The short answer Aluminium alloy die casting injects molten aluminium into a hardened steel die under high pressure and holds it while it freezes, so one reusable die produces a near-net-shape part in seconds. Melt sits at 650 to 710 degrees, the cavity fills in 20 to 50 milliseconds, and as-cast tolerance lands near plus or minus 0.25 mm. What the process actually is Aluminium alloy die casti...

The short answer Zinc alloy die casting injects molten Zamak into a steel die on a hot-chamber machine, where the gooseneck sits in the melt. Zinc pours at 380 to 430 degrees Celsius, roughly 250 degrees cooler than aluminium, so dies last 500,000 to 1,000,000 shots, cycles run in seconds and walls go down to 0.5 mm. What the process is, and why it is a hot-chamber process Zinc alloy die casti...

The short answer SLA and SLS are the two leading resin-and-powder additive processes. SLA cures liquid photopolymer with ultraviolet light, one thin layer at a time, and holds the finest detail, down to 25 micron layers. SLS sinters nylon powder with a laser and needs no supports, so it produces the strongest, most near-isotropic plastic parts. SLA: liquid resin cured by light SLA stands for s...

The short answer 3D printing is used because it turns a design into a physical part in hours without tooling, so iteration is cheap and the geometry is unconstrained. It pays off under a few hundred parts, for designs still moving and for shapes machining cannot reach; above that, moulding or machining wins. Six reasons a part gets printed, and the figure behind each Nobody prints a part becau...

The short answer 3D printing, or additive manufacturing, builds a part by adding material one thin layer at a time from a digital model instead of cutting it out of a block. Layers run about 20 to 300 micrometres, the part is finished in hours, and the bond between layers is its weakest plane. From a digital model to a solid part: four stages The word printing is misleading, because nothing is...

The short answer A CNC quote is six numbers, not one. Machine time carries 30 to 60 percent, material 15 to 40 percent, setup and programming 10 to 25 percent, tooling 5 to 15 percent, finishing 5 to 25 percent and inspection 5 to 10 percent. Quantity then changes the unit price more than any negotiation. A quote is six numbers, not one Buyers often treat a machined part price as a property of...

The short answer A precision CNC floor is built from six groups of machines: three-, four- and five-axis mills, turning centres and Swiss-type lathes, grinding machines, wire and sinker EDM, and inspection equipment such as CMMs. Between them they cover tolerances from 0.05 mm down to 0.002 mm on the right part. What a machine list should tell you When a buyer asks what equipment a supplier ha...

The short answer CNC machining is subtractive manufacturing in which a pre-programmed computer controls the movement of a machine tool. A CAD model is converted into toolpaths, a spindle or wire removes material to those paths, and the part is measured against the drawing. It holds 0.025 mm or better. What "computer numerical control" actually means CNC stands for computer numerical control, a...

The short answer Six groups carry most of the work: automotive and e-mobility, industrial machinery and automation, medical devices, aerospace, electronics and semiconductor equipment, and lighting, energy and consumer products. Automotive accounts for roughly a quarter to a third of global precision machining demand, and medical devices grow fastest at close to 10 percent a year. The processes ...