• Journal of Korea Foundry Society
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• v.39 no.5
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• pp.87-93
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• 2019

The effects of mold materials on the microstructure and tensile properties were investigated to develop a mass production technique of aluminum alloy parts with excellent mechanical properties using a lost foam casting method. The microstructures of the plate-shaped cast alloy showed a tendency to be finer in proportion to the thickness of the plate, and a remarkably fine structure was obtained by applying a steel chill or a ball as a mold material compared to general sand. When a steel ball was used, it was observed that the larger the ball, the finer the cast structure and the better the tensile properties. The microstructure and tensile properties of the cast parts with complex shapes were greatly affected by the gating system, but the positive effects of the steel chill and the steel ball as a mold material were clear.

• Journal of Korea Foundry Society
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.385-392
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• 1997

The main objective of this study is to investigate the microstructure and tensile strength of $SiC_p$/Al alloy composites fabricated by die casting method. Die casting was performed using the preheated mold at the pouring temperature range of $620{\sim}750^{\circ}C$ under the pressure of $1,039 kgf/cm^2$. The low speed and a following high injection speed were 0.4 and 2.1 m/s, respectively. The microstructure of $SiC_p$/Al alloy composites fabricated by die casting method was found to be finer than that of composites fabricated by gravity casting. Also, SiC particulates were homogeneously distributed in refined Al matrix due to rapid solidification. The tensile strength of $SiC_p$/Al alloy composites fabricated by die casting method was found to be varied with cast temperature. The maximun tensile strength of $SiC_p$(10 vol.% and 20 vol.%)/Al alloy composites showed 380 MPa at the cast temperature of $750^{\circ}C$ and 363 MPa at the cast temperature of $700^{\circ}C$, respectively.

• Journal of Korea Foundry Society
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.464-470
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• 1994

The horizontal continuous casting method with the heated mold was applied to study the solidification structures of the pure Al and Al-0.5wt%Si and Al-1.0wt%Si alloy rods. The results could be summarized as follows: 1. The S/L interface structures of pure Al represented the hexagonal cells at the casting speed of 590 and 350mm/min, respectively. However, the hexagonal cells became irregular as the casting speed and(or) Si amount increased. 2. The striation increased as the Si amount and casting speed increased and was found to result from the occurrence of growth twin crystals by XRD analysis. 3. The striation did not affect the mechanical and electrical property of the drawn wire from the casted rod. This means the striation is not a serious defect which has to consider in the production of micro-sized fine wire in the drawing process.

• Journal of Korea Foundry Society
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.155-162
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• 1993

This study has been focused on the influence of the metallic mold cooling effects on the solidification structures and the mechanical properties for Al-10%Si alloy castings by the variation of pouring temperatures, metallic mold temperatures and Cooling part of metallic mold. The dendrite arm spacing of Al-10%Si alloy was decreased with increasing cooling rate. In case of bottom cooling of metallic mold, DAS was appeared to be $20-22{\mu}m$ and in the middle cooling, it was increased to $36-40{\mu}m$. The DAS decreased proportionally $with(cooling\;rate)^{-3/2}$ at pouring temperatures $680^{\circ}C$ and $(cooling\;rate)^{-1/2}$ at pouring temperature $760^{\circ}C$, but it was proportionally increased to $(local\;solidification\;time)^{1/2-1/3}$ at pouring temperature $680^{\circ}C$ and $760^{\circ}C$. The maximum tensile strength of Al-10%Si alloy casting was obtained in case of bottom cooling of mold at pouring temperature $680^{\circ}C$ and metallic mold temperature $320^{\circ}C$.

• Journal of Korea Foundry Society
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.127-131
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• 2021

Based on its good compatibility with high-temperature environments, the Ti-48Al-2Cr-2Nb alloy is used for high-temperature materials of industrial equipment. In this study, a Ti-48Al-2Cr-2Nb alloy turbocharger turbine wheel was fabricated by a vacuum centrifugal casting method. The conditions that prevent misrun defects of the turbocharger turbine wheel blade from centrifugal casting using alumina molds were investigated. The microstructure of the alloy prepared by vacuum centrifugal casting was studied by means of optical microscopy (OM), with a micro-Vickers hardness analyzer (HV), by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and by SEM-EDS. The HV and SEM-EDS examinations of the as-cast Ti-48Al-2Cr-2Nb alloy showed that the thickness of the oxide layer (α-case) was typically less than 50 ㎛. At a high preheating temperature of 1,100℃, a moderate RPM of 260, and with an alumina mold with a large gate size, there were almost no misrun defects. Therefore, it was confirmed that a Ti-48Al-2Cr-2Nb alloy turbocharger turbine wheel with fewer misrun defects could be achieved through a high preheating temperature, a moderate RPM, a large gate size and an alumina mold to suppress the formation of alpha-case components.

• Journal of Korea Foundry Society
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.5-13
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• 1984

This paper is presented for showing the effect of cooling rate on dendrite arm spacing, correlated with the chilling power of molding materials (conventional plaster, foamed plaster, silica sand) and section thickness, and also showing relationship between dendrite arm spacing and mechanical properties for an aluminum - 8.6 percent silicon - 3.6 percent copper alloy. Local solidification time $(t_f)$ and secondary dendrite arm spacing (d) could be varied widely in accordance with the molding materials and casting thickness, and the following relationship is obtained: $d=9.4t_f\;^{0.31}$ A good correlation between dendrite arm spacing and mechanical properties such as ultimate tensile strength, yield strength, hardness was found, that is, mechanical properties decreased in a linear manner with increase in log of secondary dendrite arm spacing. Ultimate tensile strength in conventional plaster mold casting decreased by 15 percent comparing with the sand casting, where as in foamed plaster mold casting, it decreased by 30 percent comparing with the sand casting. From those results, it has been verified that DAS might be the most representative parameter for predicting mechanical properties varing with the different cooling condition.

• Journal of Korea Foundry Society
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.165-174
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• 2004

The pore formation characteristic of Mg alloy during Lost Foam Casting(LFC) was investigated with reduced pressure test and real casting, which was compared with the results of previous work for Al alloy. Cast Mg alloys in LFC had much lower porosities in comparison with those of Al alloys. Also, the proper pouring temperature gave the minimum porosity like Al alloy although it was higher than that of Al alloys due to the worse fluidity of Mg alloy. The pore formation mechanism of Mg alloy in LFC was similar to that of AI alloy but the critical temperature showing the different mechanism is higher than that of Al alloy as much as $30{\sim}50^{\circ}C$. The result that Mg alloy in LFC had the lower porosity comparing with Al alloy was due to the extra solubility of hydrogen gas although the solubility of Al alloy was easily exceeded by the external sources like pyrolyzed polystyrene products. The mold evacuation gave the lower porosity due to the removal of polystyrene pyrolysis products, and reduced shrinkage defects. Also, there was a proper evacuation pressure that gave a porosity of almost 0vol%. But much higher vacuum degree than this proper pressure caused the severe entrapment of polymer pyrolysis products that gave the large porosity.

• Journal of Korea Foundry Society
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.44-53
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• 1991

The proper feeding conditions for thin Al-Alloy (AA336, JIS AC8A) castings in permanent mold were investigated to eliminate microshrinkage porosity. 5mm-thick plates (200mm long, 60mm wide) were cast with increasing padding taper from 0 to 5% under different conditions : (1) constant mold temperature of $350^{\circ}C$, (2) continuous production with uniform mold thickness (10mm), (3) continuous production with a negative taper of 2.5% in mold thickness (thickness decreasing in direction to riser). The test casting were machined off to the midplane and the shrinkage porosity was examined visually. The critical padding taper which can just eliminate the shrinkage porosity was determined for each condition, i.e. : (1) 4.5% at the constant mold temperature, (2) 3.5% for continuous production with the uniform mold thickness (3) 1.5% for continuous production with the taper in mold thickness. A computer simulation by a finite difference analysis program was applied to the test casting. The liquid fraction gradient (LFG) and the temperature gradient divided by the square root of the cooling rate (G /SR) were calculated at the end of solidification and compared with the shrinkage porosity area in the castings. For the case of constant mold temperature, LFG is a better parameter to predict shrinkage porosity than G /SR and its critical value is around 11%/cm. But for the case of continuous production, neither LFG nor G /SR could be a reliable parameter. The experimental results about the critical padding taper are of practical interest for designing permanent molds and castings. The computer simulation results stimulate further research to be directed on the prediction of centerline microshrinkage porosity in continuous production.

• Journal of Korea Foundry Society
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.38-43
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• 2012

The effects of Mg and Cu amounts on the casting characteristics and tensile property of Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloys were investigated for the development of high strength aluminium alloys for gravity mold casting. Increase of copper amounts in Al-6%Zn-3%Mgy% Cu alloys resulted in reduction of the fluidity of these alloys and had little effects on the tensile property of these alloys. Increase of magnesium amounts from 1.0wt% to 3.3wt% in Al-6%Zn-x%Mg-0.5%Cu alloys resulted in reduction of the elongation of these alloys from 12% to 3% and increase of the tensile strength of these alloys from 340MPa to 450MPa, but had little effects on the fluidity of these alloys.

• Journal of Korea Foundry Society
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.44-49
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• 2012

In this study, three magnesium alloys were investigated; those are 1.5wt.% CaO added AM80, 1.0wt.% CaO added AM60, and conventional MRI153 alloys. Test specimens of three alloys were prepared by re-melting and casting into steel mold with ingots and machining. The mechanical properties and the creep behavior at 150 degrees Celsius of these specimens were determined and their microstructures were characterized using OM and SEM. For the application to die-casting, fluidity test were carried out with spiral mold. Compared with 1.0wt.% CaO added AM60 alloy, 1.5wt.% CaO added AM80 alloy exhibited good creep properties in all test conditions. Moreover, CaO added alloys showed better creep properties than MRI153 alloy at lower load condition. It is proposed that 1.5wt.% CaO added AM80 alloy is useful to apply to power-train parts such as transmission case in vehicles.