Dr. Shamasundar, MD of ProSIM presented how ProSIM is helping foundries convert from sand casting to gravity die casting (GDC). to survive in the industry, you must be able to adopt new technologies, and ProSIM enables you towards it.

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Survive or Succeed???
Dr S Shamasundar
Managing Director, ProSIM
GDC-TECH 27th-28th Oct 2015 Pune

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Simulated. Designed. Delivered.

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Emerging Opportunity for GDC
• Shifting from Sand casting to GDC
• Increasing emphasis on environmental issues
becoming key in India
• Cost of sand reclamation increasing
• Increasing demand for engineered castings
• Increased acceptance of India as a major player
in casting Industry ( India 3rd
largest casting
player, globally!!)

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ProSIM- a Technology Collaborator
• ProSIM has supported GDC companies to
convert from Sand to GDC.
• To develop gating systems in a faster and
economical manner.
• To increase yield and reduce rejections
• To assimilate casting simulation technology in
their design and development practice
• To develop process control maps by sensitivity
analysis.

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Air Entrapment in a brass gravity die casting
compared with ADSTEFAN simulation predicted results.

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Fluid flow Analysis (Result Observation)
Pouring Temp- 1150Deg C
Liquidus temp- 905 Deg C
Solidus temp- 899 Deg C
Observation- when the die cavity
filling is complete, there are regions
with temperature well below the
solidus temperature, hence
hindering the melt flow.
In order to have uniform
temperature distribution all around
the cavity die preheat temperature
should be increased. Intermediate
connections are to be made such that
molten metal flows to all the
locations without temperature drop
below the solidus temperature.
870°C

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Analysis of melt flow in die cavity
Blue color - air in the component
Transparent color -complete liquid metal
Green color - mixture of liquid metal and air
Observation - All the highlighted
regions in the image are the
potential locations for air
entrapment. Which may lead to
gas porosity defects.

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Solidification Analysis of casting
Observation-
The picture shows the final
stage of solidification. The
image shows the last regions of
solidification embedded in the
interior of casting.
Due to drop in temperature
below solidus temperature, few
regions have already solidified.
Shrinkage porosity will be
formed in these regions.
Result interpretation-
Fraction solid (Fs = 0) - Represents complete liquid metal
Fraction solid (Fs = 1) - Represents complete solid metal
Between Fs= 0 and Fs=1, the color gradation shows a mixture of solid and liquid metal

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Shrinkage porosity regions
The image shows the shrinkage
present in the component. These
shrinkages are due to lack of proper
air vents.
The shrinkages are present all along
the component surface as shown.
Shrinkages present are of
considerable volume.
In the physical casting, hundreds of
sites of shrinkage porosity of
various sizes were observed, as has
been simulated using ADSTEFAN.

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Summary
• Existing gating design of gravity die casting of brass was
simulated using ADSTEFAN.
• Key defects observed in trial casting – mainly air entrapment and
shrinkage were seen in the simulations as well.
• Die preheat temperature should be increased establish uniform
temperature in melt within die cavity
• Vents have to be provided at the suitable locations such that the
entrapped air escapes out to the maximum extent
• Due to improper temperature distribution, few locations have
solidified even before the cavity fills up. Hence temperature
equilibration is essential to attain directional solidification
• Surface porosities are present all over due to the above reasons.

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MODIFIED DIE DESIGN
Several dozen of gating designs were
explored using ADSTEFAN simulation.
What is indicated here is only an indicative
change. Due to high speed solvers present
in ADSTEFAN, the design optimization was
achieved in a span one week.

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Die details (with modifications)
Modified Die Cavity with Vent pins and
connections
Vent Pins
Additional Connection (3 no’s)
Ø15mm Vent Pins (4 no’s)
Ø30mm Vent Pins (7 no’s)

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Fluid flow Analysis (Result Observation)
Points to note-
Pouring Temp- 1150Deg C
Liquidus temp- 905 Deg C
Solidus temp- 899 Deg C
Observation- at the end of die cavity filling, near uniform temperature distribution is observed
throughout the component. Temperature is above solidus temperature.
902°C

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Fluid flow Analysis (Result Observation)
Observation - All the highlighted
regions in the Fig. are the potential
locations for air entrapment.
Based on air entrapment locations &
flow simulations, vent pin locations
are finalized.
The entrapped air is expected to
escape out through the vent pins.
Blue color - air in the component
Transparent color -complete liquid metal
Green color - mixture of liquid metal and air

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Solidification Analysis (Progressive solidification)
Observation-
The highlighted
shrinkage locations
are the locations of
vent pins thereby
taking care of
shrinkage defects.
Result interpretation-
Fraction solid (Fs = 0) - Represents complete liquid metal
Fraction solid (Fs = 1) - Represents complete solid metal
Between Fs= 0 and Fs=1, the color gradation shows a mixture of solid and liquid metal

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Shrinkage
• Shrinkage porosities are present but few mm (around 7.5-10mm) below the surface
Min depth is 7.5mm from
this surface & 17mm from
other surface
Min depth is 10mm
from this surface and
15mm from other

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Summary
• Pouring temperature and die preheat temp
optimized using ADSTEFAN
• Vent pins location, size, and number were
optimized using ADSTEFAN for air evacuation.
• Porosities were restricted internal locations at
internal locations, 7.5mm below the surface.
(which was acceptable to end customer in this
case)

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COMPARISON

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902°C870°C
Temperature Distribution
Current Design Modified Design

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Air Entrapment
Current Design Modified Design

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Shrinkage
Current Design Modified Design

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To Succeed
• Knowledge of material bahaviour
• Casting Process
• Gating design
• Understanding of casting simulation technology
• Background to SOLVE PROBLEM

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ProSIM Can
Help
You to succeed

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High End
Casting Simulation Software
Affordable. Usable. Profitable.

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Die Temperature Analysis
Temperature distribution of die surface
More accurate
fluid flow analysis
is available by
using the
temperature
distribution of the
die, which is
acquired from
continuous
casting.
Enable to acquire
how many shots
are required to be
a steady state.
High pressure die
casting simulation.
Die temperature
analysis
Temperature Distribution inside of the
Die
After 1st
shot
Temperature
(degC)
Unsteady State Steady State (from 4th
shot)
Fluid flow analysis using
this temperature
distribution
1 Cycle Elapsed Time (s)
After 10th
shot

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HPDC : Temperature in Molten Metal in shot sleeve
(1) Time from pouring start:
0.67s (Filled ratio: 50.5%)
(2) Time from pouring start:
1.47s (Filled ratio: 77.4%)
(3) Time from pouring start:
1.6383s (Filled ratio: 83.0%)
(4) Time from pouring start:
1.6763s (Filled ratio: 86.0%)
(5) Time from pouring start:
1.7024s (Filled ratio: 94.8%)
(6) Time from pouring start:
1.7176s (Filled ratio: 100%)
[Condition 1] Pouring time: 1.7176s
(Metal rising speed: 0.2&2m/s)

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(1) Time from pouring
start: 8.3s (Filled ratio:
43.8%)
Red: liquidus line temp. or over
Blue: cessation of flow temp. or
lower
(2) Time from pouring
start:
9.0s (Filled ratio: 67.2%)
(3) Time from pouring
start:
9.3s (Filled ratio: 80.6%)
(4) Time from pouring
start: 10.1s(Filled ratio:
100%)
(Animation Display)
[Condition 1] Pouring time: 10s
(Metal rising speed: 7cm/s)
LPDC : Temperature in Molten Metal in a wheel casting

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Tilt Casting
Start from puddle
filled with molten metal
Start from filling
molten metal to puddle
Solidification analysis
after tilt casting
Shrinkage Porosities
Total Elements:
approx 0.75 million
Percentage of Casting Parts: approx
16%
Types of Analysis
(1) Filling Analysis
(2) Solidification
Analysis Time:
approx. 50min (Flow)
approx. 5min (Solidification)
(Used PC: Xeon 3.6GHz)
Used Memory: 24MB (Flow)
25MB (Solidification)
・ Tilt Analysis
・ Back-Pressure
Unsolidified
Solidified
High
Low

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Centrifugal Casting
Animation Display Static Display
300rpm
100rpm
This model shows that
timing to be filled of each
part is changed by speed
of rotation.
Total Elements:
about 1.2 million
Percentage of Casting Parts:
about 8%
Contents of Analysis
・ Filling Analysis
(Centrifugal Analysis)
・ Thermal Analysis
(Temp. Drop)
Analysis Time: about 2.8h
(Used PC: Xeon 3.6 GHz)
Used Memory ： 290MB

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THANK YOU
For your casting simulation and gating design optimization needs
Contact:
casting@pro-sim.com
ProSIM R&D Pvt. Ltd.,
#4, 1st
B Main, 1st
N Block, Rajajinagar, Bangalore - 560010, India
Phone: +91-80-233 230 20 / 412 777 92-93