DEM analysis of the influence of stirrer design on die filling with forced powder feeding

Die filling is a critical stage during powder compaction,which can significantly affect the product quality and efficiency.In this paper,a forced feeder is introduced attempting to improve the filling performance of a lab-scale die filling system.The die filling process is analysed with a graphics processing units(GPU)enhanced discrete element method(DEM).Various stirrer designs are assessed for a wide range of process settings(i.e.,stirrer speed,filling speed)to explore their influence on the die filling performance of free-flowing powder.Numerical results show that die filing with the novel helical-ribbon(i.e.,type D)stirrer design exhibits the highest filling ratio,implying that it is the most robust stirrer design for the feeder configuration considered.Furthermore,die filling performance with the type D stirrer design is a function of the stirrer speed and the filling speed.A positive variation of filling ratio(ηf>0%)can be ensured over the whole range of filling speed by adjusting the stirrer speed(i.e.,increasing the stirrer speed).The approach used in this study can not only help understand how the stirrer design affects the die filling performance but also guide the optimization of feeder system and process settings.

DEM simulations of die filling during pharmaceutical tabletting

The flow behaviour of powders from a stationary shoe into a moving die, which mimics the die filling process in a rotary tablet press, was analysed using a discrete element method （DEM）, in which 2D irregular shaped particles were considered. The influence of the particle shape, size and size distribution, the number of particles used in the simulation, the initial height of powder bed in the shoe, and the filling speed on the average mass flow rate and the critical filling speed （the highest speed at which the die can be completely filled） were explored. It has been found that a maximum flow rate is obtained at the critical filling speed for all systems investigated and poly-disperse systems have higher mass flow rates and higher critical filling speeds than mono-disperse systems. In addition, the powder with particles which can tessellate generally has a lower filling rate and a lower critical titling speed.

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.

Temperature change and stress distribution analysis of die surface in Al-alloy die casting process and experimental study on die heat check

The temperature change of the die surface in practical aluminum alloy die casting process was analyzed,and a 2D model was formulated on the basis of a deep concave round cavity without sliding core to analyze thestress distributions along the die surface in detail. Equipment was designed to test the thermal state of the die steelin different thermal loading conditions. The results of stress analysis showed that, the value of thermal stress (maximum1.5 GPa) caused in the die filling and die spraying stages was larger than the mechanical stress (maximum 85 MPa)caused in the die locking stage. The results of the thermal check experiment showed that there were three stages ofdie dissolving, and that the stress distribution shown by the samples' cracking routine was close to the die surfacestress analysis.

Design of relief-cavity in closed-precision forging of gears

To reduce the difficulty of material filling into the top region of tooth in hot precision forging of gears using the alternative die designs, relief-cavity designs in different sizes were performed on the top of die tooth. The influences of the conventional process and relief-cavity designs on corner filling, workpiece stress, die stress, forming load and material utilization were examined. Finite element simulation for tooth forming, die stress and forming load using the four designs was performed. The material utilization was further considered, and the optimal design was determined. The tooth form and forming load in forging trials ensured the validity of FE simulation. Tooth accuracy was inspected by video measuring machine(VMM), which shows the hot forged accuracy achieves the level of rough machining of gear teeth. The effects of friction on mode of metal flow and strain distribution were also discussed.

Unequal-thickness billet optimization in transitional region during isothermal local loading forming of Ti-alloy rib-web component using response surface method

Avoiding the folding defect and improving the die filling capability in the transitional region are desired in isothermal local loading forming of a large-scale Ti-alloy rib-web component（LTRC）. To achieve a high-precision LTRC, the folding evolution and die filling process in the transitional region were investigated by 3 D finite element simulation and experiment using an equal-thickness billet（ETB）. It is found that the initial volume distribution in the second-loading region can greatly affect the amount of material transferred into the first-loading region during the second-loading step, and thus lead to the folding defect. Besides, an improper initial volume distribution results in non-concurrent die filling in the cavities of ribs after the second-loading step, and then causes die underfilling. To this end, an unequal-thickness billet（UTB） was employed with the initial volume distribution optimized by the response surface method（RSM）. For a certain eigenstructure, the critical value of the percentage of transferred material determined by the ETB was taken as a constraint condition for avoiding the folding defect in the UTB optimization process,and the die underfilling rate was considered as the optimization objective. Then, based on the RSM models of the percentage of transferred material and the die underfilling rate, non-folding parameter combinations and optimum die filling were achieved. Lastly, an optimized UTB was obtained and verified by the simulation and experiment.