Investigating surface roughness of ZE41 magnesium alloy cast by low-pressure sand casting process

Abstract

To cite this version:A. Sanitas, N. Coniglio, M. Bedel, M. El Mansori. Investigating surface roughness of ZE41 magnesium alloy cast by low-pressure sand casting process. International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology, Springer Verlag, 2017, 92 (5-8), pp.1883-1891. 10.1007 Investigating surface roughness of ZE41 magnesium alloy cast by low-pressure sand casting processAbstract The sand mold 3D printing technologies enable the manufacturing of molds with great dimensional accuracy. However, the roughness of as-cast components is higher when cast in a 3D printed mold rather than in a traditional sand mold. Coating the inner cavity is an efficient solution but can be costly and, in the narrowest cavities, not achievable. Finding a procedure to reduce the as-cast roughness without coating would ease the casting procedures. In the present work, surface analysis of ZE41 magnesium alloy is presented after being cast in 3D printed furan sand molds without coating using the low-pressure casting process. The molten metal temperature was measured during casting at different positions along the cast cavity. The as-cast surface roughness was correlated to the molten metal temperature and solid fraction at the time of contact against the sand mold surface.

Experimental and numerical study of section restriction effects on filling behavior in low-pressure aluminum casting

“…More developed energetic models (Flemings et al, 1961) or hydraulic models (Luk and Darvell, 1992) also directly link casted length and metal velocity. The importance of filling velocity on misrun was experimentally confirmed in aluminum gravity castings (Flemings, 1964) but also in aluminum composite LPC (Konopka et al, 2015) and magnesium alloy LPC for plates (Sadayappan et al, 2006), bars (Laws et al, 2006) or tubes (Sanitas et al, 2017). Moreover, the filling time in LPC has a great influence on grain size and final mechanical properties (Fu et al, 2008).…”

The effect of ageing process on three-point bending strength and permeability of 3D printed sand molds

“…So casting sand molds should exhibit convenient mechanical strength to be handled during casting operations without deteriorating. Researchers have also investigated the surface roughness of the parts casted with 3DP molds, and showed that the surface roughness is dependent on the temperature of the molten metal and solid fraction at the instant of contact [16]. The flexural strength of the mold is a function of the grain size, binder content present in the mold and sand compaction [17,18].…”