Im Rahmen der Arbeit wurde das Potential von Magnesium für den Einsatz im Fahrwerk eines Automobils, am Beispiel der Querbrücke des Hinterachsträgers, ermittelt. Verschiedene Mg-Legierungen wurden im konventionellen und vakuumunterstützen Druckguss vergossen und der Al-Legierung vergleichend gegenübergestellt. Es wurden in einem ersten Schritt statische und zyklische Werkstoffkennwerte sowie Materialmodelle erforscht und bewertet. Verschiedene Lastfälle im Standard- und Sonderfahrbetrieb wurden durch statische und zyklische Betriebsfestigkeitssimulationen abgesichert. Konstruktive Bauteiloptimierungen waren notwendig um den Werkstoff Magnesium an die Anforderungen der Querbrücke anzupassen. Äußere Umwelteinflüsse im Fahrbetrieb machten ein Korrosionsschutzkonzept für die Querbrücke aus Magnesium notwendig. Untersucht wurden dabei verschiedene Maßnahmen zur Vermeidung von Kontakt- und Oberflächenkorrosion. Grundsätzlich scheint der Einsatz von Magnesium im Fahrwerk im Bereich mittlerer Betriebsbelastungen denkbar.

Quality of the castings is affected by several factors which the designer should take into consideration during the product development process. Although residual stress is one of those, it is often not considered in practical computations. Hence residual stresses are one of the forgotten areas in designing of machine parts. This master thesis is focused on the investigation of residual stresses in a high pressure die casted component, with the aim of extending its service life, by taking results from the study as a feedback. The investigation of residual stresses was done on a variety of specimens, cast aluminum flywheel, provided by Husqvarna AB. This flywheel is a component in a product of the same company.In evaluating the residual stresses in the part, two tools-simulation and physical measurement were used. Moreover, comparison with these two methods is also done at an area of interest on the flywheel. The simulation was carried out by using MAGMAhpdc-a module for high pressure die casting process, from the commercial software package MAGMAsoft; while for the physical measurements, the hole drilling method was used, a method believed to be less accurate at low stresses areas. The findings obtained from this study show that the results from both procedures are close, with small deviations observed, which reveals the reliability of the hole drilling method even when the stress levels are low. It is also found that the compressive residual stresses dominate in the component-a preferred phenomenon with regards to residual stress.

La réduction de la masse des véhicules, notamment des Groupes Motopropulseurs contribue à la réduction des émissions polluantes. Aujourd’hui afin d’aboutir à cet objectif, la conception de pièces automobiles (Carter Mécanisme, Carter Cylindre) en matériau allégé tel que l’aluminium et ses alliages est en plein essor. Pour la production de grande série, ces alliages sont mis en œuvre par le procédé de fonderie ‘’Aluminium sous pression’’.Ce procédé utilise des moules métalliques. La maîtrise du comportement thermique du moule : chauffage, refroidissement interne (par circuit) et externe, est un point clef pour la qualité et la cadence de production.Dans ce mémoire, le processus industriel est détaillé depuis la fermeture du moule et l’injection du métal liquide jusqu’à l’ouverture du moule et l’extraction de la pièce (carter mécanisme RENAULT). Ensuite, le design détaillé du moule, les différentes générations de circuit de refroidissement et les paramètres de chaque étape de la fabrication utilisés compte tenu du système de refroidissement actuel sont présentés. Le circuit de refroidissement du moule est aujourd’hui positionné dans le moule de façon empirique. Le but ultime de cette thèse est de donner les éléments clés de la conception du circuit de refroidissement d’un point vue thermique. Pour cela, une modélisation complète du phénomène a été réalisée et validée par 8 thermocouples et la position du system de refroidissement a été définie a partir des équations thermiques. Le cycle thermique du moule a été donc optimisé et nous a permis d’abaisser et d’homogénéiser les champs de température à la surface du moule pendant la production en vue d’une augmentation de la productivité, la santé des pièces et la durée de vie du moule. / Reducing the weight of vehicles, specially the powertrain Group, contributes to the reduction of the emissions. Today, in order to achieve this objective, the automobile parts conception (Housing gear box, Cylinder block) in lightweight materials such as aluminum and its alloys is increasing. For the mass production, aluminum alloys are formed by a foundry process called ‘’High Pressure Die Casting’’.This process uses the metal molds. Control the thermal behavior of the mold : Heating, intern cooling (by circuit) and extern cooling, is a key point to ensure castings quality and rate of production.In this thesis, the industrial process has been detailed since the mold closing and aluminum melting injection in the die, to the mold opening time and the part (Gearbox RENAULT) ejection. Then, the mold design details, different generation of the cooling systems and the parameters of each step of the manufacturing process taking into account the actual cooling system are presented. The actual cooling systems in the dies are positioned today in empirical way. The ultimate goal of this thesis is to provide the key elements for the cooling system conception from the thermal behavior point of view. For this one, a complete modeling of the phenomena has been realized and validated by 8 thermocouples and the cooling system position has been defined from the thermal equations. The thermal cycle of the die has been optimized and allowed us to reduce and homogenize the temperature fields on the die surface during the production. The rate of production, the castings quality and the lifetime of the die have been consequently increased.

Conventional casting alloys Al-7Si-Mg A356/7 contain between 6.5 and 7.5% Si, together with 0.25-0.7% Mg and are used for critical castings in the automotive and aerospace industries. These alloys are also the most popular alloys used for semi-solid metal (SSM) forming due to good castability and fluidity imparted by the large volumes of the Al-Si eutectic. Despite their industrial importance, there is a lack of detailed research work revealing precipitate micro- and nanostructural evolution during aging of these alloys compared with the Al-Mg-Si 6000 series wrought alloys. This study characterises the heat treatment response of SSM-processed Al-7Si-Mg alloys in comparison with conventionally liquid cast alloys (investment casting and gravity die casting). It is shown that, provided that the maximum quantity of the alloy’s Mg is placed into solid solution during solution treatment, and that the alloy’s Fe content is within specification, the response to age hardening of Al-7Si-Mg alloys is independent of the processing technique used. The nanostructural evolution of Al- 7Si-Mg alloys after artificial aging with and without natural pre-aging has been characterized using transmission electron microscopy and atom probe tomography and correlated with hardness and mechanical tensile properties. The number densities and Mg:Si ratios of solute clusters, GP zones and β"-needles were determined. The heat treatment response of SSM-processed casting alloys A356/7 alloys are also compared with SSM-processed Al-Mg-Si 6000 series wrought alloys, with the advantage of having similar globular microstructures. The high Si-content of the casting alloys compared to the wrought alloys offers several advantages, including a faster artificial aging response (shorter T6 aging cycles), higher strength for comparable Mg contents and less sensitivity to prior natural aging on peak strength. Finally, an age-hardening model was developed for the Al-7Si-Mg alloys, including a method of incorporating the effects of changes in Mg-content on the aging curves. / Thesis (PhD(Eng))--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Materials Science and Metallurgical Engineering / unrestricted

This thesis is focused on defects occurring in products made by high pressure die casting of aluminum alloys. The theoretical part includes introduction to high pressure die casting technology and description of individual defects, causes and corrective procurations. The practical part focuses on the determination of the defect on the pre-selected casting, which is cast in the foundry ALW INDUSTRY, s.r.o. Based on the identification of the defect, there is a corrective procuration to reduce its occurrence.

This diploma thesis deals with the technology of high pressure die casting and especially influences having effect on their final quality. The aim of this thesis is to design the measures to convert casting of the cylinder for chainsaw into the serial production. The thesis contains a description of the production of castings by technology of high pressure die casting, theoretical analysis of the factors with effects on their final quality and practical description of the conversion casting of cylinder for chainsaw into the serial production. The problem of converting to serial production has been solved by several samplings and final test series. Part of each sampling is analysis of defects and design of measures leading to elimination or at least minimization of such defects. On the basis of the production process has been successfully optimized and casting of the cylinder for chainsaw was successfully converted into the serial production. The results of this work also allowed for a smooth conversion into the serial production of another type of cylinder, manufactured by company MOTOR JIKOV.

Ces travaux de recherche portent sur l’étude de l’injection du cuivre. Dans une optique d’amélioration des propriétés du cuivre injecté sous pression, deux grands thèmes de réflexion ont été abordés. La première voie de réflexion porte sur l’influence des paramètres de fusion et d’éléments d’alliages ajoutés en faible quantité sur les caractéristiques des démonstrateurs technologiques produits. La seconde partie discute de l’influence du procédé de fonderie en lui-même, notamment au travers de l’étude de deux paramètres : l’influence du régime d’écoulement du métal en fusion dans l’empreinte, et l’influence de l’emprisonnement de l’air sur les propriétés des pièces injectées. / This research focuses on the study of high pressure die casting (HPDC) of copper. In order to improve the properties of die-cast copper, two main issues were investigated. In the first part, attention is paid to the influence of melting parameters and of addition of alloying elements in small amounts on the characteristics of the specimen produced. The second part discusses the influence of the foundry process itself on properties of die cast part, in particular by studying two parameters : the metal flow type during cavity filling, and the air entrapment.

Pressgjutna Al-Si komponenter förekommer mer och mer i förbränningsmotorer med syfte att reducera vikt och förbättra hållbarhet. Ett problem vid pressgjutning, en process kännetecknad av kostnadseffektivitet vid massproduktion, är porositetsbildning vilket kan resultera i läckage, strukturell svaghet och försämrad hållbarhet och livslängd för tillverkade komponenter. Då porer oftast bildas internt försvåras dessutom identifiering av potentiellt trasiga komponenter. Det är därför av vikt att finna parameterinställningar i pressgjutningsprocessen vilka konsekvent minimerar porositetsbildning. Ett företag som drabbas av återkommande porositets-relaterade defekter är Husqvarna Group. De använder vakuumassisterad pressgjutning för att, bland annat, producera motorcylindrar av Al-Si. Kassationsgraden, specifikt hänförbar till porositet, för en cylindermodell har under de senaste tre åren fördubblats vilket har resulterat i slöseri av produktionstid och kvalitetsbristkostnader. Vakuumassisterad pressgjutning kan beskrivas stegvis: (1) smält metall hälls i en cylindrisk fyllkammare, (2) en skottkolv trycker smältan mot ett mindre inlopp i låg hastighet för att undvika turbulens, samtidigt som vakuum ansätts i fyllkammare och gjutverktyg, (3) skottkolvshastigheten ökar markant vid en förinställd omslagspunkt, vilket spray-fyller gjutverktyget, och (4) högt tryck ansätts för att eftermata smälta till gjutverktyget när solidifiering sker. Syftet med detta examensarbete har varit att undersöka om och hur diverse parametrar, hänförbara till de nämnda processtegen, påverkar porositetsbildning i en industriell produkt. Därefter applicerades den erhållna processförståelsen för att identifera parametrar kritiska för porositetsbildning och slutligen rekommendera parameterinställningar som konsekvent minimerar porositetsgraden. Det experimentella upplägget bestod av två steg varav det första ämnade undersöka, via simulering, vilka av 6 parametrar som påverkade porositetsgraden utifrån en reducerad tvånivåers försöksdesign. Det andra steget var ett verkligt experiment i produktionsmiljö där de tre identiferade parametrarna från screening-experimentet varierades enligt en central-composite design. Analysen av experimenten resulterade i parameterinställningar som förväntas reducera porositetsgraden med över 70%. En lägre porositetsgrad kommer troligen reducera kassationsgraden av den undersökta cylindermodellen, vilket hade resulterat i finansiell besparing och effektivare produktion. I ett industriellt kontext bidrar detta exjobb huvudsakligen med en systematisk kvalitetsförbättrande metod för pressgjutna komponenter baserad i såväl simulerad som verklig miljö. / Pressure die casted Al-Si components are increasingly found inside internal combustion engines, resulting in weight reduction and increased durability. Characteristic to die casting, commonly associated with cost-effective mass production, is the formation of pores which, if unnoticed, can cause leakage, structural deficiencies, and thus reduced durability and life-length of components. Pores commonly appear internally, making identification of faulty components difficult. Therefore, finding parameter settings in the die casting process that consistently minimizes the formation of pores is of importance. A company struggling with porosity-related defects is Husqvarna Group, currently using vacuum-assisted die casting to produce engine cylinders of Al-Si. Scrap-rate, specifically related to porosity, of a particular cylinder model has doubled in the last three years, causing waste of both precious production time and higher quality deficiency costs. A vacuum-assisted die casting process consists of several steps: (1) liquid Al-Si is poured into a cylindrical shot sleeve, (2) a plunger is moved towards a small gate, leading to the die cavity, at low velocity as to not cause turbulence, whilst vacuum is applied throughout the cavity and shot sleeve, (3) plunger velocity is increased substantially at a predetermined switch point, resulting in a spray-filling of the die cavity, and (4) high pressure is applied to continue the feed of molten metal into the cavity as solidification occurs. The purpose of the thesis has been to investigate if and how various parameters, related to the aforementioned four steps of the die casting process, impact the porosity amount in an industrial product. The acquired process knowledge was then applied to identify parameters affecting porosity and recommend settings that consistently minimize the porosity amount. The experimental procedure consisted of two steps: firstly, a screening experiment of six process parameters was made by simulating the die casting process according to a fractional factorial design. Secondly, a real-world experiment was conducted following a central-composite design by varying the three most impactful parameters from the screening experiment.   Analysis of the experiments resulted in a selection of parameter settings, anticipated to reduce porosity by over 70%. A lower porosity amount will most likely reduce the scrap rate of the cylinder model, resulting in substantial savings and higher production efficiency. For practitioners, the main contribution of this thesis is a method of systematic quality-improvement to die-casted components by a combination of simulation experiments and real-world tests.

The aluminium industry is anticipated to witness a surge in demand, with projectionsof a two to three-fold increase by 2050. Meeting environmental objectives andaddressing the growing emphasis on sustainability from both the industry andconsumers seeking eco-friendly products present significant challenges. Energyefficiency will be crucial in addressing these concerns. While primary aluminiumproduction consumes the majority of energy in the industry, the die-casting sector, asan energy-intensive segment, offers opportunities for enhancing energy efficiency. Inhousealuminium smelting in high-pressure die-casting (HPDC) foundries, primarilyemploying gas-fired shaft furnaces with preheating for improved energy efficiency, isa significant energy user.This research examines energy efficiency in High-Pressure Die Casting (HPDC)foundries, particularly in-house aluminium smelting. Utilizing literature reviewsand expert interviews, the study reveals efficient technologies, drivers and barriersto energy efficiency, and the importance of sustainability. The current absence ofwell-defined Best Available Techniques (BAT) and the absence of validated claims bymanufacturers in the HPDC sector emphasize the urgent need for extensive researchand empirical verification.The results from this study show that using gas-fired shaft furnaces is the optimalchoice for the next decade, with waste heat recovery as the primary energy efficiencymethod, supplemented by the implementation of energy management systems andstrategies. Induction furnaces may emerge as a viable future technology, contingenton significant electricity network expansion and low energy prices.

Ce travail est dédié á l´étude de l´influence de nano-particules de alumina (Al2O3) et de di-borure de titane (TiB2) sur la solidification, la microstructure et les propriétés thermiques et mécaniques de l´alliage d´aluminium renforcés, Al-Si9Cu3Fe1. Les matériaux ont été obtenus par un procédé de fonderie à haute pression en coulant les alliages dans les mêmes conditions que les alliages non renforcés correspondants.On a constaté que les particules de Al2O3 et de TiB2 ont une influence directe sur les caractéristiques de l´alliage telles que la microstructure, la précipitation des phases pendant la solidification et les propriétés mécaniques et électriques. On a ainsi montré que les particules de Al2O3 et de TiB2 peuvent être utilisées pour ajuster les caractéristiques des alliages et obtenir des propriétés spécifiques pour des applications dans les secteurs de matériaux légers. / The work has been focused on the study of the influence of TiB2 and Al2O3 nano-particles (up to 1 wt. %) on the properties and physical features of an aluminium casting alloy, Al-Si9Cu3Fe1.Samples have been obtained through the High Pressure Die Casting (HPDC) process and compared with unreinforced samples obtained at the same conditions. It has been observed that the Al2O3 and TiB2 particles have a direct influence on several features of the alloy such as the microstructure and precipitating phases as well as in the improvement of the soundness and mechanical and electrical properties. Al2O3 and TiB2 particles can be used to tailor the properties of the alloy and to match the specifications of light weight applications