EVALUATION OF SURFACE DETERIORATION RESULTING FROM THERMAL FATIGUE IN THE OPERATIONAL STATE OF AN H13 PRESSURE DIE CASTING DIE

Abstract

The failure rate of pressure die casting dies is increasing due to cracks on the die surfaces, leading to thermal fatigue and fracture. This paper aims to investigate the thermal fatigue failure of H13 die-casting die in running conditions by measuring the surface crack dimensions at core and cavity zones of the die during regular intervals of the die-casting process. The effect of length and width of the cracks on the die surface concerning coolant channel positions was analyzed. Transient thermal analysis was performed to investigate the temperature distribution, principal stress and total deformation of the die concerning to the coolant channel position using ANSYS. The maximum deformation of core insert was 0.0094 mm. Zone C of the core insert, which was 223.52 mm from the coolant channel location and corresponding to 139,237 cycles, had the longest crack, measuring 18.98 mm. Owing to greater temperature gradients, Zone Z of the cavity insert, which is situated 76.25 mm from the coolant channel, had the largest crack width, measuring 0.29 mm. The durability of the die casting die obtained from the numerical model (2.8×105 cycles) was in agreement with experimental studies (2.89×105 cycles).