Custom Aluminum Die-Cast Enclosures for Industrial Equipment and Electrical Devices
High-pressure die-cast aluminum housings for motor controllers, drives, sensors, lighting, and automation: engineered for thermal performance, EMI shielding, and IP-rated service.
Overview
Eurobalt manufactures custom aluminum die-cast enclosures for industrial equipment and electrical devices on the basis of customer drawings, 3D models, or technical specifications. Our die-casting workshop has been a core production line for decades, supplying housings to long-standing partners in automotive systems and large-scale LED lighting for industrial sites and airports. The article below summarizes what we build, the materials we use, and the engineering envelope a designer can rely on when specifying a die-cast housing with us.
Why aluminum die casting is the right process for industrial housings
For an enclosure that has to dissipate heat, resist vibration, shield electronics, and stay dimensionally stable across thousands of identical units, high-pressure die casting (HPDC) in aluminum is hard to beat. A few points engineers usually weigh in our favour:
- Thermal management is built into the part. Aluminum alloys conduct heat at 90–150 W/(m·K). Cooling fins, internal ribs, and heat-sink geometries can be cast directly into the housing wall instead of bonded or machined afterwards, critical for VFDs, LED drivers, inverters, and motor controllers.
- EMI/RFI shielding. A solid aluminum enclosure with cast-in mating surfaces and chromated grounding pads gives reliable shielding for switchgear, drives, and sensor electronics without separate gaskets or coatings.
- Strength-to-weight ratio. Die-cast aluminum is roughly one-third the density of steel with mechanical properties sufficient for IP65/IP67 enclosures, mounting flanges, cable-gland bosses, and lifting points cast as a single piece.
- Geometric freedom. HPDC reproduces thin walls, internal ribs, threaded bosses, and complex external geometries that would require extensive milling in a wrought blank. Wall thickness down to 1.5–2 mm is achievable on production parts.
- Repeatability at volume. Once a hardened H13 die is set, hundreds of thousands of housings can be produced with stable dimensional accuracy. The cycle is measured in seconds, not minutes.
- Corrosion behaviour. Standard die-cast aluminum alloys form a passive oxide layer; combined with conversion coating or powder paint they are fit for outdoor and industrial atmospheres.
Materials we cast for housings
We work with the alloy families established for housing and electrical applications. The choice depends on thermal load, corrosion exposure, machining demands, and finish requirements.
| Alloy | Designation | Density | Thermal conductivity | Typical use for housings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EN AC-46000 / A380 | AlSi8Cu3Fe | ~2.74 g/cm³ | ~96 W/(m·K) | General-purpose enclosures, motor housings, switchgear bodies |
| EN AC-47100 / ADC12 | AlSi11Cu2Fe | ~2.74 g/cm³ | ~92 W/(m·K) | High-volume thin-wall housings, electronics enclosures |
| EN AC-43400 / AlSi10Mg(Fe) | AlSi10MnMg | ~2.65 g/cm³ | ~140 W/(m·K) | Heat-loaded housings, LED and drive enclosures, structural parts |
| EN AC-44300 | AlSi12(Fe) | ~2.65 g/cm³ | ~155 W/(m·K) | Corrosion-exposed enclosures, sealed and pressure-tight housings |
| Zamak 3 / Zamak 5 | ZnAl4 / ZnAl4Cu1 | ~6.6 g/cm³ | ~110 W/(m·K) | Small precision housings, connector shells, where surface finish is critical |
For magnesium-alloy housings (AZ91D) the same workshop is used, relevant for handheld instruments and weight-critical mobile equipment.
Typical housings we manufacture
The product mix on our shop floor for industrial and electrical applications:
- Motor and pump housings: including end shields, terminal boxes, and frame castings for fractional and integral-horsepower motors.
- VFD and drive enclosures: with integral heat-sink fins for inverter electronics and machine-tool drives.
- LED luminaire bodies and driver housings: high-bay and floodlight enclosures, airport-grade fixtures, street and tunnel lighting.
- Sensor and instrument housings: IP65/IP67 enclosures for proximity, vision, pressure, and process sensors used in industrial automation.
- Junction boxes and switchgear enclosures: terminal boxes, control-station bodies, IP-rated junction boxes with cast cable-gland bosses and gasket grooves.
- Gearbox covers and transmission housings: for industrial gear units, hoists, conveyors, and lifting equipment.
- Telecom and edge-equipment enclosures: 5G radio-unit housings, outdoor cabinets, and powered roadside equipment.
- EV-adjacent housings: charger bodies, controller boxes, and auxiliary unit enclosures.
If your part is conceptually close to any of the above, the existing toolroom, casting cells, and finishing line will already cover the workflow.
Engineering envelope we deliver
What a designer can rely on for a Eurobalt die-cast aluminum housing:
| Parameter | Typical range |
|---|---|
| Part weight | 0.05 – 30 kg per casting |
| Wall thickness | 1.5 – 4 mm production, down to 1.0 mm in localized zones |
| Draft angle | 0.5° – 3° (depending on depth and surface) |
| Dimensional tolerance class | ISO 8062-3 DCTG 6 (as cast); tighter on machined features |
| Surface roughness, as-cast | Ra 1.6 – 3.2 µm |
| Hole and thread features | Cast cores from Ø3 mm; tapped threads M4–M20 |
| Ingress protection | IP54 to IP67 with gasket grooves and machined mating surfaces |
| Production volume | From pilot batches of a few hundred to series of hundreds of thousands |
These numbers are the practical operating range, not laboratory limits. Tighter values are achievable on individual features when justified by the application.
Surface treatment and finishing for electrical service
A die-cast aluminum housing rarely leaves the factory bare. Our in-house finishing line covers the treatments most often specified on industrial enclosures:
- Shot blasting and deburring: removes flash, parting-line witness, and surface oxide, leaves a uniform matte texture as a base for paint.
- Chromate conversion coating (Alodine / Iridite type): applied to provide a conductive, corrosion-resistant base layer; essential where the housing serves as a ground plane or EMI shield.
- Powder coating: single-layer or primer-plus-topcoat systems for outdoor and industrial atmospheres in any RAL colour.
- Electrocoating (e-coat / cataphoresis): uniform corrosion-protective base coat used when the part will be over-coated or assembled into a multi-layer system.
- Anodizing: available with the understanding that standard HPDC alloys are silicon-rich and develop a darker, less uniform anodic film than wrought aluminum; we will advise on the alloy choice (AlSi10Mg gives the most predictable result) before committing to anodized parts.
- Machining of critical surfaces: flatness on flange faces, threaded inserts, sensor seats, bearing bores, and connector openings are CNC-machined after casting to drawing tolerance.
Quality control and validation
Industrial buyers expect documented quality, not just a good first article. Each die-cast housing programme passes through:
- Dimensional inspection on CMM (3D coordinate measurement) for first-article and periodic batch control.
- Hardness testing on the cast structure.
- Radiographic (X-ray) inspection for porosity and shrinkage in pressure-tight or safety-relevant housings.
- Leak testing for IP-rated and sealed enclosures.
- Visual inspection for cosmetic surfaces against agreed defect catalogues.
- Material certification to EN 10204 Type 2.2 or 3.1 on request.
Eurobalt’s quality management system is certified to ISO 9001, and PPAP-style first-article documentation is available for automotive and OEM customers.
Why customers choose Eurobalt for die-cast housings
This is not a new direction for the company. The die-casting workshop has been in continuous production for decades, with stable cooperation with European automotive systems suppliers and one of Europe’s largest industrial LED lighting manufacturers. Tooling, casting, machining, finishing, and quality control all sit under one roof, which keeps lead times short and accountability clear. Customers come back because the same housing produced this year matches the one produced three years ago, and the team responsible for the tool is the same team running the press.
