Three entries by Chicago White Metal Casting were winners in each of their categories in the 2009 Die Casting Design Contest of the North American Die Casting Assn., scoring a first-ever triple win for CWM in this international contest.
For Aluminum Die Castings, 1 to 10 lbs., CWM was the winner with a baseplate control support structure for a dental workstation, serving as a rigid platform for mounting air, water, and pneumatic control lines concealed with a cosmetic cover. Cut-out features over a 6 in. length across the 8.5 in. center width of this plate restricts the edge-to-edge metal flow, creating a challenging die fill. CWM employed its Magmasoft simulation software in developing the optimum gating system for this component.
For Aluminum Die Castings, under 1 lb., the winning as-cast die casting went to the CWM automotive mirror mount. This casting achieves the structural integrity and critical dimensional accuracy required to withstand years of trouble-free operation through wide changes in temperature and humidity. The ball end is held to a tolerance of +/-0.1 mm that must be maintained over a long production run
For Magnesium Die Castings, over .5 lbs., CWM’s third winner was a set of two hot-chamber Mg side-walls for a medical imager, providing exterior cosmetics as well as critical functions to this state-of-the-art desktop unit: the die cast walls assure cassette alignment and support for rollers and motors. Die cast Mg offered optimum dimensional accuracy and repeatability, with flatness held as-cast to .032 in. or less over almost a 20 in. length, and significant weight reduction. A proprietary injection system eliminated edge gating, with metal injected directly into the die casting.
