A Decision Support System (DSS) for the Prediction and Selection of Optimum Operational Parameters in Pressure Die-Casting Processes
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Methodology for the Selection of Operational Parameters in the Pressure Die-Casting Machines
- Inputs: accumulator pressure (); hydraulic loss constant (); hydraulic cylinder diameter (); plunger/shot sleeve diameter (); shot sleeve length (); casting temperature (); liquidus and solidus temperatures (, ); heat of fusion (H); casting heat capacity (); casting density (); minimum gate velocity (); maximum gate velocity (); initial die temperature (); die constant (C); heat transfer coefficient (h); die heat capacity (); die density (); cavity surface area (); cavity volume (); cross-section area of the vent (); vent length ().
- Outputs: plunger velocity profile (); minimum plunger/shot sleeve diameter (); optimum cross-section area of the gate (); minimum cross-section area of the vent (); filling fraction (f); maximum filling fraction (); minimum filling time (); maximum filling time ().
2.1. Optimisation Models Implemented in the DSS
2.1.1. Process Performance:
2.1.2. Product Quality: Determination of the Optimum Shot-Sleeve Velocity Profile
2.1.3. Operational Costs: Determination of the Filling Fraction
2.1.4. Operational Window: Fitting of the Operating Limits
2.2. Procedure for Selection of Operational Parameters: Maximisation of Process Flexibility
- (1)
- The input data are entered into the DSS, and the initial value of and are obtained (Figure 5a).
- (2)
- The available closest to that matches the maximum filling fraction constraint is selected, and new values of , , and are recalculated (Figure 5b).
- (3)
- Increasing the accumulator pressure () below the maximum allowable and fitting the maximum gate velocity () to the intersection point between DL() and ML (Figure 5c).
- (4)
- Increasing the minimum filling time () so that DL() cuts to in the upper right-hand corner (Figure 5d).
- (5)
- Reducing the maximum filling time () or increasing the minimum gate velocity () so that DL() cuts to in the lower left-hand corner (Figure 5d).
3. Management of Inputs and Analysis of Outputs with the DSS
3.1. DSS Workflow
- (1)
- (Data Base): contains all the information of the casting process.
- (2)
- (Calculation Window): performs the calculations to obtain first , then , and finally , from which the optimal values of the output variables (, , , , f, , , and ) are extracted.
- (3)
- (Optimisation Module): takes the optimisation equations to provide optimised values of the input variables ( and ).
3.2. Analysis of Results and Process Optimisation
4. Case Study Employing the DSS
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Conflicts of Interest
Nomenclature
First parameter of the plunger acceleration law | |
A | Measure of the flexibility |
Surface area of the die cavity | |
Cross-section area of the gate | |
Cross-section area of the vent | |
Second parameter of the plunger acceleration law | |
C | Casting die constant |
Heat capacity of the casting material | |
Heat capacity of the casting die | |
Plunger/Shot sleeve diameter | |
f | Fill fraction of casting material in the shot sleeve |
Initial height of the molten metal in the shot sleeve | |
h | Heat transfer coefficient at the die cavity surface |
H | heat of fusion |
Characteristic constant of the hydraulic system | |
Length of the shot sleeve | |
Length of the vent | |
Pressure exerted by the accumulator to the hydraulic system | |
Q | Flow rate |
Casting material density | |
Die material density | |
Filling time of the casting material in the die cavity | |
Initial casting material temperature | |
Initial die temperature | |
Liquidus temperature of the casting material | |
Solidus temperature of the casting material | |
Gate velocity of casting material | |
Volume of the die cavity | |
Distance between plunger and pouring hole | |
Position of the plunger in shot sleeve | |
Plunger velocity profile | |
Plunger acceleration profile | |
CAE | Computer Aided Engineering |
CFD | Computational Fluid Dynamics |
Die Line | |
DSS | Decision Support System |
Machine Line | |
Machine Performance Envelope | |
NADCA | North American Die Casting Association |
Operational Window | |
PCD | Pressure Die Casting |
VOF | Volume Of Fluid |
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Si (%) | Fe (%) | Cu (%) | Mg (%) | Mn (%) | Ni (%) | Zn (%) | Sn (%) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
11.0–13.00 | 2.0 | 1.0 | 0.1 | 0.35 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.15 |
Casting Material | Casting Die | Casting Machine | Optimisation | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
(C) | 680 | (C) | 260 | (bar) | 90 | (bar) | 76, 90, 100 |
(C) | 582 | C | 71,593,693 | 1,000,000 | (mm) | 55, 60, 65 | |
(C) | 574 | h (W/mK) | 4000 | (mm) | 125 | (m/s) | 1.4 |
(kJ/kgC) | 0.963 | (kJ/kgC) | 0.615 | (mm) | 45, 50, 55, 60, 65, 70 | (m/s) | 3.2 |
(kg/m) | 2660 | (kg/m) | 7800 | (mm) | 273 | ||
H (kJ/kg) | 389 | (mm) | 15490.5 | ||||
(mm) | 256,500 | ||||||
(mm) | 18 | ||||||
(mm) | 152 |
Soft Variables | Hard Variables | ||
---|---|---|---|
(bar) | 100 | (mm) | 60 |
(s) | 0.112 | (cm) | 7.75 |
(s) | 0.193 | (mm) | 17.44 |
Table 4 | f (%) | 39.88 | |
(%) | 41.02 |
t (s) | X(t) (m) | X(t) (ms) |
---|---|---|
0.000 | 0.000 | 0.0000 |
0.056 | 0.001 | 0.0017 |
0.112 | 0.004 | 0.0036 |
0.168 | 0.009 | 0.0056 |
0.224 | 0.018 | 0.0800 |
0.280 | 0.030 | 0.1070 |
0.336 | 0.046 | 0.1380 |
0.392 | 0.069 | 0.1760 |
0.448 | 0.101 | 0.2260 |
0.504 | 0.149 | 0.2960 |
0.560 | 0.257 | 0.4590 |
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Martínez-Pastor, J.; Hernández-Ortega, J.J.; Zamora, R. A Decision Support System (DSS) for the Prediction and Selection of Optimum Operational Parameters in Pressure Die-Casting Processes. Materials 2022, 15, 5309. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15155309
Martínez-Pastor J, Hernández-Ortega JJ, Zamora R. A Decision Support System (DSS) for the Prediction and Selection of Optimum Operational Parameters in Pressure Die-Casting Processes. Materials. 2022; 15(15):5309. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15155309
Chicago/Turabian StyleMartínez-Pastor, Juan, Juan José Hernández-Ortega, and Rosendo Zamora. 2022. "A Decision Support System (DSS) for the Prediction and Selection of Optimum Operational Parameters in Pressure Die-Casting Processes" Materials 15, no. 15: 5309. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15155309