A Study to Determine Optimum Speed to Produce the High-Quality Castings for Al-17%Si Alloy in a Vertical Centrifugal Casting Machine

Abstract

The rotational speeds of moulds in a typical vertical centrifugal machine are found to greatly affect the resulting quality of cast tubes as seen through multiple parameters such as finishing texture strength etc. The dependence of the quality of mold on the speed can be attributed to the movement of molten metal, which in turn, is dictated by the speed of rotation. The present work is an effort to experimentally demonstrate this feature. The Alloy used in the work was Al-17%Si. The speeds of interest that were used for experimentation ranged from a minimum of 600 Revolutions Per Minute (RPM) to a maximum of 1200 Revolutions Per Minute (RPM). The results of the experiment were very affirmative towards the fact that the best quality can indeed be obtained for the said range of speeds. Further, a few experiments, beyond this range of speed, showed strikingly low-quality molds characterized by features such as coarse grain, low mechanical strength, and wear properties.