Die Casting Part Distortion: Prediction and Attenuation

The goal of this research was to predict the part deformation and residual stresses after ejection from the die and cooling to room temperature. A finite element model was built to achieve this goal and several modeling techniques were investigated throughout this research. Die-casting is a very complex process and the researchers are faced with a large number of hard to solve physical problems when modeling the process. Several assumptions are made in our simulation model. The first significant assumption is the instantaneous cavity filling. This means that the cavity filling stage is not considered in our model. Considering the cavity filling stage increases the modeling complexity as a result of different flow patterns. expected in the shot sleeve, gate, runner and different cavity features. The flow of gas from the cavity through the vents is another problem that is ignored in our model as a result of this assumption. Our second assumption is that the cast metal has uniform temperature distribution inside the cavity, at the starting point of simulation. This temperature is assumed to be over liquidus limit, i.e. the solid fraction is 0.0% of the cast metal. The third assumption is due to ABAQUS (commercial software used in this research) limitations. ABAQUS cannot deal with multi-phase models; therefore we use solid elements to define the casting instead of multi-phase (liquid/solid) elements. Liquid elements can carry the hydrostatic pressure from the shot sleeve and apply it on the cavity surfaces, while the solid elements do not have this capability. To compensate for this assumption we add the cavity pressure as a boundary condition and apply it on the cavity surface separately from the part. Another issue with this assumption is that, liquid casting can follow the cavity shape when it distorts. With the use of solid elements to represent the casting during its liquid state, it loses this capability to follow the cavity. Several techniques were tested to overcome this problem