Simulation of melt flow in coated mould cavity in the casting process

In this investigation, simulation of the 3D flow of incompressible molten metal in a mould cavity has been carried out. A code has been developed to include heat transfer and permeability of coating utilizing the finite difference method (FDM). To achieve this, solid and free boundary conditions have been modified and a new algorithm has been proposed to calculate the effect of coating permeability during mould filling. In this algorithm, the effect of coating permeability on the filling pattern has been modelled and compared with an experiment. The modelling of molten metal flow and the location of free surfaces has been simulated based on the SOLution Algorithm-Volume Of Fraction (SOLA-VOF) technique. In order to verify the computational results, the casting of an aluminium alloy within a transparent mould has been carried out and the mould filling fraction at different times has been recorded. The comparison between the experimental and the numerical results shows good agreement, confirming the accuracy of the model.