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Thermally-induced fatigue cracking of steel dies is one of the most common failures in die casting industry. Based on a modified universal slopes equation, a new fatigue life prediction criterion has been developed for die casting processes, correlating the temperature differences during casting cycles and thermal fatigue crack cycles. A laboratory thermal fatigue experiment, undergoing cyclic heating and water cooling, was used to reproduce thermal fatigue cracking. A simple plate sample was tested to fit this new fatigue model criterion, where its heating was achieved by residing in a kiln chamber. Furthermore, a finite element analysis code ProCAST^® was used to model the thermal loadings during the test. To further extend the application of this newly developed criterion, a miniature H13 steel insert sample was machined and tested. The sample was designed to be geometrically similar to an actual water jacket …