Die casting modeling capabilities

By Charles Monroe
 Charles Monroe, PhD

• Assistant Professor at the University of Alabama

at Birmingham (2012-present)
• Senior Research Engineer at Caterpillar Inc. in the
Materials Processing Group (2008-2011)
• PhD and MS work at University of Iowa on topic of
Hot Tearing (2003-2008)
• Undergrad at Penn State (1999-2003)
 Multi-scale modeling exists because no
single model can predict all the behavior
What is simulation?
 What simulations are you doing?
• Pick all that apply to the process design
common in your shop?
1. No time (shop floor reasoning)
2. Spreadsheet and rules of thumb
3. 3-D cad and full process model (Magma, Flow3d,
Procast)
Simulation is an approximation of reality

Depth
d2=64ft

d1=16ft

Time
t1=1s t2=2s

Depth
Simulation is an approximation of reality

32 2
D= t
2

Depth
Simulation is an approximation of reality

32 2
D= t
2

About 4ft off or

~10%

Depth
 Simulation is an approximation of reality

• Level of detail
– Important factors
• Reason for problems
• Hints for investigation
– Not multi-scale
• Models
– Relatively simple
– Limited to the considered Depth
effects
 Simulation research is focused on
Filling, Solidification, and Stress
FLOW, FILLING, FLUID

SOLIDIFICATION, TEMPERATURE, THERMAL,HEAT,COOLING

DISTORTION, STRUCTURAL, STRESSES, STRESS, DEFLECTIONS,

MECHANICAL

POROSITY, GAS, SHRINKAGE, MICROPOROSITY

DEFECTS, SCRAP

THIN, THINWALLED

PERFORMANCE

VENTING

FLUIDTHERMALSTRUCTURAL, FLOWINDUCED

FORGING

MICROSTRUCTURE

TRAPPEDAIR

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25%

Filling, Solidification, and Stress allow us
to investigate all the process problems

Pentium I
in 1996

paper 97-012
 Simulation correlates to porosity
qualitatively

Comparison of Microporosity picture

Simulation correlates to temperature
and distortion qualitatively
Simulation correlates to filling pattern
qualitatively
 At the basic level all models are
conservation equations.
• Die casting machine compared to HVAC

Heating

qin E qout

Cooling

E(T ) = qin - qout

Three conservation laws are used.
• Energy; Temperature and Solidification
• Mass; Segregation and Shrinkage
• Momentum; Distortion and Flow

Heating

qin E qout

Cooling
How do I simulate?
 How do I simulate?
• Do you match your simulation geometry and
process variables to shop floor practice?
1. Yes - Always
2. Yes - Only when problems are found
3. No
4. Not sure
Producing a simulation result follows a pattern.

• Project definition
• Preprocessor
– Geometry
– Process inputs
• Meshing
• Simulation (waiting)
• Postprocessor
A useful simulation begins with a clear project
definition.

Example Die Casting Simulation Contract

Project Name: Simulation of part 1234 at

typical production conditions

Project description: Finding last point of fill

for part 1234. Simulation does not include
vents.

Project Short Name: part1234

Version: 01
Without the “right” geometry as produced on
the shop floor, you cannot expect to get
comparable results.
Without the “right” geometry as produced on
the shop floor, you cannot expect to get
comparable results.
• Requires realistic input for simulation
to work
– Machined features
– Missing features
– Wrong Runner system
– Venting
– Thermal lines
• “80% of problems with non-
comparable simulation results come
from the wrong geometry/mesh”
Process inputs also matter. Without validation
you cannot expect to get comparable results.
• Process input
• Pressure shot profile
• Times for opening, closing, spray, etc.
• Temperatures
• Dramatically impact results
– Spray cooling example
– Magnitude or Pattern
Changing the Spray time changes porosity
• Average pore fraction for varying amounts of spray applied to the runner.

tspray = 0.0 s tspray = 1.0 s tspray = 3.0 s tspray = 4.0 s

4.5 Casting

t spray Runner

3.5

Average pore fraction, gp,avg (%)

gp,avg = gp,avg = gp,avg = gp,avg =
1.11% 1.72% 2.46% 2.68% 3

2.5

1.5

0.5
tpi = 3.40 s tpi = 2.33 s tpi = 1.80 s tpi = 1.60 s
tfc = 7.04 s tfc = 4.63 s tfc = 2.80 s tfc = 2.40 s 0
0 1 2 3 4
Runner spray time, tr,spray (s)
Know your assumptions and simplifications. They are
important for determining general trends and should
be checked.
• Need to include die spray?
– Heat transfer coefficients are fudge factors for
matching thermal conditions.
• Need to include filling?
– If filling does not impact the solidification
significantly, leave it out.
• Cooling lines
– Steady state conditions
Meshing is the process of decomposing
geometry into smaller pieces for calculating
conservation equations.
Heating

qin E qout

Cooling
 Meshing can cause problems with the geometry
• Example: Ingate problem
1.5“

Actual Area
0.06“
0.09 in2

1.5“ (60 elements)

Simulation Area
0.113 in2 0.075“
(3 elements)

Q = VA
0.025 in X 0.025 in
Meshing can cause problems with the geometry
• Example: Ingate velocity
• Flow in pipe minimum 3 cells
There are differences between meshing
techniques.

Control Volume Finite Element

• Not boundary fitted (Does
not Match Shape)
• Easy to get a quality mesh
(more accurate internally)
• Conservative on element
level
• Boundary fitted (Matched
Shape)
• Not easy to get good mesh
(not as accurate internally)
• Not conservative on the
element level
 Running the simulations takes time.
• 5 ways to more productive simulations
– Stopping simulation short
• Run one step to ensure the setup is correct
• Ingate behavior during filling (Flow Angle, Rate, Etc)
• Simulated Short Shot
(Simulation slows down for last 10% full)
• Solidification of thin sections
– Coarse meshes
• Faster at a cost of lower resolution
(80% accurate in 10% of the time)
 4 things to do
• Make sure you are running the right
simulation
• Make sure the inputs are equivalent to shop
floor
• Check geometry and the mesh
• Check the results compared to important
factors in reality
 Attend the next 2 webinars
1. Deep Dive into the modeling specifics: What is the
difference between Procast and Magma?
– Model fundamentals including FEM versus CVM
– Major strengths
• Temperature
• Flow (mass conservation) hide error pressure
– Summary Slides for Magma, Ekk, flow-3d, Novacast, etc.
2. Major simulation limitations
– Spray model
– Flow length
– Cooling lines
– Heating loads (steady state or cycle interruptions)
 Questions
Name: Charles Monroe
Phone: 205-975-4128
Email: camonroe@uab.edu