Study on Numerical Simulation of Mold Filling and Heat Transfer in Die Casting Process

A 3-D mathematical model considering turbulence phenomena has been established based on a computational fluid dynamics technique, so called 3-D SOLA-VOF (Solution Algorithm-Volume of Fluid), to simulate the fluid flow of mold filling process of die casting. In addition, the mathematical model for simulating the heat transfer in die casting process has also been established. The computation program has been developed by the authors with the finite difference method (FDM) recently. As verification, the mold filling process of a S-shaped die casting has been simulated and the simulation results coincide with that of the benchmark test. Finally, as a practical application, the gating design of a motorcycle component was modified by the mold filling simulation and the dies design of another motorcycle component was optimized by the heat transfer simulation. All the optimized designs were verified by the production practice.

NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF CASTING'S MOLD FILLING PROCESS

Numerical simulation of casting＇s mold filling process is the main and the most important aspect of the foundry CAE technology. But it is time-consuming; it may take dozens of hours or several days. While with the development of computer hardware, numerical simulation of casting＇ s mold filling process has made rapid progress. The simulation results, therefore, have become more and more practical. This study tries to find some clues of the computational time of mold filling process. Firstly, this paper introduces mathematic model and the basic route of numerical simulation of casting＇s mold filling process. Then the computational time of mold filling process has been carefully studied, and some new and useful results have been gained from the study of the computational time. Finally, this paper has given some real applications of numerical simulation of casting＇s mold filling process.

Coating process of multi-material composite sand mold 3D printing

Sand mold 3 D printing technology is an advanced manufacturing technology which has great flexible manufacturing ability. A multi-material composite sand mold can control the temperature field of metallic parts during the pouring process, while the current sand mold 3 D printing technology can only fabricate a single material sand mold. The casting temperature field can not be adjusted by using single sand mold material with isotropous heat exchange ability during the pouring process. In this work, a kind of novel coating device was designed. Multi-material composite sand molds could be manufactured using the coating device according to the casting process demands of the final parts. The influences of curing agent content, coating velocity and scraper shape on compactness and surface roughness of the sand layer(silica sand and zircon sand) were studied. The shapes and sizes of transition intervals of two kinds of sand granules were also tested. The results show that, with the increase of the added volume of curing agent, the compactness of sand layer reduces and the surface roughness value rises. With the increase of the velocity of the coating device, the compactness of sand layer reduces and the surface roughness value rises similarly. In addition, the scraper with a dip angle of 72 degrees could increase the compactness value of the sand layer. The criteria of quality parmeters of the coating procedure are obtained. That is, the surface roughness(δ) of sand layer should be equal to or lesser than half of main size of the sand particles(Dm). The parameter H of the coating device which is the distance between the base of hopper and the surface of sand layer impacts the size of transition zone. The width of the transition zone is in direct proportion to the parameter H, qualitatively. Through the optimization of the coating device, high quality of multi-material sand layers can be obtained. This will provide a solution in manufacturing the multi-material composite sand mold.

Mold Filling Analysis in Vacuum Infusion Molding Process Based on a High-Permeable Medium

The objective of this paper is to understand the flow mechanism through visualization experiments and discuss theinfluence of process parameters on mold filling process. A 2D leakage flow model is developed to simulate the moldingprocess, and the simulation results show good agreement with experiments.

基于Moldflow的路由器中框模具优化设计

在进行路由器中框件模具设计过程中,利用Moldflow软件分析成型窗口,得出工艺参数的选择参考范围,根据浇口数量与位置不同设置了3种方案,并进行充填模拟分析。通过对比分析结果,发现方案三的浇口位置最合理。在此基础上,进行了冷却翘曲分析,发现翘曲量较小,仅为0.0037 mm,与实际注塑产品较吻合。表明在一些结构较复杂的塑料件的模具设计过程中,计算机辅助工程技术具有很好的应用价值,它可以为设计人员缩短模具设计周期,节约设计成本。

Rheological Behaviors and Processing Windows of Low Viscosity Epoxy Resin for VIMP

The chemorheological behaviors of a low viscosity epoxy resin system （Huntsman 1564/3486） for vacuum infusion moulding process （VIMP） were studied with viscosity experiments.The dual-Arrhenius rheological model and the engineering viscosity model were established and compared with the experimental data.The result showed that the viscosity in the earlier stage calculated by dual-Arrhenius model were smaller than the experimental data,while the data calculated by the engineering model were larger.Combining the two models together can predict the rheological behaviors of the resin system in a more credible manner.The processing windows of the resin system for VIMP were determined based on the two models.The optimum processing temperature is 30-45 ℃.

Vacuum Infusion Molding Process Part 1:VIMP Based on a High-Permeable Medium

The visualization experiments were carried out to investigate the permeability of the high permeable medium (HPM) and the roles of the peel ply and the HPM in the mold filling.The influence of process parameters on mold filling is discussed.Furthermore,the whole vacuum infusion molding process (VIMP) procedure is introduced in detail taking the manufacture of a model boat for example.

Characteristics and influence factors of mold filling process in permanent mold with a slot gating system

The main problems caused by improper gating are entrained aluminum oxide films and entrapped gas.In this study,the slot gating system is employed to improve mold filling behavior and therefore,to improve the quality of aluminum castings produced in permanent molds.An equipment as well as operation procedures for real-time X-ray radiography of molten aluminum flowing into permanent molds have been developed.Graphite molds transparent to X-rays are utilized which make it possible to observe the flow pattern through a number of vertically oriented gating systems.The investigation discovers that there are many influencing factors on the mold filling process.This paper focuses its research on some of the factors,such as the dimensions of the vertical riser and slot thickness,as well as roughness of the coating layer.The results indicate that molten metal can smoothly fill into casting cavity with a proper slot gating system.A bigger vertical riser,proper slot thickness and rougher coating can provide not only a better mold filling pattern,but also hot melt into the top of the cavity.A proper temperature gradient is obtainable,higher at the bottom and lower at the top of the casting cavity,which is in favor of feeding during casting solidification.

Relationship between Microcellular Foaming Injection Molding Process Parameters and Cell Size

In order to study the relationship between the main process parameters and the cell size, the mathematical model of cell growth of microcellular foaming injection process is built. Then numeric simulation is employed as experimental method, and the Taguchi method is used to analyze significance of effect of process parameters on the cell size. At last the process parameters are focused on melt temperature, injection time, mold temperature and pretidied volume. The significance order from big to small of the effect of each process parameters on cell size is melt temperature, pre-filled volume, injection time, and mold temperature. On the basis of above research, the effect of each process parameter on cell size is further researched. Appropriate reduction of the melt temperature and increase of the pre-filled volume can optimize the cell size effectively, while the effects of injection time and mold temperature on cell size are less significant.

Comparison of rheological analytic model with numerical simulation in powder injection molding filling process

Mathematical model of filling disk-shaped mold cavity in steady state was studied.And the mathematical model under vibration field was developed from the model in steady state.According to the model of filling disk-shaped mold cavity in steady state,the filling time,the distribution of velocity field and the pressure field were obtained.The analysis results from rheological analytic model were compared with the numerical simulation results using Moldflow software in the powder injection molding filling process.Through the comparison,it is found that it is unreasonable to neglect the influence of temperature when calculated the pressure changing with the time at the cavity gate,while it can be neglected in other situations such as calculating the distribution of the velocity fields.This provides a theoretical reference for the establishment of correct model both in steady state and under vibration force field in the future.

Intelligent Setting and Optimization of Process Parameters for Plastic Injection Molding

An intelligent model employing case-based reasoning（CBR） and fuzzy inference was constructed in terms to the system characteristics of plastic injection molding and considering the molding personnel＇s thought during the molding trial-runs. The model describes the complex process of injection molding with a view to the characters and advantages of CBR and fuzzy theory. And it can be used to determine the initial process parameters and optimize the process parameters on-line. The key implementation technologies of the model are described in detail, including determining the initial process parameters based on CBR, correcting defects, optimizing process parameters based on fuzzy inference, etc. A corresponding intelligent system was developed which is integrated with injection machine by communicating with the controller.

Vacuum Infusion Molding Process (Part 2 VIMP Based on Grooves)

The optimal parameters for flow grooves and supply grooves were determined by a series of experiments,and the influences of various molding conditions on the mold filling process were analyzed.Furthermore,the whole VIMP procedure based on grooves was introduced in detail taking the manufacture of a sandwich panel as an example.

Mensuration and simulation of mold filling process in semi-solid die-cast of aluminum alloy

To understand the flow trace of semi-solid slurry in mold cavity, some thermocouples were inserted in mold cavity, and the reaction timing of thermocouples showed the arrival of fluid. The filling time and rate were estimated by comparison between the experiment and calculation. The introduction of computer simulation technique based on ADSTEFAN was to predict injectionforming process and to prevent defects during trial manufacture of various parts. By comparing the formed appearance of parts in experiment and in simulation, and observing the relationship between internal defects inspected by X-ray or microscope and the flow field obtained in simulation, it was indicated that both have quite good agreement in simulation and experiment. Right predictions for cast defects resulted from mold rilling can be carried out and proper direction was also proposed. The realization of numerical visualization for filling process during semi-solid die-cast process will play an important role in optimizing technology plan.

Virtual Mold Technique in Thermal Stress Analysis during Casting Process

It is important to analyse the casting product and the mold at the same time considering thermal contraction of the casting and thermal expansion of the mold. The analysis considering contact of the casting and the mold induces the precise prediction of stress distribution and the defect such as hot tearing. But it is difficult to generate FEM mesh for the interface of the casting and the mold. Moreover the mesh for the mold domain spends lots of computational time and memory for the analysis due to a number of meshes. Consequently we proposed the virtual mold technique which only uses mesh of the casting part for thermal stress analysis in casting process. The spring bar element in virtual mold technique is used to consider the contact of the casting and the mold. In general, a volume of the mold is much bigger than that of casting part, so the proposed technique decreases the number of mesh and saves the computational memory and time greatly. In this study, the proposed technique was verified by the comparison with the traditional contact technique on a specimen. And the proposed technique gave satisfactory results.

Research on the Forming Mechanism of Micro/Nano Features during the Cast Molding Process

Cast molding process has provided a reliable, simple and cost-effective way to fabricate micro structures since decades ago. In order to obtain structures with fine, dense and deep nano-size features by cast molding, it is necessary to study the forming mechanism in the process. In this paper, based on major steps of cast molding, filling models of liquid are established and solved; and the forming mechanism of liquid is revealed. Moreover, the scale effect between the liquid and the cavity on the filling velocity of liquid is studied.It is also interesting to find out that the wettability of liquid on the cavity may be changed from wetting to dewetting depends on the pressure difference. Finally, we experimentally verify some of our modeling results on the flowing and filling state of the liquid during the cast molding process.

OPTIMIZATION OF INJECTION MOLDING PROCESS BASED ON NUMERICAL SIMULATION AND BP NEURAL NETWORKS

Plastic injection molding is a very complex process and its process planning has a direct influence on product quality and production efficiency. This paper studied the optimization of injection molding process by combining the numerical simulation with back-propagation(BP) networks. The BP networks are trained by the results of numerical simulation. The trained BP networks may:(1) shorten time for process planning;(2) optimize process parameters;(3) be employed in on-line quality control;(4) be integrated with knowledge-based system(KBS) and case-based reasoning(CBR) to make intelligent process planning of injection molding.

Analysis and evaluation of effects of processing steps on dimensional tolerance of PIM parts

The factors affecting the dimensional tolerance of powder injection molding (PIM), such as the selection of the powder and binder, the feedstock homogeneity, the feedstock thermal properties, the feedstock rheologic behavior, the debinding schedule and atmosphere and sintering temperature gradient were discussed. An attempt was made to develop a model to estimate the influence of important variables. The results show that a better understanding of these factors can provide some useful theoretical instructions for large scale production.

Parameter Prediction of Stretch-Blow Molding Process of PET Using Neural Networks

This study presents a parameter selection strategy developed for the Stretch-Blow Molding (SBM) process to minimize the weight of preforms used. The method is based on a predictive model developed using Neural Networks. The temperature distribution model of the preform was predicted using a 3-layer NN model with supervised backpropagation learning. In addition, the model was used to predict the uniform air pressure applied inside the preform, taking into account the relationship between the internal air pressure and the volume of the preform. Parameters were validated using in situ tests and measurements performed on several weights and lengths of a 0.330 Liter Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) bottles. Tests showed that the model adequately predicts both the blowing kinematics, mainly zone temperatures and blowing and stretching pressures along the walls of the bottle while maintaining the bottle strength and top load requirements. In the second step, the model was combined to automatically compute the lowest preform weight that can be used for a particular 330 ml bottle design providing a uniform wall thickness distribution.

CAx Process Chain for Automated Laser Drilling of Tool Molds

Rotation sintering, also known as slush molding, is used to manufacture molded skins, such as dashboards or door interior panels for cars. At present, approximately 80% of such molded skins are manufactured using electroforms to achieve the complex free-form surfaces, and surface structures, such as leather graining that the industry demands. The manufacture of these electroforms is, however, time-consuming and expensive. This project aims to replace conventional electroforms with laser-drilled molds. Holes in tool molds should be drilled by using laser radiation as part of an automated process. The system consists of a robot with a fiber-laser beam source. A CAx （computer-aided x） process chain has been developed for this purpose in which the CAD （computer-aided design） data of the tool molds are processed, drill hole fields generated, and a machine-specific RC （robot control） program created. Process-specific fundamentals, such as suitable process windows and process control, have been devised to manufacture holes using fiber laser radiation The advantages of the new laser-drilled tool molds may result in substituting them for conventional electroforms, allowing old markets to be re-entered or additional markets to be created and targeted through new molds or lower costs.