Modeling of porosity formation and feeding flow during casting of steel and aluminum alloys.

摘要

Porosity is one of the most important defects in metal casting. To quantitatively predict the porosity formation during casting two numerical models are developed for steel and aluminum alloys respectively.; For steel, a multi-phase model is developed that predicts melt pressure, feeding flow, porosity (both microscopic and macroscopic), and riser pipe formation during casting. The phases included in the model are solid, liquid, porosity, and air. An energy equation is solved to determine solid fraction. A multi-phase momentum equation, which is valid everywhere in the solution domain, is derived. A pressure equation is then derived from this momentum equation and a mixture continuity equation developed that accounts for all phases. The partial pressure of a gas species dissolved in the melt is determined using the species concentration, which is found by solving a species conservation equation that accounts for convection. Porosity forms once the gas pressure exceeds the sum of the melt pressure and the capillary pressure. The amount of porosity that forms is determined from the mixture continuity equation. The riser pipe is determined from an air continuity equation. A pore size model, which considers the effects of the solidifying steel microstructure on pore size, is incorporated into the multi-phase model. The multi-phase model is applied to one-dimensional, two-dimensional, and three-dimensional simulations. The results clearly illustrate the basic physical phenomena involved and predict microporosity and macroporosity distributions, as well as a riser pipe.; For aluminum alloys a gas microsegregation model is developed to quantitatively predict porosity, coupled with the calculations of the pressure field, feeding flow, and distribution of dissolved gas species throughout the casting. The effects of dendritic and eutectic microstructure on the pore shape and size are considered in a pore size model. The model is applied to one-dimensional simulations of A319 solidification, based on assumed temperature fields. The computational results fully display the relations among the pertinent variables (such as pressure, hydrogen concentration, and pore fraction) during solidification, and elucidate some of the fundamental mechanisms of porosity formation during solidification.