A study on the investment casting of 17-4PH

stainless steel helical impeller of centrifugal

pump
P.-H. Huang*and M.-J. Guo
The complex shape of helical impellers in centrifugal pumps increases the difficulty of investment
casting. Determining means of predicting the form and location of defects in order to prevent the
formation of defects is crucial to the casting process. This study employed AnyCasting to
conduct flow analysis on the moulding of 17-4PH stainless steel impellers in centrifugal pumps.
We identified the mechanisms underlying the formation of shrinkage defects that occur during
pouring and solidification. To improve the casting process, the riser dimensions and gating
system were optimised based on data obtained from mathematical modelling, which took into
account the thermodynamic behaviour of the materials involved.
Keywords: Investment casting, Impeller, Shrinkage porosity, Stainless steel, Riser

Introduction sprue of 60 mm with two runners on the sides.

Impellers are the core components of centrifugal pumps.
During operations, impellers must endure vibration and
centrifugal forces, which impose tensile, compressive
and bending stresses upon the blades. Moreover, the
flow over external pinholes or micro-pores (as shown in
Fig. 1) often leads to pitting corrosions, which reduce
the efficiency of fluid transfer. Thus, eliminating internal
and surface defects in impeller blades is crucial to the pre-
vention of creep, fatigue failure and even breakdowns.
Casting flow analysis can be incorporated into the pre-
liminary design process to reduce the probability of
defects forming in investment casting (such as segre-
gation, surface pinholes, shrinkage cavities and porosity),
which can significantly enhance the quality of castings
and shorten the product development process. Several
methods have been developed to simulate the pouring
process in casting, including Semi-Implicit Method for
Pressure Linked Equations (SIMPLE),1 the marker and
cell (MAC) approach2 and the solution algorithm-
volume of fluid (SOLA-VOF) method.3 To enhance the
quality of impeller castings, this study used the mould
flow analysis technique in AnyCasting to simulate the
pouring process in order to optimise the gating system
and increase casting yield and productivity.
Methodology
The components used in the experiment included an
impeller mould with a diameter of 96.803 mm and a
Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Pingtung University of
Science and Technology, Pingtung 912, Taiwan, R. O. C
*Corresponding author, email phh@mail.npust.edu.tw
Figure 2a illustrates the initial design of the gating
system. 17-4PH stainless steel is adopted as the material
for the pump. The physical properties of the stainless
material are as follows: density (ρ) of 7750 kg m−3,
specific heat (S) of 459.45 J kg−1·°C, liquidus tempera-
ture (TP) of 1440°C, and solidus temperature (TS) of
1400°C. The coefficient of thermal expansion and the
thermal conductivity are varied significantly with temp-
erature, which are considered as variables. As to the phys-
ical parameters (such as the density, specific heat and
latent heat) having a limited change with temperature,
the properties are treated by constants in the simulation
software. The primary purpose in performing numerical
simulations of pouring and solidification processes was
to optimise the processing parameters and enable the pre-
diction and control of casting defects. Using SolidWorks
3D software, we developed a precise cell model of the
impeller blades and the gating system. The model was
then imported into AnyCasting for pre-treatment based
on the finite difference method (FDM). At discrete com-
putation nodes, we derived difference equations that
contain a finite number of unknowns. Solving the differ-
ence equations produced approximate analytical sol-
utions, which were used in the design of physical
parameters and process conditions in numerical simu-
lations. The convergence criterion for iterative calcu-
lations was <0.001. The occurrence probability of
defects was assessed in accordance with the retained
melt modulus (RMM)4 in conjunction with the Niyama
criterion model.5,6 During the pouring process, the
filling of molten metal involves non-isothermal flow
accompanied by heat transfer loss and solidification.
Various thermodynamic behaviours and flow field evol-
utions can be analysed according to the conservation of
mass, momentum and energy. The continuity equation,

© W. S. Maney & Son Ltd 2015

Received 25 November 2014; accepted 16 March 2015
DOI 10.1179/1432891715Z.0000000001924 Materials Research Innovations 2015 VOL 19 SUPPL 9 S9-77
Huang and Guo A study on the investment casting of 17-4PH stainless steel helical impeller of centrifugal pump

1 Typical defects formed in helical impeller of centrifugal pump: a internal shrinkage porosity; b surface defects

the Navier–Stokes equation (for momentum), the energy
equation and the volume of fluid function were used for
predicting the filling behaviour of molten metals and
describing changes in the free surface of metallic flow.
The Niyama criterion model for shrinkage prediction is
specified as follows6:
G gradient and cooling rate) in combination with RMM.
Ny = √


R < C Niyama
where G denotes the local temperature gradient in the
area of interest (K m−1); R is the cooling rate;
and CNiyama denotes the threshold value of the
Niyama Criterion. The CNiyama value used here is
1.0 K1/2 s1/2 mm−1.4
Results and discussion
Numerical analysis of initial pouring scheme
Figure 2a shows the design of the vertical gating system,
which contained 3849925 cells for calculation. The
pouring temperature (Tcasting) and shell mould tempera-
ture (Tceramic) are 1580 and 1200°C, respectively. The
transient flow of molten metal at t = 1.9 seconds is
shown in Fig. 2b. Pouring was completed at approxi-
mately 3.7 seconds. As shown, the hub was filled before
the blades were. This is because the blades were more
complex in structure and uneven in thickness, which
increased flow resistance and the tendency towards turbu-
lence. Figure 2c presents the sequence in which the molten
metal solidified. The solidification was completed at
approximately 882.5 seconds. The outer rim solidified at
approximately 187 seconds, which happened earlier
than the blades did. Figure 3 shows the probability of
defects occurring in various sections of the pour based
on the initial pouring parameters using the Niyama cri-
terion model (i.e. considering the ratio of temperature
(1)
RMM denotes the volume of retained melt divided by
the surface area at the time of the critical solid fraction
is reached at each mesh. The lower the value of RMM
is, the higher the possibility of defect formation is. As
shown, shrinkage defects can easily occur in thin-walled
regions as well as in areas presenting large variations in
the thickness of structural walls. We speculate that using
molten metal of a lower temperature and a lower shell
mould temperature resulted in the structures near the
thin walls to cool more rapidly, which led to residual
stress in the interior as well as shrinkage porosity and
deformation on the surface. Also, the rapid cooling
increased the flow resistance of the molten metal in the
feeding channels among the secondary dendrites, which
led to insufficient feeding and ultimately shrinkage
porosity.
Improving the gating system design and pouring
conditions
In the previous section, the initial pouring parameters led
to shrinkage porosity and dispersed shrinkage because of
the insufficiencies of the gating system, which was unable
to provide sufficient feeding. Thus, improvements had to
be implemented to deal with structures of uneven

2 a Physical model of initial gating systems; b transient phenomena of molten metal flow at t = 1.99 seconds. Grey shows the
temperature below the solidus temperature (1400°C); c transient phenomena of solidification at t = 187.4 seconds

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 Huang and Guo A study on the investment casting of 17-4PH stainless steel helical impeller of centrifugal pump
3 a–c Probability of defects occurring in different sections under initial parameters. Red region indicates a high probability of
shrinkage defect formation
thickness and excessively high local temperatures.
Considering the fact that residual stress and deformation
tend to appear in areas with considerable variations in the
thickness of structural walls, we replaced the runner on
the blade side of the gating system with risers in order
to deal with rapid cooling and incomplete feeding.
Coordinated with the risers, we placed the sprue directly
above the runners. Furthermore, the design of the risers
had to satisfy the energy criterion,7 which means that
the solidification times of the risers and the riser necks
had to exceed that of the mould cavity to ensure that
the feeding channel remained unobstructed. For enhan-
cing the feeding function, the risers are horizontal-
oriented, which provide a smooth feeding path and the
shortest feeding distance from the castings. In addition,
to ensure the availability of sufficient amounts of
molten metal to fill in the casting defects, the dimensions
and volume of the risers had to conform to the following
formula8:
V3 = V1 − β(V1 + V2 ) (2)
where V1, V2 and V3 denote the volumes (mm3) of the
risers, the volumetric feeding requirement of the casting
and the final solidified volume of the risers, and β rep-
resents the solidification shrinkage factor of the casting
alloy (%). We placed the four risers that were designed
4 a Physical model of improved gating system; b transient phenomenon of molten metal flow during pouring at t = 2.26 seconds;
c transient phenomenon of solidification at t = 252.6 seconds
using equation (2) (dimensions: 60(d ) × 60(h)mm) on the
outside to the left of the impeller hub for the function
of feeding. Figure 4a shows the design details of the
gating system, which contained a total of 4002480 cells.
Tcasting = 1650 and Tceramic = 1250°C were adopted.
Figure 4b presents the transient phenomena of the
molten metal flows at t = 2.2 seconds. As seen, the
risers significantly mitigated the impact of flow and tur-
bulence in the vicinity of thin walls, thereby reducing
the possibility of gas porosity. In addition, the analyses
of solidification times reveal that the total solidification
time increased from 882.5 seconds to 935.4 seconds.
The addition of the risers reduced the solidification time
near the thin walls from 320 seconds to 300 seconds,
and the solidification time of the riser necks (t = 440
seconds) exceeded that of the areas in which the shrinkage
porosity was originally formed (t = 150 seconds). These
changes made it possible to complete feeding successfully.
Analysis of thermodynamic behaviour under
initial and improved schemes
Figure 5 illustrates the probability of defects occurring in
various sections using the improved scheme. As seen, the
redesigned pouring system significantly reduced the prob-
ability of shrinkage porosity in the thin-walled regions.
This can be attributed to the addition of risers and the
higher pouring temperature. For identifying the reasons
Materials Research Innovations 2015 VOL 19 SUPPL 9 S9-79
Huang and Guo A study on the investment casting of 17-4PH stainless steel helical impeller of centrifugal pump
5 a–c Probability of defects occurring in different sections of the improved pouring system, with colour representing the
probabilistic defect parameter
6 Relationships between: a temperature-time; b temperature-solid fraction obtained from the thermodynamic sensors in
Figs. 3a and 5a
for the formation of defects in the casting under the initial
parameters, we installed thermodynamic sensors near the
thin walls of the impeller blades to conduct temperature-
time and time-solid fraction analysis, as shown in Figs. 3a
and 5a. The results are shown in Fig. 6. As shown, the
temperature in defect locations using the initial pouring
scheme dropped to a solidus temperature of 1400°C
earlier than did temperatures in the same location using
the improved scheme. The former began to fall below
the solidus temperature at 390 seconds, whereas the
latter did not do so until 500 seconds. Clearly, without
the risers, the initial pouring system caused excessively
rapid solidification of secondary dendrites within the
impeller structure. This resulted in insufficient feeding
within the blades leading to the formation of shrinkage
porosities. Figure 6b reveals that the initial pouring
scheme resulted in a decline in temperature from
1400°C when the solid fraction was 70%, whereas under
the improved pouring system, this did not take place
until the solid fraction was at 78.5%. We infer that
under the initial pouring conditions, the excessively
rapid drop in temperature at this location increased flow
resistance. Although the improved pouring system
prolonged the overall solidification process, it made a
significant improvement in the feeding effects of the
molten metal.
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Conclusion
This study outlines the optimisation of investment casting
processes for centrifugal pump impellers based on
AnyCasting numerical simulations. The primary findings
of this study are as follows:
1. The combination of a change in pouring parameters
and in the gating/feeding system to increase the
pouring temperature and shell mould temperature
decelerated cooling rate within the thin walls of the
impeller blades, which reduced the likelihood of
surface deformation and shrinkage porosity.
2. A complex internal structure and uneven thickness of
the impeller blades are the primary causes of shrink-
age porosity and gas porosity in some regions. The
improved scheme extended the solidification time;
however, the addition of risers enabled the molten
metal to solidify earlier in regions with excessive vari-
ations in the thickness of structural walls.
3. The yields from the initial and improved parameters
were 30.2% and 28.9%, respectively. Despite the
higher yield using the initial pouring system, this
resulted in high shrinkage porosity and gas porosity
in the impeller castings. The addition of risers
resulted in lower yield; however, this entirely elimin-
ates the formation of defects.
9
 Huang and Guo A study on the investment casting of 17-4PH stainless steel helical impeller of centrifugal pump
Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge the Ministry of Science and
Technology of Taiwan for financially supporting this
research under grants MOST 103-2622-E-020-004-CC3.
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