PRESSURE DIE

CASTING
INTRODUCTION
Die Casting as alternative to forging,
drawing & machining
Paper deals with requirements of die casting
Emphasis on Die Steel Properties, Heat
Treatment & Deep Sub Zero Stress
Relieving to Maximise Die Life &
Performance
DIE CASTING
Economical Way to Produce Large Quantities of
Complex, High Tolerance Parts.
Replacement of Conventional Alloys with light
Die Cast Components.
Requirement of Long Product Runs.
Real savings possible by selection of right Tool
Steel, Heat Treatment & Deep Sub Zero
Processing
Onus on Good Product & Die Design & improved
Die Casting Practice.
DEMANDS ON DIE CAST
PRODUCTS
Alloys needed with higher strength, ductility,
machinability, weldability & corrosion resistance
Product Design Focussed on
Larger Component Sizes
Thinner Wall Thicknesses
More Complicated Shapes
Closer Tolerances
Hence Advantage Pressure Die Casting.
PROPERTIES OF DIE
STEELS
Die Casting Dies exposed to severe thermal
& mechanical cyclic loading.
Factors Affecting die life are
Thermal Fatigue (Heat Checking)
Corrosion / Erosion
Gross Cracking (Total Failure)
FACTORS AFFECTING DIE
LIFE
Die life affected by working temperature
i.e. Casting Alloy
Die Life depends on
Design of Cast Product & Die
Production Rate & Process Control
Surface Finish of Dies
Die Steel & its Hardening Process
Tolerances on Cast Product
THERMAL FATIGUE
Gradual Cracking due to Thermal Stresses
arising out of Temperature Cycling
Dies Subject to Alternate Heating &
Cooling during operation.
Severe Strains in surface layer of dies
Leads to formation of surface thermal
fatigue cracks also called Heat Checking
THEORY OF THERMAL
FATIGUE
Thermal Fatigue caused by combination of
Thermal Cyclic Stress, Tensile Stress &
Plastic Strain
Eliminate Any One & Heat Checking can
be Avoided
Plastic Strain initiates the Crack & Tensile
Stress Promotes Crack Growth in Presence
of Thermal Cyclic Loading
FACTORS AFFECTING
THERMAL FATIGUE
Die Temperature Cycle
Basic Die Material Properties
Stress Raisers
CORROSION BY MOLTEN
METAL
Molten Metal injected into die.
Lack of Protective layer leads to diffusion of
Molten Metal into die surface.
Iron diffuses from die surface into molten metal
Leads to dissolution of steel & formation of
intermetallic compounds & soldering of cast metal
on the die surface.
Portion of die will eject during ejection of the cast
piece leading to pit formation on die surface.

FACTORS INFLUENCING
CORROSION
Temperature of cast metal
Critical Temperature at which metal attacks the
steel
480 C for Zinc, 700 for Aluminium
Composition of Casting Metal
Pure metals attack tool steel at greater rates
than commercial alloys
FACTORS INFLUENCING
CORROSION
Design of the die
High injection speeds leads to washing away of
lubricants
Caused by incorrect gating design
Surface Treatment
Avoid Metallic Contact to reduce corrosion
Oxide, Nitride or Nitrocarburised surface
provides better corrosion resistance
EROSION BY MOLTEN
METAL
Mechanical wear caused by hot melt motion
Depends on melt velocity, temperature &
composition
Higher speeds increase erosion
Higher melt temperature causes steel to temper
back
Usually see a combination of Corrosion & Erosion
Die Steel should have high hot yield strength &
good temper resistance.
GROSS CRACKING
Toughness of die is ability to withstand
stresses without cracking at stress raisers
Dependent on Die Material & Heat
Treatment
Die Toughness important in all directions
longitudinal, transverse & short transverse
Gross Cracking is Total Cracking due to
occasional Thermal Overloading.
TOOL STEEL SELECTION
Onus on Understanding Thermal Fatigue Process
& relate Heat Checking to Basic Material
Properties.
Good Die Steel needs excellent Temper
Resistance, High Hot Yield Strength, Toughness
& Ductility
Steel must have Good Hardenability & Resistance
to Heat Checking, Erosion & Gross Cracking.
TOOL STEEL SELECTION
Steel Alloyed to Give Optimum Mix of these
properties
Medium Carbon Steels alloyed with Cr, Mo & V.
Mo & V preferred as they produce small hard
carbides as well as impart high Hardenability to
the steel.
Choice of die steel usually dependent on various
parameters & commonly use various grades of die
steels in various areas in a casting assembly.
TOOL STEEL SELECTION
Zinc Die Casting Dies Usually Fail by
Erosion hence need a die steel with good
erosion resistance.
Aluminium Dies Usually Fail by Thermal
Fatigue & call for die steel with good hot
yield strength & temper resistance.
DIE MAKING PROCEDURE
Machinability of the Die Steel.
Heat Treatment of the Die Steel.
Deep Sub Zero Stress Relieving.
Electric Discharge Machining & Finish
Grinding
MACHINABILITY
Machinability influenced by amount of
inclusions in the steels.
Improve performance by lowering the
impurity levels in the steel.
Optimum microstructure is Spherodised
Carbides in a soft annealed Ferritic matrix.
Hardness as low as possible.
HEAT TREATMENT
Stress relieving mandatory after rough machining
to avoid distortions during heat treatment.
Steel Properties controlled by Hardening
Temperature & Time.
High Austentising Temperature improves Hot
Yield Strength & Temper Resistance but reduces
Toughness & Ductility.
Recommended for smaller dies, Cores & Core
Pins.
Heating Carried out as slowly as feasible.

HEAT TREATMENT
Protect Steel Surface against Decarburisation.
Quenching rate during Hardening very important.
Slower cooling rates ensure better dimensional
stability but increase Bainite formation chances
leading to loss of Fracture Toughness.
Faster Cooling rate means better metallurgical
properties but more post heat treatment operations.
Strike a compromise between the two but prefer
faster cooling rates for better die economy .
Martempering provides good combination of
Surface Finish, Higher Hardness & Lower risks of
Distortion & Cracking.
HEAT TREATMENT
Quench at around 500 C & smaller dies can be air
cooled to room temperature while larger dies need
to be force air cooled.
Dies should be tempered as soon as they cool to
50 70 C.
Tempering temperature designed for optimum die
properties. Normally two temperings with the
third one defered till after EDM for added safety.
Good operating Procedure would involve Higher
Austenitising Temperatures and Higher
Tempering Temperatures so as to improve
Thermal Fatigue properties
DEEP SUB ZERO
PROCESSING
Deep Sub Zero Stress Relieving operation for
correction of defects in crystal structure & provide
order in chaotic Post Heat Treatment structure.
One time operation affecting the bulk of the
material.
Elimination of defects such as vacancies,
dislocations, stacking faults, etc.
Increasing stress leads to increase in defects
leading to increase in defect concentration which
causes cracks to develop & propagate causing
failure.
DEEP SUB ZERO
PROCESSING
Third Law of Thermodynamics.
Materials subject to extremely low temperatures
for Prolonged periods of time leading to
equilibrium conditions.
Defects Ironed out, Minimum Entropy state
achieved & inter atomic distances reduced.
Steel at room temperature reflects equilibrium
defect levels.
Compaction of crystal structure leads to improved
abrasive & erosive wear resistance & higher
fatigue strength & resilience.


DEEP SUB ZERO
PROCESSING
Benefits to Die Casting Dies:
Better Thermal Conductivity.
Increased Resistance to Erosion.
Longer Die Lives
Shorter Machine Run Times.
DEEP SUB ZERO
PROCESSING
Process Calls for Extremely Slow Heating &
Cooling Rates & Prolonged Soak at Low
Temperatures.
Slow rates to eliminate gradients in the surface &
minimise stresses in the Die Blocks.
Prolonged Soak necessary for kinetics to proceed
to completion.
Avoid heating of any sort & entire heat transfer is
effected by Natural Convection only.
ELECTRIC DISCHARGE
MACHINING
EDM use increasing in die manufacture.
Electric Discharge between an Electrode & the
Steel in a Dielectric Medium.
Steel Surface subjected to very high temperature
causing it to melt & vapourise.
Brittle resolidified layer is formed (White Layer).
EDM surfaces should be ground & polished & the
tool tempered at 15-25C below the last tempering
temperature.
SURFACE TREATMENTS
Dies usually used with either a Nitride or Carbo-
Nitride or Oxide surface layer.
Prefer to carry out the surface hardening right at
the outset rather than after a few hundred shots as
this inhibits die life.
Surface hardness along with a rough surface finish
improves lubricant adherence to the die surface
and prevents Erosion/Corrosion of the die surface.
Harder Die Surface also leads to better Thermal
Fatigue Properties but too thick a Case Depth will
worsen die performance as Thermal Properties are
affected.
Case Depth usually between 30 50 mm.
CONCLUSIONS
Need for improved Tooling Economy has led to
Better Tool Steels.
Tooling Cost usually around 10% of product cost,
hence benefits of using premium die steels are
obvious.
Die Steel Cost usually around 10 15% of die
cost while Heat Treatment & Deep Sub Zero
Operations account for another 8 10% of die
cost.
CONCLUSIONS
Steel Quality has improved significantly over the
past 20 years.
Need for better attention to heat treatment & stress
relieving operations.
Surface treatments to protect die surface &
minimise erosion/corrosion & thermal fatigue.
With large variations in quality level at every step,
optimum results can be achieved only by
demanding & paying for premium quality all
along the line.