Numerical Simulation of Heat Transfer during Solidification of Al–Cu Alloy Ingots Cast in a Cylindrical Mold for Different Conditions

Abstract

In this paper, two dimensional numerical simulation of heat transfer during solidification of Al- 4.5 wt. % Cu alloy cast in a cylindrical mold was carried out to specify the optimum solidification conditions. The mold has the dimensions of 150 mm height, 38 mm outer radius, and 8 mm thickness. Four cases were studied for the solidification process; first case is the solidification in the mold without applying any thermal effects at four different mold temperatures of 25, 50, 100 and 200 Ԩ respectively. The second case is insulating the cast from the top. The third case is insulating the upper portion of the mold wall. The last case is adding heat to the upper portion of the mold wall for specific time. For the last three cases, the mold temperature is set to 25Ԩ. The results have shown that the increase in mold temperature only increases the solidification time and it does not significantly affect the temperature distribution and the final cast shape. Insulating the top of the mold made the last solidification region to be at the top of the cast, which leads to get ingot free from the secondary cavity. Insulating a portion of the upper wall of the mold made the cast surface to be more homogeneous with smallest secondary cavity. Heat addition to a portion of the upper wall of the mold leads to obtain a cast with approximately flat surface that is free from secondary cavity in addition to the primary cavity.