The purpose of this research is the development of guiding principles and rules for the design of running systems for aluminium castings, employing both the "virtual" experiment, a computational modelling package, and the "physical" experiment, the real-time X-ray radiography study. "Diverging-Bend" geometry has an essential feature in which the flow rate of the system could achieve the maximum and the velocity of advancing flow could reduce without developing surface turbulence. In liquid aluminium, the surface tension becomes more significant compared to water during the flow transformation from supercritical to subcritical velocities. To describe the phenomenon of hydraulic jump for liquid aluminium it is necessary to include the surface tension, giving the relation pV 2 = (pxgxH) + (4T/H) where p: density, V: average velocity, g: gravitational acceleration, H: the height of the hydraulic jump, and T: surface tension. Guidelines for the designing of L-junctions are developed. Five geometries of L-junctions can be applied and assembled in the design of runners and multiple-gate system. Progressive filling along the L-junction geometry can be achieved by reducing the area of the "dead zone". In a multiple-gate system uniform distribution of flow rate through each gate into the mould cavity is achieved. Quantification of a running system is established by the measurement of coefficient of discharge Cd. The loss coefficient K for individual component of runners is also estimated.

Zugl.: Giessen, Univ., Diss., 2009

Investment casting is a complex manufacturing method with many challenges that must be solved before components of the right quality can be produced. TPC is a company that utilizes investment casting to produce a variety of products, lately the company has higher ambition in wanting to cast higher technical demanding component like heat resistant gas turbine blades. This requires a sprue that can control the filling process, by allowing the fallen stream of molten metal to enter the moulds cavity in a laminar manner. This study has implemented the product development process by (Ulrich, 2012) to develop the requested sprue. The primary support for this study is study material given by the company also known as "PMG running spreadsheet TPC" base on theory and equations from (Jolly, 2002), which is believed to have origin in sand casting manufacturing process. The project began with recreating the textbook model after establishing a number of control parameter such as critical velocity. Then simulation software Nova flow was used to evaluate the velocity and FEM in Solidworks to study if the dimension of the model can be directly use for investment casting process. The results show that it was not possible, therefore in the concept generating phase only theory of casting was used to create new concept. Then 3 existing sprues were chosen for benchmarking to gain deeper understanding about their design intension. One of the concepts was inspired by the CEO Mark Irwin “concentric pipe design” and in total 10 concepts were created of which 6 were tested for both flow and FEM analysis. 2 concepts were chosen for further development which also became 2 final concepts, after 3 iterations of improvement. These concepts show that many improve in terms of laminar filling and higher yield than the existing benchmark sprues. Although further development is required.   The analysis shows that every step in the project has its own flaws, but that is the nature of being an engineer, as long as the problem encountered can be viewed with critical and analytical eyes. A well-considered and balanced solution can be provided, although nothing of this can be certain before a trail of test can provided to confirm any assumptions which is not included in this work.   The discussion section processes the thoughts, experience, and doubts about the project in general and the decision making leading to this report and what could have been done differently. The most significant lesson learn from this is that section is when solving a complex issue there must be very clear delimitations and well-defined goals to every specific solution. Otherwise the workload will be extensive and cause more harm than necessary.   The conclusion of this project shows that two concepts generated with the help from the product development process work better than the case study, which can be found in section 4.3, that was based on “PMG running spreadsheet TPC” calculation model, from the velocity perspective. To achieve this, the sprue uses its own geometry constrain and constricts the flow by collecting the molten metal in a “well” before the calmer stream could be distributed throughout the whole cavity. Indirectly this means that the studied material given from TPC AB could not be directly implemented into the investment production process. The given material should be seen as a complement and guidance when creating new sprues. Concerning the FEM analysis tool, it was helpful in this project in evaluating the sprues geometry expose to the assumed force in the production process to avoid unnecessary failure and therefore waste. Although if the company do not intend further work with the development of other sprues then this method is not necessary and would not have significant value to their current manufacturing process.

The gating system transfers the iron melt from the ladle to the void in the casting mould. The gating systems dimensions and designs are crucial for the success of a casting and a poor gating system is a leading cause of scraps. The main goal of this thesis is to improve the pouring basins and sprues at Norrlandsgjuteriet, an iron foundry located in northern Sweden. The step in the offset step basin and other variables that affect the gating system is explained, investigated and simulated in MAGMASOFT. Furthermore, put to practice at Norrlandsgjuteriet. Adding a step in the offset basin fills a very important function in the system, fending off air bubbles that might enter the mould and reduce the horizontal velocity of the melt. The basin’s height and the sprue’s cross-section control the casting time and simulations conducted in this thesis show that a step can create a beneficial rounding to the flow over the step, creating a laminar flow of the melt, down the sprue contributing to a lower casting time. A narrower sprue is better, in which the melt’s surface tension is maintained, creating an oxide pipe-layer that protects the flowing melt entering the mould and from entrainment defects. The results show that replacing the offset basins used today with offset step basins, which are 30% smaller in volume, together with a tighter sprue will not only reduce the annual material consumption by 1% or 13 000 kg but more importantly increase the quality of the casting. This due to lower melt velocity, a more homogenous temperature, better flow in the basin with less air entering the mould. / Ingjutsystemet   transporterar   det   smälta   järnet   från   skänken   till   gjutformens   hålrum. Ingjutsystemets dimensioner och utformning är avgörande för en lyckad gjutning och ett dåligt utformat ingjutsystem är den främsta orsaken till kassationer. Syftet med denna rapport är att förbättra  gjutskålarna  samt nedlopp  som  Norrlandsgjuteriet,  ett  järngjuteri  i  norra  Sverige, använder. Steget i den förskjutna gjutskålen och andra variabler som påverkar ingjutsystemet förklaras, undersöks och simuleras i MAGMASOFT. Utöver detta testas det även praktiskt hos Norrlandsgjuteriet.  Att  lägga  till  ett  steg  i gjutskålen  fyller  en  väldigt  viktig  funktion  i ingjutssystemet i och med att luftbubblor avvärjs från att följa med in i formen samt minskar även  smältans horisontella  hastighet.  Gjutskålens  höjd  och  nedloppets  tvärsnittsarea  avgör gjuttiden  och  simulationer  som  genomfördes  visade  också  att  stegets rundning  i  gjutskålen skapar ett fördelaktigt flöde över steget vilket skapar ett laminärt flöde ner i nedloppet vilket samtidigt bidrar till en minskad gjuttid. Ju smalare nedlopp desto bättre upprätthålls smältans ytspänning vilket skapar ett oxidskikt som skyddar den flytande smältan, som ska fylla formen, från inblandning  av  luft  och  oxider.  Resultaten  visar  att  genom  att  byta  ut  de förskjutna gjutskålarna som används idag med förskjutna steggjutskålar, som är 30% mindre i volym, tillsammans med en smalare nedlopp så kommer inte bara den årliga materialförbrukningen att minska med 1% eller 13 000 kg men ännu viktigare att höja kvaliteten på de gjutna detaljerna. Detta på grund av lägre smälthastighet, en mer homogen temperatur, bättre flöde i gjutskålen samt mindre luft som tränger in i formen.

Thermoplastic injection technology is widely used in all sectors of consumer electronics and automotive industry. The biggest advantage of this manufacturing technology is a high degree of automatization and good reproducibility of the manufacturing process. Another advantage is the possibility of recycling of the gating scrap and defective products. The main task of this work is to calculate the necessary parameters for the injection process, which takes place at the designed injection form. Next part is technical design which includes choice of standard parts of injection mold and idividual semi-finished parts for mold. Thesis continues with selecting the type of injection press based on calculated parameters of the injection process. Thesis is finished by technical-economic evaluation.