한국주조공학회

In gravity die casting, die cooling systems are frequently employed with water cooling to remove the heat of the solidifying metal. Thermal modeling is an important technique in mold design for improving the productivity of the process. Computer simulation system which consists of pre- processor, main solidification simulator and post-processor has been developed for three dimensional solidification analysis of cyclic gravity die casting. The pre-processor is used for mesh generation in a PC system. The modified finite difference method is adopted for the main solidification simulation algorithm during all the casting cycles. The post-processor graphically presents the simulation results. Several experiments in automotive cast piston were carried out. The temperature variations in casting and mold with time are measured experimentally, and the results are compared with calculation results. The effects of cycle number on solidification pattern are also studied. Several experimental results for the prediction of shrinkage defects are compared with calculated results.