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Effect of Different Magnesium Powertrain Alloys on the High Pressure Die Casting Characteristics of an Automatic Transmission Case
John Jekl and Richard D. Berkmortel
Meridian Lightweight Technologies Inc.

2010-01-0409
Published 04/12/2010

Paula Armstrong
General Motors LLC
Copyright 2010 SAE International

ABSTRACT
The main objective of this paper is to demonstrate how flow and solidification simulation were used in the development of a new gating system design for three different magnesium alloys; and to determine the relative castability of each alloy based on casting trials. Prototype tooling for an existing 3slide rear wheel drive automatic transmission case designed for aluminum A380 was provided by General Motors. Flow and solidification simulation were performed using Magmasoft on the existing runner system design using A380 (baseline), AE44, MRI153M and MRI230D. Based on the filling results, new designs were developed at Meridian for the magnesium alloys. Subsequent modeling was performed to verify the new design and the changes were incorporated into the prototype tool. Casting trials were conducted with the three magnesium alloys and the relative castability was evaluated. The conclusion of the study was that all three alloys were castable; however, there were significant differences between the alloys with respect to surface and internal imperfections based on the runner design used in the trials. In addition, it was found that different gating techniques are needed when casting the MRI alloys.

characterization, selection and use of these alloys for new applications. The purpose of this study was three-fold; 1) to design a magnesium gating system for a 3-slide automatic transmission die-cast tool which was originally designed for A380 aluminum alloy, 2) evaluate three high temperature low creep alloys, namely; AE44, MRI230D and MRI153M, in terms of overall castability and 3) to correlate and assess the capability of the current technology to predict casting anomalies. The project description is shown schematically in Figure 1.

INTRODUCTION
Over the past 10 years, Meridian has conducted extensive casting trials to develop our knowledge on the castability of various high temperature low creep alloys for powertrain applications1. This work has enabled Meridian to rank these alloys on a relative scale and allowed for the proper

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Figure 3. Progression of the magnesium runner design (original aluminum design on left, alternative magnesium design in middle, final magnesium design on the right). Once the runner design was completed and the tooling updated, the casting trial was conducted in the following order; MRI153M, MRI230D and AE44. By the end of the MRI153M trial, the gating had been modified significantly to minimize the soldering and sticking issues at the gate, which was not predicted in the flow simulation. The changes to the gating during the trial are shown below in Figure 4 and summarized in Table 1. They essentially involved increasing the length and thickness of each feed and corresponding runner branches. <figure 4 here> Table 1. Details of gate / runner modifications during the casting trials.

Figure 1. Project description from beginning to end.

GATING DESIGN FOR MAGNESIUM BENCHMARKING THE ORIGINAL DESIGN

Flow simulation was utilized to benchmark the filling and solidification of aluminum and magnesium using the original runner design as-received. For all simulations, the overflow and venting configuration remained unchanged. The results of the initial studies are shown in Figure 2. The aluminum filling pattern shows a relatively even filling profile and uniform metal temperature; however, the magnesium simulation shows a more turbulent filling pattern with areas of low metal temperature relatively early in the sequence. These simulations confirmed a re-design of the runner system would be ideal to create a more uniform filling scenario. <figure 2 here>

FILLING SIMULATION ANALYSIS

To understand the effect of the changes made during the trials, the final geometry was modeled and several iterations of flow and solidification were completed for each of the alloys. An example of the simulation parameters used for AE44 is shown in Table 2.

GATE AND RUNNER ANALYSIS

The new magnesium runner design was progressed using standard analysis techniques for AE/AM/AZ alloys. The iterations of the design are shown in Figure 3 which increase in gate area from the original design on the left (5.6 cm2) to the middle (8.5 cm2) and the final design (12.0 cm2) on the right. The final design yielded an average gate velocity of 48.7 m/s with a cavity fill time of 75ms which was within an acceptable range for conventional magnesium HPDC alloys.

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Table 2. Example of simulation parameters for AE44.

<figure 8 here>

ANALYSIS AND CORRELATION SURFACE ANALYSIS

Twenty castings from each group were visually examined to determine surface quality. The surface imperfections were classified into six categories; cracks, sinks, knit lines, lack of fill, soldering and blisters. The results of this analysis are shown below in Figure 9 and indicate that AE44 has the least amount of surface irregularities, followed by MRI153M and MRI230D. Leak testing was also conducted to evaluate the casting quality. The relative ranking of leak test results for both as-cast and machined conditions for all three alloys are consistent with this relative ranking of the surface analysis.

The results of metal temperature during filling are shown for the aluminum, both MRI alloys and AE44 in the next two figures. <figure 5 here> <figure 6 here> When the overall filling pattern is compared, they appear to be very similar for all four scenarios. However, it is apparent that AE44 shows potential for colder metal near the oil pan flange and output shaft bore. This would result in increased potential for surface discontinuities such as cold flows/laps. The MRI alloys exhibit minimal metal temperature loss during filling. Figure 9. Surface analysis for each alloy group. AE44 was chosen for a simplified correlation study between surface imperfections and flow simulation. Each side (view) of the casting was analyzed and numbered Views 1-6. For each view, a grid (not shown) was overlaid to document the location of the discontinuity. Table 3 shows the results with all observed imperfection types listed along with selected flow simulation parameters. For each type/location on the casting, the parameters were reviewed and a 1 was recorded in the table to indicate if that condition existed. For example, in View 6, lack of fill at location L10, there was air entrapment and low metal temperature, but no flow front mixing or hot spot. This is illustrated in Figures 10 and 11.

SOLIDIFICATION SIMULATION ANALYSIS

Solidification time results are shown in Figures 7 and 8 for each of the 4 alloys. It is evident that the aluminum has the highest solidification time of approximately 20s, followed by the MRI alloys at 5-7s with the AE44 alloys solidifying the quickest at 2-3s after the cavity has been filled. Since these 3 magnesium alloys all have approximately the same latent heat, the low solidification time for AE44 is due to the short freezing range of the alloy (590 to 625C) versus the MRI153M (506-601C) and MRI230D (522-603C). <figure 7 here>

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Figure 12. Number and size of shrinkage. Table 4 shows the correlation between flow simulation analysis and actual X-ray analysis. Views 1, 3, 4 and 5 were predicted by flow simulation to have shrinkage porosity based on hot spot analysis, while View 2 was predicted to have high casting quality. An example of View 2 and View 5 are shown below for reference in Figures 13 and 14, respectively. Table 4. Correlation summary of flow simulation and Xray.

Figure 10. View 6, lack of fill at location L10. <figure 11 here> <table 3 here> Based on Table 3, it appears that air entrapment is the most significant parameter related to knit lines. Hot spots are critical for soldering, while lack of fill is dependant on air entrapment, flow front mixing and low metal temperature. Cracks are considered inconclusive due to only one location where cracks occurred.

INTERNAL ANALYSIS
Ten castings from each alloy were selected and X-rayed to analyze internal quality in terms of number (density) and size of the imperfection. Based on flow simulation analysis (FSA), each casting was analyzed from 5 different views. Xray results shown in Figure 12 indicate that, generally, AE44 castings show smaller imperfection size but higher numbers (density) than MRI alloy castings; whereas MRI153M castings show better casting soundness than MRI230D castings.

<figure 13 here> A reasonable correlation can be seen between predicted hot spots and degree of casting shrinkage, indicating that simulation is a potential tool to predict internal casting shrinkage during the tool design stage. <figure 14 here>

SUMMARY / CONCLUSIONS
The effect of alloy type on the casting characteristics of three high temperature low creep alloys was studied. It was determined that the MRI alloys require significantly less gate velocity to avoid excessive overheating/sticking at the gates. The sticking was controlled during the run by adjusting the metal flow rate and cooling (internal / external) in the gate

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area. Within the scope of this project (utilizing an existing Al prototype tooling), we were not able to optimize the tooling for maximum process control. Therefore, reducing gate velocity was primarily achieved by increasing the gate area. As a result, the runner system for all the alloys was not optimized; however, for this casting study, acceptable prototype parts were still produced with this configuration. Despite the relative differences in these alloys, they can all be developed to produce good quality castings, but will vary in their process window operating tolerances. AE44 has the largest process window, followed by MRI153M and MRI230D. It was not determined, within the scope of this trial, if the observed hot tearing characteristics of the MRI230D castings could be brought to an acceptable production level for a large structural casting. The predictive capability of casting simulation was studied. Flow simulation was capable of predicting internal discontinuities but could not predict soldering. It was somewhat successful in predicting surface imperfections; however, predicting cracks was inconclusive.

REFERENCES
1. Die Castability Assessment of Magnesium Alloys for High Temperature Applications, part of USCAR-MPCC Final Report, 2002.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The author would like to thank Gerry Wang, Jeremy Bos and the staff at Meridian Magnesium Products of America for their hard work and dedication to completing this project. In addition, thank you to Paula Armstrong and General Motors for the opportunity to collaborate on this interesting project.

DEFINITIONS/ABBREVIATIONS
USCAR-MPCC United States Consortium for Automotive Research Magnesium Powertrain Cast Components. HPDC High Pressure Die Casting FSA Flow simulation analysis

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Figure 2. Metal temperature at 46% cavity filled; Aluminum (Left) and Magnesium (Right).

Figure 4. Comparison of the magnesium designed runner and the final runner geometry at the end of the MRI153M run.

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Figure 5. Metal temperature for Aluminum (left), AE44 (right), 86% filled.

Figure 6. Metal temperature for MRI230D (left), MRI153M (right), 88% filled.

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Figure 7. Solidification time for Aluminum (left), AE44 (right).

Figure 8. Solidification time for MRI 153M (left), MRI230D (right)

Figure 11. Flow simulation results for metal temperature and air entrapment.

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Figure 13. Flow simulation and X-ray results for View 2, high casting integrity predicted location.

Figure 14. Flow simulation and X-ray results for View 5, hot spot predicted location.

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Table 3. Correlation summary of flow simulation and surface imperfections.

The Engineering Meetings Board has approved this paper for publication. It has successfully completed SAE's peer review process under the supervision of the session organizer. This process requires a minimum of three (3) reviews by industry experts. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of SAE. ISSN 0148-7191 doi:10.4271/2010-01-0409

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