Squeeze casting is the practise of solidifying metals under mechanically applied pressure via a slow displacement of a die volume. It has been shown that squeeze casting enhances the mechanical properties of cast metals. Research into other high integrity casting processes has shown that using techniques that enhance melt quality can further increase the mechanical properties. Therefore a bottom-tapped, bottom-fed squeeze casting machine was designed and built around a pre-existing squeeze casting die designed for uniaxial pressure application. This was used to obtain quantitative metallurgical and microstructural information on the squeeze castings produced, including the effects of common micro-alloying additions of strontium modifier and titanium modifier on the microstructure and hardness of a commercial aluminium silicon eutectic alloy. These were examined using a Taguchi design of experiments approach. It was found that squeeze casting reduced porosity and secondary dendrite arm spacing and increased hardness, and reduced or eliminated increases in porosity and secondary dendrite arm spacing associated with micro-alloying addition. The size of possibly deleterious iron-rich precipitates was reduced, and the morphology of such precipitates changed to a possibly less deleterious form without further alloy additions of manganese. It was also found that melt control and handling is essential for consistent quality of castings in the production of small volume squeeze castings, such as the ones produced in this experimental work.

No description available.

Additive manufacturing can bring several advantages in tooling applications especially hot working tooling as high pressure die casting. Printing of conformal cooling channels can lead to improved cooling and faster solidification, which, in turn, can possibly result in better quality of the cast part. However, few studies on advantages of additive manufactured tools in high pressure die casting are published.The aim of this study was to investigate and quantify the effect of conformal cooling on microstructure and mechanical properties of high pressure die cast aluminum alloy. Two tools each consisting of two die inserts were produced with and without conformal channels using additive manufacturing. Both tools were used in die casting of aluminum alloy. Aluminum specimens were then characterized microstructurally in light optical microscope for secondary arm spacing measurements and subjected to tensile and hardness testing. Cooling behavior of different inserts was studied with a thermal camera and by monitoring the temperature change of cooling oil during casting. Surface roughness of die inserts was measured with profilometer before and after casting.Thermal imaging of temperature as a function of time and temperature change of oil during casting cycle indicated that conformal insert had faster cooling and lower temperature compared to conventional insert. However, thermal imaging of temperature after each shot in a certain point of time showed higher maximum and minimum temperature on conformal die surface but no significant difference in normalized temperature gradient compared to the conventional insert.The average secondary dendrite arm spacing values were fairly similar for samples from conventional and conformal inserts, while more specimens from conventional insert demonstrated coarser structure. Slower cooling in conventional insert could result in the coarser secondary dendrite arm spacing.Tensile strength and hardness testing revealed no significant difference in mechanical properties of the specimens cast in conventional and conformal die inserts. However, reduced deviations in hardness was observed for samples cast with conformal insert. This is in agreement with secondary dendrite arm spacing measurements indicating improved cooling with conformal insert.Surface roughness measurement showed small wear of the inserts. More castings are needed to observe a possible difference in wear between the conventional and conformal inserts.Small observed differences in cooling rate and secondary arm spacing did not result in evident difference in mechanical properties of the aluminum alloy but the variation in properties were reduced for samples cast with conformal cooling. Future work may include more accurate measurement of cooling behavior with a thermocouple printed into the die insert, casting of thicker specimen for porosity evaluation and fatigue testing and longer casting series to evaluate the influence of conformal cooling on tool wear.