INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON MATERIALS FOR THE FUTURE

COMPUTER SIMULATION OF SQUEEZE CASTING PROCESS USING FLOW 3D

Vinay V.N M.Tech (IC engines and Turbomachinery) GovernmentEngineeringCollege Thrissur,Kerala.India vinayvn90@gmail
Keywords: Squeeze casting, heat transfer coefficient,wall to fluid heat flux,Magnessium alloy AM60

Smt.Bindu M.D Asst.Professor Government Engineering College Thrissur,Kerala.India mdbindu@rediffmail.com. Dr.S.Savithri , Senior Principal Scientist CMS-PEET Dept. NIIST CSIR,Trivandrum

Abstract The aim of this thesis to investigate solidification process during Squeeze Casting of Magnesium alloy AM60. In Squeeze Casting applied pressure plays an important role. The main advantage of the deployment of high pressure is that it increases the heat transfer coefficients between liquid metal and mold surface by several orders of magnitude which enhances cooling rates and solidification and produce a fine grain structured castings preventing the appearance of gas porosity/shrinkage porosity. In this work, solidification process during squeeze casting process of different wall-thickness 5-step casting under different pressure conditions is simulated using the commercial CFD software FLOW-3D .The thesis work attempted to simulate in a systematic manner the heat transfer process during Squeeze Casting of a 5 step.Casting model with dimensions of 100303 mm, I.INTRODUCTION Squeeze casting, also known as liquid-metal forging, is a process by which molten metal solidifies under pressure within closed dies positioned between the plates of a hydraulic press.The applied pressure and the instant contact of the molten metal with the die surface produce a rapid heat transfer condition that yields a pore-free fine-grain casting with mechanical properties approaching those of a wrought product. This enhancement is realized due to the establishment of direct contact between the 100 x 30 x 5 mm, 100 x 30 x 8 mm, 100 x 30 x12 mm, 100 x 30 x 20 mm accordingly. The molten metal was allowed to fill the cavity from the bottom by a cylindrical shape sleeve with diameter 100 mm. The cast material chosen for this simulation is magnesium alloy AM60 and mold material chosen is Steel AISI P20 Squeeze casting of magnesium alloy AM60 was performed under an applied pressure 0,30, 60 and 90 Mpa. This work is directed towards using heat transfer coefficients at the metal/die interface for simulating the solidification process of different wall-thickness 5-step casting under different pressure conditions and generating time-temperature profile at different locations..Hence for the present study, the experimentally applied pressure is incorporated into the simulation by specifying heat transfer coefficient at the metal-dieinterface.

liquid metal and the die wall.Owing to the high heat flux at the boundaries, the solidification is quickly achieved.Due to the elimination of air gap between the metal and die interface, the heat transfer coefficient is increased, which enhances cooling rates and solidification. Simulation is a very important method for optimizing squeeze casting process. Since casting is a transient process, during the process, not only the metal itself changes its phase from liquid to solid, but also the

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON MATERIALS FOR THE FUTURE casting-die heat transfer condition. The changes of these two factors affect each other. Generally, in casting simulation model, any minor change in the boundary conditions can significantly affect the numerical prediction results. Therefore, to obtain reliable and valid prediction through simulation, precisely casting-die heat transfer condition must be imposed.The numerical simulation has increasingly become an effective tool in the casting manufacturing, by which some primitive and time-consuming procedures for finding the appropriate set of process parameters are avoided. However, Little attention has been paid to variation of casting thicknesses and hydraulic pressures. Actually, in the die casting practice, the different thicknesses at different locations of castings results in significant variation of the heat transfer coefficients. Therefore, it would be important to investigate the influence of casting thickness, applied pressure value, and process parameters on the heat transfer coefficients. II. Strategy and Scope of Thesis Recently Sun [3] has carried out extensive experiments on squeeze casting process of a different wall-thickness 5-step casting under different pressure conditions. Squeeze casting of magnesium alloy AM60 was performed under an applied pressure 30, 60 and 90 MPa in a hydraulic press. With measured temperatures, heat fluxes IHTCs were evaluated using the polynomial curve fitting method and numerical inverse method. In this work, solidification process during squeeze casting process is simulated using the commercial CFD software FLOW3D for the same set of parameters for which Sun [3] has carried out experiments. The heat transfer coefficients needed for metal/mold inteface is taken from the polynomial fit developed by Sun [3]. The scope of this thesis has been restricted to the investigation of solidification process. In squeeze casting applied pressure plays an important role. The main advantage of the deployment of high pressure is that it enhances the heat transfer coefficients between liquid metal and mold surface by several orders of magnitude. This enhancement is realized due to the establishment of direct contact between the liquid metal and the die wall. This fact has been proved experimentally by Sun [3] where he has carried out extensive experiments to record temperature profiles during squeeze casting process of different wall-thickness 5-step casting under different pressure conditions. The alloy chosen for his experiments was Magnesium alloy AM60 for the casting and steel die for the mold. From the experimental data, he calculated the heat transfer coefficients at the metal/die interface using inverse approach and by polynomial fitting method. This work is directed towards using these heat transfer coefficients at the metal/die interface for simulating the solidification process of different wall-thickness 5-step casting under different pressure conditions and to map the temperature profiles at different locations and try to compare the results between simulation and experiments. III.Flow 3D- An Overview FLOW-3D is a powerful and highly accurate commercial CFD software that gives engineers valuable insight into many of the physical processes. With special capabilities for accurately predicting free-surface flows, FLOW-3D is the ideal CFD software to use in design phase as well as in improving production processes [8].It employs specially developed numerical techniques to solve the equations of motion for fluids to obtain transient, three-dimensional solutions to multi-scale, multi-physics flow problems. It is an easy-to-use simulation software designed to accurately simulate filling and solidification processes,pinpoint probable defects and problems before casting,identify viable designs more quickly,decrease the number of design iterations,improve scrap rates,reduce overall casting costs.

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON MATERIALS FOR THE FUTURE IV CASE STUDY Experimental Results Reported By Sun Et Al For Estimation Of Heat Transfer Coefficient During Squeeze Casting Process. The experimental results of Sun et al [9] is presented where they have done experiments to record the thermal histories at certain locations and how they calculated the heat transfer coefficient between metal/die interface by using polynomial extrapolation method.Figure 1.1 shows the 3-D model of 5-step casting used for their experimental study. It consists of 5 step casting, with dimensions of 100 x 30 x3 mm, 100 x 30 x 5 mm, 100 x 30 x 8 mm, 100 x 30 x12 mm, 100 x 30 x 20 mm accordingly ensure accurate placement of thermocouples in desired locations of each step. Figure 1.2 illustrates schematically the configuration of the upper die (left and right parts) mounted on the top ceiling of the press machine. Pressures within the die cavity were measured using Kistler pressure transducers 6175A2 with operating temperature 850C and pressures up to 200 MPa. As shown in Figure 1.2, pressure transducers and temperature thermocouples were located opposite to each other so that measurements from sensors could be directly correlated due to the symmetry of the step casting. Five pressure transducers and temperature measuring unit were designated as PT1 through PT5, TS1 through TS5, respectively. Determination Of IHTC by Polynomial Curve Fitting Method. To evaluate the IHTC effectively,the finite difference method (FDM) was employed as follows based on the heat transfer equations. Since the thickness of each step is much smaller than the width or length of the step, it can be assumed that the heat transfer at each step is onedimensional. The heat transfer across the nodal points of the step casting and die is shown in Figure 1.3. The temperatures were measured at 2, 4, 6, 8 mm beneath die surface and the heat flux transferred to the die mould can be evaluated by heat transfer equations.

Figure 1.1 3-D model of 5-step casting with round-shape gating system Sun et al.[ 9] Configuration of die and installation of measurement unit.

Figure 1.2 Configuration of the upper die and the geometric installation of Thermocouple and pressure transducers. Sun et al. [ 9] To measure the temperatures and pressures at the casting-die interface accurately and effectively, a special thermocouple holder was developed. It hosted 3 thermocouples simultaneously to Figure 1.3 One-dimensional heat transfer at the interface between the casting and die, where temperature measurements were performed (Sun et al. [ 9])

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON MATERIALS FOR THE FUTURE steel. In this study only the solidification sequence is simulated using FLOW-3D. Since solidification phenomena is governed by the energy equation along with phase change, the applied pressure during squeeze casting process can't be given as a direct input for the simulation.Hence for the present study, the experimentally applied pressure is incorporated into the simulation by specifying heat transfer coefficient at the metal/die interface. The 5 step casting is imported in FLOW-3D as an .STL file. The mold box of required dimensions is created in FLOW-3D.The 5 step casting is initially assumed to be filled of the casting material at the pouring temperature. Then the whole geometry is discretized into rectangular blocks. The total number of cells is around 2,45,000. At the metal/mold interface a value for heat transfer coefficient is specified.The thermophysical properties used for simulation are shown in Table (a)Thermo physical magnesium alloy AM60. properties of

Figure 1.4 5-step castings solidifying under applied pressure 30, 60, and 90MPa. (Sun et al., [9] From the temperature versus time curves obtained at each position inside the die, the temperature at the die surface (X0 = 0mm) can be extrapolated by using polynomial curve fitting method. After the completion of filling, by selecting a particular time of solidification process, the values of temperatures were read from the temperature-time data at position X1, X2, X3, and X4 as shown in Figure 1.3. A polynomial curve with various measured temperatures against distance X were plotted and extrapolated by a polynomial trend line. The temperature at the die surface was determined by substituting the value of X=0 in the polynomial curve fitting. The polynomial equation thus obtained is given below which predicts the temperature values at various distances inside the die at a chosen time. y = 0.0635x3 + 0.1759x2 - 16.495x + 308.43 This procedure is repeated for a number of time increments to get series of such temperatures with corresponding times at metal - die interface, at metal surface, die surface, and at various positions inside the die. V. RESULTS & DISCUSSION The simulation results of casting simulation of 5 step casting using FLOW-3D software is presented. The casting material chosen for the 5 step casting is Magnesium alloy AM60 and the mold material chosen for the die is

(b) Material properties of Steel AISI P20 used for simulation.

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON MATERIALS FOR THE FUTURE The heat transfer coefficient (hc/d) is calculated according to the polynomial expression given by Zhizhong Sun [3]. hc/d = ( 1996.6 + 169.56 P - 0.78 P2 ) where, hc/d is the heat transfer coefficient across the casting/die interface (W/m2K), The heat transfer coefficient (hc/d) is an important factor which controls heat transfer phenomena at the metal/die interface during solidification process in squeeze casting.P is the applied pressure (Mpa) Since the applied pressure also increases liquidus temperature, a linear relation between the liquidus temperatures and applied pressures was employed by Zhizhong Sun [3]as: TL=0.092P+Tm where TL is the liquidus temperature of magnesium alloy AM60 under applied pressures, P is the applied pressure (MPa), Tm is the non-equilibrium solidification temperature (615C) at 0 MPa. A similar linear relation between the solidus temperatures and applied pressures was proposed by Zhizhong Sun : Ts = 0.072 P + Ts,m where Ts is the solidus temperature of magnesium alloy AM60 under applied pressures, P is the applied pressure, Ts,m is the solidus temperature (540C) at 0 MPa. Table 1.1 below shows the values used for the present simulation based on these polynomial expressions. Temperature profiles locations of the casting at different accordingly different heat transfer coefficients were used for the solidification simulation. The values shown in above table 1.1 is used in FLOW-3D for specifying the heat transfer coefficient value at the metal/die interface. During solidification, the temperature of the liquid metal in the casting starts to reduce and once the temperature reaches below the liquidus temperature solidification starts and it continues till the temperature of the cast metal reaches solidus temperature. Below the solidus temperature there is no phase change, but the temperature decreases further. The heat dissipated by the hot liquid metal is transferred to the mold material at the metal/die interface and the mold material gets heated up. Table 1.2 below shows the total solidification time of the 5-step casting obtained by the simulation for different applied pressures. It can be seen from the table that the total solidification time reduces as pressure increases. This is because of the higher heat transfer coefficient values for higher pressures at the metal/die interface.

Four sets of solidification simulation was first carried out which corresponds to four different pressure values viz. 0 Mpa, 30 Mpa, 60 MPa and 90 Mpa. Hence

Figure. 1.5 shows a typical cooling curve at five different locations of the 5-step casting when the applied pressure is 0 MPa. That means value of around 2000 W/m2K is chosen for the heat transfer coefficient value at the metal/die interface. The initial temperature of the liquid metal is around 720C and that of mold materials is around 210C. It can be observed clearly, the slope

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON MATERIALS FOR THE FUTURE of the cooling curve corresponding to step 1 is much steeper than that of the cooling curve corresponding to step 5. This is because step 1 is the thinnest part of the 5 step casting and hence the heat is dissipated fast, whereas step 5 corresponds to the thickest part of the 5-step casting and the heat dissipation is slower. It can also be observed that step1 has solidified completely in 10 seconds whereas step 5 has taken almost 35 seconds to solidify.
800 700

observed that there is not much of a difference in the slope of the cooling curve when the pressure changes from 30 MPa to 90 MPa eventhough the heat transfer coefficient almost doubles up for these pressures. The total solidification time also has reduced tremendously. The solidification time has reduced from 35 seconds to almost 15 seconds.
Temperature (C) 800 600 400 200 0 0.00 50.00 time (s) 100.00 0 Mpa 30 Mpa 60 Mpa 90 Mpa

Step 5
Step 4

600
500

Step 3
Step 2

Temperature (oC)

400

Step 1

300
200 100 0 0 20 40 Time (s) 60 80

Figure 1.6 Cooling curves at location step 5 for different applied pressures. Figure 1.7 shows the Temperature profile corresponding to casting location step 5 for different applied pressures. It can be observed that the temperatures increases from 210C to approximately 420C in mold temperature curve when the pressure changes from 30 MPa to 90 MPa.
Wall temperature (C) 500 400 300 200 100 0 0.00 50.00 time (s) 100.00 0 Mpa 30 Mpa 60 Mpa 90 Mpa

Figure 1.5 Cooling curves at different locations of the 5 step casting (P 0 Mpa) Figure 1.6 shows the temperature profile at the mold locations corresponding to the applied pressure of 0 Mpa. It can be observed that the temperature at the mold locations increases upto a certain time and then starts cooling down. The temperatures increases from 210C to approximately 380C near the thicker locations (step 5 of the 5 step casting)
400 Step 5 350

Step 4
Step 3

Wall temperature (oC)

300

250 200
150 100 50

Step 2
Step 1

0
0 20 40 Time (s) 60 80

Figure 1.6 Temperature profile at differentlocations of the 5 step casting (P 0 Mpa). Figure 1.6 shows the cooling curve corresponding to casting location step 5 for different applied pressures. It can be

Figure 1.7 Temperature profile at location step 5 for different applied pressures

A typical solidification simulation sequence is depicted in Figure 1.5 where the 2-D contour plots of temperature profile and

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON MATERIALS FOR THE FUTURE solid fraction profile are shown for an applied pressures. (0,30.60,90Mpa) at t=30s applied pressures 0 , 30 , 60 , 90 Mpa at t= 40 s

A typical solidification simulation sequence is depicted in Figure 1.6 where the 2-D contour plots Solid fraction plots for various

2-D contour plots of wall to fluid heat flux profile are shown for an applied pressures. (0.30.60.90 mpa)

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON MATERIALS FOR THE FUTURE An investigation into the solidification process during squeeze casting of magnesium alloy AM60 in a different wallthickness 5-step was performed under an applied pressure 0 ,30, 60 and 90 MPa. The pressure applied during squeeze casting process affects the solidifications sequence in three ways (a) it increases the heat transfer rate (b) It increases the liquidus and solidus temperature (c) It doesn't affect the freezing range of the alloy that much. The cooling rates increased with the increasing heat transfer coefficients thereby reducing the solidification time. Temperature profiles at different locations of the casting versus time graphs were obtained. It can be observed clearly, the slope of the cooling curve corresponding to step 1 is much steeper than that of the cooling curve corresponding to step 5 at five different locations of the 5-step casting when different pressure is applied, because step 1 is the thinnest part of the 5 step casting and hence the heat is dissipated fast, whereas step 5 corresponds to the thickest part of the 5-step casting and the heat dissipation is slower. It can be observed that the temperature at the mold locations increases upto a certain time and then starts cooling down. The cooling curve corresponding to casting location at each step for different applied pressures is plotted. There is not much of a difference in the slope of the cooling curve when the pressure changes from 30 MPa to 90 MPa eventhough the heat transfer coefficient almost doubles up for these pressures.The total solidification time also has reduced tremendously. From steps 1, 2, 3, 4, to 5 with applied pressure wall to fluid heat flux increases as the step become thicker due to the large difference in temperatures between the melt and the die with thick cavity section as well as relatively high localized pressure.

CONCLUSION

REFERENCES

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