{"id":7909,"date":"2026-10-09T02:09:11","date_gmt":"2026-10-09T02:09:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chinametalfoundry.com\/?p=7909"},"modified":"2026-10-09T02:09:15","modified_gmt":"2026-10-09T02:09:15","slug":"squeeze-casting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinametalfoundry.com\/fr\/blog\/squeeze-casting\/","title":{"rendered":"Squeeze Casting: Process, Tooling Cost and When It Beats Die Casting"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Squeeze casting is the process buyers reach for when a die casting keeps failing a leak test, a forging blows the budget, or a part has to be heat treated and welded. It fills a steel die slowly, then holds 50\u2013150 MPa on the metal while it freezes \u2014 and that pressure is what removes the gas porosity that rules most high-pressure die castings out of structural service.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

This guide covers where squeeze casting actually fits on a sourcing decision, the process window a foundry can hold, what the tooling costs, and how to write a print that gets a clean quote. Numbers come from production practice rather than lab coupons, and where an industry body publishes the reference method we link it \u2014 see the American Foundry Society (AFS)<\/a> for casting practice and NADCA<\/a> for the die casting comparison baseline. If you want the wider picture first, start with our Guide sur la fonderie des m\u00e9taux<\/a>, or go straight to the aluminum casting capability<\/a> page.<\/p>\n

\"squeeze
A squeeze casting cell: metered metal, a closed steel die, and a press holding pressure through solidification.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What Squeeze Casting Does Differently<\/h2>\n

Every casting process fights the same two enemies: gas dissolved or entrained in the metal, and shrinkage as liquid turns solid. Gravity processes accept both and feed them with risers. High-pressure die casting fixes shrinkage with intensification pressure but creates gas porosity by filling at 30\u201360 m\/s. Squeeze casting attacks both at once: it fills at well under 2 m\/s, so air is not beaten into the metal, and it then holds 50\u2013150 MPa on the semi-solid mass so shrinkage cavities are squeezed shut and fed from the liquid core.<\/p>\n

The result sits mechanically between aluminum die casting<\/a> et closed-die forging<\/a>: near-net-shape geometry like a casting, mechanical properties close to a wrought product.<\/p>\n

Direct and Indirect: Two Machines, One Principle<\/h3>\n
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Both variants pressurize metal during solidification. They differ in how the metal gets into the cavity, and that difference decides which parts each can make.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Factor<\/th>\nDirect Squeeze<\/th>\nIndirect Squeeze<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Fill path<\/td>\nMetal poured into open lower die; punch closes and displaces it<\/td>\nLow-velocity injection through a wide gate, then intensification<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Fill velocity<\/td>\n0.05\u20130.5 m\/s<\/td>\n0.3\u20131.5 m\/s<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Runner \/ gate scrap<\/td>\nAlmost none \u2014 metal is metered, not injected<\/td>\nRunner and biscuit to remelt<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Geometry freedom<\/td>\nSimpler shapes, one main cavity axis<\/td>\nMore complex shapes, multi-cavity possible<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Integrity<\/td>\nHighest \u2014 shortest fill path, no turbulence<\/td>\nVery good \u2014 gate area can carry minor entrainment<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Typical parts<\/td>\nBrake calipers, compressor scrolls, airbag housings, MMC rotors<\/td>\nSuspension knuckles, control arms, structural brackets<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Where the Tonnage Comes From<\/h3>\n
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Press size is not a marketing number \u2014 it falls straight out of projected area times specific pressure: F = p \u00d7 A<\/strong>. A bracket with a projected area of 320 cm\u00b2 (32,000 mm\u00b2) squeezed at 90 MPa needs 32,000 \u00d7 90 = 2,880,000 N, about 294 tonnes<\/strong>. Specify a 400 t press, not a 300 t one: you need 25\u201330% margin for die closing force, ejection, and the fact that the last hot spot is still liquid when the rest has frozen. The die itself is a hardened tool steel assembly with ejection, thermal control and often moving cores \u2014 the same discipline we apply to casting mold and tooling<\/a> work, built to a tighter pressure duty. This is the hard ceiling on part size, and it is why squeeze casting lives in the 0.2\u201325 kg range rather than in the hundreds of kilograms where resin sand casting<\/a> or shell mold casting<\/a> take over.<\/p>\n

The Squeeze Casting Process Window<\/h2>\n

These are the numbers a foundry will actually quote against. If a supplier promises values outside this band without a specific reason, ask what is different about their machine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Parameter<\/th>\nTypical Range<\/th>\nWhy It Matters to the Buyer<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Specific pressure<\/td>\n50\u2013150 MPa<\/td>\nBelow ~50 MPa porosity returns; above ~150 MPa die life collapses<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Fill velocity<\/td>\n0.05\u20131.5 m\/s<\/td>\nTwo orders of magnitude below HPDC; this is the porosity fix<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Pour temperature (Al)<\/td>\n680\u2013730 \u00b0C<\/td>\nLower than gravity pouring because pressure supplies the feeding<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Die temperature<\/td>\n200\u2013300 \u00b0C<\/td>\nDrives heat checking; thermal control is the main die-life lever<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Dwell time<\/td>\n8\u201330 s<\/td>\nSets cycle time; scales with the square of section thickness<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Minimum wall<\/td>\n3\u20135 mm<\/td>\nThinner than this and the metal freezes before the cavity fills<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Part weight<\/td>\n0.2\u201325 kg<\/td>\nCapped by press tonnage, not by mold size<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Die steel<\/td>\nH13 \/ 1.2344, nitrided<\/td>\nHigher mechanical load than HPDC \u2014 expect shorter die life<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Die life<\/td>\n30,000\u201380,000 shots<\/td>\nAmortize it: at 20,000\/yr a $70k tool is $3.50\/part over its life<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Dimensional tolerance<\/td>\n\u00b10.15\u20130.35 mm in-die (\u2248 DCTG 7)<\/td>\nAcross the parting line or a moving core, drop to DCTG 8 \u2014 see our casting tolerances guide<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Machining allowance<\/td>\n0.5\u20131.5 mm<\/td>\nHalf to a third of a sand casting \u2014 this is where the money is<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
As-cast surface<\/td>\nRa 1.6\u20133.2 \u00b5m<\/td>\nFine enough to anodize on non-critical faces without blasting<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Process scrap<\/td>\n1\u20133%<\/td>\nVersus 4\u20138% on a porosity-sensitive HPDC part<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Why Pressure Removes Porosity<\/h2>\n

Three mechanisms work together, and all three are measurable on the shop floor.<\/p>\n