Moving from plastic to metal for ultimate part strength

Moving from plastic to metal for ultimate part strength

Dynacast was asked to manufacture an electric motor pinion. The pinion is integral to the overall function of the motor, requiring precise tolerances and high-strength material.

Plastic versus metal components

Initially, the customer designed the part in plastic, but when it was tested, heat and stress requirements caused it to fail. In addition, the plastic production process did not meet the technical requirements needed for part performance. The customer required tighter tolerances and a complex component design for the electromechanical mechanism to achieve optimal performance, so they turned to Dynacast for a solution.

Prototyping and metal solutions

With material strength as the customer's main priority, Dynacast used a prototype tool to test various alloys, enabling design engineers to test performance quickly and efficiently and develop even better components.

The first prototypes were made using Zamak 5. Zinc alloy 5 is the most widely used zinc alloy in Europe and is known for its hardness and high-strength properties. However, despite an improvement over plastic, its resistance was insufficient. Zamak 2 was tested next because of its higher resistance and hardness, but the design engineers knew there was another option.

EZAC®. This hot chamber zinc alloy offers superior creep resistance, high yield strength, high hardness and low melting temperatures. While zinc has always been known for its high strength, adding EZAC® to the range of alloys Dynacast can cast makes this zinc alloy more suitable for applications such as this pinion, which require high surface hardness.

The customer subjected Dynacast's EZAC castings to severe endurance testing and was extremely pleased with the new material, making the switch from plastic injection moulding to die casting an easy choice.

If you are looking for a partner to help you apply new tools and technologies or fully realise your design vision, let us help move your business forward. Contact our team today to start the conversation.