High quality plate-shaped A356 alloy casting by a combined ablation cooling and mold heating method

Abstract

High quality plate-shaped A356 plate castings, with length much greater than the feeding distance, are difficult to make by conventional sand casting processes. This article describes our initial work on combining mold heating with ablation cooling in making plate-shaped castings of high internal quality. Our experimental results indicate that shrinkage porosity can be largely eliminated when the mold temperature is higher than 200 °C. Furthermore, the morphology of eutectic silicon is modified, from flake-like in sand casting to coral-like in castings subjected to ablation cooling. As a result, the mechanical properties of the plate casting, especially ductility, are significantly enhanced by the combined effect of mold heating and ablation cooling. Numerical modeling was performed in this study to quantify the cooling conditions involved.