What is the expected die casting die life for a new die casting die?
A. The life of a die casting die in terms of parts which can be die cast under production conditions will vary with the alloy being used, the specific product features required to be cast and the specified tolerances to be maintained on those features. The required as-cast component surface finish, and the final specifications for the cast surface after post-casting finishing operations have an important impact on die life. The relative expected die life for parts made in the commonly used die casting alloys, however, can be estimated as follows: If conventional high-technology production of average and larger sized components results in die life of a 1x volume of parts of a given product design in Al 380 and Al 360 alloy, Mg AZ91D alloy can be expected to yield a volume of 3X to 5X parts. The same part produced in Zn No. 3 alloy can be expected to provide a virtually unlimited die life, i.e., a life normally equal to the lifetime project volume for the part. This long die life for Zin
