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Mould design analysis of casted natural fibre-metal matrix composites

Conference Paper · September 2014

DOI: 10.13140/2.1.2113.6644

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 日本機械学会 第 24 回設計工学・システム部門講演会・2014.9.17-19
Copyright (C) 2014 一般社団法人日本機械学会

2410
Mould design analysis of casted natural fibre-metal matrix composites

Taufik RONI SAHRONI1 Sirinjeev Rao RAMAN2 Mohd Shahir KASIM3

Mohd Amri SULAIMAN4 Effendi MOHAMAD5 Teruaki ITO6

1,2,3,4,5
Faculty of Manufacturing Engineering, Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTeM)
Hang Tuah Jaya, 76100, Melaka, Malaysia
6
The University of Tokushima, Institute of Technology and Science Minami-Josanjima 2-1,
Tokushima-shi, Tokushima, 770-8506 Japan

This paper presents the mould design analysis of casted natural fibre-metal matrix composites material. The natural fibre
composites were introduced to the metal matrix as reinforced material for emerging new material. The pattern for sand
casting was made from LM6 as metal matrix alloy, titanium carbide as reinforced material, and empty fruit bunch as natural
fibre composites. Open mould was designed for producing the metal matrix composites and allowed the natural fibre
composites introduce to metal matrix composite during the solidification stage. There were four design concepts were
generated and simulated. The simulation shows the velocity, internal energy, pressure, turbulence kinetic energy; wall shear
stress and cell Reynolds number lead the defect of casting product. Based on the design analysis, the mould design was
proposed for casted natural fibre-metal matrix composites.

Key Words: Design, mould, analysis, casting, natural fibre, metal matrix composites.

1. Introduction
Natural fibre composite is widely discussed in various manufacturing industries due to their impact to reduce the
material cost and the overall production cost, design requirements, and customer satisfaction. Application of composite
materials represented as 70 % of market value, 23 % of automotive, 21 % of public work, 23 % of building, 17 % of
aeronautics and 11 % of sports [1]. There are various applications in order to increase the height strength ratio and
flexibility in designing of products. Natural fibre composite is one of the accepted approaches. These natural fibres have
many properties which make the natural fibre attractive as alternative materials. Most of researchers have been
described the high specific properties and advantages of natural fibre such as stiffness [2], impact resistance [3],
flexibility [4], and modulus [5]. In 2014, the feasibility study of natural fiber composites to be introduced in metal matrix
composites has greatly developed for engineering application [ 6]. The most related research has been conducted recently,
in the developing of natural fiber sand casting mould and increased the surface roughness of casted of metal matrix
composites significantly [7].
Metal Matrix Composites (MMC’s) have showed significant success in automotive as a high specific strength, and
stiffness and wear resistance in applications such as connecting rod and drive shaft [8]. In electronics industries, MMC
is applied for electronic packaging to meet the requirements of low thermal expansion for electronic packaging [9].
Moreover, such composite is considered to be a strong candidate as a structural material for high temperature
applications such as engine components and gas turbines. In recent years, researchers have viewed Metal Matrix
Composite (MMC) for potential increasing the overall performance of materials. Among the several Metal Matrix

1,2,3,4
Non-member，Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (Hang Tuah Jaya, 76100, Melaka, Malaysia )
5
Member，Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka , Malaysia
6
Member，University of Tokushima, Institute of Technology and Science Minami-Josanjima 2-1, Tokushima-shi, Tokushima, 770-8506 Japan
E-mail: taufik@utem.edu.my

[No.14-27] 日本機械学会 第 24 回設計工学・システム部門講演会講演論文集〔2014.9.17-19, 徳島県徳島市〕

Composites, Aluminium Silicon Carbide which utilizes the mechanical properties has been receiving attention because
of its advantages such as elevated temperature, weight reduction and fatigue life improvement.
The studies of molten metal flow during filling and solidification have been attracted by several researchers. The
techniques and applications were used to ensure the molten metal flow can be controllable during filling process in sand
casting. The use of chillers during the molten metal filling and solidification was increased the final quality of casting
[10], and the multi cavities was used to control the molten metal flow have produced good casting quality of automotive
parts [11].
It is challenging to combine metal matrix composite with natural fiber, however, there is a possibility to combine
this both materials [6]. Based on the citations cited, motivate the authors to develop the mould for casted natural fiber -
metal matrix composites in the perspective of economical and efficient. This research work tries to fill the gap of
research in the developing the sand casting mould where the molten metal of the metal matrix composite is poured is
the casting and adds the natural fiber at suitable temperature. This paper presents the mould design analysis of open
sand casting mould for casted Aluminum Alloy LM6 as a molten metal matrix composites and the natural fiber is Oil
Palm Empty Fruit Bunch (OPEFB). A study on thermal flow should be conducted to get a laminar flow for molten metal
matrix composites during filling into the mould. The objective of this research is to design the open mould sand casting
using computer engineering analysis software.

2. Method

This case study was designed for developing the production tooling with good mechanical properties and withstand for
long term period. The material for metal matrix composites was aluminium LM6 and Titanium Carbide as reinforced
particulate. In addition, Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch (OPEFB) was to be introduced in metal matrix composite to
enhance the mechanical properties for production tooling. Table 1 shows the material properties of LM6 and titanium
carbide.
Table 1: Material properties of LM6 and titanium carbide

For the mould material, silica sand was used as the sand casting mould. The use of silica sand was very suitable due
to inexpensive. It also have high temperature characteristic and high melting point. The amount of Silica sand will used
is 30 kg and mix up with 1200 ml of Sodium Silicate together with 400 ml of water. Table 2 shows the material
properties of silica sand.

Table 2: Material properties of silica sand

Material Properties Silica sand

3
Density Kg/m 2320
Specific heat Cp J/kg K 691
Thermal conductivity (W/m-K) 145
 Four designs were generated and drawn out in detail using SolidWorks 2010 as shown in Figure 1. Each of design
concepts has special features. The main purpose of the design is to enable smooth fluent flow of the molten as well as
ensure the molten is able to solidify smoothly in order to prevent casting defects from occurring. Each of the concepts
were described and shown below. The total volume for design concept 1, 2, 3, and 4 were 449.83cm³, 445.72cm³,
519.15cm³, and 507.33cm³, respectively.

(a) Design Concept 1 (b) Design Concept 2 (c) Design Concept 3 (d) Design Concept 4

Figure 1: Design concept generation

The flow of casting during filling can be evaluated by engineering simulation software. In this project, molten metal
enter the cavity was simulated using ANSYS Flow Fluent software. The findings are the internal energy, static pressure,
velocity magnitude, turbulent kinetic energy, and wall shear stress. The values gained in each finding were maximum
and minimum value. In all design concepts the pouring temperature is 973 Kelvin and the after the fill is 873 Kelvin.
The density of 2887 kg/m3 was applied to all design concepts.

3. Results

Figure 2 shows the comparison of maximum velocity among all the mould design concepts. From the graph, it
clearly shows the lowest maximum velocity is design concept 3 with 2.091 m/s. To produce a good casting, the velocity
has to be low. The reason to choose the lowest value of velocity is to avoid mould erosion during casting process. If the
velocity increased it leads the mould erosion which was wearing a way of the mould as the molten metal fills the mould.
The casting produced will have rough spots and excess material. The moulding sand becomes incorporate into the
casting metal and decrease the ductility, fatigue strength and fracture roughness of the casting.

Figure 2: Graph of velocity magnitude vs design concepts

Figure 3 shows the comparison of maximum internal energy among all the mould design concepts. From the graph,
it clearly shows the lowest maximum internal energy is design concept 3 with 636351.10 J/Kg, but other design
concepts also has slightly similar with the lowest value. This internal energy is very important to take into consideration
because high internal energy can lead to environmental effect. During the heating of molten metal, the energy from the
heat will increase the internal energy in the materials and it will increase the temperature as well. Increment in
temperature can cause the carbon content in the material starts to burn with oxygen and produce carbon dioxide. The
carbon dioxide lately released to the open air and harms the environment.

Figure 3: Graph of internal energy vs design concepts

Figure 4 shows the comparison of differences for static pressure among all the mould design concepts. From the
graph, it clearly shows the lowest differences static pressure value is for design concept 3 with 1892.67 J/Kg. Static
pressure is quite important in sand casting to produce a good casting product. If high pressure can make the temperature
rises during filling and the time to start solidify will delay and can avoid defects. Furthermore, if the pressure
differences are high, it leads to turbulent occurrence. If the turbulent occurred, then air could trapped in the sand casting
mould and become porosity.

Figure 4: Graph of static pressure vs design concepts

Figure 5 shows the comparison of turbulent kinetic energy for all the mould design concepts. From the graph, it
clearly shows the lowest maximum turbulent kinetic energy value is for design concept 3 with 1.289503 K. m²/s².
Turbulent kinetic energy is the value of turbulent flow occurred in the mould cavities and to produce a good casting
requires a low value of it. The high value of this energy can produce air porosity in the casting parts, so the mould is
often streamline to minimize such turbulent.

Figure 5: Graph of turbulent kinetic energy vs design concepts

 Figure 6 shows the comparison of wall shear stress for all the mould design concepts. From the graph, it clearly
shows the lowest maximum wall shear stress value is for design concept 3 with 15.55152 Pa. Wall shear stress is
important to ensure the solidification process completed. High stress can make a rough surface of the casting and to
repair it additional costing is required. Low stress is recommended to reduce additional repair work.

Figure 6: Graph of wall shear stress vs design concepts

As a result based on the analysis and study about molten metal flow, the design concepts 3 scores has the highest
value among all other design concepts. Therefore, the design concept 3 has potential to be applied for producing the
casted natural fiber -metal matrix composites. Figure 7 shows the detail drawing of the proposed sand casting mould
design.

Figure 7: Detail drawing of proposed sand casting mould design

 4. Conclusion

The parameters to analyse the casting mould design were identified which is velocity magnitude, internal energy, static
pressure, turbulent kinetic energy, and wall shear stress. The material used as the molten metal for analysis was Aluminum
LM6 and Titanium Carbide. There are overall four design concepts which each of it have different concepts of flow. All the
results from the simulation has been analysed and discussed to choose the better mould design concept. The final was
selected the mould design 3 is the best design among the other design concepts. This design concept can be used to casting
the metal matrix composite with the natural fiber. As the result, the open mould sand was feasible for casted natural fiber-
metal matrix composites.

5. Acknowledgement

The authors acknowledge the Ministry of Education Malaysia for funding this research through the Fundamental
Research Grant Scheme (FRGS/2/2013/TK01/FKP/02/3/F00177).

6. References

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