MODELLING AND SIMULATION ANALYSIS OF METAL CASTINGS

The modelling of liquid- solid change in castings is extremely important casting simulation studies. In particular the solidification of the molten metals in metal casting methods provides a source of important practical problems. Filling the mold casting process affects significantly the solidification of the melt. Basically solidification is a transient heat transfer problem. For this reason accurate prediction of the temperature field in the castings is to be achieved. Experimental design analysis is often expensive and the geometry and complex boundary conditions encountered preclude any analytical solutions to the problems posed. Thus the motivation of computational modelling techniques has been brought to bear in this area during recent years. This Paper deals with the finite element technique, which has facility in modelling complex
domain configurations and handling of non-linear boundary conditions. In this study the finite elements analysis package ANSYS is used to perform the thermal analysis of two-dimensional piston casting model with Al 12% wt. silicon alloy.The latent heat evaluation is incorporated in the heat transfer analysis. The time taken for the completion of solidification, the cooling curves at selective nodes for the combination of casting temperatures 700 o
C & 800 o C and punch & mold temperature of 100 o C, 200 o C & 400 o C are estimated, because it seems to be the appropriate value, for the casting process considered. The results of the simulation study helps in identifying the solidification time, progress of solidification,
estimation of various zones (liquid, mushy and solid), change in their configuration during solidification, locating the hotspot, and indicating the source of shrinkage cavity.