Description of component distortion in aluminum gravity die casting as a result of hindered shrinkage and evaluation of numerical predictions

Abstract

AbstractDeviation from the nominal dimension in the sense of component distortion is a quality‐reducing phenomenon in the foundry. This distortion problem as a result of impeded solidification and cooling shrinkage is of particular importance for permanent mold casting with its mechanically stiff and thermally well‐conducting molds. In studies, the temperature when the mold constraint is removed has already been identified as one of the dominant factors influencing the dimensional deviations of the casting. So far, however, no clear dependencies have been described. In the present work, the temperature up to the removal of the mold constraint is varied from near solidus to ambient temperature on a specially designed permanent mold casting made of AlSi7Mg0.3. This is compared with thermally and mechanically coupled finite elements method calculations of the investigated test geometry and the resulting component distortions. Finally, the applicability of the distortion prediction for the development of compensation strategies is evaluated.