PDC (Pty) Ltd is a high pressure diecaster of non ferrous metals which includes:

• Brass
• Aluminium
• Zinc

High pressure die casting is often the process of choice because of it cost effectiveness and superior quality. The process gives our customers components that have the following properties:

Tight dimensional tolerance
Good and consistent surface finish
Dimensional accuracy
Near net shape
Reduced machining
Ability to make cost-effective runs
Cost competitive tooling for large production runs
Automated process

Brass
Brass is a copper and zinc alloy that has the following properties:

• Corrosion resistant in atmospheric environments
• High electrical conductivity
• Resistant to corrosion by water
• Spark resistant
• Aesthetically pleasing (polished and as cast)

We process approximately 100 tons/ month of brass and have extensive experience in the manufacture of a range of alloys that range from 58% to 80% copper including Dezincifis (DZR). DZR has alloy additions that resist the leaching of zinc out of the brass where water is present.

Component sizes range from a few grams to just under 1kg with production volumes exceeding well over a million components/month.

Aluminium
We have extensive experience in the manufacture of a range of components with weights from just a few grams to 3kg with current production runs of 30 000 to 300 000 components/annum.

Aluminium has the property of being very light (a third of the weight of brass) with significant mechanical properties and is used extensively in the automotive industry.

Zinc
We operate a number of hot chamber machines that are capable of making smaller components.

Zinc has a similar density to brass but is manufactured at significantly reduced temperatures.

Due to its viscosity, components are made to nett shape which can incorporate significant detail. Tooling for zinc diecasting is very cost effective and is capable of making many millions of components.

Casting – our core business!
We have a range of 14 high pressure die casting machines varying in size from 20t clamping force to 400t where product is cast on multi cavity dies (up to 50 components).

We have an alliance with another die casting company which gives us the ability to cast on larger machines over 1000 tons.

All our machines are fitted with process control where shot profiles are monitored, die temperatures and metal temperatures are controlled and metal is metered in the shot sleeve.