Advanced Materials Research Online: 2013-09-04

ISSN: 1662-8985, Vols. 785-786, pp 1212-1215

doi:10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMR.785-786.1212
© 2013 Trans Tech Publications Ltd, Switzerland

Simulation of filling and solidification processes of Rump Pan by

Procast
Liang Tao1, Qu Yinhu1, Liu Xinfeng1, Wang Feng1, Zhang Minhua2
1
School of Electromechanical Engineering, Xi’an Polytechnic University
Xi’an Shangxi Province,P.R.China,710048
2
Xi’an Aeronautical Polytechnic Institute
Xi’an, Shaanxi province, P. R. China, 710089
a
email: quyinhu@sina.com, bquyinhu@xpu.edu.cn

Keyword: procast;shrinkage cavity; shrinkage porosity ; filling process ;solidification ;Rump Pan
Abstract：：The rump pan is the body and the load-carry device of Scraper conveyer. the material is
ZG30MnSi. In order to improve the life of the casting.this paper simulated filling and solidification
process of rump pan by Procast software,and predicted the position of shrinkage cavity and
shrinkage porosity in castings.Then through improving gating system and add reasonable risers,
optimal process parameters scheme is got.

Introduction
The rump pan is an important component in the scraper conveyor. In order to optimize the process
and improve the quality of the casting and product rate. Pouring of rump pan is simulated,position
of defect is predicted by Procast software.
Procast can simulate the flow process of metal casting.The short filling, cold shut and wrapped
gas are exactly showed by Procast, shrinkage cavity, shrinkage porosity and the microstructural
changes are predict in casting process. most the defects that may be arise in the casting production
are simulated and analyse, and liquid flow in the cavity are directly observed by Procast.
Generation of rump pan model
3D model of the rump pan
Fig.1 is steel castings of rump pan. it's medium steel casting, the outline size is 1750*310*375,its
weight is 550kg. sand casting is used to produce the rump pan. According to the characteristics of
castings outline, six blind risers are placed on most thick section and locations two side of the
castings. According to the formula of feeding distance L=4.5T(T stand for thickness of steel
castings,plate steel casting)[3], size of six blind risers 150*225*260 are used.

Fig.1 Rump pan

Generation of Procast mesh： ： The 3D model of the casting is build by pro/e software, then
converted into IGES format which Procast can identification. the finite element mesh is
autogenerated in meshcast module of procast. when mesh is partite in the meshcast, the width of the
mesh must be set.the smaller the width,the more accurate of calculation,but the greater the amount
of calculation. on the basis of the size of the castings, suitable width for the accuracy of simulation
is choose, and try to reduce the workload. Due to the width of the mesh should be less than the
minimum of casting width, so the width of the mesh of castings is set to 15. the width of the mesh
of the gating system is set to 10.The mesh quality directly affect the result of simulation. staggered

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 Advanced Materials Research Vols. 785-786 1213

mesh is checked after surface mesh generated, if some staggered meshes are found, the volume
mesh can not generated .Then surface mesh must is repaired. after finishing of surface mesh,
volume mesh is partited in next window. bad units and Neg-Jac unit is checked in the generated
surface mesh,if there is any bad units ,the bad unit and Neg-Jac must are modified. until the number
of the bad unit and Neg-Jac is zero,then the volume mesh can be generated. According to the result
of mesh generation,total number of nodes is 58099,total number of elements is 268582.
Determination of thermal parameters of material and technological parameter of casting： ：
Process parameter is set in Procast module,and material of ZG30MnSi was select.material
assignment:this is performed in the material/assign. the material is added after click 'add to'.
Interfaces assignment:once the material are defined,one should defined the interfaces with the
interface menu. heat transfer coefficient is recommended in procast between the various materials.
Here the heat transfer coefficient is 500w/m2*k between casting and sand mold. Boundary condition
assignment:the liquidus of ZG30MnSi is 1498˚C .so the pouring temperature is set at 1560˚C .Sand
mould temperature is 25˚C .pouring rate is 15kg/s. type of cooling is air cooling. run parameters
assignment:max number of step is 6000. gravity filling is selected in preferences menu.
Filling simulation of the casting
Filling process is the most important during casting process. Many casting defects are closely
related to the filling process such as short filling,cold shut,wrapped gas, etc.. flow of the liquid in
the cavity is display by Procast software. Founding of the postition of defects in the casting is great
significance to optimize the gating system.
Determination of the pouring position： ：According to the features of the castings, gating system is
designed. the casting is very long, so cold shut and misrun defects arise easily when pouring from
one side. the core and cavity are complex with bottom pouring process .And the big surface shuld
be set on underpart of casting process. so central pouring is superior to top pouring and bottom
pouring. Size of Sprue gate is Φ60mm,size of cross gate is Φ35mm,and size of ingate is Φ30mm.In
Fig.2, the liquid is pouring into the cavity by above gating system. The cavity had filled after 57S.
Temperature of the liquid stay above 1498˚C in the meantime. Therefore, the phenomenon of cold
shut is not appear.

filling 20s filling 47s

Fig.2 Filling process
Determination of the pouring rate and pouring time： ：The pouring rate have a great influence on
the quality of the castings. when the pouring rate is rapid, liquid turbulence is prone to emerge, the
oxide inclusion and the gas be difficult to discharge in the mold. when the pouring rate is too slow,
it is prone to cold shuts, misrun etc.. Therefore, pouring rate must be appropriate.
Pouring time( t) is calculated using follow formula[4].
t = S 13 δ Gcastings (1)
S1——coefficient, Usually take 2, fast gating use 1.7-1.9
δ ——The minimum wall thickness of castings
Gcastings——The total weight of the casting liquid
The pouring time (t) is 47 seconds from above the formula. pouring rate is worked out by the
size of the sprue and the volume of the casting.
：
Simulation and analysis of the filling process Fig.3 is velocity field of the casting process.

Y direction of the velocity x direction of the velocity

Fig.3 Velocity graph
1214 Current Trends in the Development of Industry

In Fig.3, the liquid steadily go up in the y direction. and the liquid flow rate is steady in the x
direction. that is not produce clamp-off. so the pouring temperature and pouring rate are appropriate
for the castings.
On the basis of above analysis, three ingates are put in broadside of the castings. six blind risers
are placed on both sides in the castings. size of blind risers are 160*225*260 which are placed in
the middle of the castings, size of other blind risers are 150*240*210. The total weight of castings,
the gating system and risers are 800kg. Pouring time is 47S. Parting surface is put in middle plane
of the casting.
Simulation of solidification of castings
Shrinkage cavity and shrinkage porosity are the main defect in the castings. And these defects
formed in solidification process of casting. Therefore, it is very important to accurately predict
shrinkage cavity and shrinkage porosity. but solidification process of the casting is very complex, it
include a series of process such as heat transfer, momentum transfer, mass transfer and phase
transformation etc..
Procast provides a variety of methods that based on unstable heat transfer calculation, such as:
temperature gradient method, solid rate gradient method, coagulation time gradient method, Niyama
criterion method and criterion that Procast software attached a method related to density , etc..
Procast can confirm the location of Shrinkage cavity and shrinkage porosity,and calculate feeding
length related to shrinkage porosity and shrinkage cavity.

Fig.5 Position of shrinkage cavity without risers

The place of final filling and most thick section of castings are solidified at the last moment.
These parts are also the most prone to produce shrinkage cavity. The results of simulation shows in
viewcast module of the procast software.In Fig.5, shrinkage cavity in the castings are evident. So
the blind risers shoud be set in two side of the shrinkage cavity.

Fig.6 Solidification process of casting

Fig.6 is picture of solidification process of casting. In the Fig.6 underpart of castings solidify at
first,and six blind risers solidify at last. so the riser design is reasonable and sequence solidification
emerge in the castings from above picture.so the blind risers have a good effect for feeding the
castings.
The shrinkage cavity of Fig.7 is less than that of Fig.5. the position of the shrinkages cavity are
saw clearly. position 1,2 is shrinkage cavity in Fig.7 (a).these defects are located between two blind
riers and hot spots. so risers have not the effect of feeding. cold irons should are set for accelerating
the cooling. the solidification process of castings is improved in order to make the casting to
solidified before riser.
 Advanced Materials Research Vols. 785-786 1215

4
3

1 2

(a) (b)
Fig.7 Position of shrinkage cavity with risers
Position 3,4 is shrinkage cavity in Fig.7(b). And these defects are located underpart and thick
parts of castings. So risers have not the effect of feeding. cold iron should be added in side
shrinkage cavity.
One part of the shrinkage cavity are transfered to the outside of part important of the castings,
Another part of the shrinkage cavity of casting is eliminated after the optimizations of casting
process, the process of simulation have better effect.In Fig.8, the shrinkage cavity is transfered to
the site of the risers after add cold iron.and the shrinkage cavity disappear in the important position
of castings.

Fig.8 The shrinkage cavity after optimization

Conclusion
The flow field and temperature field of rump pan of scraper conveyer are observed in casting
process by Procast.the shrinkage cavity of the castings is predicted.the characteristic of the postion
of the shrinkage cavity are analysed. Then, blind risers and cold irons are set.pouring rate and
pouring temperature are optimized, the shrinkage cavity was eliminated in important position at last.
It is important role for improving quality of the castings and reducing production cost.

References
[1] Bai-ku Yu Wen-di BAI: Numerical simulation of temperature field in casting solidication [J].
China Foundry Machinery&Technology, 2002(2), 16-19
[2] HongYing Li,Cheng-Zhi Zhao:foundry technology[M]. First edition,beijing..2005.2.182-185
[3] Chang-sheng Zhu, Zhi-ping Wang, Chang-feng Zhu, Validation of Feeding Capacity of Large
Steel Gear Based On ProCAST [J]. China Foundry Machinery & Technology, 2003(6),47-49