Solidification and Microstructure Simulation of A356 Aluminum Alloy Casting

Abstract:

To obtain an A356 aluminum alloy casting with a uniform structure and no internal shrinkage defects, ProCAST software is used to set different filling and solidification process parameters for an A356 aluminum alloy casting with large wall thickness differences, And multiple simulations are conducted to obtain optimized casting process; then, based on the process, the microstructure of the thickest and thinnest part of the casting are simulated. The size, morphology, and distribution of the simulated microstructure of the thinnest part and the thickest part of the casting are very similar. The simulated microstructure is similar to that of the actual casting. This shows that castings with uniform structure and no internal shrinkage defects can be obtained through the optimized casting process .

• Periodical: Materials Science Forum (Volume 1033)
• Pages: 18-23
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/MSF.1033.18
• Online since: June 2021
• Authors: Li Tong He, Yi Dan Zeng*, Jin Zhang
• Keywords: A356 Aluminum Alloy, Microstructure Simulation, ProCAST Software, Solidification

References

[1] Q. Zou, H. Ning, Z. Shen et al, Effects of AlB2/AlP phase and electromagnetic stirring on impurity B/P removal in the solidification process of Al-30Si alloy, Separation & Purification Technology. 207(2018) 151-157.

DOI: 10.1016/j.seppur.2018.06.052

[2] S. Liu, Z. W. Fang, L.X. Li, Tribological Characteristics of Submicron SiC(p)-GR(p)/Zn-35Al-1Mg Composites in Semisolidification Casting process, IOP Conference Series Materials Science and Engineering. 359(2018) 012049.

DOI: 10.1088/1757-899x/359/1/012049

[3] C. A. Gandin,M. Rappaz, A coupled finite element-cellular automaton model for the prediction of dendritic grain structure in solidification process, Acta Metall, Mater. 42(1994) 2233-2246.

DOI: 10.1016/0956-7151(94)90302-6

[4] Y. Z. Lu, Y. Xiong, J.Q. Peng et al, Simulation and Experiment of Solidification Process for Directionally Solidified Industrial Gas Turbine Hollow Blades, Journal of Materials Engineering. 46(2018) 8-15.

[5] C. A. Gandin, J. L. Desbiolles, M. Rappaz et al, A three-dimensional cellular automaton finite element model for the prediction of solidification grain structures. Metallurgy and Materials Transactions A. 30(1999) 3153-31604.

DOI: 10.1007/s11661-999-0226-2

[6] Z.P. Guo ,S.M. Xiong, Effects of alloy materials and process parameters on the heat transfer coefficient at metal/die interface in high pressure die casting, Acta Metallurgica Sinica. 44 (2008) 433-439.

[7] H. Y. Li, W. G. Chen, F. Q. Zhang et al, Evolution of wire'+arc additive manufactured titanium alloy during solidification process based on CAFE simulation, The Chinese Journal of Nonferrous Metals. 28(2018)1775-1783.

[8] A.Pineau, G.Guillemot, G.Reinhart et al, Three-dimensional cellular automaton modeling of silicon crystallization with grains in twin relationships, Acta Materialia.191(2020)230-244.

DOI: 10.1016/j.actamat.2020.03.051

[9] T.Zeng, K.Shi, Shukur et al, Modeling of poly-crystalline silicon ingot crystallization during casting and theoretical suggestion for ingot quality improvement, Materials science in semiconductor processing. 53(2016) 36-46.

DOI: 10.1016/j.mssp.2016.05.013

[10] M. Rappaz, C. A. Gandin, Probabilistic Modeling of Microstructure Formation in Solidification Processes, Acte Metall.41(1993) 345-360.

DOI: 10.1016/0956-7151(93)90065-z

[11] L.T. He,Design and optimization of casting process for A356 aluminum alloy thin-wall frame casting, Inner Mongolia University of Technology.(2019).