Zinc alloy family for foundry purposes

More than 13 million tons of zinc were produced in 2013 worldwide. According to the IZA (International Zinc Association) 60 % of this is used for galvanizing to protect steel from corrosion thus prolonging the service life of steel products significantly. About 15 % of world zinc consumption goes into the production of zinc base alloys, mainly to supply the die casting industry, 14 % goes into the production of brass and bronze and 8 % into the production of compounds including zinc oxide and zinc sulfate. The remainder is used for zinc alloys, mainly rolled, utilized in semi-manufactured applications including coinage and architectural applications. Zinc die casting alloys have been used since the early 1920ies and are part of the stable world zinc consumption. Mostly they are transformed by means of hot chamber die-casting process. During the last decades two alloys became known as the general purpose alloys, named Zamak® 3 and Zamak® 5 (ZL0400 & ZL0410 according to ISO EN 301/EN 1774).This led to a misunderstanding in the market that there are no new alloy developments. On the contrary the needs of specific markets, as for instance car industry, are driving the research to the development of new zinc alloys, competitive with Cu or Al alloys as well as with polymers. This paper is aimed at showing an overview of the most widely used zinc alloys for foundry purposes with an outlook for the future innovations.