Advantages and disadvantages for die castings

Advantages of die casting:^[10]

• Excellent dimensional accuracy (dependent on casting material, but typically 0.1 mm for the first 2.5 cm (0.004 inch for the first inch) and 0.02 mm for each additional centimeter (0.002 inch for each additional inch).
• Smooth cast surfaces (Ra 1–2.5 micrometres or 0.04–0.10 thou rms).
• Thinner walls can be cast as compared to sand and permanent mold casting (approximately 0.75 mm or 0.030 in).
• Inserts can be cast-in (such as threaded inserts, heating elements, and high strength bearing surfaces).
• Reduces or eliminates secondary machining operations.
• Rapid production rates.
• Casting tensile strength as high as 415 megapascals (60 ksi).
• Casting of low fluidity metals.

The main disadvantage to die casting is the very high capital cost. Both the casting equipment required and the dies and related components are very costly, as compared to most other casting processes. Therefore, to make die casting an economic process, a large production volume is needed. Other disadvantages are that the process is limited to high-fluidity metals, and casting weights must be between 30 grams (1 oz) and 10 kg (20 lb).^{[note 3][10]} In the standard die casting process the final casting will have a small amount of porosity. This prevents any heat treating or welding, because the heat causes the gas in the pores to expand, which causes micro-cracks inside the part and exfoliation of the surface.^[4] Thus a related disadvantage of die casting is that it is only for parts in which softness is acceptable. Parts needing hardening (through hardening or case hardening) and tempering are not cast in dies.