Application of a novel entrainment defect model to a high pressure die casting

Aluminium High Pressure Die Castings are economical to produce in high volumes. However, as greater structural demands are placed on such castings, a more detailed understanding is required of the defects which limit their strength. The process is prone to high levels of surface turbulence and fluid break-up, resulting in the entrainment of air into the liquid metal, which may manifest as trapped air porosity or bifilm defects in the finished part. A novel algorithm was developed and integrated into a commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) package, to model mould filling, and the formation and transport of such entrainment defects. A commercial High Pressure Die Casting was simulated using this algorithm, to illustrate its application. Castings were also produced, and the results of tensile testing were summarised in the form of Weibull statistics. It was found that where the algorithm predicted a greater quantity of entrained surface film, a reduction in UTS of about 10% was also observed.