DIE CASTING

DIE DESIGN RUNNER , GATE ,ETC

The runner, gating and thermal design of a die casting die is an amalgam of experience, common sense and, increasingly, the use of theoretically and experimentallybased design systems and computer programs. The ability to visualize the way in which the metal will fill the die and to imagine the heat flow pattern within the die block is the hallmark of the above-average designer.,

To lay out the gating system and the cooling channel configuration of a die the below mentioned points should be considered: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Choose the position where the metal will enter the die cavity through the gate. Decide on the best direction of metal entry into the cavity. Decide on the required cavity fill time and gate speed. Decide on the required die temperature. Calculate the gate and runner dimensions to achieve the required filling conditions. Calculate the cooling channel positions to achieve the set die temperature and casting speed. Decide on the provision of vents and overflows, the slow plunger approach length and speed and check the locking force requirements.
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CAVITY FILLING PATTERN An unsuitable filling pattern caused by the incorrect choice of gate type and position will result in casting defects which, in many cases, no amount of alteration to the other variables will overcome.

It is unfortunate, therefore, that the flow of metal within the cavity is the subject least amenable to numerical analysis.

OVERFLOWS

An interesting feature , was that placing an overflow pocket in the usual place, opposite the gate, frequently led to more air being swept into the cavity. It is probably best to make the die without overflows (unless required to increase heat input) and only put them in if the initial trials indicate that they are needed.

Gate position is critical but the designer usually does not have a free choice because of restrictions arising from the component shape, trimming considerations, etc. Even so, by careful choice of runner shape and size, the metal flow into the cavity can be directed to achieve the best possible filling pattern.

Fan runners tend to favour flow from the centre and directly across the cavity whereas tangent runners tend to direct flow at an angle towards the far corners of the cavity. A constant area tangent runner will have the flow angle varying along the length of the gate but a constant angle is obtained by tapering the runner.

The flow angle can be varied by altering the ratio of the gate area to the runner area (Fig. 7.2) and this ability has been made a central feature of the Meltflow design system. Gating of circular and cylindrical castings can be a problem due to air entrapment at the centre of the casting.
Single tangent runners are best avoided for this reason.

Fig. 7.2
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DIMENSIONING RUNNERS Runners should have the minimum cross-sectional area needed to provide the required metal flow rate. This will give the minimum amount of air to be vented and reduce the amount of remelt metal.

The area should progressively reduce from the nozzle or slug down to the gate (Fig. 7.3).

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Fig. 7.3.

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DIMENSIONING RUNNERS All changes in section and direction should be made smoothly to reduce turbulence in the metal. A smoothly profiled running system will improve the efficiency of the metal flow and reduce the amount of entrapped air.

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DIMENSIONING RUNNERS
Round, half round and trapezoidal sections are used, the former usually only for small castings, in order to reduce the rate of heat loss from minimum weight runners. The methods for calculating the dimensions of a fan feed and a tapering tangent runner in order to achieve a uniform reduction in area are given in Figs. 7.4 and 7.5.

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Fig. 7.4
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Fig. 7.4

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MATCHING THE MACHINE AND THE DIE

The injection system of a pressure die casting machine is essentially a metal pump whose performance can be easily measured. The machine characteristic can then be calculated and displayed on a graph of metal pressure against metal pumping rate (Fig. 7.6a). For a given machine the characteristic line can be shifted by altering the injection pressure, the shot speed valve setting and the plunger diameter (Figs 7.6b, c, d).
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MACHINE DIE CHARACTERISTICS

Fig. 7.6a.

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MACHINE DIE CHARACTERISTICS

Fig. 7.6b.

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MACHINE DIE CHARACTERISTICS

Fig. 7.6c.

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MACHINE DIE CHARACTERISTICS

Fig. 7.6d.

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MACHINE DIE CHARACTERISTICS

The metal flow channels in the die and the machine present a resistance to the flow of metal, eg small channels will require a higher metal pressure to achieve the same pumping rate as a larger channel (Fig. 7.6e).

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MACHINE DIE CHARACTERISTICS

Fig. 7.6e.

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MACHINE DIE CHARACTERISTICS

This die resistance can be calculated and superimposed on the machine performance graph (Fig. 7.6f )

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MACHINE DIE CHARACTERISTICS

Fig. 7.6f.

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The intersection of the two lines indicates the conditions under which that combination of die and machine will operate, in particular the metal pumping rate can be predicted.

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The principle is best illustrated by means of an example.

Consider a 500g zinc casting having a gate area of 100 mm2 being made on an EMB 120 machine at 10MPa hydraulic pressure (Fig. 7.7). Intersection of 100 mm2 line and 10 MPa line gives pumping rate of 5 litres per second.
Volume of casting=500/6.4=78 cm3 Cavity fill time=volume/pumping rate=78/5=16 milliseconds Gate speed=1000xpumping rate/gate area=1000x5/100=50 metres/sec.
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The principle is best illustrated by means of an example. The die design diagram (or its computer equivalent) can be used to predict the fill time and gate speed for any combination of machine and die. The designer can use it to evaluate the effect that changing the gate area will have on the die filling conditions.

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The principle is best illustrated by means of an example. In effect, the designer can carry out the numerical equivalent of the previous 'cut and try' die sampling procedures. The designer uses the system to select a gate area which gives him the combination of fill time and gate speed he believes is required to achieve the desired casting quality.

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Fig. 7.7.

Machine performance die design sheet for the EMB 120 machine
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Having obtained the gate area the designer then has to decide on the length and thickness of, the gate. In many cases the component shape will dictate this, along with considerations of whether the runner will be broken off or trimmed.

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Thin gates give less witness and less likelihood of gate line porosity.., Thick gates are used to ensure that the full metal pressure is applied to the cavity in order to minimize porosity.

This is particularly relevant to the intensified pressures used in cold chamber die casting.

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Research has shown, however, that gates as thin as 0.4 mm will allow pressure transmission for up to half a second after the cavity is full.

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SUPPLEMENTARY FACTORS The designer should check that the decisions he has made when specifying the running and gating system do not cause problems elsewhere. The locking force requirement should be calculated with an allowance being made for the effect of impact loading at the end of the stroke. The volume of metal required to make the shot should be checked against the machine shot capacity.

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SUPPLEMENTARY FACTORS An allowance should be made for plunger creep in hot chamber machines.

Low shot sleeve fills should be avoided in cold chamber machines because it leads to excessive air entrapment and heat losses. Overcooling the metal causes a skin to form, which obstructs the plunger and prevents full metal pressure being applied; this can cause porosity.

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SUPPLEMENTARY FACTORS The slow approach speed and changeover position should be calculated and specified. This will again reduce air entrapment and also ensure that metal does not enter the cavity before the fast stroke is operating.

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THERMAL DESIGN
The object of carefully designing the cooling channel configuration of a die is to achieve a satisfactory operating temperature at the desired casting rate. Too high a die temperature causes soldering of the tool and blistering and distortion of the casting.

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THERMAL DESIGN

Too low a temperature results in the casting having a poor surface finish and ultimately leads to miss runs. The relationship of die temperature, cycle time and degree of die cooling is shown in the next slide.

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Relationship between die temperature, production rate and die cooling.

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In order to achieve a profitable cycle time the cooling must be tailored so that the die runs within the allowable temperature range. The principle of all the design techniques is to calculate the heat input to the die and the rate of heat extracted by a chosen cooling channel arrangement. When these values are equal, the casting rate and temperature are obtainable.

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The heat input value is easy to obtain, the problems have come in deriving methods of estimating the rate of heat loss from the die. Electrical analogue techniques using resistive paper or water tanks have been used to estimate the temperature distribution in a die. With practice the method can be surprisingly fast, especially when an existing casting is available to use in the model.

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Example of a thermal design data sheet relating to cooling 41 channel layout and heat flow to die temperature.

RELATIONSHIP OF DESIGN VARIABLES TO CASTING QUALITY The essential feature of the gating and thermal design techniques is that the die can be constructed so that in production a specified die temperature, cavity fill time and gate speed, will be attained. The great question then is what value these variables should have in order to guarantee an acceptable casting. Numerous nomograms have in the past been produced for predicting optimum fill time and gate size and relating these to die temperature.
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RELATIONSHIP OF DESIGN VARIABLES TO CASTING QUALITY A comparison of predicted values with results from production dies suggested that the Ulmer-Hemon method gave the closest agreement for fill time and the Western17 method the closest in gate area. Recommended gate speeds were usually between 30 and 50m/s. The survey results were used to derive the BNF Gate Equation which gave the closest fit to the areas used in practice.
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Ulmer-Hemon recommendation: Cavity fill time (ms)=16x(minimum wall thickness) mm2

Western recommendation: Gate area (mm2)=0.016x(volume of cavity) mm3O.745

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THANK YOU
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