A New Flexible and Economic Technology for the Low Pressure Sand Casting of Steel Alloys

Low pressure casting is a very well established process for the casting of aluminium alloys. In the field of ferrous materials, however, the process has so far only found a few applications. The crucial reasons for this are the low flexibility and poor economic efficiency of the existing technologies. Since 2016, a new technology has been developed at the Foundry Institute of the TU Bergakademie Freiberg, in which an induction crucible furnace can be used as a melting unit and, in combination with a cover including a casting pipe, as a casting unit. The new technology stands out from existing low-pressure casting technologies for ferrous materials, particularly in terms of its flexibility and cost-effectiveness. The main focus of the activities was the development of a casting pipe as well as the verification of its lifetime, the elaboration and verification of process parameters and sequences as well as the upscaling of the technology for an industrial application. In all considerations, the focus was on both the technical feasibility and the economic efficiency of the process. The result is extensive expertise that can be used in the future to offer a finished product for industrial applications as a plug-and-play solution together with an induction furnace construction company.

Numerical Simulation of Latent Heat of Solidification for Low Pressure Casting of Aluminum Alloy Wheels

In this paper, aiming at focusses on many problems existing in the mathematical model of temperature change in the low-pressure casting solidification process of aluminum alloy wheel hub, there is a big gap between the simulation and the actual temperature change, which affects the research on the solidification defects of the wheel hub. In order to study the solidification behavior of aluminum alloy hub in low-pressure casting process, the mathematical model describing the temperature change in the process of casting solidification is established by using different solidification latent heat methods. through finite element simulation and experiment, the temperature change in the process of aluminum alloy (A356) solidification is obtained to compare the difference between the temperature change described by different mathematical models, simulation and experiment. The results show that the temperature numerical model of "the temperature compensation heat capacity method" proposed in this paper is most consistent with the simulation temperature change during the solidification process of the aluminum alloy wheel in the simulation mold, which lays a good theoretical foundation for the study of the low-pressure casting process of the aluminum alloy wheel hub.

USING THE SPH METHOD FOR MODELING THE CRYSTALLIZATION PROCESS OF ALUMINUM ALLOYS

The purpose of the study was to obtain castings with increased mechanical properties by low-pressure casting using excess pressure on the crystallized casting. The simulation of the process of filling and crystallization of prototypes using the SPH method was carried out. The studies were carried out on a modernized low-pressure injection molding machine model U8261. Prototypes were obtained from AK7ch alloy, special attention is paid to interfacial interaction and intensification of the heat transfer process due to the application of excess pressure. Based on the data obtained, it was found that during crystallization under excessive pressure there is a supercooling effect that reduces the casting solidification time. The use of the SPH method for modeling foundry processes has shown a high level of reliability and requires further development.

Low-Pressure Casting of Aluminium AlSi7Mg03 (A356) in Sand and Permanent Molds

Aluminium A356 (AlSi7Mg03) is the most common foundry alloy poured in sand and permanent molds or lost-wax shells. Because of its magnesium content, this alloy responds to a precipitation hardening treatment. The strength and ductility combination of the alloy can be varied at will by changing the temper treatment that follows the solutionizing and quenching of the part. By feeding the mold from the bottom, the low-pressure process provides a tranquil filling of the cavity. A perfect control of the liquid metal stream is provided by programming the pressure rise applied on the melt surface. It compares favorably to the more common gravity casting where a turbulent filling is governed by the geometry of the gating system.