Microstructure modelling and simulation of shaped casting with MCA method

Abstract

Modelling and simulation technology is widely used to optimise the casting process and improve the quality of Al alloy castings. A modified cellular automaton model was proposed to simulate the evolution of dendritic microstructure in low pressure die casting of Al–Si Alloy, which accounted for the heterogeneous nucleation, the solute redistribution in both liquid and solid, the interface curvature and the growth anisotropy during solidification. A nucleation model was proposed based upon the experimental data. With the developed models, not only the grain structure but also the dendritic microstructure was simulated during the solidification process. The grain morphology of a step shaped casting and the aircraft turbine wheel casting at different positions were predicted and compared with experimental results.

Keywords:

• Microstructure simulation
• Aluminium alloy
• Low pressure die casting

This work was financially supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (grant no. 2005CB724105), the NSFC (grant no. 10477010) and the National High Technology Research and Development Program of China (grant no. 2007AA04Z141).

Notes

This paper is part of a special issue of papers selected from MCSP8, the 8th Pacific Rim Conference on Modeling of Casting and Solidification Processes