Heat Transfer Coefficient Determination in a Gravity Die Casting Process with Local Air Gap Formation and Contact Pressure Using Experimental Evaluation and Numerical Simulation

Anticipating the processes and parameters involved for accomplishing a sound metal casting requires an in-depth understanding of the underlying behaviors characterizing a liquid melt solidifying inside its mold. Heat balance represents a major factor in describing the thermal conditions in a casting process and one of its main influences is the heat transfer between the casting and its surroundings. Local heat transfer coefficients describe how well heat can be transferred from one body or material to another. This paper will discuss the estimation of these coefficients in a gravity die casting process with local air gap formation and heat shrinkage induced contact pressure. Both an experimental evaluation and a numerical modeling for a solidification simulation will be performed as two means of investigating the local heat transfer coefficients and their local differences for regions with air gap formation or contact pressure when casting A356 (AlSi7Mg0.3).