What is the difference between powder metallurgy and die casting? What are their respective advantages?

Powder metallurgy refers to the process of making metal powder or using metal powder (or a mixture of metal powder and non-metallic powder) as raw material, forming and sintering, to manufacture metal materials, composite materials and various types of products.

The essence of high pressure die casting (referred to as die casting) is to fill the die casting mold (die casting mold) cavity with liquid or semi-liquid metal at a high speed under high pressure, and to form and solidify under pressure to obtain castings. Both belong to manufacturing technology, but they are expressed in different ways and have their own advantages. Today, Sidi Xiaobian will share with you the difference between powder metallurgy and die casting, and their respective advantages.

The choice between powder metallurgy and die casting is often a question of part size or material requirements, rather than an economic issue. Commonly used die casting materials are aluminum alloys, magnesium alloys and zinc alloys, and copper alloy die castings are also used to a limited extent. Due to their high melting points, iron alloys and stainless steel are suitable for powder metallurgy.

Compared with traditional powder metallurgy parts and metal injection molded parts, die castings may be the same size or much larger.
When the main requirement is material, it is more appropriate to use powder metallurgy process, such as:
1: Very high strength, the tensile strength of some iron-based sintered alloys is more than three times higher than the highest strength of die-cast alloys.
2: High wear resistance and high friction reduction performance, which can be solved by iron-based and copper-based sintered alloys impregnated with lubricating oil.
3: High operating temperature, which can be solved by iron-based and copper-based sintered alloys.
4: Corrosion resistance, copper-based sintered alloys and sintered stainless steel can meet the requirements.
Between powder metallurgy and die casting, zinc die castings may be a substitute for iron-based powder metallurgy products under the conditions of using temperature not higher than 65℃ and requiring medium strength. In terms of dimensional accuracy and the need for cutting processing, the two processes are similar. However, in terms of tooling and processing costs, powder metallurgy is usually more advantageous.