Numerical Simulation of Semi-solid Mould Filling Using SOLA-VOF Technique

A software code based on SOLA-VOF algorithm is developed for numerical simulation of mold filling of semi-solid metals.The semi-solid mould filling processes of A356 and AZ91D are studied based on the Power-Law viscosity model and constant viscosity model,respectively.Test molds with different thicknesses and shapes were chosen to validate the software code.The simulated mould filling sequence shows a good agreement with the experimental results.The viscosity distribution is also calculated and plotted with a post-processor.The results show that the software code can offer an effective understanding for semi-solid mold filling processes.

Mould filling ability and microstructure of aluminum alloy under electromagnetic die casting

In order to solve the mould filling problem of large thin walled aluminum alloy castings effectively, a new casting technology called electromagnetic die casting has been developed. Emphasis has laid on studying the mould filling ability and microstructure under the mentioned method. The results show that the mould filling ability of A357 is increasing continually with the increasing of the input voltage, that is, the magnetic induction intensity. The pressure head of the molten metal increases from the lowest one at the input of the mould to the highest one at the end of the mould while in a conventional mould the pressure head depends invariably on the sprue height. Under electromagnetic die casting, the grains of A357 alloy are refined, and the pattern of eutectic silicon of alloy changes from rough plate to smooth strip.

A NEW EXPLICIT SIMULATION FOR MOULD FILLING WITH HIGH VISCOUS FEEDSTOCK

In the simulation of the metal injection moulding (MIM), the behaviours of feedstock are much di?erent from which of the polymer injection. It is a mixture of the metallic powder in high concentration and some plastic binder. The advance in simulation of the mould ?lling with such high viscous feedstock is featured by the development of a fully explicit vectorial algorithm. On the basis of previous explicit software realized by the authors, the new algorithm avoids the global solution for pressure ?elds and the use of MINI elements to improve its e?ciency. Except for the operations at element level, neither global solution nor the construction of global matrix is required in simulation. A special strategy is used to regulate the incompressibility condition in ?lled domain at each time step. In case of the MIM problems, this method provides a fast way to simulate the ?lling processes. The computational cost is about linearly proportional to the degree of freedom number. Moreover, this vectorial algorithm can be easily parallelized for high performance computation with multi-clusters. The comparison of numerical results with previous simulations on 3D cases proves the validity and e?ciency of new algorithm.

Effect of Traveling Magnetic Field on Mould-Filling Length of the A357 Melt during Casting Thin Walled Plate

In order to improve the mould filling ability, the method for production of thin-walled castings in the travelingmagnetic field was applied. The relationship between magnetic field density and input voltage as well as distancewas investigated, and the mould filling length of A357 melt has been studied. The electromagnetic forces appliedon the melt were also analyzed. The result shows that the mould-filling length of the melt increase rapidly with theincrease of magnetic flux density. The mould filling lengths in gypsum upper mould and magnetic material uppermould were compared from the standpoint of application. It demonstrated that the steel upper mould is superior togypsum mould.

Study on traveling magnetic field casting of sheet components

The distribution of a magnetic field over an inductor used for sheet castings has been investigated experimentally.With an increase in height from the surface, the magnetic field density decreases according to the exponential law.In the transverse direction, the magnetic field density is approximately uniform except near the edges.The magnetic field density is direct proportional to the number of turns multiplied by the current in amperes.Ferro-magnetic material in the upper mould can enhance the magnetic field density.Under the electromagnetic force, the mould-filling process of sheet casings has been studied by physical simulation method.The difference in filling capability between gravity casting and travelling magnetic field casting has been studied.The electromagnetic force can enhance the filling process, but it also brings a problem.With an increase in the magnetic field density, the surface quality of the aluminum alloy sheet castings becomes poor.The reason is discussed.

Numerical simulation on the rheo-diecasting of the semi-solid A356 aluminum alloy

The effect of injection pressure, piston velocity, and the forming temperature of semisolid slurry on the filling behavior of the semi-solid A356 aluminum alloy was investigated by simulation methods. The simulation results show that these processing parameters have an important effect on the filling behavior of the semi-solid A356 aluminum alloy. The slurry flows steadily in the cavity when the injection pressure, the piston velocity, and the forming temperature are low, but it is prone to turbulent flow when the injection pressure, the piston velocity, and the forming temperature are much higher. Therefore it is necessary to determine the appropriate processing parameters to get a steady flow of the slurry in the cavity.

Reduced energy consumption by using streamlined gating systems

In foundries a lot of effort is done to minimize energy consumption in the production to reduce costs and hence increase the competitiveness. At the same time the foundries must live up to the increased demands for high quality castings. Traditional gating systems are known for a straight tapered down runner, a well base and 90° bends in the runner system. Previous work has shown that the traditional way of designing gating systems creates high inconsistency in flow patterns during filling. In the streamlined gating systems there are no sharp changes in direction and a large effort is done to confine and control the flow of the molten metal during mould filling. The main objective in the work presented here is to use the principles of the streamlined gating systems to reduce the weight of the gating system relative to the traditional layouts. By reducing the weight of gating system and thereby improving yield, the amount of molten iron needed is also reduced, hence reducing the energy consumption for melting. Experiments in real production lines have proven that it is possible to achieve a reduction in the poured weight by using the streamlined gating systems. In a layout for casting of three valve housings in a vertically parted mould the weight of the gating system was reduced by 1.1 kg changing from the traditional layouts to the streamlined gating systems. This weight reduction corresponds in this case to a 20% weight reduction for the gating system. Using streamlined gating systems with fan gates to give a beneficial heat distribution in the castings may be an efficient tool to eliminate the need for heat treatment. In the experiments the change in gating system from the traditional layout to the streamlined layout removed the need for heat treatment. This obviously means a huge energy saving in the foundry. The energy consumption for heat treatment of iron has been found to be 0.489 kWh/ kg. The valve housing in the experiments weighs 3 kg so when the need for heat treatment is removed, around 1.5 kWh is saved per casting. Along with the reduction in energy used the foundry also save the cost of handling the castings for the heat treatment and the production times is reduced considerably When the moulds for the vertical layout is produced on a DISAMATIC that produces 350 moulds an hour the total energy saved per hour for both melting and heat treatment becomes 2,000 kWh and per eight hour work day 16,000 kWh. Seen in this perspective the potential for saving energy in the foundries is substantial. Furthermore the experiments where ductile iron valve housings was cast also proved that it is possible to lower the pouring temperature from 1,400℃ to 1,300℃ without the risk of cold runs. This is possible due to a high flow rate during mould filling in combination with low velocities due to the use of fan gates. All of this has also been investigated in experiments using glass plate fronted moulds.