COMPARISON BETWEEN THE TWO- AND THREE-PHASE MODELS FOR ANALYSIS OF POROSITY FORMATION IN ALUMINUM-RICH CASTINGS

Abstract

This article presents comparisons between an analytical and a numerical investigation of porosity formation within the mushy zone during the solidification process. For this purpose, a three-phase model (liquid, solid, and gas) of the mushy zone is utilized. This model takes into account the release of the dissolved gas from the alloy as well as the heat transfer and interdendritic fluid flow in the two-phase region. The main difference between the three-phase model and the two-phase model (only liquid and solid), which is usually used to predict the porosity distribution, is the inclusion of a term describing the porosity formation in Ike continuity equation. The perturbation method is used to obtain an analytical solution describing the porosity formation. Pressure and porosity distributions predicted by these two models are compared for the particular case of aluminum-rich Al-Cu castings.

Notes

A. V. Kuznetsov is grateful to the AvHumboldt Foundation for a research fellowship and to Ohio State University for a postdoctoral fellowship. He is also grateful to the Christian Doppler Laboratory for Continuous Solidification Processes for the support provided to complete this research.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

K. Vafai

Address correspondence to Dr. Kambiz Vafai, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Ohio State University, 206 W. 18th Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210-1107, USA.