High Pressure

Die Casting

Automated, industry leading excellence

CastAlum has been high pressure die casting in the heart of Wales for over twenty years, so it’s fair to say we know a lot about the process!

About High Pressure Die Casting

A brief history of high pressure die casting

While high pressure die casting (HPDC) has been around for several decades now, in its infancy it was considered an inferior process to its main competitor: gravity die casting. Some of the original problems with HPDC were:

Expensive to set up
More suited to long runs and large quantities
Higher porosity and generally lower quality

For several years parts produced by the HPDC process were understood to be cheaper, but of inferior quality. To further emphasis this, HPDC utilized the LM24, considered a low-level material in terms of both quality and price.

Refining the process

As die casting machine manufacturers such as Buhler Prince made their equipment more robust and predictable, the level of performance and quality of the parts began to improve. These advances included:

Control mechanisms on shot speed, clamping, etc.
The ability of a machine to automatically shut down a process
Quality control from parts per minute to zero defect and then to single part rejection

The necessity to produce parts right first time has resulted in an industry-leading production process. Through the constant refinement of an already mature method, CastAlum has achieved levels of excellence that would have scarcely been thought possible back when the company was founded at the turn of the century.

The future of HPDC

Even with all these recent improvements, technical progress continues to be made. Nowhere is this more apparent than in our provision of parts to the expanding electric vehicle (EV) market. As a visionary within the industry, CastAlum is always striving to find new levels of performance and engineering distinction through a range of possibilities converted into successes, including:

Innovation in engineering design and enhancements to in-process controls
Light weighting whilst providing yet more complex geometries with improved integrity and strength.
Unparalleled tooling durability with innovative additive manufacturing

Armed with over twenty years of experience and ever-increasing skillset, we’re looking forward to providing the continuous improvement and competitive benefits of high pressure die casting to our customers for the next twenty years too!

A brief history of high pressure die casting

While high pressure die casting (HPDC) has been around for several decades now, in its infancy it was considered an inferior process to its main competitor: gravity die casting. Some of the original problems with HPDC were:

Expensive to set up
More suited to long runs and large quantities
Higher porosity and generally lower quality

For several years parts produced by the HPDC process were understood to be cheaper, but of inferior quality. To further emphasis this, HPDC utilized the LM24, considered a low-level material in terms of both quality and price.

Refining the process

As die casting machine manufacturers such as Buhler Prince made their equipment more robust and predictable, the level of performance and quality of the parts began to improve. These advances included:

Control mechanisms on shot speed, clamping, etc.
The ability of a machine to automatically shut down a process
Quality control from parts per minute to zero defect and then to single part rejection

The necessity to produce parts right first time has resulted in an industry-leading production process. Through the constant refinement of an already mature method, CastAlum has achieved levels of excellence that would have scarcely been thought possible back when the company was founded at the turn of the century.

The future of HPDC

Even with all these recent improvements, technical progress continues to be made. Nowhere is this more apparent than in our provision of parts to the expanding electric vehicle (EV) market. As a visionary within the industry, CastAlum is always striving to find new levels of performance and engineering distinction through a range of possibilities converted into successes, including:

Innovation in engineering design and enhancements to in-process controls
Light weighting whilst providing yet more complex geometries with improved integrity and strength.
Unparalleled tooling durability with innovative additive manufacturing

Armed with over twenty years of experience and ever-increasing skillset, we’re looking forward to providing the continuous improvement and competitive benefits of high pressure die casting to our customers for the next twenty years too!

Our Die Casting Process

Metal

We can support a variety of aluminium, depending on the scope and requirements of individual projects.

Furnace

All machines have their own tower melting furnaces, ensuring a better management and quality of molten metal.

molten metal in a high pressure die casting cell

Ladle

Our process is completely automated, with automated robots handling the delivery of metal to the cavity.

metal being poured into a cavity on a high pressure die casting cell

Control

We are able to perform part segregation through our specialised machine process control software ‘Pro-Link’

Spray

The die faces are cleared and cleaned of any debris before each shot, thus ensuring a consistent surface.

robot extracting a component from a high pressure die casting cell

Extraction

Parts are carefully extracted, ready for secondary process before being delivered to the operator.

Tooling

Development of Additive Material Inserts providing industry-leading cooling flow during solidification

Quench

Parts are cooled before being trimmed, to ensure the safety of our operators when handling any parts

Trim

All runners/risers are trimmed and recycled at the cell, with our robots capable of secondary processing

an employee operating a high pressure die casting cell

Quality

Parts are checked and processed by our skilled operatives, with onsite x-ray checks as required throughout shifts.

a cage used to pack die cast parts ready for shipping

Packed

We are able to accomodate a wide range of packaging needs, depending on the requirements of the part.