Determination of the Solidification Time of Al-7%Si Alloy during Centrifugal Casting

Abstract

The present work deals with an experimental and a theoretical investigation to determine the solidification time of cast components produced by centrifugal casting methods with different speeds. Al-7% Si alloy is considered in the present investigation at different pouring temperatures and rotational speeds. Solidification times are measured and a suitable mathematical formulation to estimate the freezing time is proposed. In the present work a horizontal axis centrifugal casting is studied both experimentally and numerically. Polar coordinate system is considered during the analysis and numerical investigation. Temperature dependent properties of aluminium alloy are taken into consideration for estimation of the solidification time. Radiative heat transfer from the outer surface of rotating cast iron mould is also taken into account along with convective heat transfer. The results are presented in both tabular and graphical from and comparisons made.