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Effects of Process Related Variations on Fillablity Simulation of Thin-Walled IN718 Structures
Publication Type:
Journal article
Venue:
International Journal of Metal Casting
Abstract
Due to the ability to produce net shape parts that maintain tight dimensional tolerances, investment casting has been widely used to manufacture components used in the hot gas path in gas turbines since 1950’s.1 In the power generation and aerospace industries, the overall weight reduction of engineering systems is much sought after, especially for turbines. Weight reduction of an engineering system can be achieved by using integrated multifunction components or by reducing component weight either by improving component design or using lightweight materials. Increased demands have been put on investment casting foundries by the turbine industry to produce complex thin-walled components.2 Weight reduction of components is essential to lower fuel consumption and reduce environmental impact.3 Casting of thin-sections is challenging due to premature solidification in thin-walled sections and long feeding distances often resulting in incomplete filling, cold shuts and shrinkage porosity.4
A number of studies have been performed to investigate important aspects of investment casting of thin-walled geometries. Flemings5 demonstrated that superheat and metal head had greater effect on fluidity than melt viscosity and surface tension for thicker sections. Flemings5 also concluded that for thin sections surface tension became important, limiting mold filling.
For the nickel base superalloys (IN100 alloy), Chandraseckariah and Seshan6 concluded that the pouring temperature and mold temperature had greater effect on fluidity than other casting variables, such as, vacuum level and shell thickness.
In an attempt to address the additional challenges imposed by thin-walled castings, Campbell and Oliff7 established mould filling criteria for thin walled castings. It was shown that at low heat content in a vertical mould set-up fluidity was limited by solidification which they termed flowability, a dynamic aspect, whereas at high heat content of a vertical mould system, fluidity was limited by surface tension which they termed as fillabillity, a static aspect.
Campbell8 also performed investigations on the effect of capillary repulsion in thin-section moulds and surface tension on the filling pattern in the mould cavity. It was suggested that the surface oxide films formed during filling were pinned to the mould wall blocking the melt flow, resulting in decreased fluidity. These films also caused cold shuts and other internal defects in castings.
Campbell9 established gating design requirements for thin-walled castings by investigating the effect of different gating methods and their effect on fillability in thin-walled castings. Bottom-gating was concluded superior to top-gated systems and bottom-gating reduced the filling instabilities.
The prediction by simulation has become a vital step in the development of efficient manufacturing processes. The reliability of simulation is significantly dependent upon material properties, metallurgical models as well as accuracy in defining boundary condition.10 The boundary conditions are influenced by equipment and operation related variations arising from mould handling and melt pouring.11
Other parameters such as the mould filling sequence in casting of multi-cavity moulds are related to cluster design and equipment related limitation in process control tolerances. The degree of variation in critical process parameters is also highly dependent on the degree of automation. The relative importance of these process uncertainties on casting quality is not well understood. Although the physical principles governing fill and solidification are well established,12 it is difficult to account for uncertainties in process parameters when defining boundary conditions for simulations.
As concluded in a related study,13 there is a lack of literature available that addresses the effect of variation in process parameters on the accuracy of simulation. This suggests a need for further investigation of how to define boundary conditions that more accurately describe the conditions in the foundry.
The aim of this research is to investigate how the uncertainty in variation of foundry parameters can be accounted for when defining initial boundry conditions in order to improve accuracy of simulation. Characterization measurement has been performed on mould and alloy materials to eliminate uncertainties that can potentially be introduced in simulation from inaccurate material data. The discrepancy between experiments and simulations were analyzed and discussed to identify how variation in foundry parameters influence accuracy in simulation of the filling of a thin-walled mould.
Bibtex
@article{Raza5025,
author = {Mohsin Raza and Roger Svenningsson and Mark Irwin and Bj{\"o}rn Fagerstr{\"o}m and Anders Jarfors},
title = {Effects of Process Related Variations on Fillablity Simulation of Thin-Walled IN718 Structures},
isbn = {1939-5981},
volume = {12},
number = {42},
pages = {1--11},
month = {November},
year = {2017},
journal = {International Journal of Metal Casting},
publisher = {Springer},
url = {http://www.ipr.mdu.se/publications/5025-}
}