Gravity Casting (a.k.a. Permanent Mold Casting)
Gravity casting is useful when dealing with aluminum and other light alloys. It can serve for parts with undercut by sand-core to meet the feature needs. The metal is introduced into the mold by the force of gravity so the constraint is the wall thickness, the minimum of which is 3.5mm. The mold is usually made of steel and sand (with resin core). The casted material is usually aluminum.
Benefits
Gravity casting
is cost effective
produces good quality components
offers process control
is best for creating small scale parts
does not require a large machine to inject the metal
needs much less start up cost than die casting
lends itself to more material types
Alloys and Size Range
For small volume orders and designs with undercut, we can provide gravity castings made of aluminum alloys such as A356, A360, A413.2, or others (e.g., copper).
The maximum size of gravity castings we can provide is 1,200 mm x 1,200 mm, the maximum weight is 30 kg.
Gravity Casting Alloy Compositions
|
|
Si
|
Fe
|
Cu
|
Mn
|
Mg
|
CR
|
Ni
|
Zn
|
Sn
|
Ti
|
Al
|
|
A356.1
|
6.5-7.5
|
0.5
|
0.25
|
0.35
|
0.25-0.45
|
-
|
-
|
0.35
|
-
|
0.25
|
|
|
A356.2
|
6.5-7.5
|
0.12
|
0.1
|
0.05
|
0.30-0.45
|
-
|
-
|
0.05
|
-
|
0.2
|
|
|
Component
|
Al
|
Cu
|
Fe
|
Mg
|
Mn
|
Ni
|
Si
|
Sn
|
Zn
|
|
A413.2
|
82.9 - 89.0 %
|
<= 1.0 %
|
<= 1.30 %
|
<= 0.10 %
|
<= 0.35 %
|
<= 0.50 %
|
11.0 - 13.0 %
|
<= 0.15 %
|
<= 0.50 %
|
|
Component
|
Al
|
Cu
|
Fe
|
Mg
|
Mn
|
Ni
|
Si
|
Sn
|
Zn
|
|
A360
|
85.8 - 90.6 %
|
85.8 - 90.6 %
|
<= 0.60 %
|
0.40 - 0.60 %
|
<= 0.35 %
|
<= 0.50 %
|
9.0 - 10.0 %
|
<= 0.15 %
|
<= 0.50 %
|
Gravity Casting (a.k.a. Permanent Mold Casting)