Duoc T Phan, Syed H Masood*, Syed H Riza, and Harsh Modi
Department of Mechanical and Product Design Engineering, Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn, Melbourne, Australia
*Email: smasood@swin.edu.au
Abstract
In High Pressure Die Casting (HDPC) process, chill vents are used to allow residual air and gases to exhaust out from the mould cavity. The objective of this paper is to design and develop a high-performance chill vent for high pressure die casting using a new type of copper alloy material, which has high strength and high thermal conductivity, compared to conventional tool steel. Finite element analysis is applied to develop a numerical heat transfer model for chill vent and validated by experimental results. The model is used to compare the performance of copper alloy chill vent with conventional steel chill vent. It was found that the change in the chill vent material had a significant improvement on the cooling time, cooling rate as well as on the internal die temperature distribution. Results show that the copper chill vent increases the cooling efficiency of the solidifying aluminium alloy by about 158% compared to the conventional steel chill vents. It is concluded that the use of high strength copper alloy chill vents will enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of HPDC process with rapid heat transfer and faster release of gases, thus reducing porosity and flashing defects in the parts.
Index Terms
High pressure die casting; Chill vents; Thermal analysis; Copper alloy; Thermal conductivity; Cooling rates
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