VALIDATION OF FOUNDRY PROCESS FOR ALUMINUM PARTS WITH FLOW3D SOFTWARE

摘要

The importance of smooth mould filling in the foundry casting process has been recognized for a long time. More uniform the filling process, is, the better the quality of the casting of the products produced. Successful computer simulations can help to reduce the number of trials and cut down the lead time in the design of new casting products by better understanding the complex mechanisms and interplay of different process parameters in the mould filling process. This work deals with the numerical simulation of the filling of gravity die casting, lost foam casting and its solidification. Computations were carried out using Flow3D which is a general computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code [1]. The simulation involved viscous fluid flow with transient free surfaces, metal/mould heat transfer, conduction in both metal and mould, and latent heat release. Full Navier-Stokes equations, energy equations and Volume of Fluid (VOF) methods were used to simulate this topic. Simulations results were compared with experimental data and good correlation for thermal effects and front tracking evolution throughout the parts have been found.