On the In-Die Conditions and Process Parameter Settings in Indirect Squeeze Casting

Abstract

The current study investigated the relationship between the process settings and in-die conditions to understand the transitions between the different filling stages and the final pressure settings in indirect squeeze casting. A pressure sensor was placed in the die cavity to indirectly measure the evolution of pressure over time and monitor the filling process to study the in-die conditions. The pressure–time profile was analysed, and the maximum pressure and acceleration of the pressure were investigated empirically. The main conclusion of this paper is that the use of increasing intensification pressures is positive for the casting soundness. However, it must be stressed that there is a strong effect from the intensification pressure on the acceleration that has a far more reaching influence than the actual speed setting. A direct practical outcome is that a high intensification pressure has a more substantial effect than the second stage fill speed. This translates directly to a possibility of reducing the second stage fill speed to stabilise the fill front. Furthermore, this also pinpoints the need for improvements in hydraulics system designs to decouple the intensification pressure from the filling piston motion control.

Keywords

• squeeze casting
• process parameters
• pressure
• sensing
• aluminium
• component casting