Fluidity of Al-Si Alloy in Metal Mold Casting under Vibration

Abstract

The effect of mechanical vibration on the metal fallibility in thin casting was investigated in this study. The vibration was applied in vertical and horizontal mode during solidification process of aluminum alloy (Al-12%Si). This was done in the frequency range from (0 to 60) Hz and at two intensities; high intensity at (1.6 Volt, 4Ampere) and low intensity at (0.8 Volt, 2 Ampere). The results indicated that in vertical mode the mechanical vibrations increasingly improve fluidity of thin sections and the maximum percentage of fluidity improvement was equaling to 30.61% at 60 Hz. For horizontal mode it was found that fluidity also increase with frequency and the percentage of improvement was equaling to 33.35% at 12 Hz but then it falls at 60 Hz for both intensities, that because at strong vibration castings have an elliptical form rather than circular due to metal flow in the direction of vibration more than the other directions which mean that horizontal mode can operate most effectively at low frequencies only.