Types of Aluminium Diecasting Explained

1. High Pressure Diecasting (HPDC)

Ideal for high-volume production, HPDC uses steel dies and hydraulic pressure to inject molten aluminium. It delivers excellent dimensional accuracy and surface finish.

  • Advantages: Fast cycle times, thin walls, high precision.
  • Best for: Higher volume, dimension accuracy, repeatability, surface finish.

2. Sand Casting

A traditional method using sand molds, perfect for low-volume or large parts. It’s cost-effective and flexible for design changes.

  • Advantages: Low tooling cost, large part capability.
  • Best for: Thicker wall section parts that can be machined afterwards. Prototyping due to low pattern cost.

3. Gravity Diecasting

Molten aluminium is poured into permanent metal molds under gravity. It offers better accuracy than sand casting and is suitable for medium volumes.

  • Advantages: Reusable molds, good surface finish.
  • Best for: Medium volumes, thicker wall sections.

4. Lost Wax Casting (Investment Casting)

This precision method uses wax patterns and ceramic molds to create highly detailed parts. It’s ideal for low-volume, high-complexity applications.

  • Advantages: Exceptional detail, smooth finish.
  • Best for: Prototyping, intricate components that high pressure and gravity can’t achieve.
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Why Choose Us?

✅ Expert guidance on selecting the right casting method

✅ Custom tooling and prototyping

✅ Fast turnaround and scalable production

✅ ISO-certified quality assurance

 

Ready to Start Your Project?

Contact us today to discuss your aluminium diecasting needs. Whether you need thousands of parts or a single prototype, we’ll help you find the most efficient and cost-effective solution.

Aluminium Die Casting Machinery and Equipment

Hallam’s manufacturing capability includes sand, gravity and high pressure die casting in aluminium and zinc alloys including bespoke specially formulated alloys to provide specific mechanical properties or other characteristics; CNC machining; fully automated powder coating; assembly of manufactured and outsourced components to create complete products and sub-assemblies.

From Concept to Casting—Fast

 

DFM
With DFM, you’ll benefit from, fewer defects, longer-lasting tooling, faster production cycles and a more dependable supply chain

Advanced Design Capabilities
Utilising the latest version of SolidWorks, we collaborate closely with clients to refine and optimise designs for manufacturability and performance.

Rapid Turnaround
We’ve achieved product-in-hand delivery within just 4 weeks from initial drawing sign-off—a company record that reflects our commitment to the shortest lead times without compromising quality.

Not one to shy away from the latest technology, we are continuously on the look-out for innovative products and machinery to keep us up to date and improving on each process, allowing us to offer our customer the best service at the best prices.

All of our furnaces have the latest reciprocating burners to ensure we have the most efficient energy transfer.

We have Frech DAK diecastings machines ranging from 125-600 tonnes locking force.

Our CNC machinery, supplied and maintained by DMG MORI, uses CAMWORKS to interface Solidworks Professional CAD models with the CNC equipment to avoid costly hard coding.

Aberlink CNC CMM capable of reverse engineering parts.  Used to carry out PPAP levels 1-5 part approval.

Our Haviland designed and constructed powder coating plant, has a five stage pre-treatment specifically for the surface finishing of aluminium components and products.  The plant can accommodate components weighing up to 10 kg and 1m² x 300mm.

Benefits of Aluminium Casting

Aluminium is a great choice for it’s green credentials, being one of the most recycled elements on Earth.  If your part sales have surpassed the limits of your current manufacturing process or maybe legislation has dictated a change of material for safety or environmental or sustainability concerns, high pressure aluminium casting could be for you.

High pressure aluminium die casting enables the volume production of components with narrow tolerances and excellent surface finishes.  This process offers numerous benefits for manufacturers, including the ability to produce intricate shapes quickly and cost-effectively.

Zinc Die Casting Foundries UK. Aluminium Die Castings

FAQs

The difference between pressure casting and sand casting is that pressure casting uses a complex, steel mould to shape the metal, while sand casting uses negative imprint in sand to create a void in the shape of your product, aluminium is then poured in and flows under gravity to fill the empty space.

We strategically design our moulds with well-planned vents and use dynamic CAD models to simulate metal flow, ensuring efficient air displacement during the die casting process.

Our aluminium die casting machines and advanced process capabilities make it possible to produce in high volume with high efficiency, which makes us a key supplier of aluminium castings in the UK. All our manufacturing and administrative operations further meet quality control, safety, sustainability, and process improvement goals by applying Lean Six Sigma methodologies. This position puts the company in a leadership spot in the UK aluminium die casting industry.

We don’t just promise precision—we prove it. Our quality assurance process is built around industry-recognised standards and tools, including:

  • PPAP Level 1-5 (Production Part Approval Process)
    Ensures all customer engineering design and specification requirements are properly understood and consistently met before production begins.
  • Cpk & Ppk Analysis
    We use statistical process control to monitor and improve process capability, ensuring your parts are produced within specification limits with minimal variation.
  • Poka-Yoke (Error-Proofing)
    Built-in safeguards throughout our processes help prevent human error and ensure right-first-time manufacturing.
  • In-Process and Final Inspections
    Every part undergoes detailed inspections using calibrated equipment such as our CNC CMM, with full traceability and documentation available on request.These tools allow us to not only meet your specifications—but to prove it with data.

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