Journald

Materials
Processing
Technology
ELSEVIER Journal of Materials Processing Technology 57 (1996) 259-265

A reclassification of the die-filling stages in pressure

die-casting processes
Y.B. Lui a,*, W.B. Lee b, B. Ralph c
a Department of Mechanical Engineering, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, Hong Kong
b Department of Manufacturing Engineering, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, Hong Kong
c Department of Materials Technology, Brunel University, Uxbridge UB8 3PH, UK
Received 5 October 1994

Industrial summary

Traditionally, the die-filling process in pressure die-casting is divided into three stages. This paper initiates the concept of a
'five-stage' process for one-shot pressure die-casting processes. The concept of a 'five-stage' process retains the familiar first and
second stages, breaks down :Lhe third stage into two and adds a fifth 'residual stage'. It is shown that the maximum metal pressure
developed at the end of the fourth stage represents the compressibility of the molten metal and the hydraulic oil. Equations for
the dynamic pressures during the fourth stage are derived. There is still a lack of information on the bulk modulus of various
molten metals. From the equations derived, an experimental method for the determination of the bulk modulus of molten metal
is suggested. The analysis of the five stages, which links the metal feed system with the fluid-power main circuit of the die-casting
machine, gives a set of mathematical models for tackling the problem in question.

1. Introduction
1II
The injection of molten metal in die casting is a Pressure of molten metal
complex process. A great deal of work has been done in / (e,).,
an attempt to correlate empirical knowledge of the die
casting process with scien'fific principles. A knowledge of
the injection phase is necessary to determine the opti-
mum machine setting and the gating parameters in die
design. Pressure die-casting engineers and researchers Fill time • P,a
are used to classify the cavity-filling process into a 'three z t~ ll[ 5
stage' (I, II, III) process, as shown in Fig. 1, which
becomes a basic tenet in constructing theoretical and I/x~---, Pre.~ impact time t,
practical investigations. In the first stage, the plunger
advances slowly until the base of the shot sleeve is 1 / Pl
1
covered fully with molten metal. In the second stage, the f
die cavity is being filled at a virtually constant pressure,
whilst a greater force is applied to the piston to over- - - pot
O
come friction. The last stage is typified by a high rise in
packing pressure when the die cavity is fully filled.
There seems to be no doubt that the third stage is the O~;, Time
most important, and plays a key role in completing the
whole function of a pressure die-casting process. Since Fig. 1. Reclassification of the pressure die-casting process. Tradi-
tional 'three stages': I. slow shot; II. fast shot; III, filling shot.
Reclassification 'five stages': 1. slow shot; 2. fast shot; 3. filling shot;
* Corresponding author. 4. pressure impact; 5. final pressure setting.

0924-0136/96/$15.00 © 1996 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved

SSDI 0924-0136(95)02075-W
260 Y.B. Lui et al. /Journal of Materials Processing Technology 57 (1996) 259 265

He e~fity
Accumulator

I t~ p AetuaLor
0il pump

I----";

Qb
pressure relieve valve
Fig. 2. Metal feed system diagram.

the seventies, many experimental Studies have moni- Na Ah cf

p = --pa - ~ p u - - ~ (2)
tored the process parameters and provided useful infor- a a a
mation [1-6]. Whilst most of the results show the In comparison to the pressure forces, the friction force
variations of the oil pressure with the travel of the can normally be neglected, so that Eq. (2) can be
plunger, measurement of the metal pressure in the die simplified to:
cavity indicates a rapid pressure build up at the end of
die cavity filling. The third stage in the traditional
classification combines two physical phenomena into
P= ~Pa
Aa __
Abpba (3)

one, which can be misleading. In this paper, a reclassifi-
cation of the die-filling process into five stages is pro-
posed. The first two stages are retained and the third
stage is divided into two separate and distinct stages.
Further, a residual-flow stage, which controls the final
dispersion of the air and shrinkage porosity, is added.
The fluid power requirement related to each stage of
the die-filling process is outlined.
The aim of reclassification of the pressure die-casting
processes is to create a set of mathematical models,
especially for the filling and pressure-impact stages, i.e.,
the third and fourth stages, in order to be able to tackle
the problems encountered in design and performance
prediction applied to pressure die casting processes.
2. The equations governing the metal feeding system
A schematic diagram of the hydraulic system of a
high pressure die-casting machine is shown in Fig. 2,
which illustrates the various components of the hy-
draulic circuit, starting from the accumulator, then to
the plunger cylinder and then to the die cavity. The
force balance equation can be written as:
W
- - JC "~ CfX = p a A a -- p b A b -- p a
g
For the quasi-steady state, 2 = constant and 5d= O, so
that Eq. (1) becomes:
As 2 -- q/a and 2 = Qa/A,, the continuity equation can
be expressed as below:
a
q = Aaa Qa (4)
For the quasi-steady state; 2 = constant, Qa = constant,
and the molten-metal flow rate q = constant.
3. A reclassification of the injection process
The traditional 'three-stage' classification (I-III) is
shown in Fig. 1. However, exactly the same history of
a single-shot pressure die-casting process can be re-
classified into five distinct stages, as shown in Fig. 1
(stages 1-5).
3.1. First stage: slow shot
The first stage is sometimes called the pre-fill stage,
where molten metal fills the shot sleeve at low velocity,
a low velocity being used in order to expel air from the
shot cylinder and avoid air entrapment. After the 'start'
signal is given, the hydraulic actuator stabilizes in a
short time. For the steady first stage:
(1) Qa = Qpump (5)
(6)
Qb = ~ Qpump
/1 b
 Y.B. Lui et al./ Journal of Materials Processing Technology 57 (1996) 259-265
Eq. (3) can be rewritten in the form:
Ab a
Pa = Z P b + ~ P
In the first stage, the pressure of the molten metal is
low. In the cases of a dry shot or cold-chamber ma-
chines, p = 0. However, the back pressure Pb is deter-
mined by the oil return circuit and may be calculated
by the Bernoulli equation:
p v~
Pb = Z Apb + -- - -
g2
where E Apb is the total pressure loss in the oil return
circuit, and every component of pressure loss may be
calculated from experimental data given in relevant
handbooks. From an energy conservation point of
view, Pb should be desiglaed to be as low as possible,
but retaining a particular amount of back pressure is
beneficial to the working stability of the actuator.
3.2. Second stage: fast shot
The second stage follows immediately after the first
stage and continues until the molten metal arrives at
the filling gate. In this unsteady stage, the oil surges
from the accumulator to the hydraulic system, which
causes fluctuations in tile working pressure and the
back pressure on the actuator. The dynamic perfor-
mance of the second stage depends mainly upon the
dynamic performances of the control valve and the
accumulator and upon the boundary conditions of the
metal feed system.
3.3. Third stage: filling shot
According to the new classification, the third stage
ends at the instant when the pressure begins to build
up. The gate velocity and the pressure in the cavity are
maintained approximately constant. In this case, the
accumulator represents a perfect performance in
providing a constant plunger speed, a constant molten-
metal flow rate and a constant gate velocity. Four
important characteristic.,; of the filling shot may be
calculated below:
3.3.1. Flow rate and plunger speed
It is easy to understand from Fig. 1 that the flow rate
of the actuator may be considered as arising from two
components, generated by the oil pump and the accu-
mulator:
Qa = Qpump-k- Q....
Similarly, the plunger speed is determined by:
v = Qpomp+ Q ....
Aa
261
Re-writing Eqn. (10) gives a clearer physical picture,
i.e.:
(7) V = /)pump + Vaccu (11)
where Vpumpis a small part of the plunger speed that is
generated continuously by the oil pump. In general,
/)pump is a constant and/) . . . . is a much larger component
generated periodically by the accumulator.
3.3.2. Gate velocity
From Eq. (4), the flow rate of molten metal, q, may
(8)
be calculated, and the main gate velocity can be
obtained:
Vg ~ -q- (12)
ag
3.3.3. Working pressure of molten metal
From Bernoulli's equation, with known cross-sec-
tions at the plunger surface and filling gate, as shown in
Fig. 2, the pressure of molten metal can be expressed
as:
P = ~ gP ( v2 -- V2) "-~-Pa0 -~- PZo '[- ~ Apf (13)
Eq. (12) can be reduced to a simpler form:
Vg = Cd~/2~gpp (14)
where ca = x/(1 -- Z Apf)/p, and EApf is the total pres-
sure loss of the metal feed system.
From Eq. (14), when the pressure and other condi-
tions of the metal feed system remain unchanged, a
lighter metal will result in a larger filling velocity.
Assuming Cd = 0.97 and applying Eq. (14), the relation-
ship between the filling velocity and the pressure is
shown in Fig. 3, from which it is seen that the velocity
of brass flow is equal to 57% of that of an A1-Cu alloy.
Eq. (14) also shows p oc Vg 2 or p oc q2. Excessive gate
velocity, Vg, will not only cause liquid splash, influenc-
ing the quality of the castings, but will also waste
energy by increasing the working pressure.
3.3.4. Fill time
The fill time of die cavity is equal to the volume of
cavity to be filled divided by the flow rate of the molten
metal driven by the plunger as:
Vca.,
tf = - - (15)
q
Eq. (15) is simple but important in stating that the fill
time tfoc Vcav and t r ~ 1/q. Many empirical equations
(9) regarding the fill time suggesting a compromise between
the surface finish and the internal soundness have been
advanced [7], as quoted below:
(10)
Ulmer's method: tf = 16 H 2 i n (15a)
Rearwin's method: tf = 17 n mni 2 (15b)
262 Y.B. Lui et al. /Journal of Materials Processing Technology 57 (1996) 259 265
v~ (m/s)
100
0 ~i~,--
O0 . . . .
0
0
0
0
'°
~0
/ I
Fig. 3. The calculated relationship between the filling velocity and the pressure of the molten metal.
Die Casting Research Federation (DCRF's) method:
tf = 35(Ha - 1)
In practice, the minimum casting thickness is difficult to
define and the average wall thickness is also difficult to
calculate. In the UK, the Zinc Development Associa-
tion recommended a 20 ms cavity fill time for plated
castings and 40 ms for non-plated castings. For the UK
this is a sensible recommendation, since there is a
limited variation in casting sizes and a surprisingly
small variation in casting wall thickness. From results
collected from a wide range of foundry research and
practice in the UK, Europe and the USA, the British
National Foundry (BNF) found the best relationship
between the cavity fill time and the average wall thick-
ness, as recommended below [7]:
For Ah tr= 40 H
For Zn, high-quality chrome finish:
For Zn, low-quality non or chrome finish:
tf-- 7 H + 13
As the metal feed system has been designed and
fabricated with a fixed capacity oil pump, the fill time tf
should be calculated from Eq. (15). Once a casting die
has been designed, the total volume Vcav will be fixed.
The only way to change the fill time is to alter the
plunger speed (which is directly proportional to the
flow rate, q, of the molten metal) by a flow control
valve in the fluid-power system. Therefore, whilst the
flow rate of the oil pump associated with the plunger
speed is fixed, the value of Cd can only affect the gate
velocity and pressure governed by Bernoulli's equation,
and cannot affect the flow rate of the oil pump gov-
erned by the mass-balance law; i.e., cd is irrelevant to
the fill time. Similarly, it should be noted that a reduc-
tion in gate area will result in an increase in the gate
AI-Cu alloy
• . /
/
/
J Zinc
i| ffi I ~ ~ ~ ~ Brass
__.__ . ~ . ~ ~
~ - -
..
2O 40 ~0 0o 1oo J2o 140
Pressure of molten metal P (bar)
velocity and in the pressure of the molten metal, but
this also cannot reduce the fill time.
(15c)
Owing to very complex flow pattern appearing in the
cavity of dies during the injection period, the third
stage greatly influences air entrapment and porosity
associated with the quality of the die castings. There-
fore, the third stage becomes a key function of the
process, and a specific research topic; see Refs. [8-12],
and other literature.
3.4. Fourth stage: pressure impact
The fourth stage lasts only from one to five millisec-
onds immediately followed the third stage [1,2,4,13].
The reason to separate such a short time period into a
separate stage is that this stage represents a special set
(15d) of fluid-mechanics conditions, which in turn requires its
own mathematical solutions.
tf-- 6 H + 7 (15e)
The above equations, from (1) to (15), represent the
fundamental behavior in the first three stages. These
equations have a common background which assumes
(15f)
the incompressibility of the liquid. At the last moment
of the third stage, the cavity and overflow are com-
pletely filled with molten metal. The metal feed system
and the hydraulic power system become two separated
closed spaces. If oil is driven continuously by the oil
pump and forced into the actuator, the compressibility
of the fluids becomes a dominating factor in the hy-
draulic power system and in the metal feed system also.
Accordingly, the pressure in the actuator and the pres-
sure in the cavity will build up rapidly (1-5 ms has
been reported for a number of different test machines)
to a high peak value about 2-4 times that of the
normal filling pressure [1,2,4,13]. This is, in reality, the
pressure impact in pressure die-casting processes, which
is similar to the water-hammer phenomenon in fluid
mechanics.
 Y.B. Lui et al./Journal of Materials Processing Technology 57 (1996)259-265 263

3.4.1. Peak pressure of the molten metal dpa A a dx (22)

Referring to Fig. 4, when the actuator moves for- d---/= Boil Foil dt
wards together with the plunger an elemental displace-
dpa Aa
ment, dx, displacing an elemental volume, a dx, the - floil (23)
molten metal of this elemental volume is compressed dx Foil
into the whole metal feed system. The resulting peak (Pp)oil = A Voilfloil (24)
pressure may be derived according to the definition of
fluid compressibility: where

Fm~t Aa/corrl
a dx = ~ dp (16) AVoil - (25)
Foil
The rate of pressure increase with time is:
3.4.3. Relationship between the dynamic pressures of
dp ~ dx (17) the molten metal and the oil
d t = flmet Vmet dt Combining Eqs. (17) and (22), permits the relation-
ship between the dynamic pressure of the working oil in
The rate of pressure increase with displacement is:
the fluid power system and the molten metal in the
dp a metal feed system to be obtained from:
-- - - /~met (18)
dx Vme`
dp flmet a Voi1 dpa (26)
By integrating Eq. (18) the total peak pressure of the dt flon Aa Vmet dt
molten metal, (mp)met, is obtained:
where integrating Eq. (26):
alcom
(mp)met ~ Vme-
~"/~met (19) ~'dp=~%flm~t a V°i~ldpa (27)
where a/co m is the total compressed volume of the f af /~oil A a Frnet
molten metal. Furthermore, Eq. (19) may be rewritten: Assuming that timer and floil are constant, a solution can
be found from Eq. (27) to establish the relationship
(gp)met = A gmet/~met (20)
between the two dynamic pressures in the fourth stage:
where
flmet a Voi 1
alcom P = Pf "~ Boil Aa V~et (Pa -- Paf) (28)
A Vinet = (21)
FEet
At the end of the fourth stage, as shown in Fig. 1, the
3.4.2. Peak pressure of the oil in the fluid-power oil pressure reaches a peak value, the decaying to the
system stable setting pressure of the pressure-relief valve. Simi-
Similarly, the peak pressure at the actuator can be larly to the trend of the oil pressure, the stable maxi-
deduced: mum pressure of the molten metal is given by:

flmet a Voi~
Pmax = Pf + /~oil A a Vme~t(Prel -- Paf) (29)

3.4.4. Bulk modulus of the molten metal

The bulk modulus, of the molten metal /~met, is very
large, and actual data on values is difficult to obtain
experimentally. However, an experimental method is
suggested here which may permit the measurement of
the bulk modulus of various molten metals. On the
plunger basis of Eq. (28), the area of plunger and the actuator,

I
f '~-metal feed syatem cloaed the total volume of the molten metal, Vmet, and the
total oil volume in the high pressure side of the fluid-
power system, Voi1, as well as the oil bulk modulus, /[]oil,
are known. If p . . . . Pf, Prel and Par can be measured
simultaneously during the fourth filling stage, then/~met
Fig. 4. Schematic diagram showing the liquid compressibility in the
may be obtained from:
metal feed system: dx, elemental compressed length; Vmct, total
volume of molten metal in the metal feed system; P, pressure of the flmet = Boil Aa Vmet (Pmax --Pf) (30)
molten metal. a Foil (Prel--Paf)
264 Y.B. Lui et al./Journal of Materials Processing Technology 57 (1996) 259 265
3.4.5. Pressure impact time (the time of filling during
the fourth stage)
The duration of the fourth stage is very short (e.g.,
1-5 ms), and may be derived on the basis of volume
balance. Substituting q dt = a dx in Eq. (16) gives:
Vmet
q d t = flme----~tdp
The flow rate of the molten metal, q, is reduced to zero
at the end of the filling in the fourth stage, which
reduction is approximately linear and can be expressed
as:
q=q( l) -- t
tp
Substituting Eq. (32) into Eq. (31) and then integrating:
_ 2Vmet
tp qflmet[(Pp)met-- pf]
Alternatively, tp may be expressed as:
2 [foil
t p - Qafloil [(Pp)oil--Paf]
3.5. Fifth stage: final pressure setting
In this stage, the fluid-power system has a maximum
power output due to the maximum pressure. The key
role of the fifth stage is to set the final pressure of the
process that governs the pressure impact in the fourth
stage. To state this more clearly, the valve of the final
pressure is set by the pressure relief valve of the fluid-
power system, the degree of pressure fluctuation de-
pending mainly on the dynamic characteristics of this
relief valve. A simple pressure setting is a result of
many complex factors. The positive effects of setting a
high pressure may be concluded as: (i) under high
pressure impact, the results from compressing the
residue of air will tend to eliminate big blisters, giving
reduced porosity and making sounder castings; (ii) a
high pressure impact encourages penetration of the
liquid through the film into residual air spaces and
converts these to solids, which strengthens the casting;
and (iii) a high pressure impact has a densifying effect
on the casting surface, and produces a sounder surface
on the casting. Nevertheless, excessive pressure peak
will cause negative effects such as: (i) a high pressure
impact that may damage machine parts; (ii) a high
pressure impact may cause flash to be formed; and (iii)
a pressure impact which may be associated with noise.
4. C o n c l u s i o n s
On the basis of breaking through the restrictions of
the concept of a 'three-stage' process and replacing
this with a 'five-stage' process, a systematic system of
equations from (1) to (34) covering the necessary
mathematical equations for the die filling process have
been generated. Eqs. (1)-(15) present the nature of
the first to the third stages of the filling process.
When performing calculations for the metal feed sys-
(31) tem, it is best to obtain the basic information on the
plunger speed history by a dry shot test [1]. Eqs.
(16)-(34) expose the nature of the pressure impact in
the fourth stage to be a manifestation of the com-
pressibility of the molten metal, which provides a
sound basis, using these equations, to attack the
(32)
problems of pressure impact and associated air en-
trapment, porosity, and machine settings. In addition,
the above results of the reclassification for one shot of
a pressure die-casting process can provide a funda-
mental understanding of the complex flow of the
(33) molten metal, which provides a sound basis, using
these equations, to attack the problems of pressure
impact and associated air entrapment, porosity, and
machine settings. In addition, the above results of the
(34) reclassification for one shot of a pressure die-casting
process can provide a fundamental understanding of
the complex flow of the molten metal through the
metal feed system in order to afford a sound back-
ground for design, research and development of pres-
sure die-casting machines.
Nomenclature
a area of plunger
ag area of gate
Aa working area of the actuator
Ab area of the back surface of actuator
Cd discharge coefficient of the metal feed
system
Cf combined friction factor of the actuator with
the plunger
g acceleration due to gravity
H casting wall thickness
Ha average casting wall thickness
Hmin minimum casting wall thickness
loom total compressed length of molten metal in the
plunger
P pressure of the molten metal
Pa oil pressure of the actuator
Pb oil back pressure of the actuator
Pr pressure of the molten metal flow in the third
filling stage
Paf pressure of the oil in the third filling stage
Pao air pressure in the cavity; with proper venting
Pao = 0
Pmax stable maximum presure of the molten
metal
 Y.B. Lui et al./Journal of Materials Processing Technology 57 (1996) 259 265 265

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