German 
English 
Japanese 
Russian 
Vietnamese 
Thai 
French 
Spanish 
Arabic 
Die casting vs investment casting: compare the types of process, material, cost and use die casting vs investment casting. Find out what type of manufacturing process is best to your requirements of precision component with insights and real life examples.
Production of high precision parts involves selection of an appropriate casting process to use in your application. There are two prevailing processes, such as die casting and investment casting, which each possesses its own unique benefit of the manufacturing situation. Knowing the differences can be used by engineers and procurement experts to make informed decisions that can affect the quality of products, cost, and also efficiency of the production process.
What is Die Casting?
Die casting (also die casting or pressure casting) is a metal casting process where molten metal is pushed with high pressure into the precision machined steel moulds called dies. This technology produces dimensionally accurate parts having superior surface finishes; thus, it is suitable in high-volume production runs. It involves mainly non-ferrous metal such as aluminum, zinc, magnesium, and copper alloy.
The die casting process entails heating the metal to the melting temperature and injecting high pressure (1,500 to 25,000 PSI) of metal into the die cavity. Because of the steel dies that are cooled by water, the metal solidifies within short time thus enabling short cycle times and high production rates.
Understanding Investment Casting
Investment casting (not to be confused with investment casting), also called lost-wax casting, is a process used to make complex castings by encasing a wax pattern in a ceramic shell that is broken off after casting. This is a century-old process which with the help of modern technology has worked out the components of very impressive dimensions and surface finishing features. High production of complex geometries that could not be easily produced using other casting methods is one of the qualities of this method.
There is an investment process, which is making a wax model, applied with ceramic coats, melt out the wax, pour molten metal into the obtained cavity. The technique can service a broad spectrum of metals such as stainless steel, carbon steel, aluminum and superalloys.
Key Differences Between Die Casting and Investment Casting
Material Compatibility
Die casting mainly deals with non-ferrous metals since steel dies hold temperature restrictions. The most common die casting products involve aluminum alloys, zinc and magnesium. The procedure does not efficiently work with ferrous metals such as those made of steel or iron.
Just about any metal castable can be cast using investment casting, both ferrous and non ferrous alloys. This versatility withstanding, this flexibility has allowed it to be used in applications that require higher demands, which may entail specific material properties, e.g. the aerospace industry where superalloys are used as they are or medical devices that require materials with specific biocompatible properties.
Design Complexity and Precision
Investment casting is best suited in creating thin walled objects with complex geometries and complicated internal passageways as well as fine detailing. Tolerances as tight as +-0.003 inches can be realized and features that otherwise would be long machining processes are possible with the process.
Die casting forms high quality parts and is limited by complex internal geometry. It needs draft angles on parts during ejection but does not allow formation of undercuts without more sub-mechanisms, and it also produces better surface finishes directly off the mold.
Production Volume and Economics
Economical efficiencies in production are also achieved with die casting because of the low cycle time and post finishing needs. Tooling investment expense is high at first but with volume cost per part will be low.
Investment casting is suitable to prototype and medium-volume runs of production. Although the cycle time is longer, the process does not entail high initial investment on tools and is more prone to design variation.
Cost Analysis: Die Casting vs Investment Casting
Initial Investment Considerations
Die casting dies need high initial investment made in steel due to which the dies cost up to $20,000 to 100,000 and beyond depending on the complexity of the part. These tools however can deliver up to hundreds of thousands of parts before they need replacement.
The investment casting tooling is usually cheaper, with prices between $5,000 and 25,000 of the master patterns and fixtures. Ceramic shells are disposable, which introduces additional costs of materials continuously, but it creates the possibility to change the design quickly.
Per-Part Economics
Die casting produces the lowest per-part costs in high-volume production, the low cycle time and the little finishing work a high-volume justifies. Automated systems make it possible to manufacture parts in several seconds.
The per-part cost of investment casting is fairly fixed, not depending on the volume, and therefore it is cost effective even with small numbers. The manufacturing encompasses extra material and labour expenses, but no more elaborate machining procedures.
Applications and Industry Use Cases
Die Casting Applications
The biggest use of die casting is in the automotive components, such as engine blocks, transmission housing, and structure components. It is also applied in electronics, appliances, and consumer goods manufacturing industries that will make more money worth investing in tools because of volumes of manufacturing.
Typical die casting products are laptop cases, auto door handles, LED sinks and tool housings. The advantages of these applications are associated with the fact that process is capable of producing a thin-walled structure with light weight and good surface finish.
Investment Casting Applications
Investment casting is used in aerospace and defense applications, to manufacture turbine blades, aircraft engine components and precision mechanical components. The versatility of the process in making exotic materials work and perform in complex structures means that it is irreplaceable in essential applications.
Investment casting is also used to manufacture medical equipment, jewelry and industrial parts where there is a biocompatibility requirement, anti-corrosive component or where strict dimensional controls are necessary. These are surgical tools, impellers of pumps and valve parts.
Material Properties and Performance
Mechanical Properties
Die cast components have outstanding strength to weight ratio, especially the aluminum alloys in motor vehicle. The fast cooling involved in the process develop fine-grained microstructures which improve the mechanical properties.
Structural parts Investment cast parts may enjoy better mechanical properties because cool rates can be controlled and the use of optimized material used. Heat treatment can also be provided to further improve properties of the material.
Surface Finish and Appearance
Die casting can provide excellent surface finishing that does not need any finishing processes, and it is mainly left out on the mold. Surface roughness as low as 32 micro-inches are obtained in the process.
Investment casting requires little or no finishing and also offers good surface finish although some minor finishing procedures may be necessary. The ceramic shell casting manufacture provides surfaces adaptable to the majority of applications without widespread after-processing.
Manufacturing Considerations for Global Supply Chains
The supply chain optimization of companies that communicated with international suppliers would have been related to the knowledge of these casting processes. The high-volume value of die casting frameworks well suits the global-based distribution patterns and the flexibility of investment casting suits the unique or specific product line.
About GWT Worldwide: Shenzhen Guanwutong International Freight Forwarding Co.,Ltd engages in logistics services to manufacturing industries at the global level. GWT Worldwide is a company offering end-to-end freight forwarding, supply chain services and cross-border e-commerce logistics. We are specialized in air transport, sea transport, China Europe train solution and customs clearance and therefore we are able to move manufactured component efficiently to the global world.
Qualitätskontrolle und Prüfung
Die Casting Quality Standards
Die casting applications have adopted quality watchdog abilities that involve the automatic regulation of pressure and temperature levels and the cycle intervals. Statistical process control allows keeping a high level of part quality uniform across runs.
internal quality can be checked without causing destruction of parts by non destructive testing techniques such as X-ray inspection and pressure testing. These methods determine porosity, inclusions and others which may lead to detrimental performance.
Investment Casting Quality Assurance
The quality control of investment casting starts with the check of the patterns and proceeds with the preparation of the ceramic shell and the pouring of the metal and the final inspection of the part. It is a process that needs good operators and attention to various variables.
Inspected dimensional checks are performed on co-ordinate measuring machines to ensure part to specification with material testing taking place in-house to ensure breakdown of material mechanical properties. It is possible to do extensive quality documentation due to traceability of the process
Future Trends and Technology Developments
Advanced Die Casting Technologies
The new casting such as vacuum die casting and squeeze casting also increases the quality of parts in the form of less porosity and improved mechanical properties. Such advances widen the scope of uses of die casting into different markets that are challenging.
Automation and robotics are also gaining ground and stirring up die casting productivity and cutting on labour costs. Smart manufacturing involves bringing together quality management and control of production.
Investment Casting Innovations
The 3D printing technologies are changing investing castings and 3D printing provides an immediate pattern production in complex geometries that are not possible with wax pattern. This growth lowers lead time and increases design opportunities.
High-levels of ceramics and coating technologies enhance the quality of the shell and its dimensional accuracy. Such developments make the process competitive to other precision manufacturing processes.
Schlussfolgerung
The nature of these two manufacturing processes ensures that they fulfill different manufacturing requirements although more characteristic situations include die casting providing relatively simple parts, in high volume, and investment casting offering unsurpassed capability in the complexity of precision components. This decision is made based on issues such as the amount of products produced, the complexity of the part that is being produced, requirements of materials, and the cost. When these differences are understood, then decisions can be made concerning the best product quality, cost and manufacturing efficiency.