Con-cast Zinc bar stock - Simple
& Effective approach of prototyping Zinc Die Casting Components.
Prototyping is a very important stage in product development,
by helping engineers determine if parts can or cannot be made in the material
being tested.
There are many reasons to prototype including:
·
Prototyping can be simple, giving
quick results to the end user for fast decision making.
·
Prototyping helps eliminate costly
retooling procedures required when parts fail preliminary testing.
Changes can be made to the part instead of the tool.
·
If prototyping is not used, the end
user may give up after the first round of testing because of the added time and
expense of retooling the die for additional prototyping samples.
There are many different ways to prototype for zinc die
castings. Machining prototype
parts from Con-Cast Zinc Bar Stock is a fast, simple and easy approach,
producing very similar properties as actual zinc die castings.
Other advantages of using Con-cast Zinc Bar stock are:
·
The material is readily available - so
there are no long lead times (unless unusual sizes are requested).
·
There is no wait for tools to be
machined.
·
Con-Cast bar stock can be used for
functional testing as well as aesthetic properties (plating, powder coating,
etc.).
Sizes and Shapes:
There are many sizes and shapes of con-cast bar stock
available, including round bar stock diameters ranging from ¾" to 9" and
rectangular bar stock sections of 5/8" to 8".
Hexagonal bar stock is also available upon request.
Properties:
The following table gives the properties of Con-Cast parts
compared to Die Casting and Sand Casting processes.
As shown, the Con-cast zinc bar stock properties are very similar to the
die casting component, with the exception of elongation.
If elongation is a required property, than a simple heat treatment of
ZA12 alloy, will produce very similar results to Zamak 3 die castings.
Heat treated ZA12 bars can also be available upon request.
| Tensile Strength |
Yield Strength |
Elongation |
Hardness Brinell |
| (ksi) |
(ksi) |
(%) in 2" bar |
(500/10/30) |
| Zamak 3 |
45.6 |
38.1 |
1.6 |
101 |
| Con-Cast |
| Zamak 3 |
41 |
32 |
10 |
82 |
| Die Cast |
| ZA12 |
67.8 |
53.3 |
2.5 |
130 |
| Con-Cast |
| ZA12 (HT) |
45.5 |
35.6 |
11 |
93 |
| Con-Cast |
| ZA12 |
59 |
45-48 |
4-7 |
95-105 |
| Die Cast |
| ZA12 |
40-46 |
31 |
1-3 |
89-105 |
| Sand Cast |
The mechanical properties
for the con-cast alloys were the mean values from data collected when testing
1" diameter and 4" diameter con-cast bars. Actual results may vary.