Trans Indian Inst Met (2017) 70(10):2563–2570

DOI 10.1007/s12666-017-1119-5

TECHNICAL PAPER

Optimization of Stirring Parameters Using CFD Simulations

for HAMCs Synthesis by Stir Casting Process
Mohit Kumar Sahu1 • Raj Kumar Sahu1

Received: 7 January 2017 / Accepted: 15 March 2017 / Published online: 7 April 2017
 The Indian Institute of Metals - IIM 2017

Abstract Hybrid aluminum matrix composites (HAMCs) Abbreviations

are capable to meet recent demands of advanced engi- H Height of crucible
neering applications due to its tunable mechanical prop- H1 Height of cylindrical portion
erties and lower cost. Stir casting is one of the prominent H2 Height of bottom curved portion
and economical method for processing of continuous D1 Top diameter of crucible
reinforced HAMCs. In this method, flow pattern is the key D2 Bottom diameter of crucible
factor for distribution of particles in the molten metal. d Impeller blade diameter
Effective flow pattern can be achieved by optimizing stir- a Impeller blade angle
ring parameters i.e. blade angle, impeller size and stirring S1 Area of stagnant zone in cylinderical part of the
speed. However, complete study and optimization of flow crucible
is a challenge for research community. Finite element S2 Area of dead zone in the bottom part of the crucible
method simulation along with optimization technique is SC Area of cylinder part of the crucible
one of the effective combination to guide experimental SB Area of in bottom part of the crucible
research. In this paper, computational fluid dynamics has S/N Signal to noise
been used to simulate fluid flow during stir casting, DOF Degree of freedom
whereas optimization of stirring parameters is done by
Grey Taguchi method. Optimized parameters have been
used for experimental synthesis of HAMCs. Furthermore,
optical micrograph and hardness confirms about the uni-
1 Introduction
form dispersion of reinforcements. These results may guide
the researchers for the preparation of HAMCs with uniform
Aluminium matrix composites (AMCs) belong to metal
particle distribution by stir casting route for industrial
matrix composites (MMCs) category possessing alu-
applications.
minium alloy as matrix material. It is used in automobiles,
aerospace, defence and other engineering and advance
Keywords Hybrid aluminum matrix composite 
applications due to its tunable properties like low density,
Stir casting  Stirring parameter  Flow behavior 
high stiffness and strength, higher wear resistance, con-
Uniform distribution  CFD Simulation 
trolled co-efficient of thermal expansion, higher fatigue
Grey–Taguchi method
resistance, better stability at elevated temperature etc.
[1, 2]. Whereas, hybrid aluminium matrix composites
(HAMCs) are second generation of composites which
& Raj Kumar Sahu consist of more than one reinforcement. HAMCs holds two
raj.mit.mech@gmail.com categories of reinforcements i.e. primary and secondary
reinforcements. Optimal combination of reinforcements
1
National Institute of Technology Raipur, G. E. Road, Raipur, provide superior properties over single reinforced AMCs
Chhattisgarh 492010, India

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and conventional aluminium alloy [1, 3]. Besides, HAMCs
are replacing these materials in aerospace, automotive,
structural and non-structural applications due to its light
weight, high temperature resistance, better mechanical
properties and low cost [1, 4]. Furthermore, ceramics and
industrial waste as primary and secondary reinforcements
offer better or equivalent properties than single reinforced
AMCs [1].
Ceramic reinforcements hold superior strength than any
other type of reinforcement, thus these are used as a primary
reinforcements [1]. Secondary reinforcement as industrial
waste reduces the cost of the composite as these are readily
available all over the world, which are also capable of
increasing the mechanical properties [1, 4, 5]. In this study
aluminium alloy 7075 has been selected as matrix material
due to its excellent properties like very high tensile strength,
high toughness, high temperature resistance and is preferred
in aerospace and automobile applications [6].
Boron carbide and fly-ash have been selected as primary
and secondary reinforcements respectively. Boron carbide
possesses low density, good chemical stability and high
hardness, while wear properties of the composite improves
when it is reinforced with aluminium 7075 alloy [7–10].
Fly ash is inexpensive industrial-waste and available in
huge amount in many industrialized nations. Usage of fly-
ash as a secondary reinforcement reduces the cost of the
composite as it is cheaper than other ceramic reinforce-
ments [3, 11, 12]. The specific application of Al 7075/B4C/
Fly-ash is in automobile engines due to high temperature
resistance, good wear resistance, light weight etc. How-
ever, selection of processing route also plays vigorous role
over the properties of composites.
There are several techniques available for the fabrica-
tion of HAMCs, out of which stir casting is the most
prominent and economical method for industrial produc-
tion due to uniform distribution of reinforcement, fine
microstructures because of fast cooling, less porosity and
good quality bonding among particle and the base matrix
alloy [3, 13, 14]. In this method, incorporation of small
sized reinforcements particles into aluminum melt tends to
accumulatie the particles. Whereas, stagnant zone in the
cylindrical portion and dead zone in the bottom curved
portion are responsible for particle accumulation. Further,
accumulation results in non homogeneous distribution of
particles. However, homogeneous dispersion of reinforce-
ment particles can be achieved by reducing stagnant and
dead zones [15]. Moreover, flow characteristics of molten
metal inside the crucible is controlled by stirring parame-
ters i.e. blade angle, impeller size, and stirring speed. To
understand the effect of these controlling factors over flow
of reinforcements, many water model experimentation and
numerical simulation studies have been done [2, 15–19].
Study and optimization of flow behavior for the
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Trans Indian Inst Met (2017) 70(10):2563–2570
minimization of stagnant and dead zones by actual exper-
imental setup of stir-casting is nearly impossible due to
very high working temperature. Moreover, incorporation of
all relevant parameters are not possible, whereas it is also
very expensive and time consuming [15].Then how to
optimize the stirring parameters for effective flow pattern
and homogeneous dispersion of reinforcements particles
into the melt?
It is well known that finite element method (FEM) based
computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is a suitable tool to
study flow pattern inside the vessel and widely used in
chemical industries [20, 21]. Besides, Grey–Taguchi
method is a multi-response optimization technique which
combines grey relational and Taguchi method together.
This method is broadly used for optimization of process
parameters of machining, drilling, upsetting etc. [22, 23].
Previous studies have concentrated on the effects of the
stirring speed, impeller position, blade angle, and impeller
diameter on the flow pattern [15, 19], but optimal combi-
nation of significant parameters is still imprecise and
challenging.
To overcome these challenges, FEM based computa-
tional fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation software was used
to study the flow behavior of melt inside the crucible while
optimization of stirring parameters was done by Grey
Taguchi method. Optimization of stirring parameters were
performed to achieve effective flow without stagnant and
dead zone. Moreover, HAMCs were fabricated by stir
casting route at optimal setting of stirring parameters.
Furthermore, microstructure analysis and hardness test
were done in order to verify validity of the CFD simulation
and Grey–Taguchi method in stir casting. Thus the current
work aimed at guiding the researchers to optimize stirring
parameters for industrial fabrication of HAMCs.
2 Simulation and Optimization Details
Simulation of fluid flow inside the crucible was done by
finite element analysis using ANSYS Fluent- CFD soft-
ware. Practical graphite crucible was constructed as theo-
retical model for stir casting. Theoretical model of graphite
crucible as shown in Fig. 1, which comprised of two por-
tions i.e. cylindrical portion and bottom curved portion.
Top diameter and bottom diameter of the crucible were 210
and 140 mm respectively. Height of the cylindrical portion
and curved bottom portion of the crucible were 275 and
105 mm respectively, whereas total height of the fluid was
380 mm [15]. Moreover, Processing of HAMCs using stir
casting commonly used single impeller stirrer. Hence in
this study, single impeller stirrer with four turbine blade
impeller was used. Three different blade angles 30, 45,
60 were selected as a mixer. The width and thickness of
Trans Indian Inst Met (2017) 70(10):2563–2570 2565

Table 1 Input parameters and their levels

Input parameters Symbol Level 1 Level 2 Level 3

Blade angle () a 30 45 60

Impeller size (mm) d 0.5 D 0.6 D 0.75 D
Stirring speed (rpm) N 500 550 600

Table 2 Design of experiments based on L9 orthogonal array and

response values
Trial Blade Impeller Stirring Stagnant Dead
angle (a) size (d) speed (N) zone (%) zone (%)

1 1 1 1 62.85 16.54
2 1 2 2 63.26 16.72
3 1 3 3 55.49 17.34
4 2 1 2 65.18 15.65
5 2 2 3 59.82 16.64
6 2 3 1 55.01 10.23
Fig. 1 Geometrical model of crucible-stirrer setup
7 3 1 3 64.57 9.93
8 3 2 1 63.61 10.34
the blades in the impeller were constant for all the blade 9 3 3 2 55.14 5.44
angles. The flat blade impeller diameter d with three dif-
ferent sizes 0.5 D, 0.6 D, and 0.75 D was used, where
D was the diameter of the crucible, and the blade width was
given in the form of flow pattern, which was realistically
equal to 0.05 D. Moreover three different stirring speed
indicated by the velocity vectors. The unaffected portion in
500, 550 and 600 rpm were selected. Further, In order to
the main flow inside the crucible was determined by the
prevent agglomeration of reinforcement particles, the
velocity pattern and was considered as the undesirable zone
position of the stirrer should be selected less than 30% of
for reinforcement-melt mixing system. In order to optimize
total height of the crucible from bottom [18].
stirring parameters to get effective flow pattern, the quan-
In this study, the position of stirrer was selected as 25%
tifiable values of undesirable zones i.e. stagnant and dead
of total height of the crucible. Designed model of stirring
zones were required. So as to quantify undesired zone,
system was used for further simulation. Tetrahedron pat-
volume fraction of stagnant and dead zones were deter-
tern was used for assembly meshing. In the current setup,
mined by the planimetry analysis:
crucible wall was taken as boundary and was indicated as
stationary, smooth and frictionless wall. There was no Volume fraction of Stagnant Zone
210 R 3:14
degree of wetting between molten aluminum and graphite
S1 dl
crucible [19]. The top surface of the fluid was kept free at
atmospheric pressure. The density and viscosity of molten ¼ 210 0 3:14  100% ð1Þ
R
aluminum were taken constant as 2.30 g/cm3 and SC dl
0
0.001 Pa S respectively [15]. K-epsilon turbulence model
210 R
 3:14
was used for stirrer system [15].
S2 dl
Explained model was used for simulation of designed 0
trials based on L9 orthogonal array. This orthogonal array Volume fraction of Dead Zone ¼ 210 R
 3:14
 100%
was selected on the basis of the number of input parameters SB dl
0
and levels. Present study consisted of three input parame-
ters i.e. blade angle, impeller size and stirring speed along ð2Þ
with three levels as listed in Table 1. The design of trials where S1 is the area of axial cross section of stagnant zone
according to L9 array is shown in Table 2. Whereas, vol- in cylindrical part, S2 is the area of axial cross section of
ume fraction of stagnant zone and dead zone were selected dead zone in the bottom curved portion, SC is area of
as two responses. The objective for optimization was to cylinder portion of axial cross section, and SB is area of
minimize these undesirable zones. [22]. bottom curved portion of the axial cross section [15].
Simulations of designed trials were performed using These quantitative values of volume fraction were fur-
ANSYS 14.5 software. The results of the simulations were ther used to optimize stirring parameters during stir-

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casting process by Grey–Taguchi method. The outcome of
optimization were: (1) combinations of optimal parameters,
(2) percentage contribution of parameters using ANOVA.
3 Results and Discussion
3.1 Flow Pattern
Flow pattern, that is in terms of velocity pattern achieved
from CFD simulation are shown in Fig. 2. Undesirable
zones i.e. stagnant and dead zones can be seen in flow
patterns for nine trials as per the L9 design. But quantita-
tive measurement of these zones are unclear from the
patterns. Therefore, further calculations of volume fraction
of these zones have been done using Eqs. (1) and (2) and
results are listed in Table 2.
It can be seen from Table 2 that the least value of
stagnant zone is achieved for trial 6, whereas for dead zone
it is for trial 9. From these data, it is unclear that which
combination of parameters will minimize stagnant zone as
well as dead zone. Therefore optimization is required.
(a) Trial1: α = 30 ; d = 0.5D; N = 500 rpm (b) Trial 2: α = 30 ; d = 0.6D; N = 550 rpm
(d) Trial 4: α = 45 ; d = 0.5D; N = 550 rpm (e) Trial 5: α = 45 ; d = 0.6D; N = 600 rpm
(g) Trial 7: α = 60 ; d = 0.5D; N = 600 rpm (h) Trial 8: α = 60 ; d = 0.6D; N = 500 rpm
Fig. 2 Flow pattern trials based on L9 orthogonal array design
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Trans Indian Inst Met (2017) 70(10):2563–2570
3.2 Optimization of Stirring Parameters
Grey–Taguchi is a multi-response optimization tool which
combines Taguchi method and grey relational analysis.
Taguchi method uses signal -to- noise ratios as quality
indicator, higher values show better performance. Whereas,
in Grey–Taguchi method, grey relational grades (GRG) are
calculated and treated as quality indicator which is scat-
tered around the target value [23]. This method involves
following steps [22]:
Step 1 Calculation of S/N ratio: S/N ratio of stagnant
zone and dead zone have been calculated as smaller the
better by using Eq. (3). Calculated values of S/N ratio is
listed in Table 3.
!
1X n
2
g ¼ 10 log10 y ð3Þ
n i¼1 ij
where n, number of replications; yij, observed response
value where i = 1, 2…n; j = 1, 2…k.
This equation is termed as the smaller-the-better type
problem where minimization of the response is required.
(c) Trial 3: α = 45 ; d = 0.75D; N = 600 rpm
(f) Trial 6: α = 45 ; d = 0.75D; N = 500 rpm
(i) Trial 9: α = 60 ; d = 0.75D; N = 550 rpm
Trans Indian Inst Met (2017) 70(10):2563–2570 2567

Table 3 S/N ratio and Normalized S/N ratio of responses 3. Doj ¼ jjyo ðkÞ  yj ðkÞjj is the absolute value of the
Trial S/N ratios Normalized S/N ratios
difference between yo(k) and yj(k).
4. n is the distinguishing coefficient, where ð0  n  1Þ,
Stagnant zone Dead zone Stagnant zone Dead zone the value may be adjusted based on practical needs of
1 -35.967 -24.370 0.786 0.959 the system.
2 -36.023 -24.465 0.824 0.969 5. Dmin ¼ min min jjyo ðkÞ  yj ðkÞjj is the smallest value
8j2i 8k
3 -34.884 -24.780 0.051 1.000 of yj(k).
4 -36.282 -23.891 1.000 0.912 6. Dmax ¼ max max jjyo ðkÞ  yj ðkÞjj is the largest value
8j2i 8k
5 -35.537 -24.426 0.494 0.965 of yj(k).
6 -34.809 -20.199 0.000 0.545 Step 4 Calculation of grey relational grades: grey rela-
7 -36.201 -19.942 0.945 0.520 tional grade have been calculated using Eq. 6
8 -36.070 -20.290 0.856 0.554
1X m
9 -34.829 -14.709 0.014 0.000 cj ¼ c ð6Þ
k i¼1 ij

Where cj the grey relational grade for the jth experiment
Table 4 Grey Relation Coefficient and gray relational grades
and k is the number of performance characteristic.
Trial Grey relational coefficients Grey relational Grades Calculated grey relational grades have been used to find
Stagnant zone Dead zone optimal combination of parameters using response table.
Further ANOVA analysis has been done to get percentage
1 0.700 0.925 0.813 significance of parameters.
2 0.740 0.941 0.841
3 0.345 1.000 0.673 3.2.1 Optimal Combination of Parameters
4 1.000 0.850 0.925
5 0.497 0.934 0.716 The higher grey relational grade denotes the better per-
6 0.333 0.524 0.428 formance. Thus, optimal levels for controllable factors are
7 0.901 0.510 0.705 determined on the basis of grey relational grade. Table 5
8 0.777 0.529 0.653 shows response table of grey relational grades (GRG). A
9 0.336 0.333 0.335 graph between grey relational grades and level of param-
eters are drawn as shown in Fig. 3. From the fig., the
Step 2 Calculation of Normalized S/N ratio: the calcu-
lated values of signal-to-noise ratios are required to be Table 5 Response Table of grey relational grades
normalized, Zij (where ð0  Zij  1Þ), using smaller the
Factors Symbol 1 2 3 (D) Rank
better characteristics to avoid the effect of adopting dif-
ferent units and to reduce the variability. Thus, this nor- Blade angle a 0.775 0.690 0.564 0.211 2
malization is known as grey relational generation. Impeller size D 0.814 0.736 0.479 0.336 1
Normalized values of S/N ratios have been calculated using Stirring speed N 0.631 0.700 0.698 0.069 3
Eq. (4) and listed in Table 3.
maxðyij ; i ¼ 1; 2; . . .nÞ  yij
Zij ¼ ð4Þ
maxðyij ; i ¼ 1; 2; . . .nÞ  minðyij ; i ¼ 1; 2; . . .nÞ
This equation uses smaller -the- better characteristics.
Step 3 Calculation of grey relational co-efficient: grey
relational coefficients of stagnant zone and dead zone have
been calculated by Eq. 5 and listed in Table 4.
Dmin þ nDmax
cðyo ðkÞ; yi ðkÞÞ ¼ ð5Þ
Doj ðkÞ þ nDmax
Where,
1. j = 1, 2,…, n; k = 1, 2,…, m; n is the number of
experimental data items and m is the number of responses.
2. yo(k) is the reference sequence (yo(k) = 1, k = 1, 2…,
m); yj(k) is the specific comparison sequence. Fig. 3 Response graph for each level of stirring parameters

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optimal level of parameters can be seen as a1 d1 N2 . Thus,

blade angle at level 1 i.e. 30, impeller size at level 1 i.e.
0.5 D and stirring speed of 550 rpm are achieved as opti-
mal setting for desired objective. ANOVA is further used
to determine percentage contribution of significant stirring
parameters.

3.2.2 Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)

ANOVA has been performed to test the significance of

each process parameters on multiple performance charac-
teristics. This test also gives percentage contribution of
each parameters. ANOVA has been performed using grey
relational grade obtained for stagnant zone and dead zone
and the results attained from ANOVA are listed in Table 6.
It can be concluded from Table 6 that the most significant
parameters affecting grey relational grade is impeller size Fig. 4 Flow pattern at optimal setting a1d1N2
(64.22%) followed by blade angle (23.41%) and stirring
speed (3.18%). Moreover, the results obtained from opti-
mization are required to be validated. Table 7 Results of stagnant and dead zones for initial and optimal
These results have further been used for validation of setting
applied tools i.e. CFD and Grey–Taguchi. Initial stirring Optimal stirring parameters
Parameters
Prediction Confirmation
test
4 Validation
Setting Level a2d2N3 a1d1N2 a1d1N2
In order to validate the results obtained from simulation Stagnant Zone 59.82 – 53.83
and optimization, confirmation through simulation as well Dead Zone 16.64 – 4.25
experimental confirmation is required. GRG 0.7156 0.9369 –

4.1 Confirmation Through Simulation a2d2N3, which are 59.82% and 16.64% respectively.
Moreover, Predicted value of grey relational grade have
Optimal setting a1d1N2 achieved from Grey–Taguchi been calculated by Eq. (7) and found to be 0.937 which is
method has been taken and confirmation simulation have higher than the initial value of grey relational grade i.e.
been done to see the flow pattern as shown in Fig. 4. 0.716, as listed in Table 7.
Stagnant zone and dead zone are again calculated by
X
k  
Eqs. (1) and (2). Quantitative values of stagnant zone and Y^ ¼ Ym þ Y^i  Ym ð7Þ
dead zone are found to be 53.83% and 4.25% respectively. i¼1
These value are lower than the values for initial setting
where Y^ is the predicted GRG, Ym is the total mean GRG,
and Yi is the mean value of the GRG at the optimal level
and k is the number of stirring parameters [23]. For further
Table 6 Analysis of variance table of grey relational grades validation of CFD and Grey–Taguchi results, HAMC have
been fabricated via optimal combination of stirring
Factors DOF Sum of Mean F test %
Square Square Contribution parameters.

Blade Angle 2 0.068 0.034 2.552 23.412 4.2 Confirmation Experiment

impeller Size 2 0.185 0.093 7.001 64.225
Stirring Speed 2 0.009 0.005 0.348 3.188 Al 7075 alloys were selected as the matrix and its chemical
Error 2 0.026 0.013 9.174 compositions are shown in Table 8. Boron carbide and fly-
Total 8 0.288 0.036 100.000 ash with average particle size of 16-20 lm and 1–2 lm
respectively were selected as the reinforcements. The
chemical composition of fly-ash is listed in Table 9. Al

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Table 8 Chemical composition of Al 7075 in weight percent

Zn Mg Cu Fe Si Cr Ni Al

5.85 2.04 1.12 0.20 0.40 0.33 0.23 Remaining

Table 9 Chemical composition of fly ash in weight percent

SiO2 Al2O3 MgO Fe2O3 TiO2 CaO K2O

61.04 24.96 0.57 6.84 2.82 1.0 2.77

Fig. 6 Hardness of casted HAMC at various location

reinforcements is further confirmed by uniform hardness

values.

4.2.2 Hardness Test

Brinell hardness test have been performed over casted

Fig. 5 Optical micrograph image of Al 7075/B4C/fly-ash composite
at 100X magnification
7075/B4C/fly-ash composite was fabricated using stir-
casting by selecting optimal setting of input parameters i.e.
blade angle 30, impeller size 0.5 D and stirring speed as
550 rpm. Stainless steel stirrer with melting point 1399 C,
was used in the stir-casting setup. K2TiF6 flux was added to
increase the wettability of the melt as it removes the oxide
layer from the aluminum surface [6]. Al 7075 was melted
in a crucible to 850 C and when the temperature was
30 C above pouring temperature, the stirrer was intro-
duced in molten metal and started stirring at 550 rpm.
Preheated boron carbide and fly-ash was then added in the
melt and stirring was continued for next 10 min. Then it
was poured in the mold [24]. By this, Al 7075/B4C/Fly-ash
composite was prepared. After the stirring process, the
stirrer condition was reported as un-deformed. In order to
validate the results, microstructure and hardness analysis
was done for the prepared composite.
4.2.1 Microstructure
Microstructural studies help to show dispersion of particles
and accumulation of particles over the composite. Figure. 5
shows optical micrograph image at 100X magnification of
casted composite, less clustering of reinforcement particles
and uniform distribution of reinforcements i.e. boron car-
bide and fly-ash can be seen. Uniform distribution of
composite at different position i.e. 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35
and 40 mm from one end of the sample in radial direction.
Variation of hardness values with respect to distance from
one end of the sample is shown in Fig. 6. It is clearly seen
that these variations are very less and provide uniform
hardness throughout the composite, which is due to uni-
form distribution of reinforcement particles throughout the
material.
5 Conclusion
Simulation and experimentation at optimal combination of
stirring parameters were performed. With the fabricated
composite, microstructural and hardness test were done and
following conclusions were drawn:
1. Simulation gives widespread understanding of flow
which shows validity of CFD in stir casting process.
2. For the production of Al 7075/B4C/Fly-ash composite
by stir casting, blade angle: 30, impeller size: 0.5 D
and stirring speed: 550 rpm are the suggested optimal
condition for uniform distribution.
3. From this analysis, it is revealed that blade angle,
impeller size and stirring speed are significant factors
which affect the distribution of reinforcement in stir
casting of HAMC. Influence of impeller size being
maximum (66.22%), followed by blade angle
(23.41%) and stirring speed (3.18%).
4. Simulation and experimentation based on optimum
values obtained from Grey–Taguchi method gives

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minimal values of stagnant and dead zones, and shows
uniform distribution of particles. Hence, Grey–Tagu-
chi method is very useful for optimization of stirring
parameters.
5. Optical micrograph image shows less agglomeration
and uniform distribution of boron carbide and fly-ash
particles in the composite. Further, Hardness test
shows uniformity throughout the composite which
confirms uniform distribution of particles.
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