During the aluminum casting process, the metal melt is either poured or pressed into the mold. This process is used, for example, to manufacture cylinder heads, wheel rims and other aluminum castings. Here, again, the mold insert has to withstand the metal melt at a temperature of over 600 °C: for inserts made of our tungsten heavy metal alloy DENSIMET®, that's not a problem.

 

 

The benefit to you of using DENSIMET® mold inserts:   Shorter cycle times Optimized surface quality for your products Long mold service life No cracks in the mold insert

 

We supply tailor-made mold inserts, sprue bushes, cooling inserts and other individual parts as well as semi-finished products for your mold.

 

We primarily manufacture our inserts for aluminum casting from DENSIMET® 185 and DENSIMET® D2M. Due to its greater mechanical strength, our customers mostly use DENSIMET® D2M for high-pressure casting applications. DENSIMET® 185 is predominantly used in gravity and low-pressure casting applications. On request, we can also supply inserts made from molybdenum. We would be delighted to advise you and find the right material for your application.

 

The most important details at a glance
Material		DENSIMET® 185	DENSIMET® D2M
Chemical composition	W	97.0 %	90.0 %
	Other	Ni, Fe	Ni, Mo, Fe
Density [g/cm3]		18.5	17.2
Tensile strength at 20 °C [MPa]		800	990
Oxidation resistance		up to 600 °C	up to 600 °C
Thermal conductivity at 500 °C [W/m·K]		90	65
Modulus of elasticity  [GPa]		385	360
Yield strength at 20 °C  [MPa]		600	700
Breaking elongation at 20 °C  [%]		10	18
Coefficient of thermal expansion [10-6 K-1]		5.0	5.3

Do your molds have any worn or washed out areas? Build-up welding with DENSIMET® WR enables you to refill worn areas and extend the life of your mold for many more cycles. We supply rods of DENSIMET® WR in a variety of lengths and diameters - to meet your exact requirements. 

The thermal conductivity of our tungsten-heavy metal alloy DENSIMET® is up to five times greater than that of conventional steel. The benefit to you: The mold cools down significantly faster and you can perform more casting cycles in a shorter time. 

 

In addition, thanks to the rapid heat dissipation, the microstructure (dendrite arm spacing)  of the aluminum castings is significantly finer. This in turn helps optimize the mechanical properties of your products, for example by increasing their strength.

 

High corrosion resistance. Long service life.

Compared to steel, mold inserts made from DENSIMET® are particularly erosion and corrosion-resistant. Because our material does not react with the aluminum melt, no metal residues continue to adhere to the mold insert, for example when the castings are removed. The benefit to you: The inserts can be used for longer, do not have to undergo time-consuming cleaning operations and are soon ready for the next pouring. 

 

 

Low thermal expansion. No cracks.

Because during casting, the aluminum melts come into contact with the colder surface of the mold insert, thermal fatigue cracks may form in the material. This can cause cracks in the mold, in particular during high-pressure casting. The coefficient of thermal expansion of DENSIMET® is approximately a third lower than that of steel. In combination with the high conductivity of DENSIMET®, this means that there is no danger of cracks forming in the mold insert during the casting process.   

Since 1921, our customers have been able to rely on PLANSEE as an independent private company. For our customers and for us, reliability and continuity is particularly important when it comes to the supply of raw materials. With Global Tungsten & Powders (GTP) and its interest in Molibdenos y Metales (Molymet), the Plansee Group covers every step of the molybdenum and tungsten processing – from powder production through powder-metallurgical processes to serving customers with semi-finished and tailor-made components.

High-temperature infiltration, liquid phase sintering and back-casting are all used to produce high-performance composite materials with outstanding properties. Our competence center – PLANSEE Composite Materials – combines such diverse material properties as density, corrosion resistance, thermal conductivity and thermal expansion, temperature resistance and mechanical stability during the development of its composites.

 

We work in close collaboration with our customers in the foundry, medical technology, automotive and other industries to turn their ideas into reality. Join them and contact us!