Investigation about foam inserts use in die-casting of Zamak 5 parts

In the automotive industry the use of light materials to reduce the car weight is rapidly growing in the last years, even for small parts. The possibility to cast zinc parts with porous inserts can be a promising technology to reduce the weight of components, opening new fields of application for zinc alloys. The aim of this paper is to investigate the process conditions to be used in the production of Zamak 5 die-cast parts with porous zinc inserts and to analyze the variation of mechanical properties in comparison to conventional parts.