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Abstract Open cell ceramic foam filters are used to improve the quality of metallic cast products. They play a major role on reducing the number of inclusions within the microstructure of the cast product and restraining the liquid flow inside the mold. The newly developed carbon-bonded alumina ceramics are investigated considering the mechanical and thermal loads of the filtration process. The aim of this project is to assess the strength, the fracture mechanical behavior, and the damage properties of the filter material. Since the tiny struts of the foam have different properties than the common bulk material specimen, small specimens of millimeter size are needed. Within this work, a combination of experiments and numerical simulations are conducted for various mechanical tests at temperatures up to 1500 $${}^{\circ }\text {C}$$ ∘C . The first test is the small punch test (SPT), where a small disk-like specimen is supported on a circular die and loaded with a spherical tipped punch until failure of the disk occurs. The small punch fracture stress is obtained from the experiments, as well as the corresponding parameters of the Weibull distribution necessary for the evaluation of the cold modulus of rupture (CMOR). Furthermore, a modified version of the SPT, the so called ball on three ball test (B3B), is carried out. In the B3B test, miniaturized disk-shaped specimens are supported with three spherical balls and loaded with a spherical tipped punch until failure. Hereby, the fracture mechanical parameters, such as the fracture toughness, are identified with the help of numerical simulations. Moreover, the Chevron notched beam test (CNB) is used to determine the fracture toughness of the ceramics. The final test is the Brazilian disc test (BDT), where compressive loads are exerted on the specimen leading to tensile stresses along the specimen diameter, perpendicular to the applied load direction. This test is employed to determine the Young’s modulus, the yield stress and the fracture toughness. In general the simplicity of all these tests, their setup, application, and results evaluation, in addition to the ease of specimens production, make them very attractive. The size of these specimens is about one order of magnitude smaller than that of common standard tests. The accompanying numerical simulations are inevitable to extract from the measurements the wanted mechanical properties.
A new generation of multifunctional filters is made of carbon bonded alumina and is investigated within the collaborative research center 920 (CRC920). These filters are used during a casting process with the aim of reducing non-metallic inclusions in the cast product. The high thermal and mechanical loading of the filter requires a fracture mechanical characterization of the investigated ceramic material. In order to determine the fracture toughness of the ceramic material, a chevron-notched beam method (CNB) is applied. A 4-point-bending test set-up was constructed and brought into service, at which the load-displacement curve of small chevron-notched specimens (5 x 6 x 25 mm 3 ) can be measured. The set-up offers the possibility of testing specimens at temperatures up to 1000oC. Preceding numerically work using the finite element method was performed to identify a suitable notch geometry. For this purpose a cohesive zone model was used. A parameter study is presented, which shows the influence of the notch parameter on the load-displacement curve.
In this article, a numerical study on the sensitivity, related to the performance of open‐cell foams used for the depth filtration of liquid metals, on two characteristic morphological properties is presented. Therefore, simulations of fluid flow and particle transport inside an artificial foam structure are carried out, whose porosity and strut shape is varied within a certain expected range. For comparison purposes, however, the simulations are also performed for three typical ceramic foam filters (CFF) with pore densities of 20 and 30 PPI, whose geometries are obtained from CT scans. In order to allow for a comparison between the different structures, a reference length is introduced that relies upon the actual ratio of pores per volume. The evaluation is mainly based on the comparison of the hydraulic tortuosity, the viscous and the inertial permeability coefficients as well as the initial filtration coefficient for alumina inclusions, with their size ranging from of 10 to 40 μm at process conditions typically encountered during the aluminum filtration. It is shown that the ratio of filtration coefficient and pressure drop increases with the porosity, while the material distribution between the struts and the joints is less influential. Finally, the article also provides information on the anisotropy of CFFs and on the transition behavior from steady to unsteady flow in open‐cell foams.
Artificial foam structures are used in all kinds of applications, for example, in filters, where non‐metallic inclusions are filtered out of the molten metal. The flow‐through of the fluid leads to a mechanical loading, which is influenced by the flow velocity, the viscosity of the fluid, the foam morphology, and the shape of the filter. Analytical and numerical approaches are being used to study the influence of different parameters on the mechanical response and the impact on local stresses at the foam struts. Finite element models of the foams are used to evaluate the homogenized stiffness tensor and to determine maximal local stresses in dependence of the macroscopic strain. On the macroscopic filter scale, an orthotropic Mindlin plate model is deployed. The results are compared with a FE 2 ‐simulation.