Brief discussion about

Low pressure die casting

And

Gravity die casting _______________________

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Contents
Subject,
1. Metal casting overview, 1.1. Die casting, 1.2. Permanent molds casting,

page.
3 3 4

2. low pressure die casting, 2.1. Products with LPDC, 2.2. Typical LPDC machines, 2.3. Some typical molds used in LPDC,

6 9 10 13

3. Gravity die casting, 3.1. Gravity process, 3.2. Products with LPDC, 3.3. Typical LPDC machines, 3.4. Some typical molds used in LPDC,

15 15 16 18 22

4. New casting development in LPDC and GDC,

23

5. Advantages and disadvantages of LPDC and GDC, 5.1. Advantages, 5.2. Disadvantages,

27 27 27

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1. Metal casting overview

Casting is a 6000-year young process, there are a large number of industrial casting processes. These can be classified based on the mould material, method of producing the mould and the pressure on molten metal during filling (gravity, centrifugal force, vacuum, low pressure, high pressure). Permanent or metal moulds are used in gravity and pressure die casting processes, suitable for producing a large number of components. In expendable mould processes (sand, shell and investment), a new mould is required for every casting or a bunch of castings with a common gating and feeding system produced in the same mould. Expendable moulds can be made using either permanent pattern or expendable pattern. Permanent pattern can be made from wood, metal or plastic. In expendable pattern processes (also called investment processes), each pattern produces only one casting. Such patterns are made of wax, expandable polystyrene (EPS) or other polymer materials. 1.1. Die Casting The three major die casting processes are named based on the mould filling pressure as: gravity die casting (GDC), low pressure die casting (LPDC) and high pressure die casting (HPDC). Dies for GDC are usually made of cast iron and are simpler in construction. The dies for HPDC are made of hardened tool steel to withstand the high pressures involved and have many more elements. The die casting processes are obviously not suitable for ferrous metals owing to their high melting temperature.

Fig1.Die casting processes

Pressure die casting is the most widely used, representing about 50% of all light alloys casting production. Low pressure die casting currently accounts for about 20% of production and its use is increasing.

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Gravity Die casting accounts for the rest, with the exception of a small but growing contribution from the recently introduced vacuum die casting and squeeze casting process.

1.2. Permanent molds casting

Permanent molds consist of mold cavities machined into metal die blocks and designed for repetitive use. Currently, molds are usually made of cast iron or steel, although graphite, copper and aluminum have been used. Permanent mold castings can be produced from all of the metals including iron and copper alloys, but are usually light metals such as zinc-base, magnesium and aluminum. 1 Gravity Permanent Mold -The flow of metal into a permanent mold using gravity only is referred to as a gravity permanent mold. There are two techniques in use: static pouring, where metal is introduced into the top of the mold through down sprues similar to sand casting; and tilt pouring, where metal is poured into a basin while the mold is in a horizontal position and flows into the cavity as the mold is gradually tilted to a vertical position. Normally, gravity molding is used because it is more accurate than shell molding. It is preferred almost exclusively to shell molding for light alloy components. 2 Low-Pressure Permanent Mold - Low-pressure permanent mold is a method of producing a casting by using a minimal amount of pressure (usually 5-15 lb/sq in.) to fill the die. It is a casting process that helps to further bridge the gap between sand and pressure die-casting.

These two above processes are suitable for non-ferrous castings ,this includes alloys of aluminium, copper, magnesium, zinc and other metals ,of small to medium size, varying complexity and thin walls.

Fig2.Capabilities of major casting processes

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Fig3.The major metals in use today (by weight) along with their main characteristics and typical applications.

Fig4.Top ten producers of castings

Foundries are also classified depending on capacity, as large, medium and small. The capacity may refer to either melting capacity (which depends on the furnaces installed and working) or actual production of good castings (which depends on order booking, overall yield and rejections). Large ferrous foundries can produce over 10,000 tons of castings per year, and are usually equipped with automated sand plants, molding, melting, pouring and fettling equipment. On the other hand, small foundries may have capacities of 1000 tons or less per year with most of the operations being carried out manually.

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2. Low Pressure Die Casting (LPDC)

Low-pressure permanent mold (LPPM) casting uses a gas at low pressure to push the molten metal into the mold cavity. The pressure is applied to the top of the pool of liquid, which forces the molten metal up a refractory pouring tube and finally into the bottom of the mold. The pouring tube extends to the bottom of the ladle so that the material being pushed into the mold is exceptionally clean. No risers are required because the applied pressure forces molten metal in to compensate for shrinkage. Yields are usually greater than 85% because there is no riser and any metal in the pouring tube just falls back into the ladle for reuse. The vast majority of LPPM castings are from aluminum and magnesium, but some are copper alloys. Advantages include very little turbulence when filling the mold because of the constant pressure, which minimizes gas porosity and dross formation. Mechanical properties are about 5% better than gravity permanent mold castings. The disadvantage is that cycles times are longer than gravity permanent mold castings.

Fig5.Working mechanism in LPDC

As schematized above Figure, the die is filled from a pressurized crucible below, and pressures of up to 0.7 bar are usual. Low-pressure die casting is especially suited to the production of components that are symmetric about an axis of rotation. Light automotive wheels are normally manufactured by this technique.

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Fig6.Working mechanism in LPDC

1. Mold closed. 2. Air pressure inlet. 3. Inside furnace pressure on metal increase. 4. Metal moves to the mold, so that it fills the cavity into the mold. 5. Pressure release, so that to open the mold and get the casting.

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Fig7.Pressure - time curve in LPDC

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2.1. Products with LPDC

A.

B.

C.

D. Fig8. A,B,C,D, Cylinder heads (Alum.)

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2.2. Typical LPDC machines

Fig9.LPDC machine

Specificataion /Mode Fix Die Plate Moveable Die Plate Die Bar Guide Shaft Main Cylinder Side Cylinder Hydrau licLine Pressure Molten Metal Holding Molten Metal Using Capacity Ejector Force Die Closing Force Die Openning Force Cylinder Head Capacity

OGE-LFR-800-2P 100x1440x1440 90x1000x1000 100 80 150x900 ST 100x140 ST 100 kg/cm2 800 kg.A1 500 kg.A1 20000 kg 17500 kg 10000 kg 2 Capacity

Fig10. Typical LPDC machine specifications.

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Fig11. LPDC machine

Fig12. LPDC filling operation

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Fig13. Manipulator arm for LPDC machine

Fig14. Black bath for LPDC molds after each cycle (empty).

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2.3. Some typical molds used in LPDC

A.

B.

Fig15.A,B,cavity mold (beryllium copper mold) (produces 4 castings per cycle ) Showing sprue , runners and risers.

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Fig16.Sand core mold (steel mold) machined on CNC milling machine (2cores per cycle)

Fig17.Sand core mold (steel mold) (4 cores per cycle) Showing blowing runners.
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3.Gravity Die Casting (GDC)

3.1. Gravity process
The gravity process begins by preheating the mold to 150-200 C to ease the flow and reduce thermal damage to the casting. The mold cavity is then coated with a refractory material or a mold wash, which prevents the casting from sticking to the mold and prolongs the mold life. Any sand or metal cores are then installed and the mold is clamped shut. Molten metal is then poured into the mold. Soon after solidification the mold is opened and the casting removed to reduce chances of hot tears. The process is then started all over again, but preheating is not required because the heat from the previous casting is adequate and the refractory coating should last several castings. Because this process is usually carried out on large production run workpieces automated equipment is used to coat the mold, pour the metal, and remove the casting. The metal is poured at the lowest practical temperature in order to minimize cracks and porosity. The pouring temperature can range greatly depending on the casting material; for instance zinc alloys are poured at approximately 371 C, while gray iron is poured at approximately 1,370 C.

Fig18. Typical GDC cavity mold

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3.2. Products with GDC

Fig19.products made by GDC

Fig20.product made by GDC showing sprue , runners and risers.

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A.

B.

C.

Fig21. A,B,C, typical products by GDC , with gating system.

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3.3. Some typical GDC machines

Fig22.Manual pouring in GDC

Fig23. Tilting GDC machine with graphite basin for mold

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Fig24.GDC tilting machine

Fig25. GDC tilting machine

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Fig26. Vertical GDC machine

Fig27. GDC tilting machine

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"Compact" Gravity Casting Machine Specifications

Max die weight Max die size Opening stroke Distance between Open Platens Distance between Closed Platens Rotation for Cleaning Top Core max Weight Top core Extraction force Frontal pour tilt Lateral pour tilt Cooling Tank Capacity Cooling tank Alloy Cooling tank agitation Hydraulic Reservoir Working Pressure Machine Weight Machine Dimensions 120kg (265 pounds) 500mm (19.69 inches) 200mm (7.80 inches) 300mm (11.81 inches) 100mm (3.94 inches) 90 degrees N/A N/A 90 degrees (180 for cleaning) 90 degrees 200 liter per side / 400 liter total (105 gallons) Stainless Steel 304 2 electric agitators (independent) and 1 pneumatic bubbler 200 liter (52 gallons) 80 bars (1200 pounds) 1700kg (3750 pounds) 1700 x 1800 x 1550mm (66 x 70 x 61 inches)

Fig28. Typical GDC machine specifications

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3.4. Some typical GDC molds

Fig29. cavity mold, runner, gates and risers.

Fig30. cavity mold, runner, gates and risers.

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4. New casting development in Gravity Die Casting And Low Pressure Die Casting
The three major stages in developing a new casting include product design, molds manufacturing and foundry trials. 1 Product design: This influences virtually all other decisions and activities in product life cycle, and eventually the technical and economical value of the product. In particular, tooling design and manufacturing process can only be optimised within the framework 18 established during this stage. It essentially involves specifying three types of requirements. The first is functional requirements driven by product geometry, including the overall shape and individual features, specified in terms of their dimensions, relative location and orientation. The second is property requirements, which include thermophysical (density, thermal conductivity, electrical resistance, etc.), mechanical (tensile strength, impact resistance, wear resistance, etc.) and chemical (corrosion resistance) properties. The properties are mainly driven by the material composition and structure (which can be modified by various treatments). The third is production and quality requirements including order quantity, lead-time, surface finish, dimensional tolerance and internal soundness. These are driven by parameters related to tooling design and manufacturing process planning. The above requirements are evolved and refined through three steps in product design: conceptual design, detailed design and prototyping. Conceptual design essentially focuses on basic geometric elements to achieve the functional requirements. Detailed design involves selecting the material(s) and defining the geometry (features and their dimensions), including the extent of their geometric variation (manufacturing tolerances). This is followed by prototype fabrication to test the form, fit and function of the product. The production and quality requirements are then finalized. Several iterations of conceptual design, detailed design and prototyping are carried out to achieve the optimal combination of functional requirements, quality and cost.

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Molds manufacturing Manufacturing Process Machining of the molds can be happened using Turning (CNC Turning Centers, Conventional Lathes) Milling (CNC Milling, Conventional Milling Machines) Drilling (Radial Drilling Machine, Drill Tap Center) Vertical Machining Centers Core making The sand mixed with resin (~1.7% of sand mixture weight ) and catalyst (~0.45% of sand mixture weight ) is filled into a core box , For higher productivity core blowing machines are used, in which core boxes are mounted in the machine and sand is forced and pressed into the core box under a stream of high velocity air. This is followed by appropriate heating of the core box to impart the desired properties to the core.

Fig31. Typical sand core blowing machine.

Fig32. Sand core mold mounted on the sand core blowing machine.
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Cavity molds Molds for the casting process consist of two halves. Casting molds are usually formed from gray cast iron because it has about the best thermal fatigue resistance, but other materials include steel, bronze, and graphite. These metals are chosen because of their resistance to erosion and thermal fatigue. They are usually not very complex because the mold offers no collapsibility to compensate for shrinkage. Instead the mold is opened as soon as the casting is solidified, which prevents hot tears. As stated above, the mold is heated prior to the first casting cycle and then used continuously in order to maintain as uniform a temperature as possible during the cycles. This decreases thermal fatigue, facilitates metal flow, and helps control the cooling rate of the casting metal. Venting usually occurs through the slight crack between the two mold halves, but if this is not enough then very small vent holes are used. They are small enough to let the air escape but not the molten metal. A riser must also be included to compensate for shrinkage. This usually limits the yield to less than 60%. Mechanical ejectors in the form of pins are used when coatings are not enough to remove casts from the molds. These pins are placed throughout the mold and usually leave small round impressions on the casting. 3 Foundry trials: After mold manufacturing, trial castings are produced in the foundry. This involves preparing the moulds or dies, melting and pouring the metal, and removing the castings after solidification. The castings are inspected using destructive and nondestructive methods for external and internal defects, if any. The most common destructive method is cutting the casting in different places and observing the cross-section. Non-destructive methods include radiography, ultrasound and eddy current testing. Based on the results, the tooling (usually gating and feeding) may be modified and process parameters (usually pouring temperature, time and pressure variation in case of die casting) may be tuned to improve casting quality to the desired level. Typically, 3-trials are required for most new castings, each trial taking up a working week. The sample castings are sent to the customer for approval and then the regular production commences. However, even after several trials and approval of sample castings, there can be a high incidence of casting defects during regular production. Internal defects (such as shrinkage, gas porosity and blow holes) are usually discovered at the machining stage in the assembler company, often leading to production bottlenecks. If such defects cannot be eliminated by modifications to process parameters or tooling design, then it becomes necessary to modify the product design, which is prohibitively expensive at this late stage.
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The average lead-time for the first good sample casting is several weeks, of which tooling development and proving accounts for nearly 70%. The lead-time can be reduced by more than half, especially for intricate castings, using computer-aided systems for product design, tooling development and process optimization. Using a solid modeling program, a 3D model of the cast product can be created on a computer, visualized from various angles and its mass properties can be computed. The model can be subjected to various loads to predict internal stresses and deformations, and the part geometry can be optimized for its functional requirements. The tooling models can be generated by modifying the part model by splitting across a parting line and applying draft and various allowances. The models of feeders and gating system can be added to create the complete casting model. Mould filling and casting solidification can then be simulated to predict internal defects. The process parameters, tooling design and part model can be modified and verified by simulation to achieve the desired quality without pouring trial castings.

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5. Advantages and disadvantages Of (GDC) and (LPDC)

5.1. Advantages

Superior mechanical properties. Produces dense, uniform castings with high dimensional accuracy. Excellent surface finish and grain structure. The process lends itself very well to the use of expendable cores and makes possible the production of parts that are not suitable for the pressure die-casting process. Repeated use of molds. Rapid production rate with low scrap loss.

5.2. Disadvantages

Higher cost of tooling requires a higher volume of castings. The process is generally limited to the production of somewhat small castings of simple exterior design, although complex castings such as aluminum engine blocks and heads are now common place.

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