A poor gating system can lead to a series of quality issues, such as porosity, shrinkage, flow marks, cold shuts, short fills, and surface cracks. Conversely, an optimized gating system fills the cavity in the smoothest and most efficient manner, preventing many defects at the source.
Traditional gating system design relies on experience and trial-and-error, which is costly and time-consuming. Today, die-casting process simulation software (such as MAGMA, Flow-3D, ProCAST) has become the standard tool for optimizing gating systems.
The process involves:
Creating an initial 3D model of the mold and gating system.
Simulating the filling process to observe the molten metal’s flow behavior, air entrapment, and temperature distribution.
Simulating the solidification process to predict potential shrinkage porosity and cavity locations.
Iteratively adjusting and optimizing the gating and overflow system designs based on simulation results until the analysis shows smooth filling, a rational temperature field, and no major defect risks.
Only then proceeding to mold manufacturing and physical trial production.
This approach significantly reduces the number of trial tests, shortens development lead times, lowers production costs, and markedly improves the quality of die-cast components.