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Varun Nandakumar MS Thesis
Varun Nandakumar MS Thesis
Varun Nandakumar MS Thesis
Magnesium Alloys
THESIS
Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Science in
By
Varun Nandakumar
2014
Varun Nandakumar
2014
Abstract
The push for higher efficiency and lower emissions on present day automobiles have
created a greater need for light alloys such as Aluminum and Magnesium to replace the
customary steel parts in an automobile. A lot of these replaced parts are in structural load
bearing components on a vehicle. This usually meant that processes such as the
traditional High Pressure Die Casting would not be able to claim a stake in it due to its
innate air and Hydrogen entrapment issues. But, with an overall higher maintenance of
quality in the traditional process, it is possible to create higher integrity parts that are
usable in structural applications. This thesis describes and tests some methods to improve
the traditional High Pressure Die Casting process to enable it to produce higher integrity
casts for Aluminum and Magnesium alloys. Methods to achieve a higher quality melt are
researched and a rotary degasser is used for two experimental trials of similar Aluminum
alloys. Similarly, methods to integrate vacuum into the existing setup are studied and the
tooling part of the vacuum assist system with chill blocks is fully designed. The design of
the chill blocks is carried out from the ground up using MAGMA and ANSYS simulation
tools which were available at the Integrated Systems Engineering Lab. A designed
Finally, the optimum design is completed on 3D CAD software and then manufactured in
house.
ii
To Charuchechi
iii
Acknowledgments
To Dr. Brevick - my advisor, the best teacher I’ve had and possibly the most patient man
I will ever meet. I can’t even begin to describe how much I’ve enjoyed working under
you. I have never come out of a discussion – be it in the hallway, on a drive or at your
office, without learning something new. You have a knack of making any topic
interesting and I’m going to miss popping into your room with the silliest question
knowing that you will do your best to break it down for me. Thank you sir for everything.
To Martin Doyle from Gibbs Die Casting at Henderson, KY- Thank you for helping us
understand vacuum die casting, giving us a tour of your facility and graciously providing
To Charuchechi - Without your generosity I wouldn’t be here. Thank you for a second
chance at life. To My Parents – It is a tremendous joy knowing that the two of you are
constantly behind me. Thank you for always being there. To Deepta – Thanks for all the
encouragement, the talks and help when I thought I couldn’t make it. To my Sister,
friends and so many others who are in one way or the other responsible for my success, I
Last but by no means least, to my colleague William Tullos - I’ve had a great time
working with you the past year and a half, thank you for always responding to my email
iv
Vita
Technological University
Fields of Study
v
Table of Contents
Abstract ............................................................................................................................... ii
Acknowledgments.............................................................................................................. iv
Vita...................................................................................................................................... v
Research Summary........................................................................................................ 17
Objectives .................................................................................................................. 18
Approach ................................................................................................................... 18
Hydrogen ................................................................................................................... 21
Solidification shrinkage................................................................................................. 22
Degassing ...................................................................................................................... 23
Passive Degassing...................................................................................................... 24
vii
Chemical tablets ........................................................................................................ 26
Valve based................................................................................................................ 41
Comparison ................................................................................................................ 44
Equipment ..................................................................................................................... 47
viii
Degassing................................................................................................................... 48
Experiment................................................................................................................. 51
Results ........................................................................................................................... 52
ix
Future Work .................................................................................................................. 76
References ......................................................................................................................... 77
Appendix D: Properties of H-13 Tool and Copper used in Ansys Simulaitons ............... 84
x
List of Tables
Table 1, Some Shot sleeve diameters and their corresponding critical slow shot speeds
Table 2, Summary of the Pros and Cons of a valve vs. a valve less design (the 3D valve is
Table 5, Results of the experiment (fill time and distances) highlighted values go beyond
xi
List of Figures
2004) ................................................................................................................................... 2
Figure 7, Magnesium Lincoln MKT lift gate (Die Casting Engineer, 2010) ................... 12
Figure 9, Audi Space frame, Showing Structural Die Castings in Red (Hartlieb, 2013) . 14
Figure 10, Fe rich needle like phase that causes low elongation and flow capabilities
Figure 11, Major sources of defects in a HPDC product (Twarog, 2011) ........................ 20
Figure 12, Solubility of Hydrogen drops drastically as the aluminum solidifies, not so
Figure 13, Protection of the surface of the melt by the addition of liquid Argon ............. 25
xii
Figure 14, Surface protection by delivery of argon gas parallel to the surface of the melt
........................................................................................................................................... 26
Figure 16, Coupling flux injection with rotor degassing (Neff, 2002) ............................. 29
Figure 17, For a given size of a bubble, (a) larger oxides are easily floated out while (b)
smaller ones follow the streamlines of the rising bubble and so do not collect the bubble
Figure 19, Illustration showing Atomized flow that is typical in a conventional HPDC
Figure 20, Left - Close to eutectic with a small mushy zone, Right - bigger mushy zone
(NADCAdesign) ............................................................................................................... 34
Figure 21 Conventional Vacuum Die Casting Process (PFIEFER Vacuum, 2006) ......... 35
Figure 22, Difference time in vacuum application for Vacural vs. others (Jorstad, 2008 )
........................................................................................................................................... 37
Figure 24, Residual gas content a seen on X-ray (Jorstad, 2008 ) .................................... 40
Figure 25, Valve and Valve less technology for creating vacuum inside the die cavity .. 43
Figure 26, Erroneous Cavity vacuum reading in case of chill blocks (Bagnoud & Bigger,
2008) ................................................................................................................................. 44
Figure 27, Comparison between Chill Blocks and Valves, (Adapted from (Bagnoud &
xiii
Figure 28, 250 T Cold Chamber die casting Machine at OSU ......................................... 47
Figure 30, Specially designed mounts on the furnace to receive the Rotary degasser ..... 49
Figure 33, Density measurement after degassing, yellow points indicate that degassing
was done............................................................................................................................ 53
Figure 34, Four Heat treated samples and one as cast on the extreme right, no blistering
observed ............................................................................................................................ 54
Figure 36, Available design space on the cover die half was 4X2X.5 in ......................... 57
Figure 37, Outer envelope of chill block and initial concept design ................................ 58
Figure 38, ISO view and section view of entire chill block assembly showing internal
trapezoidal passages and required area for venting into vacuum tank.............................. 59
Figure 39, Initial geometry for chill profile with a cut away (.52X.40in) for consistent
Figure 41, Temperature and Flow lengths at an arbitrary 84% fill, Stars showing location
Figure 42, Boundary Conditions (BC1 and BC2) & Thermal loads for the 2D Model .... 66
xiv
Figure 45, CAD model section view showing the vent passage in the ejector die and hole
Figure 47, Design criteria for Sealant; to determine optimal sealing. .............................. 73
xv
Chapter 1: Introduction
High Pressure Die Casting (HPDC) is a process in which molten metal is injected into a
precisely dimensioned steel mold, within which pressure is maintained until solidification
has been completed. The die casting accordingly reproduces, with high fidelity, the finest
detail of the impression within which it was formed. The process has been called” the
shortest distance between raw material and finished product” (Street, 1986).
The history of the HPDC process dates back to the mid-19th century when an increasing
demand for printed matter caused many inventors to design and build mechanized typing
machines that were originally invented by Guttenberg. This in turn entailed that a subset
of the overall casting process be developed in response to the need for mass production of
the typing machine. By the 1850s the casing machines had almost begun to take a shape
of the modern day hot chamber machines: means of opening and closing a precisely
machined metal die, injection of molten metal under pressure into the closed die and
ejecting the chilled component after casting. When the need arose for mass production in
other industries such as automotive, these existing machines were modified from
producing typing press parts. A notable mention on the early adopters of this process
included Charles Babbage who produced precision engineered die cast components for an
1
The main differentiating factor in HDPC to other casting process is the pressure and the
velocity of the injected metal. As illustrated in Figure 1, the HPDC process is recognized
2004)
Die casting in North America typically applies to a process where pressure is used to
push the molten metal into the mold. The terms Die casting and High Pressure Die
Casting are commonly used interchangeably. In HPDC, the pressures can be anywhere
2
between 3000 and 20000 psi with gate velocities as high as 1800 in/sec (NADCA). When
you look at the market for Metal Molding processes, by far and away the HPDC process
is the largest. For example, in the case of Aluminum castings, it accounts for over 2/3rd of
the thesis, the focus will be on this critical casting process and unless otherwise stated, all
Figure 2 shows the steps involved in a typical High Pressure Die casting process. They
3
1. Liquid Metal is ladled into the shot sleeve (the location of which decides on
2. Liquid metal is injected into the cavity – this process of the plunger moving inside
the shot sleeve is called the ‘shot’ and is further broken down into two parts - the
slow shot and the fast shot (will be discussed in detail in the upcoming chapters).
3. The die is opened and the ejector pins push the casting out where usually a robotic
4. The die is sprayed with lubrication and is closed. The lubrication serves mainly
two purposes
A recent NADCA study (Twarog, 2011) found that Cost and Strength form the major
resons for the choice of High Pressure Die castings. Owing to the quick processing times,
this process is well suited to the needs of a fast paced manufacturing setup. With the
fine and hence contributes to the strength. The major advantages are illustrated in Figure
3. One other important advantage when compared to other casting proceses is that thin
walls can be cast. The disadvantages are really down to the fact that only lower melting
point metals can be die cast and that the part geometry must allow for removal from the
die (undercuts if not avoidable must be manageable with cores). There is also inherent
limitation of the conventional process to counter porosity. Apart from this, HPDC is a
4
very attractive process for large volume manufactirung and a lot of attention is being
given at present to use it in ways that have not been explored before.
The HPDC process is divided into two main sub groups based on the location of the shot
sleeve
5
The Cold Chamber Process
In the cold chamber process, the Shot sleeve (or chamber) is exposed to the atmosphere.
We pour liquid metal into the shot sleeve and a hydraulic activated metal plunger (or
Ram) is used to push the liquid metal into the die cavity. The alloys used in the Cold
chamber process are all Aluminum alloys, some Magnesium and Zinc alloys. Since
aluminum is aggressive towards iron, shot sleeves are used here. As the liquid metal
hardly spends any time in the sleeve, this helps prevent too much interaction between the
steel and liquid aluminum and keeps the dissolution to a minimum. Some of the
6
Hot chamber processes are usually smaller machines and for bigger parts Mg is cast on
cold chamber machines. Zinc alloys such as ZA-12 and ZA-27 alloys are also cast on
cold chamber machines since they have a very large aluminum alloying percentage.
About 80% of the die castings are produced using the Cold Chamber method. Chief
advantages of this process are the possibility of complex parts, and application of higher
pressures.
However, with some alloys which have a lower melting point such as zinc alloys we take
the injection system and immerse it into the furnace. i.e., we immerse the shot sleeve
inside the molten metal. The shot sleeve is now called a “gooseneck” and this method has
some advantages. It will not lose as much heat during the ladling process and we can
have better metal temperature control, it tends to be faster since no time is wasted ladling
(automatic refilling of the plunger) and lastly, there is a lower chance of the metal
oxidizing. The problem with the hot chamber process is that it cannot be used for certain
alloys. Aluminums affinity for die steels will mean that it will dissolve the chamber if
used here. A variation of the hot chamber die casting process is the miniature Die casting
process where instead of two die halves, 3 or more dies are used. The Miniature Die
casting is used for very small parts (example - metal headphone jack). Typical alloys
used in this method are Zinc ZA-8 (low aluminum content ZAMAK alloys) and
7
Shot sleeve immersed
in the furnace
Figure 5. The Hot Chamber Process (Groover, 2007)
Although the hot and cold chamber methods are the commonly used types of HPDC,
because of the inherent limitations with the process - that of porosity due to solidification
shrinkage and gas entrapment, it necessitates the development of alternative process that
improve on the traditional. There are three such high integrity processes that have been
successfully developed for commercial use in high volume production (Vinarcik, 2002
).They are Vacuum Die Casting, Squeeze Casting and Semi Solid casting. Vacuum die-
casting is a process that uses a controlled vacuum to extract the gases from the cavity and
runner system during shot injection. When utilized properly, this method has the ability
8
to remove upto 95% of the gas in the die cavity at 750mm of Hg (Vinarcik, 2002 ).
Squeeze casting is a type of HPDC which utilizes large gate areas and has a planar filling
of the metal front (unlike atomized in the case of conventional HPDC). In case of semi
sold metal casting, a partially liquid-solid mixture is injected into the die cavity and here
too the fill front is planar. An ever present intensification pressure (because of large gates
that take long to solidify) helps greatly in reducing the solidification shrinkage as well.
As with Squeeze cast, a benefit here because of the large amount of solid fraction present
in the mixture is that the amount of solidification shrinkage is reduced greatly. Discussed
in chapter two are some pertinent examples of how the cold chamber die casting process
From smaller, decorative items to large single piece casts used in automobiles as door
panels etc., HPDC finds applications in numerous areas. As long as the volume is high
and the initial cost can be amortized, there will always a way to justify the use of Die
Casting. Figure 5 shows the per component cost based break up to help with the decision
making process.
9
Figure 6. Graph howing the relative cost of a component manufactured by different
Automotive Applications
Most Aluminum housings for applications in transmission and driveline are produced by
HPDC (Lutsey, 2010). These have traditionally been so because Al is light and it is used
on member that is not a safety critical load-bearing member – so the inherent issues with
HPDC, those of porosity and lower elongation do not factor as much. The ever growing
trend in Die casting is the overall push of the automotive industry in making use of die
10
casting to substitute parts that were traditionally made using steel and cast irons with light
alloys such as Al and Mg. This is as a direct consequence of stringent requirements for
improved fuel economy and tighter emissions. This trend also helps from an
eliminating downstream operations on a net shape part. Several studies, as well as some
additional manufacturing cost could achieve up to a 20% reduction in the mass of new
approach would, in turn, result in a 12% to 16% reduction in CO2 emissions while
maintaining constant vehicle size and performance (Lutsey, 2010). High Pressure Die
Casting Processes help act as an alternate and viable alternative to produce body
components that are currently made using High Strength Steels by stamping and forging
processes. Figure 7 shows a Lincoln MKT which is believed to be the largest magnesium
allowed six parts to be integrated into one large die cast magnesium lift gate inner (Die
Casting Engineer, 2010). Figure 8 shows the front wall (upper firewall) is at present the
largest aluminum cast component made in large series. The aluminum casting integrates
six individual components into a single part using a High Pressure Vacuum Die Casting
11
Figure 7. Magnesium Lincoln MKT lift gate (Die Casting Engineer, 2010)
12
Structural Automotive Applications
Among the components produced in an automotive using lightweight alloys, Projects and
applications for structural die castings, which are usually characterized by special alloys
and sophisticated processes are on the rise (Hartlieb, 2013). In the 2012-2015 periods
alone, a study by the Ducker World Wide LLC suggests that the over 50lbs increase in
in body structures. Cast components have the advantage of specific redirection of forces
and allow a variation of the local wall thicknesses according to the encountered loads.
Thus, it is possible to optimize topology and have local areas that can handle large
stresses (European Aluminium Association). The term structural die castings not only
includes automotive components such as A or B pillars, inner door pillars etc., but also
include casts in other areas such as marine applications and motorcycle and other
recreational vehicle frames. What they have in common is that they are all usually large
and thin walled (2-3mm) and contain a complex geometry. The costs although high when
compared to normal die-casting is attractive because structural die casts usually replace
two or more stamped steel structures. The structural die-casts are not only lighter but also
make sense from an economic stand point, not to mention the environmental stand point
as with reducing the steps comes lower energy usage. (Hartlieb, 2013)
13
Figure 9. Audi Space frame, Showing Structural Die Castings in Red (Hartlieb, 2013)
Aluminum alloys
In typical HPDC processes, Aluminum is mainly chosen for its light weighting effect.
The problems of traditional casting alloys is they rely on high iron content to help with
the die soldering (affinity of aluminum to the iron in the die steel can be compensated by
adding reasonable amounts in the alloy itself) cause prevent traditional die casting alloys
from attaining the elongations that are necessary to classify an alloy as structural. This is
mainly because of the formation of needles that are rich in iron that cause a very negative
14
Figure 10. Fe rich needle like phase that causes low elongation and flow capabilities
(Hartlieb, 2013)
Structural aluminum alloys circumvent this problem by replacing the Iron with
TM TM TM
Manganese for the die soldering resistance. Silafont , Aural , Calypso are all
alloys along the same vein. Mercaalloy TM is another structural that was developed by
Magnesium alloys
alloys have higher fluidity and are therefore well suited to manufacture thin-walled parts
in very complex geometries by high pressure die-casting. They are 33% lighter than
aluminum and are also easier to machine (Cole & Sherman, 1995). The most popular Die
15
Casting alloy, AZ91 is typically not usable in a structural application owing to the β -
Mg17Al12 precipitates that on the grain boundaries that act as a discontinuous phase. (Shi,
et al., 2013). High-ductility AM50 or AM60 alloy which are preferred for crashworthy
automotive applications have performed well in crash simulation tests and many vehicles
with these materials have achieved a five-star crash rating (Luo, 2013). There is still
limited data about these alloys’ failure mechanisms. It was found that the mechanism of
failure is not folding like aluminum or steel but shear and it is not yet clear why (Luo,
2013). These alloys even though ductile do not respond to heat treatment. This lack of
heat treatable alloys (age hardenable) is in fact is one of the bigger disadvantages of
Magnesium alloys compared to aluminum. Tin based ternary alloys (AT72) and Mg-RE
systems are new alloy developments that are providing significant precipitation hardening
(increased strength) and also an increased creep strength with improved corrosion
Structural applications in an automobile are areas wherein the design of the component is
based directly on the impact resistance. This is measured in terms of the amount of
worthy) alloy, the rule of thumb is that the component has an elongation of 12% or above
(Franke, Dragulin, Zovi, & Casarotto, 2007). Therefore, when the alloy is being qualified
the process does not cause failure prior to maximum yielding. In the case where these
alloys are used in structural applications, highest quality melt, free from entrapments,
16
hydrogen and other gasses and the highest integrity die casting process (typically
applying vacuum throughout the most or all of the shot), often followed by low distortion
heat and surface treatments are necessary steps to help the product attain its required
properties. Thus, it is of paramount importance that the entire process used be capable of
Research Summary
At the Ohio State University Die Casting lab, we have a 250 SC Buhler cold chamber
high pressure die casting machine that is capable of Squeeze casting and High pressure
die casting for both magnesium and aluminum alloys. The Overall objective of this
research was to select and interject processes/systems into this existing cell that will
enable the university lab to create defect free, high integrity die-castings. The current
stationary gas fired furnace is has no means of maintaining or evaluating the melt quality.
The first part of this work deals with determining best practices for degassing aluminum
alloys and evaluating the gas content level, select the best and implement them. Ancillary
equipment such as Rotary degassers and Reduced Pressure Testers were acquired and the
best practices for using them are recorded. An alternate system to check the density of the
reduced pressure test sample based on the Archimedes principle was constructed and its
use is also illustrated as a qualitative measurement device. Similarly, part two of this
work deals with studying the various vacuum systems available that match our desired
capabilities for magnesium vacuum die casting and redesign our tooling accordingly. A
commercial die caster was benchmarked, finite element and finite difference analyses are
used to validate the designs of requisite chill blocks which form an important part of the
17
vacuum system. Using CAD software, the entire vacuum system is designed and is ready
for machining.
Objectives
1. Understand and develop a system to reduce the Hydrogen porosity in the melt.
2. Design a vacuum capable die that can create and sustain low levels of vacuum in
Approach
1. Melt Quality
deploy the ones that promise the best compromise between cost and
efficiency.
2. Vacuum system
maintenance.
conditions for the variables in the chill block design. The following were
18
i. Material – Cu and H13
19
Chapter 2: Dealing with porosity problems in HPDC
There are a few limitations with the HPDC process as is discussed in the previous
section. However, a recent NADCA survey revealed that when it comes to the main
concern for consumers of die cast products, porosity is single handedly the biggest
20
Porosity in a high pressure die casting can be due to a manifold of reasons. The most
common areas of porosity are due to Gas Porosity or due shrinkage pores caused because
Gas Porosity
All gas porosity can be traced down to one of three reasons (Vinarcik, 2002 )
Hydrogen
Aluminum absorbs and dissolves a lot more Hydrogen in the liquid state than in the
solidified state. Therefore, when it changes state during solidification, all of the
Hydrogen that was earlier dissolved begins to show up in the solidified metal. Hydrogen
porosity is not as much of an issue with Magnesium alloys during HPDC. The metal is
usually metered via a pressure in a closed chamber since liquid Mg is highly susceptible
to catching fire and the only literature available about Magnesium is by passing chlorine
Air Entrapment
Air entrapment is an issue that is prevalent in any alloy cast using the cold chamber die
casting machine. A precise control over shot parameters (mainly slow shot and fast shot
velocities) is needed to ensure that no air entrapment occurs in the shot sleeve or in the
There is a chance that the Lubrication or coolant spray that is usually added at the end of
each casting cycle does not completely evaporate and gets trapped inside the solidifying
21
metal. Usually, the water disintegrates into hydrogen and this causes further hydrogen
based porosity.
Solidification shrinkage
Solidification shrinkage porosity as the name suggests is formed during the solidification
of the metal. For example, pure aluminum contracts by 6% when it changes from liquid
to solid and often times, there isn’t enough liquid aluminum to feed this contraction. This
results in an area that is left bereft of metal. Good thermal management is a tool that can
be used to ensure solidification shrinkage occurs at locations that can be fed. The
intensification pressures applied during the high pressure de casting cycle also aid
significantly in its reduction. A quick observation of a cut section and one can easily
identify the reasons for the porosity. Gas porosity is usually well formed and spherical
(forms when the metal is still liquid and has the ability to choose a shape of least energy).
On the other hand, shrinkage porosity is irregularly shaped as it is formed at the absolute
end of solidification only due to the lack of metal to fill the necessary volume. The
porosity formed due to lube/water entrapment is shiny and its shape more like porosity
One can think of four major ways to reduce porosity and increase the casting integrity.
c. Change the process to one of the higher integrity process mentioned earlier
22
Melt quality Improvements
One of the methods to reduce porosity is the elimination (or more likely, vast reduction)
of it from the source – the melting/holding furnace. The following are some of the
components that are commonly used to detect issues and improve melt quality in a
1. Degassing
3. Metallurgical Modification
Degassing
As mentioned earlier and illustrated in Figure 12, the entrapped Hydrogen plays a very
critical role in the amount of porosity that is observed in the final cast part.
23
Figure 12. Solubility of Hydrogen drops drastically as the aluminum solidifies, not so
Any die caster who wants to ensure the best quality cast will have to ensure low levels of
hydrogen in his melt. Several methods exist to reduce this hydrogen content. They are
Passive Degassing
By reducing the temperature of the furnace some of the hydrogen content can be made to
escape into the atmosphere naturally. The method is simply based on the fact that H 2
content in the melt along with that in the atmosphere is within tolerance levels for most
products.
24
Liquid argon shield
For smaller melts, pouring of a stream of liquid argon helps to reduce the levels of H 2.
The liquefied gas being heavier than air and lighter than the liquid metal forms a layer on
the surface of the melt. In addition, the argon expands drastically to about 600 times its
Figure 13. Protection of the surface of the melt by the addition of liquid Argon
Injecting an inert gas however increases the gas content by spreading an equal volume of
air across the melt and equilibrating with it. Thus the environmental gas predominantly
air gets introduced. To avoid the entrapment of air, the argon is injected tangential to the
melt surface. It is circulated and contained within a cone to prevent entrainment of air.
The rate of gas usage can also be regulated by the swirling technique. The hot expanded
gas is made to escape from the top of the cone. Such degassing methods require the
25
circulation of melt within a diffusion distance of the surface. Figure 14 illustrates
Figure 14. Surface protection by delivery of argon gas parallel to the surface of the melt
(Campbell, 2011)
Chemical tablets
The use of chemical tablets to degas small melt surfaces was among the first techniques.
Mostly tablets are composed of hexachloroethane (C2Cl6). The tablet forms aluminum
chloride gas bubbles that absorb the hydrogen, which then rise slowly into the
atmosphere. Static lances, wands or flux tubes also have been used for degassing.
However, these techniques are not as effective since the area to volume ratio of the gas
bubbles is too large. It in turn causes the gas bubbles to rise too quickly to the melt
26
surface without enough time to collect the hydrogen. Although the technique of creating
large bubbles was inefficient, it allowed for the environmental exposure of fresh melt
every time a bubble burst. It enabled the melt equilibrate with the environment. Such
degassing may be acceptable on a dry day but, on a damp day the melt may end up
gaining hydrogen faster than losing it. The bursting of large bubbles caused additional
complications through the entrainment of new oxides and chlorides. Dampness in the
tablet facilitated the creation of oxides. Introduction of inert gases using the lances also
Many techniques rely on purge gasses to collect the dissolved hydrogen. Hydrogen
degassing of aluminum works on the principle that the hydrogen gas will move from an
area of high pressure (in the melt) to an area of low pressure (the inert gas). Here, purge
gas is introduced to the melt through a rotating shaft and rotor. This increases surface-
area-to-volume ratio of bubbles in the melt. A lot of smaller bubbles spend longer time
inside the metal, allowing for a higher capability of collecting the hydrogen atoms
the end of the lance. Figure 15 compares the relative degassing efficiency of the three
27
Figure 15. Efficiencies of three different techniques to degassing (Neff, 2002)
with it. The rotary degassing will also help with the uniform distribution of the melt and
help in cleaning up the metal from the dross that is always formed. An appropriate flux
composition can treat this dross in its original place, not only reducing the dross volume
but also substantially decreasing the metallic content of the dross from 85% to 30% or
28
Figure 16. Coupling flux injection with rotor degassing (Neff, 2002)
There are noticeable changes in the kind of purge gas used in the degassing process.
1. Chlorine – Not in use any more because of the hazardous Hydrochloric acid that is
2. Nitrogen--It is the most commonly employed since it is the least expensive. It creates
3. Argon—Even though it is far more expensive when compared with N2, produces
dross that is not high in metallic Aluminum. Being heavier and inert, it also provides
Type of degassing and choice of purge gas selected are both important in the kind of
Along with the hydrogen, the purge gas particles while moving to the top of the melt
usually carry along with them larger oxide bifilms whereas the smaller ones are left
behind. Research has shown that that the smallest oxide that can be removed by a bubble
is approximately the same size as the bubble, thus there are multiple advantages having a
lot of smaller bubbles as is observed in the rotary degasser case. (Campbell, 2011)
Figure 17. For a given size of a bubble, (a) larger oxides are easily floated out while (b)
smaller ones follow the streamlines of the rising bubble and so do not collect the bubble
(Campbell, 2011)
The reduced pressure test is a testing methodology to check the usefulness of the
previously discussed melt improvement methods. It is based on the principle that vacuum
enlarges the hydrogen in the melt and this allows for a quick and easy reading of porosity
in the melt. A preexisting chart helps to easily assess the melt quality even on the shop
30
floor. This setup supplies a simple, easy to use partial pressure test unit for this
verification. To use, the operator warms a sample cup, dips the cup into the furnace for a
metal sample, quickly places the sample into the vacuum chamber, and starts the vacuum
pump. The aluminum solidifies under a vacuum causing any entrained hydrogen gas
bubbles to expand greatly. (Neff, 2002) Once solid and cooled, the sample is cut in half
In a cold chamber die casting machine, there are two main process parameters when it
comes to the actual delivery of the metal from the shot that significantly affect porosity.
1. Slow Shot speed – This is speed at which the plunger moves initially after the metal is
poured into the sleeve. If the speed is too fast, air is entrapped inside the metal. If the
speed is too low, a wave is created inside the shot sleeve that again causes air
entrapment. This is as shown in Figure 18. Research by Dr. Lester Garber (Anderson,
2004) allows the die caster to select the precise slow show velocity called the Critical
low Shot Speed (Vss) that reduces air porosity. Table 1 lists an abridged version of his
research.
31
Figure 18. Vss- Critial Slow Shot Velocities (Anderson, 2004)
Table 1. Some Shot sleeve diameters and their corresponding critical slow shot speeds
(Anderson, 2004)
2. Fast shot speed – This is essentially the speed with which the metal enters the gate.
Unlike the other forms of casting wherein the preferred mode of metal flow front is
planar, studies have shown that the most effective method to fill a cavity in the High
Pressure Die Casting process is by Atomized flow where the velocities are anywhere
between 1020-1560 in/s while for magnesium it is 2040 – 2400 in/s) (Anderson,
2004).
32
Figure 19. Illustration showing Atomized flow that is typical in a conventional HPDC
(Vinarcik, 2002 )
The change from slow shot to fast shot is done at a point when the entire shot sleeve is
full of liquid metal. There is also research suggesting that constantly accelerating to the
slow shot speed from the initial zero speed gives better results as compared with directly
starting at the prescribed slow shot speed. (Brevick, Duran, & Karni, 1991)
Metallurgical Modification
In an alloy, if one keeps the alloy composition closer to the eutectic, then it will solidify
with a smaller mushy zone. This means that there is a small range of solidification and as
and when solidification occurs, there is always liquid metal to fill the shrinkage created.
This will result in shrinkage in the last place to solidify and as long as one uses good
thermal management practices and ensure the last place of solidification is a non-essential
part such as the overflow, this change will help in getting better integrity casts.
33
Figure 20. Left - Close to eutectic with a small mushy zone, Right - bigger mushy zone
(NADCAdesign)
improving the casting integrity are squeeze casting, semi sold casting and high vacuum
process. This body of work is based on the last type and therefore the below discussion is
34
Figure 21. Conventional Vacuum Die Casting Process (PFIEFER Vacuum, 2006)
It is useful to note here that Vacuum die casting processes do not have an additional
mechanism to aid in the shrinkage porosity when compared with conventional cold
chamber HPDC. Their major claim to fame is their ability to vastly reduce air entrapment
in the cavity. The use of vacuum in the high pressure die casting process is an innovative
development. By creating a lower than atmospheric pressure in the injection chamber and
die cavity, the relative absence of air results in casting of better quality. Back pressures
encountered by metal trying to fill the die cavity are also reduced.
Two types of vacuum systems: (Niu, Hu, Pinwill, & Li, 2000)
1. Complete vacuum system: here the whole die casting system, including the die,
injection chamber and furnace are completely sealed and evacuated during casting.
35
Although this system is able to achieve a higher vacuum level, it is relatively complex
2. Vacuum assist system: Here, a vacuum valve is incorporated into a die to evacuate
the entrapped air in the cavity. More attention has been focused on this system
recently, as this system is relatively simple, cheap and requires little or no machine
Two of the main process used commercially in the United States is the VACURALTM
(complete vacuum system) and the High-QTM (Vacuum Assist). These can be also be
classified on the amount of time that the vacuum exists during the shot as well as how the
metal is ladled (Jorstad, 2008 ). As shown in Figure 22, the Vacural Process has the
vacuum applied for the entire cycle while conventional High Vacuum Process such as the
High-Q process apply it only for a short period of time. It can also be seen that the
amount of vacuum pulled is larger since in this case the metering is also done by means
36
Figure 22. Difference time in vacuum application for Vacural vs. others (Jorstad, 2008 )
major causes of porosity) causing overall improvement in part quality. Allows greater
claim that 1/10th of atmospheric pressure as a vacuum level is sufficient for T6 and
37
2. Vacuum greatly reduces the back pressure and allows flow of metal into otherwise
inaccessible areas (Niu, Hu, Pinwill, & Li, 2000). This is especially beneficial in
3. Reduced resistance to flow means lower melt temperatures can be used (Furnace
superheat can be lower) thus reducing energy costs. This also means lower velocities
can be used giving lower turbulence and consequently better surface finishes.
4. Using vacuum assist is claimed by some casters to compensate for minor design flaws
[13]
. Therefore, it can help to rapidly introduce die designs into production without
having to fine tune the runner, gate, overflow and vent systems.
Vacural Process
This process was developed by Riter aluminum in Germany in the mid-19th century.
After passing multiple owners, the technology is currently owned by Oskar Frech GmbH.
In this process, the metal is drawn from a holding furnace into the shot sleeve by the
vacuum suction created in the die cavity and shot sleeve. The amount of metal ladled is
time controlled and after the requisite metal is pulled into the shot sleeve, the rest of the
process follows a methodology similar to any high pressure die casting process. The
plunger moves forward pushing the metal forward and there are large intensification
pressures just like in the case of conventional die castings. Finally, the vacuum valve is
shut off once the metal reaches a predefined level. Termed AVDC (Alcoa Vacuum Die
Casting), Alcoa also uses a very similar technology to produce high integrity castings.
38
Figure 23. Vacural Process schematic (Jorstad, 2008 )
High Q Process
The High Q process is the current name for a process developed and patented by Alcan in
1996. It is essentially an improvement over the minimum fill time technology developed
by the Thurner family over 20 years ago. It is essentially a cold chamber HPDC with a
vacuum pump connected to one end of the cavity. It employs a piezo electric control
valve that can shut off over 12 times faster than a hydraulic valve and stay open longer to
ensure longer vacuum suction and helps in obtaining vacuum levels that are about 20-50
mbar in the die cavity (Jorstad, 2008 ). Figure 24 shows how the High-Q cast helps with
reducing porosity.
39
Figure 24. Residual gas content a seen on X-ray (Jorstad, 2008 )
One of the concerns with this type of vacuum die casting is that there won’t be a large
enough vacuum created soon enough especially since the times for fill in many die
castings will be very short (can be in the order of msec). Besides these two processes,
there are also processes that are similar to the High-Q but use valve less systems to
generate similar results. Lastly, there are also systems that besides pulling air from the
cavity also remove air from the shot sleeve( Vacu2 method developed jointly by Pfeiffer
Vacuum GmbH and Gilmo N V) that are showing promising results (PFIEFER Vacuum,
2006).
40
Valve based and valve-less systems
To achieve the desired vacuum levels in any of the Vacuum systems requires an inlet to
the vacuum pump from the die cavity through which the suction is felt. The types for this
fall into two broad areas, Valve and Valve-less. This is illustrated in Figure 25 as a
Valve based
Valve Based systems, further broken down into mechanically actuated (by metal flow) or
by Sensor actuation are typically valves that have a circular cross section for maximum
efficiency and a way to shut the vacuum off before the liquid metal can get into the
sensor system. Latest technologies allow very fast electro-pneumatic closure: about 15
ms (VDS Vacuum Diecasting Services S.A). Valve based systems have had a history of
maintenance issues because of metal solidifying inside the actuators. This is still the case
with mechanically actuated systems. However, in the sensor type, the valve closure is
triggered by plunger position and one can typically expect robust performance from these
valves.
Valve less type of vacuum venting use a chill block to impede the metal flow and cause
an automatic shutoff to the vacuum when the metal solidifies. It is similar to the
mechanically actuated valve system in the sense that both use the metal flow to shut off
the vacuum. In every other way, the chill block type is a very simple piece of equipment
that has no moving parts. There classifications of the chill block are based on the
geometry of the chill profile the metal is forced through before it solidifies. It can be
41
either trapezoidal or triangular. Research has suggested that there is very little to choose
between the two profiles when it comes to evacuation efficiency (Wang, Gershenzon,
Nguyen, & Savage, 2007). The third type of chill block design is a 3D shape “CASTvac”
that is registered to Dr. Wang of Wanda technologies (Wang, Savage, Rogers, & Nguyen,
2010). This method utilizes a novel idea of increasing the surface area for the chill (thus
increased projected area. This type of valve is almost 4 times more efficient as compared
to a regular chill profile and is directly comparable to the mechanically actuated valve
system. One of the major drawbacks of the Chill Block system is their evacuation
efficiency. Studies have shown that a circular vent has over double the evacuation
& Savage, 2007). There is one other potential problem when it comes to Chill Blocks.
The vacuum measurement is often times not reflective of the levels attained in the die
cavity. This is as shown in Figure 24. Once the metal (A) solidifies, the pressure reading
is then reading directly from the vacuum tank and not the cavity (Bagnoud & Bigger,
2008). Since all of this happens in times very quickly in a HPDC, it is possible that the
42
43
Figure 25. Valve and Valve less technology for creating vacuum inside the die cavity
Figure 26. Erroneous Cavity vacuum reading in case of chill blocks (Bagnoud & Bigger,
2008)
Comparison
Figure 27. Comparison between Chill Blocks and Valves, (Adapted from (Bagnoud &
Bigger, 2008))
44
Figure 27 shows the results of tests that were made for a 4 kg shot-weight part with an
evacuation volume of 3 liters, both having the same critical evacuation section of 60
mm2. Chill vents took longer to evacuate and gave an erroneous vacuum level reading.
Table 2 summarizes the advantages and limitations of each type of system. One system
not discussed here that has the potential to have the cake and eat it too is one that can
have a chill block as well as a cheaper mechanical valve based system in parallel. The
chill blocks major advantage besides the cost is their ability to pull a vacuum until the last
part of the cavity is filled, while the mechanically actuated system although has good
evacuating capabilities, has always been prone to metal getting stuck in the valve causing
down time. By using a system that has both in parallel, you can get the best of both
worlds – quick evacuation by the valve and complete evacuation by the chill block. This
is the basic idea behind the Nippondenso system (Seizi Ikeya, 1986).
45
Table 2. Summary of the Pros and Cons of a valve vs. a valve less design (the 3D valve is
not considered)
46
Chapter 3: Melt Quality Improvement at OSU
This chapter goes through the equipment required and records the operational methods
adopted to improve the melt quality so as to produce the best quality of casting.
Equipment
The setup at the die casting lab already consisted of a 250 SC Buhler Cold chamber die
casting machine, a gas fired furnace and some of the smaller ladling and material
handling equipment.
47
Degassing
Degassing was an essential part of maintaining a good melt quality and a Rotary
Degasser (PYROTEK® STAR 300®) was chosen for this purpose. This unit used
compressed air to drive the rotor. No flux was used and Argon was chosen as the purge
gas.
48
The reason Argon is not used in the industry as compared to Nitrogen even though
Nitrogen produces wet dross is because of the prohibitive cost during daily production.
However, in our case, since we didn’t have that many production runs, the cost wasn’t a
factor. Because of the length of the shaft (too long for our furnace crucible depth), we
had to design and fabricate 3 special mounts to accept the 3 legs of the degassing unit.
This raised the unit high enough to avoid the rotor from hitting the crucible, and also
Figure 30. Specially designed mounts on the furnace to receive the Rotary degasser
A Reduced Pressure Testing device manufactured by Palmer was procured and used as
Archimedes style density measurement apparatus was constructed after buying the
49
necessary components and set up so that it could act as a quick measurement and act as a
Two campaigns were conducted with similar aluminum alloys to validate the use of the
degasser and to determine and record the necessary operating conditions to obtain
optimum results. The first experiment was conducted with A380 alloy and the second
with a company-patented alloy whose chemistry and trade name shall not be disclosed
because of legal obligations and shall be referred to as Alloy B. Nonetheless, since the
alloys are similar and since changing of alloy type will not appreciably modify the
gas/hydrogen content in an aluminum alloy, the individual results are comparable. The
some of the vital variables in degassing and their effect on metal porosity reduction. Trial
50
1 was conducted with A380 and Trial 2 with Alloy B. In both cases, equipment used
were all of those discussed previously - The PYROTEK® STAR 300® Rotary Degasser,
Operating Conditions
1. Degasser assembly was hung over the molten bath of metal in the furnace for a few
minutes before immersing into the metal before use (helps remove any entrapped
2. Flow rate of 10-12 SCFH for the Argon prior to lowering it into the molten metal and
28 SCFH while in operation. If the star rotor and shaft are placed into the molten
metal before the argon is turned on, then the aluminum can enter, solidify and block
3. Air compressor pressure between 5-10 psi. The resulting flow rate was adjusted so as
to not to cause vortexing, but at the same time, fast enough to allow for small bubbles
to come up onto the surface (bubbles seen as tiny openings of red molten metal on the
Experiment
In the case of A380, degassing was done for 5 minutes at a time. For Alloy B, the first
degassing was carried out before the first shot for twenty minutes. 10 minutes into the
operation a sample was collected to determine density using the reduced pressure tester.
Subsequently, measurements were taken at various durations during the entire casting
operation. The melt was degassed once again mid-way through the operation for 17.5
minutes. This change in degassing times allows us to understand the effect of excessive
51
degassing. An important point to note is that in the case with Alloy A, the sponsor
insisted we use Argon gas as a cover gas. A tube placed at an angle that was almost
Results
In both cases, each collected sample was cut, polished and photographed. These results
can be viewed in Appendix B & C Figure 32 shows the comparison between the two
trials. In the first case, each time the melt is degassed for 5 minutes and at the 15 th minute
of degassing which is 178 minutes into the campaign, a very good value for the metal
density of 2.6 g/cc is observed. In comparison, the maximum value for density observed
in case of the Alloy B is 2.52 g/cc, which is obtained after degassing for 17.5 minutes at
The results suggest that the ideal time that the melt should be degassed is somewhere
between 10 and 15 minutes. Degassing between 10 - 15 minutes ensured that the melt
One of the reasons for the lower value of density obtained with the second trial can be
attributed to the argon cover gas being sent out onto the surface. When the gas is sent
with a jet perpendicular (or close to perpendicular as in this case), the tendency of
pushing the surrounding atmospheric air into the melt is high. Since the air has water
vapor, this setup is very likely to increase the hydrogen content of the melt.
52
2.7
2.6
2.5
2.4
Density (g/cc)
2.3
2.2
A 380
2.1
Alloy B
2
1.9
1.8
1.7
0.00 50.00 100.00 150.00 200.00 250.00 300.00
Time (Mins)
Figure 32. Density measurement after degassing, yellow points indicate that degassing
was done.
In both cases the required number of tensile and fatigue samples (which was our die)
were successfully cast and in the second case, the samples were solution heat treated by
heating to 485 degree C for 3hrs and quenching in Room Temperature water, we
observed that there was no blistering – meaning that the gas content was below a 10g/100
cc value (Speece-Moyer, 2008). Even though alloy B was not heat treatable in the sense
that there would be no appreciable strength increase from this heat treatment, one can
appreciate that it will still be annealed and softened thus allowing for greater elongation.
53
Figure 33 shows how a slight yellow shade develops on the Heat Treated samples and
one can see that there has been no blistering on any of them.
Figure 33. Four Heat treated samples and one as cast on the extreme right, no blistering
observed
54
Chapter 4: Vacuum Capable Die Design at OSU
This Chapter details the steps taken to convert the current OSU die to one that can pull
It was decided that a vacuum assist type system with chill blocks be used as the
methodology for the vacuum. Since the cost involved in buying a chill vent was
prohibitive under the budget of this project, it was decided that they be designed from
ground up.
To create a working design, first a dimensional study was carried out on the existing
cover and ejector die halves to find the best possible location for the chill block. The
current die setup at OSU is two halves of an 18X13 in die. The Cover Die is 2.88 in deep
and Ejector Die 4.88 in. Inserts are 7.75X7.75 in and 2.13 in deep on the cover side and
The design envelope for the chill block was restricted because of two die cooling water
lines and a tapped hole for the eye hook that was very close to the die face and left only
3/4th of an inch (depth) to work with. Since it was required that a sealant tube pass
through above the top of the chill block, and its width was 0.25 in, it was decided that
55
0.75 of an inch be left from the top surface of the die (so that there would be a minimum
0.125 of an inch between the sealant and the chill block/die top surface).
56
Figure 35. Available design space on the cover die half was 4X2X.5 in
The width was chosen arbitrarily ensuring that it sufficiently covered the exit of the
casting cavity. Figure 35 shows the available design space in the cover die. The space on
the ejector side was not as constrained and within the same length and height, the depth
could if necessary be up to 2 inches. This is because the eye hook for hoisting the ejector
die is in the geometric center at a distance of 2.44 inches from the surface. Hence, it was
decided that the chill block on the cover side be made with a base of 0.5 in and with the
teeth sticking out into the receiver on the ejector side. Figure 35 shows the initial outer
bound design using .51 inches depth on the cover half and 1 inch on the ejector half. The
0.01 inch extra is so that the chill blocks are slightly proud as compared to the die surface
57
Teeth extending into the
Figure 36. Outer envelope of chill block and initial concept design
As mentioned earlier, there can be two types of profiles for a chill vent block design
(three if you count the 3D CASTvacTM). As can be seen in Figure 38, the chosen profile
is trapezoidal. From previous research (Wang, Gershenzon, Nguyen, & Savage, 2007) it
is seen that both triangular and trapezoidal profiles are almost similar in their evacuation
efficiencies. But for a given chill block height, it is easily observed that the trapezoidal
profile has a greater channel length. And since in this case the length is limited to 2
inches, to increase chances of complete freezing in the short time frame, the trapezoidal
58
Figure 37. ISO view and section view of entire chill block assembly showing internal
trapezoidal passages and required area for venting into vacuum tank.
Once the decision was made to use trapezoidal profiles, the design problem was to
understand the effect of different gap thicknesses and material on the freezing times. It
was also understood that an important consideration of the geometry design was to
maintain the same vent area throughout until the vent reaches the vacuum suction inlet -
through the die out to the vacuum tank. Otherwise, one can think of a scenario where an
area other than the chill block channel becomes the bottleneck for the flow. Hence, worst
case section geometry of .16 square inches (0.04 *4 in) was maintained throughout. This
meant that only two complete trapezoidal ‘teeth’ was possible for reasonable ‘pitch’ and
59
‘depth’ (standard spur gear terminology). Other than this, the exact profile geometry was
chosen attempting to maximize the amount of channel length all the while incorporating
good DFM principles of keeping the geometry as square as possible (pitch = depth). This
is as shown in Figure 38, allowing for a .40 X .52 in cut out for vent area consistency.
The 0.04 in gap shown here is varied in a designed experiment to identify its effect.
Figure 38. Initial geometry for chill profile with a cut away (.52X.40in) for consistent
vent area
60
Magma Simulation
At this point, a magma simulation was run to obtain the values of temperature and
velocity at the inlet of the chill block. A 3D CAD geometry of the cavity as the metal
after solidification would have created is modeled and used as the input for MAGMA.
Choosing the material as AZ91, and the Die material as H13, a flow simulation was run
with the parameters calculated from the fill time formula by Wallace as 58s and the slow
shot acceleration was timed by MAGMA when supplied with the shot sleeve length of
330 mm and pour hole distance from one end as 127 mm. The input parameters are as
shown in Figure 39. Control points were used on the exit surfaces to capture the exit
velocities and temperatures. Figure 40 shows the model from which the information was
The exit temperature was found to be 909K and the velocity of the exiting metal was
computed as 16.65m/s.
61
Figure 39. MAGMA simulation Parameters
Figure 40. Temperature and Flow lengths at an arbitrary 84% fill, Stars showing location
of control points
62
Designed Experiments
With the knowledge of the velocities and the temperatures at locations which are
essentially the entry points into the chill blocks, a two level designed experiment with the
following three factors (2n with n=3) was run with the following factors and levels to
The reason for choosing gap thickness of 0.04 and 0.02 was rule of thumb suggestions
from a die casting manufacturer that we benchmarked. A center point was added to see if
there was curvature. The two materials, H13 and Cu were considered because our die was
made of H13 and there was a Cu block in the lab which was left over from a previous
experiment that was thought could be used if found advantageous (even though it seems
plausible from a basic understanding of materials that it would be, it is always nice to
have a designed experiment validate the same). Lastly, this simulation was carried out
using the properties of magnesium AZ91. Even though the alloy of interest is the
experimental AT72, at the time of writing this, all the properties necessary as an input for
an Ansys thermal simulation are not available for this alloy. Hence with the consultation
of the creator of the alloy, AZ91 was decided to be used as it has similar properties.
Nonetheless, the heat transfer coefficient is still a matter of some contention. Since it is a
63
value that is extremely dependent on the individual geometry, it was though as a good
candidate for checking its effect. The values of 60 and 120 kW/m2K are based on values
obtained from previous research (Hamasaiid, Dour, Dargusch, Loulou, Davidson, &
Savage, 2008). Since the design was created with center points, it was felt that using a
lower Heat Transfer Coefficient and checking for its effect would be an interesting
exercise. Hence 60 and 120 were chosen as the extreme points with a center point of
A total of ten simulations were carried out on ANSYS following the order of the
64
assumed that the Mg alloy has already filled the cavity at a temperature of 909K
(obtained from MAGMA flow simulation) and the time taken to reach a temperature
below its solidus temperature of 743K is determined. For this simulation, the model is
also simplified as a 2 dimensional model. This is deemed reasonable since the chill block
depth is significantly larger when compared to the plane section geometry considered. A
Plane 77 element type was used and a purely thermal transient analysis was carried out
with boundary conditions and loads as shown in Figure 42. As will be noticed, only a
single tooth is considered for the simulation, this is a reasonable approximation in this
case since the geometry is repeating and is done so as to save simulation time. The results
that were obtained for the different cases are as shown in Table 4.
The total distance that is available for the metal to travel inside the chill block profile is
velocity at the inlet of the chill block (obtained from flow simulations as 16.6m/s) to the
fill times obtained from the simulation. The results are tabulated in Table 5; highlighted
values are those with fill times greater than the available 57.69mm.
65
Figure 41. Boundary Conditions (BC1 and BC2) & Thermal loads for the 2D Model
Run Order Material Gap (x 10-3 in) HTC(W/m2K) Fill time (ms) Distance(mm)
1 Cu 20 120000 1.3 21.45
2 Cu 20 60000 1.4 23.1
3 Cu 40 60000 4.4 72.6
4 H13 40 120000 6 99
5 H13 40 60000 6.69 110.385
6 H13 30 90000 4.06 66.99
7 Cu 40 120000 4.06 66.99
8 H13 20 60000 2.39 39.435
9 Cu 30 90000 2.52 41.58
10 H13 20 120000 2.01 33.165
Table 4. Results of the experiment (fill time and distances) highlighted values go beyond
66
Analysis of Variance
An analysis of variance was carried out to determine the significant factors and if there
was any interaction that was noteworthy between the factors. As can be observed from
the ANOVA results in Table 6, from a purely statistical point of view, the Heat Transfer
Coefficient (HTC) is not significant at the 2% level (since the p value >.02). So one could
also make the case that at these levels and for our geometry, the values of HTC chosen
won’t affect the simulation results too much. Figure 41 shows the main effect plots for
the experiment – the parallel line in case of the HTC visually illustrates that it is not an
important factor. It is seen that copper shows a lower freezing time and a lower gap
shows a smaller freezing time, which is in line with what is expected since a smaller gap
and copper with its greater thermal conductivity will aid in heal removal.
67
But the result that the Heat Transfer Coefficient is not a significant factor is interesting
and non-obvious point to come out as a result of this experimental trial. Also, it is seen
that the only significant interaction is the Material*gap combination. Hence, after taking
into consideration the results, the geometries used in run order 1, 2, 8, 9, 10 were the only
ones possible. Among these, 1 and 2 were eliminated because they were over designed
and we didn’t require the final design to have a fill distance of half of the length.
68
Finally, among 8, 9 and 10, trial 9 (copper with a width of 30 X10-3) was chosen because
20.
b. Copper as shown in the main effect plot was a better material choice
Figure 42 shows the entire process in a single flow chart. From initial brainstorming to
the final manufactured product it was an 8 step process as described in detail above.
69
70
The cut outs for vacuum venting in the die were designed keeping in mind to maintain the
minimum vent area of .16 sq. inches. The idea was to have the majority of the cut out for
the vent passage in the ejector die and have only a hole in the cover die where the
vacuum pipe shall be located. The thought behind locating the vacuum pipe and trap on
the ejector side is to avoid motion each time the dies open in a cycle.
Figure 44. CAD model section view showing the vent passage in the ejector die and hole
The sealant cut out on the die was based on the dimensions of the available sealant
material and the end mill available to make the cut out. The end face mill bit and seal
available to us was .25" and .26" diameter respectively. The decision to be made was
what the distance 'a' be - directly controlled by dimensions 'b' and 'c' (width and depth of
72
Figure 46. Design criteria for Sealant; to determine optimal sealing.
Corresponding with the die caster who helped us out with the basic understanding of the
vacuum system it was determined that the slot needs to be .250" wide and .220" deep.
This thickness of the seal being compressed between the two die half's was sufficient to
ensure adequate sealing. The logic behind this rule of thumb being that if too much of the
sealant stuck out, there is a chance that it would fall out during normal operation. But too
little sticking out means that there is a chance that not enough sealing happens since the
compression of the sealant that is above the surface is what causes the sealing action.
Figure 478 shows the path taken by the sealant. This was decided making sure that none
of the sliding pins get in the way (there were some on the ejector side that also
73
Figure 47. Sealant Path on the cover die
74
Chapter 5: Conclusion and Future Work
This work has attempted to integrate scattered knowledge in the die casting realm
in order to create an overall framework to produce high integrity casts using Aluminum
and Magnesium. Two of the major topics covered are the melt quality maintenance and
Vacuum die casting. Equipment such as Rotary degassers, Reduced Pressure Testers and
Archimedes based density devices were all used and the best practices and learning were
recorded. There was some evidence to suggest that impinging a slow jet of Argon on the
melt surface does more harm than good to the melt purity.
A vacuum die was designed that was capable of being machined into the existing
die. Multiple methods were studied and a vacuum assist with chill blocks to vent were
decided as the best chose given the constraints. The chill blocks were designed from the
A 23 designed experiment was run to understand the influence of three factors, Gap
thickness, Material and Heat Transfer coefficient on the freezing time. ANOVA results
made it clear that the HTC had little influence and that copper with a smaller gap have
the best freezing times. This exercise helped validate the chill block design. The chill
block since has been manufactured and the die is also in the process of being machined.
75
Future Work
1. Create the remainder of the vacuum assist system - the trap and the control system
2. Run trials with and without vacuum to see the effect on this die
3. The reason Ansys was used to predict the time for flow was because it was easier to
conduct trails at a rapid pace for a designed experiment. MAGMA has been used in
the industry to complete such simulations and it could be used here to validate the
76
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Appendix A: Palmers degassing Chart
81
Appendix B: A 380 Degassing
Sl No. Time State Image Density in g/cm3 Corressponding Palmers Chart image
Values are-
Aluminum comarative standard for gas
percent surface area of porosity
density
1 11:30 W/o Degas 1.8
Degassed
2 11:45 1.95
for 5 min
Degassed
for 5
3 14:13 additional 2.42
mins
(total10)
Degassed
for 5
4 14:43 additional 2.6
mins
(total15)
Stationary
for 30 mins
5 15:15 after 2.57
degasing
for 15 mins
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Appendix C: Alloy B Degassing
Sl No. Time State Image Density in g/cm3 Corressponding Palmers Chart image
10 minutes
1 16:20 into 2
Degassing
After 20
2 16:40 minutes 2.49
degassing
3 16:50 2.49
4 17:40 2.44
After
degassing for
5 18:07 2.52
an additional
17.5 min
6 19:55 2.56
Taken out
7 21:25 during 2.37
pigging
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Appendix D: Properties of H-13 Tool and Copper used in Ansys Simulations
= 7750 Kg/m3
Specific Heat, (Harvey 1982, 458). Specific heat (c) is assumed to be constant over
C = 460.53 J/kgK
k(T).
k(588.7 K) = 30.4
k(922 K) = 29.1
uniform throughout the material and constant over the temperature range of interest. =
constant.
= 8940 Kg/m3
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Specific Heat (ASM International Handbook Committee, 1990). Specific heat (c) is
C = 385 J/kg.K
Poisson’s Ratio (Deform 2D). Poisson’s ratio ( ) is assumed constant over the
= 0.34
conductivity (k) is assumed to be isotropic and constant over the temperature range of
interest.
k = 391 W/m-k
85