| Abstract | Semisolid metal alloys have a special microstructure of globular grains suspended in a liquid metal matrix. This particular physical state of the matter can be exploited to produce near-net-shape parts with improved mechanical properties. Indeed, semi-solid processes take advantage of a much higher apparent viscosity of the die cast materials by limiting the risk of oxide formed on the free surfaces to become incorporated into the casting when the material is injected into the die. Semi-solid processes that use billets as feedstock material are however tied up with an additional type of surface contamination. During the injection phase, the external-skin on the periphery of the billet, which has been in contact with air and lubricant during the transfer in the shot sleeve may be incorporated into the casting. This can be an important cause of reject for most structural parts in the automotive industry. In order to predict and control the occurrence of skin inclusion into cast parts during the injection phase of semisolid processes, Lagrangian methods are appropriate. Indeed, the skin, composed of contaminated or even partially solidified metal, has different mechanical properties compared to the core of semi-solid aluminum. Abitrary- Lagrangian-Eulerian formulations, which can account for the coupling between the “solid” skin and the flow of “semi-solid” aluminum are promising but still necessitate a huge amount of computer power. On the other hand, particle based Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) approaches are particularly well suited to this kind of flows involving complex flow behavior and solidification. These methods are able to track accurately free surface flows with fragmentation and break up as well as to follow the advection of oxides through the flow. In this paper, a first analysis is performed in order to investigate the potential of the SPH solver of LS-DYNA to deal with the problem of skin inclusion in semi-solid die casting processes. Preliminary results show that the SPH approach is a very promising simulation tool to follow the skins during semi-solid injection casting. |
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