The mold filling and solidification process of a marine propeller hub were simulated using ProCAST. Three casting processes–gravity casting, centrifugal casting and low pressure casting–were compared in order to get...The mold filling and solidification process of a marine propeller hub were simulated using ProCAST. Three casting processes–gravity casting, centrifugal casting and low pressure casting–were compared in order to get the best process. The heat transfer coefficient of the casting/mold interface was determined using a reverse method. The simulated results of velocity, temperature and shrinkage porosity distribution were discussed in detail for the three casting processes. A smooth filling was found in all three casting processes, especially the low pressure casting exhibiting a better filling performance than the other two, but the solidification processes were different. The casting did not experience the sequential solidification, and the feeding paths were blocked, leading to shrinkage porosity defects in the riser and the bottom of the casting in gravity casting and in the upper zone of the casting in low pressure casting. While, the sequential solidification was well controlled in the solidification process of centrifugal casting, and majority of the shrinkage porosity defects can only be observed in the riser. It could be concluded that the centrifugal casting process is the most suitable casting process for the production of propeller hub body. The casting experiments verified the simulation results, and a defect-free propeller hub was obtained by centrifugal casting with a rotational speed of 150 r·min-1.展开更多
基金financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.51274054,U1332115,51271042,and 51375070)the Key Grant Project of Chinese Ministry of Education,China(No.313011)the Science and Technology Planning Project of Dalian(2013A16GX110)
文摘The mold filling and solidification process of a marine propeller hub were simulated using ProCAST. Three casting processes–gravity casting, centrifugal casting and low pressure casting–were compared in order to get the best process. The heat transfer coefficient of the casting/mold interface was determined using a reverse method. The simulated results of velocity, temperature and shrinkage porosity distribution were discussed in detail for the three casting processes. A smooth filling was found in all three casting processes, especially the low pressure casting exhibiting a better filling performance than the other two, but the solidification processes were different. The casting did not experience the sequential solidification, and the feeding paths were blocked, leading to shrinkage porosity defects in the riser and the bottom of the casting in gravity casting and in the upper zone of the casting in low pressure casting. While, the sequential solidification was well controlled in the solidification process of centrifugal casting, and majority of the shrinkage porosity defects can only be observed in the riser. It could be concluded that the centrifugal casting process is the most suitable casting process for the production of propeller hub body. The casting experiments verified the simulation results, and a defect-free propeller hub was obtained by centrifugal casting with a rotational speed of 150 r·min-1.