The best way to make complex, thin-walled magnesium parts at volume. GTI has launched 200+ thixomolding tools. We know where programs succeed and where they stall.
Thixomolding is a unique manufacturing process that allows manufacturers to design highly complex, lightweight parts from magnesium alloys for medium to high volume applications. It is not a new process and has been used in automotive, consumer products, drone, and telecom industries for many years.
Thixomolding injects a magnesium alloy slurry at extremely high velocities into a mold, reducing voids. A properly designed part will have very high yields, excellent part detail, superb metallurgical structure, and tight tolerance capability compared to magnesium die casting.
The design concepts are more similar to plastic injection molding than die casting. If you are familiar with plastic injection molding you are about 80% of the way there. We recommend designing for plastic injection first, then letting GTI help optimize the final design for manufacturing.
| Property | Thixomolding | Mg Die Cast |
|---|---|---|
| Porosity | Lower | Higher |
| Thin walls (<1mm) | Yes | Difficult |
| Dimensional precision | Better | Good |
| Tooling cost | Moderate | Similar |
| Volume sweet spot | Med–High | Med–High |
Yes. GTI machines magnesium regularly: fully machined parts and secondary machining of castings. Machined prototypes are a common first step before approving thixomolding or die cast tooling. Our Mg machining runs out of Puerto Rico and China.