Automotive Die Casting Process: Key Steps and Workflow

2026-02-14

The production process of automotive die castings parts is a complex and precise system determining product quality, performance and efficiency. Automotive die casting process involves melting, die casting, post-processing, heat treatment and quality inspection.

Table1: Core manufacturing process of automotive die casting parts
Process Link	Key Technology	2025 Mainstream Technical Indicators	Industry Leading Level
Melting Preparation	Alloy Melting, Degassing and Refining	Aluminum Liquid Temperature: 680-720℃, Hydrogen Content ≤ 2ml/100g	Temperature Control: ±5℃, Hydrogen Content ≤ 1.5ml/100g
Die Casting Molding	High-Pressure Injection, Rapid Filling	Injection Speed: 3-6m/s, Specific Pressure: 40-80MPa	Speed: 6-8m/s, Specific Pressure: 80-120MPa
Vacuum Die Casting	Mold Cavity Vacuuming, Reducing Porosity	Vacuum Degree ≤ 50mbar, Porosity ≤ 3%	Vacuum Degree ≤ 30mbar, Porosity ≤ 1.5%
Cooling and Shaping	Mold Cooling, Mold Opening and Ejection	Cooling Time Accounts for 60-70% of the Cycle, Mold Temperature: 150-250℃	Conformal Cooling Technology, Cycle Shortened by 20%
Post-Processing	Gate Removal, Trimming, Polishing	Trimming Precision: ±0.2mm, Surface Roughness: Ra ≤ 3.2μm	Laser Trimming Precision: ±0.05mm, Ra ≤ 1.6μm
Heat Treatment	Solution Aging, T6 Treatment	Hardness Uniformity: ±2HRC, Deformation ≤ 0.3%	Uniformity: ±1HRC, Deformation ≤ 0.1%
Machining	CNC Precision Machining, Drilling and Tapping	Dimensional Accuracy: ±0.05mm, Positional Tolerance ≤ 0.1mm	Accuracy: ±0.02mm, Positional Tolerance ≤ 0.05mm
Surface Treatment	Anodizing, Electrophoresis, Spraying	Film Thickness: 20-50μm, Adhesion ≥ 4B	Film Thickness Control: ±5μm, Adhesion: 5B
Quality Inspection	X-ray Flaw Detection, Coordinate Measuring	Porosity Grade ≤ Level 2, Key Dimensional CPK ≥ 1.33	Porosity ≤ Level 1, CPK ≥ 1.67
Assembly and Packaging	Functional Testing, Packaging and Warehousing	Assembly Qualification Rate ≥ 99%, Packaging Damage Rate ≤ 0.5%	Automated Assembly, Qualification Rate ≥ 99.5%

Automotive Die Casting Parts Core Process

The production cycle of automotive die castings varies by product size and process. Small parts take 15-30 s/mold, large integrated ones 2-5 min/mold.

The main process flow includes the following key links:

Raw Material Preparation: It involves alloy ingot melting, degassing and refining, and heat preservation, which takes 2-4 hours. This link is crucial to ensure the purity and stability of the molten metal, laying a foundation for the quality of die castings.
Die Casting Molding: As the core link, it includes injecting molten metal into the mold, high-pressure filling, pressure holding and cooling. The stability of this link directly affects the density, dimensional accuracy and internal quality of products.
Post-Processing: It mainly includes gate removal, trimming, polishing and deburring, which is used to remove redundant parts of the castings and improve the surface finish.
Heat Treatment: Some products require T6 treatment or aging treatment to enhance their hardness, toughness and mechanical properties, meeting the application requirements of automotive structural parts.
Machining: CNC precision machining, drilling, tapping and other operations are carried out to ensure that the key dimensions and positional accuracy of the products meet the design standards.
Surface Treatment: Technologies such as anodizing, electrophoresis and spraying are adopted to improve the corrosion resistance, wear resistance and appearance quality of the products.
Quality Inspection: It covers dimensional measurement, appearance inspection, X-ray flaw detection and performance testing to eliminate unqualified products and ensure product reliability.
Assembly and Packaging: Functional testing is performed on the qualified products, and then they are packaged and put into storage to ensure that the products are intact during transportation and storage.

Automotive Parts Key Technical Difficulties

Key technical difficulties include preventing deformation of large thin-walled parts, filling complex structures, porosity control and multi-material connections. These restrict product quality and efficiency upgrading, being key R&D directions for the industry.

In 2025, industry technical trends focus on efficiency, quality and intelligence, including integrated die casting and vacuum die casting. Digital mold design and intelligent production line integration are also key. Intelligent line penetration will rise to 35%, boosting efficiency by 20-30%.

Conclusion

As integrated die casting and digital production lines become mainstream, die casting process is set to redefine manufacturing efficiency and product reliability in the global automotive supply chain.

This article aims to provide you with a basic understanding of the core processes of die casting, from smelting to quality inspection, in 2025. For more information on die casting processes, please browse our blog's die casting section or contact LVMA for technical support.

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