A Statistical Evaluation of the Influence of Different Material and Process Parameters on the Heat Transfer Coefficient in Gravity Die Casting

Local heat transfer in gravity die casting is of great importance for precision in terms of distortion, mechanical properties, and the quality of the castings due to its effect on solidification. Depending on contact conditions such as liquid melt to solid mold, a gap between mold and component, or contact pressure between casting and mold as a result of shrinkage, there are very large differences in heat transfer. The influences of mold material, mold coating and its influence of aging, mold temperature control, and layout on the heat transfer coefficient (HTC) were investigated experimentally for different contact cases. The experiments were carried out on a rotationally symmetrical experimental setup with modular exchangeable die inserts and cores using an AlSi7Mg0.3 alloy. From the results of the individual test series, the quantitative shares of the above-mentioned influencing variables in the respective effective heat transfer coefficients were determined by means of analysis of variance. From this, the parameters having the most significant influence on the local heat balance were derived.