An experimental investigation of the cooling and heating performance of a gravity die casting mold with conformal cooling channels

Abstract

• Conformal cooling was applied successfully in gravity die casting mold. • Cooling efficiency was increased with cooling channels around the pusher pin regions. • Cycle time was reduced by 28% with conformal cooling channel in gravity die casting. • The average grain size of casted parts was reduced by 13.5%. In the gravity die casting process, cooling directly affects the unit cost and microstructure quality of casting products. In the conventional manufacturing methods, cooling channels in gravity casting molds are usually produced linearly in circular profiles. When cooling is not conformal, molding defects such as hot spots and distortions form in the products. This study investigated the effects of cooling channels on the casting steps and final properties of the products in standard and conformal cooling gravity die casting molds. Numerical analysis results were compared with the experimental data and then were verified. The pressure losses in cooling channels, the times for molds to reach the required temperature and the cycle times were all measured. The pressure losses in standard and conformal cooling channels were measured at 5250 Pa and 12100 Pa, respectively. In addition, a more homogeneous mold surface temperature distribution was achieved in the conformal cooling mold, as well as a 28% shorter cycle time. The average particle size of the parts cast with conformal molds was 13.5% smaller than those cast with standard molds. Finally, the mechanical properties of the parts cast with conformal cooling channel molds were found to be better than those cast with standard channel molds.