting 6) High pressure die casting
7) Vacuum die casting 8) Squeeze casting 9) Thixocasting
10) Vacuum riserless casting 11) Lost foam casting

Separation of metal drops and folding of metal surfaceFigure 2
Above: Separation of metal drops and folding of metal surface
Below: If critical velocity is exceeded, metal drops separate
(Source: Alcoa)
(For molten aluminum, the critical velocity is around 500 mm/s)

The Automated green sand casting (AGSC) Process:Figure 3
The Automated green sand casting (AGSC) Process:
Complete Control of Mold Filling Combined With High Productivity
(Source: Alcoa)

Gravity die aluminium casting methodFigure 4
Gravity die aluminium casting method

Low pressure die aluminium casting methodFigure 5
Low pressure die aluminium casting method
Schematic drawing of a typical cold-chamber diecasting machine
This is the only HPDC-type used with aluminium

Table – Comparing aluminium casting methods

Comparing aluminium casting methods