Numerical simulation of metal flow and solidification in the multi-cavity casting moulds of automotive components

The metal flow and solidification behaviours in a multi-cavity casting mould of two automotive cast parts were simulated in three dimensions. The commercial code, FLOW-3D® was used because it can track the front of the molten metal by a volume-of-fluid (VOF) method and allows complicated parts to be modelled by the fractional area/volume obstacle representation (FAVOR) method. The grey iron automotive components including a brake disc and a flywheel were cast using an automatic sand casting production line. Solid models of the casting, the gating system and the ceramic filter were spatially discretised in a multi-block pattern. The surface roughness and the contact angle of the mould were taken into account in the model, based on the properties of the sand mould used. The turbulent flow was simulated using the two-equation k–ɛ turbulence model. The D’Arcy model was used to analyse the fluid flow throughout the ceramic filter designed in the gating system. The simulation model was validated against the experimental observations. The model was used to investigate the appropriateness of the multi-cavity mould design and its running system for each automotive component.