Aluminum Wheel             

Removal of the Defects in Aluminum alloy wheel is one of the more exacting tasks for engineers and metal casters.
SUTCAST serves as a useful tool to identify the component of the defects and porosity formation. It provides the distribution of the defects, locations of macro defects and identifies micro defects

Al-wheel                          
 Part name:          Al Wheel
Material:             AL-A 356
Casting Process: (L.P.D.C)   Low pressure die casting
Mold Material:    H13 Steel
Weight:               9.2kg


 The ultimate results of Case study presented here are:
  • Reduction of lead time and avoiding  casting process design by  try and error
  • Increasing cast part production speed by a  factor of over 2
  • Shrinkage removal


                 Initial Design                                                                           Improved Design

original-wheel                                      improved-wheel

  Fluid Flow Filling
SUTCAST Aluminum wheel casting simulation software                                    SUTCAST fluid thermal simulation software
 

 

                      Shrinkage                                                                            No Shrinkage


                                       

 

                   

 


                 misrun-wheel
Filling sequences and thermal distribution in improved design                               Incomplete filling (time= 0.42 Sec)
after modifications on initial condition

Solidification simulation of initial design showed macro shrinkage defects in  location and size, precisely in agreement with real cast wheel. 
In order to remove macro shrinkage and to decrease the solidification time, mold design 
was modified 
on the basis of:

1-Application of padding for improvement of directional solidification guaranteed by modeling

2-Inserting water cooled copper chill
3-Adjusting the temperature distribution of different die parts
4-Die heat transfer control with applying different coating thicknesses

The aluminum foundry industry has to focus on the quality and reliability of the products. 
To produce good quality aluminum cast wheels, defects must be minimized and the quality of each production step must be controlled .

Modeling provides engineers with a way to understand the process dynamics and evaluate the quantitative effects of various process variables on the quality of the resulting products.