Manufacturing – Casting methods - European Aluminium Association

AGSC characteristics leading to cost reductions
Process characteristics of a DISAmatic machine type 2120 (as of 2002, other types are
available):
Plate size: 850 mm x 650 mm, usable area: 700 mm x 550 mm. The maximum form height is
378 mm. The maximum part weight is 30 kg. The minimum wall thickness is 3 mm.
Overview of the AGSC Process: Complete Control of Mold Filling Combined With High
Productivity
Source: Alcoa
While there is no hard upper limit for wall thickness the process works best for wall thickness
of up to approx. 35 mm. Over 35 mm, the advantages of the bigger mold area are minimised
e.g. by bigger risers.
The use of sand as a mold medium allows a high degree of freedom for design of highvolume
parts. Since the tools only have contact with molding sand, wear is almost
nonexistent. Therefore, the life of tools is a multiple of the life of ingot molds and die casting
tools (approx. one million shots). This means that even for high volume parts, investments
for replacement tools can be omitted frequently. In addition the tool costs are - compared to
ingot molds and dies for die casting - smaller. The tool changing times are short, less than
10 minutes. All this reduces costs significantly.
Plastic tools for prototypes are possible. This means that prototypes can be produced in the
final casting process - effectively speeding up the introduction of new products.
Version 2002 © European Aluminium Association (auto@eaa.be) 13