Studies on Flow Characteristics at High-Pressure Die-Casting

The flow and filling characteristics during injection of liquid aluminum during high-pressure die-casting is studied threefoldly: a) analytically, b) experimentally and c) numerically. A planar jet of liquid aluminum is formed at the ingate due to its small width (≈ O(10-3) m), its high aspect ratio (≈ 100) and high inlet velocity (up to 60 m/s). One the one hand, wavy disintegration of such a jet can inevitably lead to cold runs in the final casting. On the other hand, a high degree of atomization may strongly increase the porosity of the casting part. Both processes can highly reduce the mechanical stability of the product. Analytical investigations of Ohnesorge (or equivalently Weber) and Reynolds numbers show that the process of drop formation at the liquid planar free jet is dominated by atomization assuming an orifice nozzle geometry at the ingate. From a simple experimental investigation of an equivalent free jet of water, however, it is deduced that the process of drop formation can be changed to wavy disintegration by the nozzle geometry. Numerically, high-pressure die-casting is attacked by a Volume of Fluid approach. Although the drop formation at the phase interphase can not be captured by the numerical model since the drops are an order of magnitude smaller than feasible grid spacings, the global spreading of the free jet in the casting mold is well pictured by this first numerical simulation. In addition, a new approach is presented to detect cold runs at the final casting. Finally, the presented studies lead to an increased understanding of high pressure die casting and can help to improve the quality of casting products.