Effect of cyclic simulation cooling and solidification during high pressure die casting

This is a case study on how successive simulation cycles influence the cooling and solidification during high pressure die casting. The casting model is made for a mounting frame for recessed lighting and the material used is aluminum alloy for the casting and the die is made from H11 tool steel. A total of 8 simulations were made with various conditions. Two different die opening criteria were used, first is that the liquid phase of the casting reaches 0%, and second that the casting cools down to 450 °C. After the casting is removed from the mold five different cooling times were simulated (5s, 10s, 30s, 60s, 120s) for the duration of 10 cycles with stationary air of 20°C as a cooling medium. The most optimal cooling time was determined to be 30 seconds, and for this criteria the number of cycles was increased 100. However, 100 cycles were simulated as solidification only with the assumption that the casting cavity was filled to 100%, even if the flow simulations of the 10 cycles showed a maximum of 99.977%. Depending on the cooling time the overall time needed to finish 10 cycles of casting was between 11 and 27 minutes, while 100 cycles took around 3 hours according to the simulations. For the 100 cycles for the first condition the cycle time grew from 74 to 107 seconds, while for the second it grew from 75 to 126 seconds. Once more operating parameters are acquired from the manufacturer, casting failures can be avoided by using simulations to properly maintain equipment.