Attachment Systems

Attachments requiring plastic deformation of the die casting such as crimping, staking, and swaging are generally limited to alloys with relatively high ductility, such as zinc. The operations are sometimes used on alloys with lower ductility when minor plastic deformation is required. Ductility can be increased by applying heat locally, either with a heated tool or by spinning the tool against the metal.

Attachment advancements

• In recent years, improvements in adhesive bonding strength, application technology and the time it takes to make a bonded joint have made adhesive bonding of metals a common practice
• Stand-off fasteners developed for sheet metal can be adapted to die castings to mount electronic circuit boards and similar applications

Soldering is not used for structural attachments of die castings since such soldered joints are low in strength and sometime brittle. Soldering can be used to attach light-weight components such as wires, electronic chips and circuit boards if electrical contact is required.