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The processing cost: compared with other casting processes, the mold cost of high-pressure die casting is relatively high. The die-casting mold is a precision-made heavy steel mold that can withstand injection and locking forces of the die-casting machine. This higher mold cost is offset by longer tool life and the ability to design molds to produce multiple parts at once, which reduces the cost of parts. The mold cavity (the working part of the mold) can usually handle at least 100,000 cycles before the need for replacement. The cost of refurbishing a mold with a new cavity is about half of the initial investment since the support blocks can usually be refurbished and reused for hundreds of thousands of times. Molds with up to 12 cavities can produce over 1.2 million parts during the mold's lifetime. When considering these factors, the cost per tool is often more economically feasible.
Surface treatment: High-pressure die casting can produce surfaces with very smooth finishes suitable for precision machining and often used as the appearance focus of the product. This surface smoothness is achieved by rapid filling times and smooth walls of the casting mold. High-pressure die castings can be sandblasted, painted, anodized, chrome-plated, or even polished to a mirror finish.
Due to high production rates, the cost of high-pressure die casting is often lower than other processes. Depending on the size of the part, a high-pressure die casting machine can cycle between 60 and 120 times per hour. When this is combined with the ability to mold multiple cavities at once, thousands of parts can be produced in a single shift. This results in very economic unit prices. Additionally, because the die-casting can have thinner walls, the weight of the casting can be much lighter than other processes, helping to lower unit prices by using less metal.
Casting size: die-casting technology and machine size are constantly evolving with bigger and better machines. Casting size may have once been limiting for high-pressure die casting, but this is changing. Many automobile and marine engine blocks are now die-cast on 4,500-ton machines.
Heat treatment is no longer exclusive to sand castings. High-pressure die castings are now heat-treated and used for structural applications in the automotive industry. This is accomplished using unique alloys that minimize impurities such as iron and minimizing the porosity of the casting during heat treatment with vacuum assistance.
