The die-casting process, developed in the early 1900s, is a further example of
permanent-mold casting. The European term for this process is pressure die casting
and should not be confused with pressure casting described in Section 11.4.4.
Typical parts made by die casting are housings, business-machine and appliance
components, hand-tool components, and toys. The weight of most castings ranges
from less than 90 g to about 25 kg. Equipment costs, particularly the cost of dies,
are somewhat high, but labor costs are generally low, because the process is semi- or
fully automated. Die casting is economical for large production runs.
In the die-casting process, molten metal is forced into the die cavity at pressures
ranging from 0.7 to 700 MPa. There are two basic types of die-casting machines:
hot-chamber and cold-chamber machines.