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Alpha 3D develops a special know-how in the manufacture of moulds under pressure of Zamak.
PROTOTYPE MOULD
We manufacture some prototype moulds under pressure to realize about a hundred or thousand injections. The advantage of the prototype “real material, real process” is that you can control and validate the item both on aesthetic and dimensional aspects and also on its mechanical properties.
With the concept of the prototype mould ULC, Alpha 3D is able to reduce strongly the cost of the moulds. According to the quantity of prototype to produce, we use 2 types of machines for the moulding :
- Cold room machine
- Hot room machine.
There are some possibilities of treatment and post finishing on the prototypes (metallic, chemical or electrolytic deposit, liquid painting, powder painting, etc.).
MOULD IN SERIES
Alpha 3D is specialized in the manufacture of moulds for exportation.
We have a network of more than 20 mould makers. They belong to the network of Alpha 3D and they all have been selected by strict criterions. This network allows us to take in charge of the big projects of easy moulds as well as difficult ones (for example : double shot injection mould).
Our tool department is a team with French technicians and engineers who are in charge everyday to follow and ensure the quality of the tools.
Our team of Chinese project managers intervenes everyday on the site of our mould makers to guarantee the coherence with specifications during the process of mould manufacturing.
This organization allows to guarantee the deadline and to propose our customers a financial agreement for each mould.
ZAMAK
Zamak is an alloy of Zinc, Aluminium, magnesium and copper.
Its name is an acronym of the German name of the metals which is composed by Z for Zink (zinc), A for Aluminium, MA for Magnesium and K for Kupfer (copper).
Particularly adapted to the die-casting, this family of alloys enables to make thin and/or complex parts.
Alloys used for the die casting under pressure:
- ZAMAK 2 (ZL2)
- ZAMAK 3 (ZL3)
- ZAMAK 5 (ZL5)
Zamak can be used in several casting processes. The most used are the sand casting, the gravity die casting and the pressure die casting.
Alpha 3D develops know-how in the manufacture of pressure die casting moulds prototype or in series.
2 types of machines are used :
- The hot room machines are equipped with a system which is gradually submerged in the alloys at a liquid state which enables an automatic supply of the molten metal. The rate of production on the hot room machines are high and can reach very high frequency.
- The cold room machines are of different design, the fusion furnace (crucible) is separated with the machine. The molten metal is transferred to the injection room of the machine before each moulding with a ladle either manually or automatically. The metal is injected with the injection piston which makes a pressure on the metal. The pressure which is done at the end of filling insures the compaction of the alloys.
Propriétés physiques
Caractéristiques mécaniques
Treatment on Zamak
Thanks to their good performance of the corrosion, the parts in Zamak do not need to be specially protected in the majority of use. Nevertheless when the parts are used in an aggressive environment or when they have to answer to esthetical criterion, they can have a very big diversity of treatment or coating.
The most used treatments for the zinc alloys to reinforce their resistance to the corrosion are the chromatation, the phosphatising or the anodizing. It is also possible to blacken chemically the parts.
The electrolytic coating can meet the requirements of the resistance to the corrosion as well as on the decoration. The chromium plating allows successively deposit of copper, nickel and chrome which insure respectively a good hitching to the coating. The aspect can be mat, satiny or brilliant.
It is also possible to coat the parts with the gold, silver, brass or stannum deposit.
The organic coatings such as painting or varnish complete the coating possibilities on the Zamak parts.
Over moulding of the insert
The processes of the over moulding for the inserts are often used, axe, stud, bush, nut, etc. The over moulding of the insert can improve partly the mechanical resistance, the hardness, the quality of the friction or the magnetic or electric characteristics. Some plastic materials can be over moulded by Zamak.
The applications are various: automotive, builder’s hardware, domestic appliances, electronic, electrical, luxury goods, etc.
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