Abstract
Lakes in zinc die castings are areas encompassed by irregular lines or waves on flat or slightly contoured surfaces which are intended to look uniform. The laked areas have to be removed by polishing before the castings can be plated. This adds considerably to the overall cost of production. Castings examined were of an automobile name-plate holder with two flat sides of approximately 113 sq cm. All castings produced during a trial showed laking defects, the number and position varying from casting to casting. It was found that formation of metal waves and lakes depended primarily on the design of the gate and runner system and operating conditions. High flow efficiencies, with adequate feeding to all sections of the die, and short cavity fill times are desirable.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
A. J. Davis, P. M. Robinson, The Production of Aluminium Diecastings Using a Fan Gate, Part 2. The Effect of Flow Conditions at the Gate on Casting Quality, Trans. Soc. of Diecasting Engineers (1975) Paper GT 75 122
R. P. Marchok, A. B. Draper, Elimination of Metal Waves in Hardware Finish Zinc Die Casting, Modern Castings 50 (1966) 66
R.L. Wilcox, Die Casting with Zinc Base Alloys. (American Smelting and Refining Co., New Jersey, 1961)
E. A. Day, Other Factors and Problems to Consider in the Production of Good Quality Castings, Chap. LX in “A Visit with 500 Die Casting Plants,” American Charcoal Co., Detroit (1959)
D. V. Bosley, private communication/persönliche Mitteilung
L. F. Schneider, Surface Defects in Die Casting, General Motors Third Year Report, General Motors Institute, Flint, Mich. (1958)
D. M. Smith, Metal Waves in Zinc Die Casting, General Motors Institute, Flint, Mich. (1960)
R. J. Carrol, Some Factors Involved in Production of Hardware Finish Castings, Modern Castings 46 (1962) 101
S. D. Sanders, W. D. Kaiser, P. D Frost, Metallographic Analysis of Zinc Diecastings, Trans. Soc. of Diecasting Engineers (1970) Paper 53
A. J. Davis, P. M. Robinson, The Production of Aluminium Diecastings Using a Fan Gate, Part 4. The Influence of Shot Velocity and Timing on Die Venting and Casting Porosity, to be published/demnächst
Selected Reference
• Failures Related to Casting, Failure Analysis and Prevention, Vol 11, ASM Handbook, ASM International, 2002, p 103–155 https://doi.org/10.31399/asm.hb.v11.a0003508
Acknowledgments
The castings used in this investigation were produced at Hucksons Diecastings, Spring-vale, Victoria, during a casting trial conducted by N. Bury of Electrolytic Zinc Co. and A. Davis, CSIRO.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
This article is adapted from ASM Failure Analysis Case Histories: Processing Errors and Defects, ASM International, 2019, https://doi.org/10.31399/asm.fach.process.c9001199. This case history originally appeared in Case Histories in Failure Analysis, Vol. 1, P.M. Unterweiser, Ed., American Society for Metals, 1979, 93.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Perger, G.R., Robinson, P.M. Metal Waves or Laking on Zinc-Based Diecastings. J Fail. Anal. and Preven. 22, 2054–2058 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11668-022-01525-3
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11668-022-01525-3