W referacie przedstawiono wyzwania branży odlewniczej, wynikające z transformacji energetycznej związanej z koniecznością ograniczenia emisji gazów cieplarnianych podczas produkcji odlewów. Scharakteryzowano przyszłościowe, potencjalne źródła energii. Zamieszczono prognozy rozwoju rynku odlewów ciśnieniowych oraz wskazano nowe trendy w produkcji odlewów dla branży samochodowej.
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The paper presents the challenges of the foundry industry due to the energy transition associated with the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions during casting production. Future potential energy sources were characterized. Forecasts for the development of the die casting market were included, and new trends in the production of castings for the automotive industry were identified.
Purpose: This paper was to determine the effect of different manganese addition contents from 0.2 to 1.0 wt.% on the microstructure, HB hardness and selected mechanical properties (UTS; YS; EL) of AlSi10MnMg alloy with increased iron content (about 1.0 wt.%). The proportion of iron in the studied alloy is so high because approx. 50% of the charge came from secondary materials. Design/methodology/approach: Chemical composition tests were performed using a Foundry Master Compact 8 emission spectrometer. Static tensile testing at ambient temperature was carried out according to PN-EN ISO 6892-1 on an Instron 3382 using a 20:1 ratio and a constant tensile speed of 5 mm/min-1. Tensile strength (UTS), conventional yield strength (YS), and per cent elongation after rupture of a proportional sample (EL) were determined from this test. Brinell hardness measurement was performed on a Zwick ZHF1, with a loading force of 250 N, with a 5 mm diameter ball for 35 s. Ten measurements were taken, discarding the two outliers, and the arithmetic mean was calculated from the remaining measurements. Metallographic studies were conducted on a MeF-2 Reichert light microscope. X-ray microanalysis studies were carried out on a Hitachi S-3400 scanning microscope coupled to an EDS Voyager X-ray spectrometer equipped with an SE secondary and BSE backscattered electron detector. Chemical composition analysis was performed by energy dispersive X-ray microanalysis (EDS) using a Thermo Noran detector. Findings: Increased iron content in aluminium-silicon alloys is a major concern. It causes a significant reduction in the mechanical properties of the materials. This is due, among other things, to the increasing scarcity of primary materials (high cost and environmentally unjustifiable) versus the increasing share of recycled materials. Based on the study, AlSi10MnMg(Fe) alloys obtained under pressure with higher iron content (about 1% wt.), the optimal value of manganese addition is about 0.58% wt. Practical implications: This research has shown that it is possible to use recycled Al-Si materials. The article presents one way to reduce the negative impact of iron addition to aluminium alloys as a result of reusing this type of material. Originality/value: The article presents the effect of manganese addition on the selected aluminium alloy. It was determined that the addition of manganese in the amount of 0.58% wt. causes a significant reduction in the negative effect of iron phases. The article is intended not only for the academic community but also for specialists in the foundry industry.
The paper focuses on the research of holding pressure inside the mould cavity and pressing speed as technological parameters of die casting. The experiments conducted within the frame of the practical part examined the plunger and the pressure or the holding pressure in the mould cavity influencing the mechanical properties of a casting which were represented by ultimate tensile strength and percentage share of porosity of Al-Si castings. The results of experiments and analysis of the measured values proved the relation between pressure, or holding pressure, in the mould cavity and the ultimate tensile strength and porosity of castings. Plunger pressing speed is closely related to mould cavity filling mode which affected the final porosity of casting. It can be assumed that die casting is positively influenced by the increase of ultimate tensile strength and reduction of porosity during the increase of pressure or of holding pressure in the mould cavity. Higher values of holding pressure caused the elimination of pores which resulted in a decrease in the percentage share of pores in the casting and an increase in values of ultimate tensile strength.
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Studies dealing with process improvement of aluminum alloys and their grain structure refinement are the current area of interest in casting companies and foundries, the aim being to enhance the properties of the base metal. In this study, the microstructural and mechanical properties of commercial Al-Si9.8-Cu3.4 alloy die castings influenced by different additions of Al-3.5FeNb-1.5C master alloy (viz. 0 wt.%, 0.1 wt.%, and 1.0 wt.%) as a new grain refiner and Al-6Ni master alloy (viz. 0 wt.%, 0.5 wt.%, and 5.0 wt.%) as an alloying element have been investigated. A multi-criteria decision-making approach for the improvement of the die casting process was performed using grey relational analysis (GRA) and TOPSIS analytical techniques. It was observed that the primary aluminum α-grains were significantly refined, particularly at the lower addition level 0.1 wt.% of Al-3.5FeNb-1.5C, and conversely, poor grain refining efficiency was observed at a higher addition level 1.0 wt.% of Al-3.5FeNb-1.5C. Due to the refinement by Al-3.5FeNb-1.5C grain refiner and the effect of Ni alloying element additions, the ultimate tensile strength (UTS) and hardness (Brinell and micro) of the Al-Si9.8-Cu3.4alloy are improved, particularly at 0.1 wt.% of Al-3.5FeNb-1.5C and 0.5 wt.% of Al-6Ni master alloys. Quantitatively, UTS, Brinell hardness, and microhardness values have been increased by 12.3%, 7.0%, and 20%, respectively.
In die casting, molten metal poured into a shot sleeve is pressed into a mold by a plunger at high speed. The temperature of the metal drops significantly while it is being poured from the ladle to the shot sleeve, resulting in casting defects such as misrun flow lines. Although it is important to control the temperature at all stages of the process, a method for minimizing temperature loss has not yet been clarified to date. In this study, the cause of the temperature drop in the shot sleeve was clarified, and a method of optimizing the ladle tilting speed was proposed to prevent temperature drop. First, experiments were conducted to measure the decrease in metal temperature in the sleeve during pouring. These experiments revealed that the metal cools significantly from the moment it touches the shot sleeve. Therefore, the time from the first contact between the shot sleeve and the metal to the start of pouring was set as the objective function. A genetic algorithm was then used to derive the optimal ladle tilting speed pattern to suppress the temperature drop. This analysis confirmed that the metal was poured without flowing out or running ahead and that the immediate liquid level vibration after pouring was suppressed, thus ensuring stable pouring.
In this study, AZ91 Magnesium alloy is produced by cold chamber high pressure die casting (HPDC) method. Different combinations of the cold chamber HPDC process parameters were selected as; in-mold pressure values of 1000 bar and 1200 bar, the gate speed of 30 m/s and 45 m/s, the casting temperatures of 640°C and 680°C. In addition, the test samples were produced by conventional casting method. Tensile test, hardness test, dry sliding wear test and microstructure analysis of samples were performed. The mechanical properties of the samples produced by the cold chamber HPDC and the conventional casting method were compared. Using these parameters; the casting temperature 680°C, in-mold pressure 1000 bar and the gate speed 30 m/s, the highest tensile strength and the hardness value were obtained. Since the cooling rate in the conventional casting method is slower than that of the cold chamber HPDC method, high mechanical properties are obtained by the formation of a fine-grained structure in the cold chamber HPDC method. In dry sliding wear tests, it was observed that there was a decrease in friction coefficient and less material loss with the increase of hardness values of the sample produced by the cold chamber HPDC method.
Porosity is one of the major problems in casting operations and there are several discussions in the literature about the porosity formation in aluminum castings. Bifilms are the defects that are introduced into the melt by turbulence. They can be detected with reduced pressure test and presented numerically by measuring bifilm index. The measure of bifilm index is the sum of total oxide length given in millimeters from the cross-section of reduced pressure test sample solidified under 0.01 MPa. In this work, low pressure die casting (LPDC) unit was built in an attempt to enhance the producibility rate. The unit consists of a pump housing that was placed inside the melt in the melting furnace where the pressure was applied instead of the whole melt surface. It was observed that the melt quality of A356 alloy was deteriorated over time which had led to higher porosity. This was attributed to the increased oxide thickness of the bifilm by the consumption of air in between the folded oxides. A relationship was found between bifilm index and pore formation.
The purpose of this paper was to develop a methodology for diagnosing the causes of die-casting defects based on advanced modelling, to correctly diagnose and identify process parameters that have a significant impact on product defect generation, optimize the process parameters and rise the products’ quality, thereby improving the manufacturing process efficiency. The industrial data used for modelling came from foundry being a leading manufacturer of the high-pressure die-casting production process of aluminum cylinder blocks for the world's leading automotive brands. The paper presents some aspects related to data analytics in the era of Industry 4.0. and Smart Factory concepts. The methodology includes computation tools for advanced data analysis and modelling, such as ANOVA (analysis of variance), ANN (artificial neural networks) both applied on the Statistica platform, then gradient and evolutionary optimization methods applied in MS Excel program’s Solver add-in. The main features of the presented methodology are explained and presented in tables and illustrated with appropriate graphs. All opportunities and risks of implementing data-driven modelling systems in high-pressure die-casting processes have been considered.
High pressure die casting technology (HPDC) is a method enabling the production of shape-complex casts with good mechanical properties, with high repeatability of production within narrow tolerance limits. However, the casts show, to some extent, basic porosity, which may reduce their mechanical and qualitative properties. One of the main areas to focus on in order to reduce the porosity of casts is the correct design and structure of the gating and overflow system. Submitted article is devoted to the assessment of the connecting channel cross-section design for connecting the overflows to the cast on selected parameters of the casting process. Five different cross-section designs of connecting channels are considered, enabling the removal of gases and vapors from the volume during the molding. The connecting channels are designed with a constant width g = 10mm and variable height h1 =1.50 mm, h2 = 1.25 mm, h3 = 1.00 mm, h4 = 0.75 mm and h5 = 0.6 mm. The primary monitored parameter is the gas entrapment in selected points of the cast. The following is an evaluation of the pressure conditions change in the mold cavity at the end of the filling mode and local overheating of the mold material just below the surface of the mold face. With regard to the monitored parameters, based on the performed analyzes, the most suitable design solution of the connecting channel is assessed and recommendations for the design and structure of the overflows and their connection to the cast are derived.
The paper reports the results of a physical modelling study of the production of a hypereutectic aluminium alloy to be used formaking an alloy vapour source for operation in the magnetron. Within the study, targets from a hypereutectic aluminium-silicon alloy were made in laboratory conditions. Thus obtained material was subjected to heat treatment, porosity analysis, and the assessment of the microstructure and fitness for being used in the magnetron. The process of melting the hypereutectic Al-Si alloy was carried out at the Department of Foundry of the Czestochowa University of Technology. The investigation into the production of the alloy vapour source for the synthesis of the dielectric material from the hypereutectic aluminium alloy has confirmed.
Recently, aluminum matrix syntactic foams (AMSFs) have become notably attractive for many different industrial areas like automotive, aerospace, construction and defense. Owing to their low density, good compression response and perfect energy absorption capacity, these advanced composite materials are also considered as strong alternatives to traditional particle reinforced composites and metal foams. This paper presents a promising probability of AMSF fabrication by means of industrial cold chamber die casting method. In this investigation, contrary to other literature studies restricted in laboratory scale, fully equipped custom-build cold chamber die casting machine was used first time and all fabrication steps were designed just as carried out in the real industrial high pressure casting applications. Main casting parameters (casting temperature, injection pressure, piston speed, filler pre-temperature and piston waiting time) were optimized in order to obtain flawless AMSF samples. The density alterations of the syntactic foams were analyzed depending upon increasing process values of injection pressure, piston speed and piston waiting time. In addition, macroscopic and microscopic investigations were performed to comprehend physical properties of fabricated foams. All these efforts showed almost perfect infiltration between filler particles at the optimized injection parameters.
In contemporary high-pressure die casting foundries, the mastery of each sequence in the production cycle is more and more important. In the paper, an example of virtual analysis of gearbox casting from Al alloy will be presented. It includes a large variety of parameters, as follows: choosing of appropriate foundry technology, calculation of computer simulation of casting process which takes into account the filling process of cold chamber and filling of cavity, model description of three phases in high-pressure die casting, flow of molten metal, solidification, formation of stress and deformations. Additionally, the optimization of cooling and heating systems will be compared with calculated volume defects, dimensions of castings and their deformations with experimentally obtained values.
Nowadays, the most popular production method for manufacturing high quality casts of aluminium alloys is the hot and cold chamber die casting. Die casts made of hypereutectoid silumin Silafont 36 AlSi9Mg are used for construction elements in the automotive industry. The influence of the metal input and circulating scrap proportion on porosity and mechanical properties of the cast has been examined and the results have been shown in this article. A little porosity in samples has not influenced the details strength and the addition of the circulating scrap has contributed to the growth of the maximum tensile force. Introducing 80% of the circulating scrap has caused great porosity which led to reduce the strength of the detail. The proportion of 40% of the metal input and 60% of the circulating scrap is a configuration safe for the details quality in terms of porosity and mechanical strength.
The paper presents some aspects of a development project related to Industry 4.0 that was executed at Nemak, a leading manufacturer of the aluminium castings for the automotive industry, in its high pressure die casting foundry in Poland. The developed data analytics system aims at predicting the casting quality basing on the production data. The objective is to use these data for optimizing process parameters to raise the products’ quality as well as to improve the productivity. Characterization of the production data including the recorded process parameters and the role of mechanical properties of the castings as the process outputs is presented. The system incorporates advanced data analytics and computation tools based on the analysis of variance (ANOVA) and applying an MS Excel platform. It enables the foundry engineers and operators finding the most efficient process variables to ensure high mechanical properties of the aluminium engine block castings. The main features of the system are explained and illustrated by appropriate graphs. Chances and threats connected with applications of the data-driven modelling in die casting are discussed.
The article deals with the formation and spread of cracks from thermal fatigue in metallic forms. For a detailed examination of the problem, it is necessary to describe the thermal side of the process and the mechanism of mechanical stressing of the material. For the heating of the material is valid where the thermal diffusivity of the material is exercised by the decision method. The stress of the material by heating from the die casting metal depends mainly on the physical properties of the material when the calculated stress does not exceed the yield point. Also, with the help of dislocations write the life to the origin of the cracks in the cycles eventually the share of this lifetime on the total lifetime in dependence on the mechanical and physical properties of the material. During operation tests the occurrence of the cracks on the mold surface was initiated by the inclusion or concentration of stress in the knurling effect of fine grooves after grinding. Other cracks occurred in the undersurface layer and their direction was statistically accidental.
Recent research in the process of aluminum alloy die castings production, which is nowadays deeply implemented into the rapidly growing automobile, shipping and aircraft industries, is aimed at increasing the useful qualitative properties of the die casting in order to obtain its high mechanical properties at acceptable economic cost. Problem of technological factors of high pressure die casting has been a subject of worldwide research (EU, US, Japan, etc.). The final performance properties of die castings are subjected to a large number of technological factors. The main technological factors of high pressure die casting are as follows: plunger pressing speed, specific (increase) pressure, mold temperature as well as alloy temperature. The contribution discusses the impact of the plunger pressing speed and specific (increase) pressure on the mechanical properties of the casting aluminum alloy.
For the die casting conditions of aluminium bronzes assumed based on the literature data, a thick-walled bush was cast, made of complex aluminium bronze (Cu-Al-Fe-Ni-Cr). After the cast was removed from the mould, cracks were observed inside it. In order to identify the stage in the technological production process at which, potentially, the formation of stresses damaging the continuity of the microstructure created in the cast was possible (hot cracking and/or cold cracking), a computer simulation was performed. The article presents the results of the computer simulation of the process of casting the material into the gravity die as well as solidifying and cooling of the cast in the shape of a thick-walled bush. The simulation was performed with the use of the MAGMA5 program and by application of the CuAl10Ni5,5Fe4,5 alloy from the MAGMA5 program database. The results were compared with the location of the defects identified in the actual cast. As a result of the simulation of the die-casting process of this bush, potential regions were identified where significant principal stresses accumulate, which can cause local hot and cold cracking. Until now, no research has been made of die-cast aluminium bronzes with a Cr addition. Correlating the results of the computer simulation validated by the analysis of the actual cast made it possible to clearly determine the critical regions in the cast exposed to cracking and point to the causes of its occurrence. Proposals of changes in the bush die casting process were elaborated, in order to avoid hot tearing and cold cracking. The article discusses the results of preliminary tests being a prologue to the optimization of the die-casting process parameters of complex aluminium bronze thick-walled bushs.
This article deals with reliability evaluation of the production process for die casting. Reliability of the production process was assessed on the basis of productivity and deformity. With suitably chosen production technology the increasing of labour productivity can be achieved alongside the required quality of aluminum castings.
The work is a continuation of research on the use of water mist cooling in order to increase efficiency of die-casting aluminum alloys using multipoint water mist cooling system. The paper presents results of investigation on crystallization process and microstructure of synthetic hypereutectic AlSi20 alloy. Casts were made in permanent mold cooled a with water mist stream. The study was conducted for unmodified AlSi20 alloy and a modified one with phosphorus, titanium and boron on the research station allowing sequential multipoint cooling using a dedicated program of computer control. The study demonstrated that the use of mold cooled with water mist stream and solution heat treatment allows in wide range for the formation of the microstructure of hypereutectic silumins. It leads to the growth of microstructure refinement and spheroidizing of phases in the casting.
The paper presents the results of investigations concerning the influence of negative (relative) pressure in the die cavity of high pressure die casting machine on the porosity of castings made of AlSi9Cu3 alloy. Examinations were carried out for the VertaCast cold chamber vertical pressure die casting machine equipped with a vacuum system. Experiments were performed for three values of the applied gauge pressure: -0.3 bar, -0.5 bar, and -0.7 bar, at constant values of other technological parameters, selected during the formerly carried initial experiments. Porosity of castings was assessed on the basis of microstructure observation and the density measurements performed by the method of hydrostatic weighing. The performed investigation allowed to find out that – for the examined pressure range – the porosity of castings decreases linearly with an increase in the absolute value of negative pressure applied to the die cavity. The negative pressure value of -0.7 bar allows to produce castings exhibiting porosity value less than 1%. Large blowholes arisen probably by occlusion of gaseous phase during the injection of metal into the die cavity, were found in castings produced at the negative pressure value of -0.3 bar. These blowholes are placed mostly in regions of local thermal centres and often accompanied by the discontinuities in the form of interdendritic shrinkage micro-porosity. It was concluded that the high quality AlSi9Cu3 alloy castings able to work in elevated temperatures can be achieved for the absolute value of the negative pressure applied to the die cavity greater than 0.5 bar at the applied set of other parameters of pressure die casting machine work.
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