Recent understanding on the effect of filling conditions on casting surface and performance of aluminum castings has resulted in design of new gating systems that eliminate damaged metal, greatly increasing casting quality and yield. It has been proposed by recent researchers that nearly all surface and internal defects in steel castings result from air entrainment during turbulent filling conditions causing unnecessary weld repair, low mechanical properties, and customer rejections. Novel gating systems have been boasted by some to greatly reduce oxide and gas defects and completely eliminate the need for post welding of steel castings. However, there has never been a quantitative study to determine the effectiveness of these gating systems for steel castings and the impact of filling conditions on actual steel quality is currently unknown.
The purpose of the research is to quantitatively evaluate the effect of different filling conditions on steel casting quality and mechanical properties. A series of test castings will use different rigging systems commonly used in steel foundries. Filling of gating systems such as direct pour, horizontally gated, and bottom gated systems will be designed using filling and solidification software. The results of casting trials will be compared to the use of best-practices design involving bottom fill utilizing vortex gating. The objective will be to quantitatively compare casting metal quality and filling simulation results for a variety of filling conditions utilizing a combination of optical metallography, automated nonmetallic inclusion analysis, and evaluation of mechanical properties.
This AFS Members Only Webinar will begin at 1 p.m. CT.