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CASTING INNOVATIONS


CASTING INNOVATIONS “ My sponsored webinar


with Metal Casting Design & Purchasing exceeded all my expectations. I consider this program to be the single best lead generation investment I’ve made in the last 10 years.





David Weiss Vice President, Sales & Engineering Eck Industries Inc.


Simulation Proves Valuable in Casting Case Study T e Honda of America Mfg. engine facility in Anna,


Ohio, produces aluminum die castings for Honda and Acura automotive production lines. In the past, due to the com- plexity of castings, including engine blocks and cylinder heads, experienced designers had diffi culty creating dies that produced quality parts on the fi rst attempt. Besides the extra time involved in building and testing processes, multiple die trials cost as much as $50,000 each. In response, Honda invested in ProCAST, a casting


simulation software from ESI North America, Farmington Hills, Mich. Simulation analysis helped evaluate initial die designs and avoid potential errors or fl aws before tooling was built or tested. T e simulations optimized fl ow and solidifi cation to avoid common problems related to gas and shrinkage porosity. As a result, Honda was able to reduce the average number of dies per casting and shorten the develop- ment process. With the introduction of ProCAST software, Honda was able to deliver products sooner while minimizing unnecessary development costs. In one instance for an unspecifi ed iron casting (Fig. 1), the copper permanent mold for one of Honda’s ferrous produc- tion lines began experie ncing problems due to die erosion. Each die had to be taken apart daily, cleaned out and repaired, which led to increased costs. T ese complications extended run time, increased scrap rate and led to more downtime. “We might see a thermal imbalance that causes one


area of the part to solidify long before other areas which, in turn, results in hot cracks or porosity when the frozen area shrinks without access to additional molten metal to fi ll the shrunken area,” said James Kreitzer, engineering coordinator, Honda of America. “Or we might see fl ow velocities inside the mold that are high enough to run the risk of galling or erosion of the cavity or low enough to prevent the mold from fi lling completely. We also can see when temperatures drop too low around the front of an advancing wave of mol- ten metal, which can lead to fl ow marks on external surfaces. Flow marks may be acceptable if they are only on external surfaces. However, if they penetrate to the interior of the casting, they may cause leakage.” Engineers believed the ductile iron was eroding certain


regions of the six-cavity die. During computer modeling, the team wanted to identify the root cause of the erosion to re- engineer the existing design. T e baseline simulation showed


METALCASTINGDESIGN.COM


Fig. 1. Engineers believed the ductile iron was eroding certain regions of the six-cavity die.


48 | MODERN CASTING January 2015


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