Weight Reduction from High Strength Aluminum Die-Castings

High pressure die-casting (HPDC) is extensively used as a cost effective way to mass produce metal components that are required to have close dimensional tolerances and smooth surface finishes. Recently, novel heat treatment technologies have been developed that enable the yield stress, wear resistance, fatigue resistance, fracture toughness and thermal conductivity of conventional HPDC’s to be substantially improved. These technologies have been evaluated for parts ranging from small structural castings weighing around 1kg up to large components weighing over 30kg.

Opportunities now exist to achieve cost savings and weight reductions by utilizing this new technology through re-design of existing aluminum alloy HPDC’s, the replacement of more expensive wrought and cast aluminum products, or replacing iron and steel components or subassemblies. This paper gives an overview of the new technology and presents cost analyses for three cases where substantial cost savings and weight reductions appear to be possible.