Science in China Series E: Technological Sciences

2009
SCIENCE IN CHINA PRESS

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Springer

Understanding of the influence of process parameters on the heat transfer behavior at the metal/die interface in high pressure die casting process
GUO ZhiPeng1, XIONG ShouMei1, LIU BaiCheng1, LI Mei2 & Allison John2
1

Key Laboratory for Advanced Materials Processing Technology, Ministry of Education, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China; 2 Research & Advanced Engineering Department, Scientific Research Laboratory, Ford Motor Company, Dearborn, MI 48121, USA

The current paper focuses on the influence of the process parameters on the peak values of the interfacial heat transfer coefficient (IHTC) at metal/die interface during high pressure die casting (HPDC) process. A step shape casting and AM50 alloy were used during the experiment. The IHTC was determined by solving the inverse thermal problem based on the measured temperature inside the die. Results show that the initial die surface temperature (IDST, TDI) has a dominant influence while the casting pressure and fast shot velocity have a secondary influence on the IHTC peak values. By curve fitting, it was found that the IHTC peak value (hmax) changes as a function of the IDST in a manner of hmax =eT DI. Such relationship between the IHTC peak value and the IDST can also be found when the casting alloy is ADC12, indicating that this phenomenon is a common characteristic in the HPDC process.
high pressure die casting, interfacial heat transfer coefficient, AM50, ADC12

Introduction

The magnesium castings have been extensively used in the automotive industry for the past few years. The mechanical properties of the casting are highly dependent on the microstructure which on the other hand is greatly dependent on the heat transfer rate during the solidification process of the casting. This situation is especially true when the casting procedure is carried out using metallic dies such as HPDC process because the thermal barrier in such process is mostly dominated by the condition of the metal-die interface[1,2]. In literature, such thermal barrier is often characterized by a parameter, namely the interfacial heat transfer coefficient (IHTC)[3,4]. For obtaining better quality of the magnesium alloy components in the HPDC process, a comprehensive understanding of the IHTC during the solidification process is necessary and urgent. As such, the main purpose of the present work is to

determine the IHTC in the HPDC process and investigate the influence of the process parameters on the IHTC. The present work also investigates the influence of the casting thickness on the IHTC in the HPDC process, which is a great lack in the study of this area according to literature[1,2,5,6].

Die casting experiment

A step shape casting was used during the experiment, as shown in Figure 1. There are five steps with different thicknesses from 2 to 14 mm with an interval of 3 mm. At the center of each step, one dimensional heat transfer was assumed. Based on the temperature measurements
Received July 18, 2008; accepted August 3, 2008 doi: 10.1007/s11431-008-0295-2 Corresponding author (email: smxiong@tsinghua.edu.cn) Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 50675114), National Basic Research Program of China (973) (Grant Nos. 2006CB605208-2, 2005CB724105)

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Step 2, and the faster the fast shot velocity, the higher the IHTC peak values. As shown in Figure 3, the IHTC peak values characterized by the upper triangles which were obtained when the fast shot velocity was 4 ms1 are always located above those characterized by the inverse triangles which on the other hand were obtained when the fast shot velocity was 0.7 ms1. The second characteristic is that the influence of the

Figure 1 The step shape casting. (a) Size and geometry; (b) a photo of an actual casting.

inside the die corresponding to each step, the IHTC was determined by solving the inverse thermal problem. Details about the temperature measurement and the mathematic model can be referenced from the previous works[7,8].

Figure 2 IHTC at Step 15 of AM50 alloy under different casting pressures.

Result and discussion

Figure 2 shows the determined IHTC profiles at each step of the AM50 alloys under different casting pressures. All the IHTC profiles at the five steps grow abruptly at a particular time until reaching their maximum values, after that the IHTC keeps falling to a much lower value and maintains unchanged. The step thickness generates a great difference on the IHTC either in its value or its shape. Within a particular step, it seems that the casting pressure has little influence on the IHTC shape. The only difference, if any (more prominent in the IHTC of Step 5 than in the others), is the maximum value of the IHTC. Such phenomenon was also true under other operation conditions such as the fast shot velocity, the pressure intensification time, the pouring temperature, etc. Due to the limited space here those results will not be displayed in current paper. Figure 3 shows the IHTC peak values corresponding to Step 1 5 under all the operation conditions. Two prominent characteristics can be found from Figure 3. The first is that the fast shot velocity appears to have great influences on the IHTC peak values at Step 1 and

Figure 3 The peak values of the IHTC at Step 15 of AM50 alloy under all the operation conditions. 173

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casting pressure on the IHTC peak values becomes more prominent when the casting step is Step 5. As shown in Figure 3, the IHTC peak values under the casting pressure of 24 MPa are always lower than those obtained when the casting pressure is 67 MPa. Such influence seems to gradually fade away as the casting is sequentially performed. The above discussion about the IHTC peak values omitted one process parameter, namely the die temperature. In a practical die casting process, the die temperature changes as the casting is sequentially performed and the initial die surface temperature (IDST, TDI) on the other hand could in some sense characterize the variation of the heat transfer between the metal and the die. Figure 4 shows the IHTC peak values at Step 1 to 5 as a function of the IDST and the figure also gives the results of the ADC12 alloy. One of the prominent characteristics of Figure 4 is that the influence of the step thickness and the process parameters such as the casting pressure, the fast shot velocity etc. disappeared. The IHTC peak values are dominated by IDST and change in a manner of

ln hmax = ln TDI + ,

(1)

with = 0.176 and =8.448 for the alloy AM50. By applying the similar regression method it was found that these two parameters for the alloy ADC12 are 0.176 and 8.92, respectively. The same values of for AM50 and ADC12 alloys indicate that the fitted lines are parallel. Eq. (1) can be written in another way as
hmax = e TDI ,

grows when stays positive and drops otherwise. Therefore, the only positive value 0.176 of for AM50 alloy only leads to a continuous growing in the IHTC peak values when the IDST increases. However, for the ADC12 alloy, it seems that the manner of the IHTC peak values as a function of the IDST changes when the IDST exceeds about 257. Such change leads to a higher negative value of about 3.32 and also a higher value for which is about 28.33. Such negative value for directly leads to the result that the IHTC peak values drop as the IDST keeps growing after exceeding a critical IDST. The authors believe that such critical IDST also exists when the casting alloy is AM50. One of the possible reasons why the critical IDST could not be observed in the current result of AM50 shown in Figure 4 is that the current maximum IDST has not approached the critical IDST needed for the alloy AM50. As long as the IDST keeps increasing, the critical IDST should appear because of the limit in its maximum value as discussed above. It is also worth mentioning that process parameters such as casting pressure, fast shot velocity etc. only have secondary influence on the IHTC peak values compared to that of the IDST.

Summary and conclusion

(2)

From eq. (2), it can be seen that the IHTC peak value

Figure 4 The IHTC peak values at Step 15 of AM50 alloy as a function of the initial temperature of the die surface.

The current paper focuses on the influence of the process parameters on the IHTC in the HPDC process. By applying a step shape casting, the investigation of the influence of the step thickness on the IHTC becomes feasible. Based on such work the following conclusions can be drawn: 1) Prominent difference appears at the IHTC profiles at different casting steps and the difference exists not only in the peak values but also in the shape of the IHTC profiles. 2) Within a particular step, the process parameters have little influence on the shape of the IHTC profile, the difference only appears at the IHTC peak values. Particularly, process parameters such as the casting pressure, the fast shot velocity etc. only has a secondary influence on the peak IHTC values. A higher casting pressure brings a higher IHTC peak value at Step 5, which is also the thickest step, and a higher fast shot velocity leads to a higher IHTC peak value, but such phenomenon is only valid at Step 1 and Step 2.

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3) The initial die surface temperature has a dominant influence on the IHTC peak values at all the steps. The relationship
hmax = e TDI

casting/die interface in high pressure die casting experimental results and contribution to modeling. In: Modeling of Casting, Welding and Advanced Solidification Processes-XI. France: Minerals, Metals and Materials Society, 2006 3 4 Pehlke R D. Unidirectional analysis of heat transfer during continuous casting. Metal Eng Quart, 1964, 4(1): 4247 Pehlke R D, Berry J T. Heat transfer at the mold/metal interface in permanent mold casting of light alloys. In: Advances in Aluminum Casting Technology II. United States: ASM International, 2002 5 6 Nelson C W. Nature of heat transfer at the die face. In: 6th SDCE international die casting congress. United States: SDCE, 1970 Hong S, Backman D G, Mehrabian R. Heat transfer coefficient in aluminum alloy die casting. Metall Mater Trans B, 1979, 10B: 299 301 7 Guo Z P, Xiong S M, Cho S H, et al. Development of an inverse heat transfer model and its application in the prediction of the interfacial heat flux. Acta Metall Sin, 2007, 43(5): 607611 8 Guo Z P, Xiong S M, Cho S H, et al. Effects of alloy material and process parameters on the heat transfer coefficient at metal/die interface in high pressure die casting. Acta Metall Sin, 2008, 44(4): 433439

can be obtained by using the regression method on the scatter IHTC peak values. Such relationship is valid for both AM50 and ADC12 alloys, indicating that this phenomenon is a common characteristic in the high pressure die casting process.
The experimental works were conducted at Tsinghua-TOYO R&D Center of Magnesium and Aluminum Alloys Processing Technology with the help of engineers from TOYO Machinery & Metal Co., Ltd. 1 Dour G, Dargusch M, Davidson C, et al. Development of a non-intrusive heat transfer coefficient gauge and its application to high pressure die casting: Effect of the process parameters. J Mater Process Technol, 2005, 169(2): 223233 2 Hamasaiid A, Dour G, Dargusch M, et al. Heat transfer at the

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