Induction reheating of A356.2 aluminum alloy and thixocasting as automobile component

Lakshmi, H and Kumar, Vinay MC and Raghunath, * and Kumar, P and Ramanarayanan, V and Murthy, KSS and Dutta, P (2010) Induction reheating of A356.2 aluminum alloy and thixocasting as automobile component. In: Transactions of Nonferrous Metals Society of China, 20 (Suppl.). S961-S967.

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Abstract

The development work for producing an automobile component by thixocasting using A356.2 alloy was introduced. As the first step, the alloy was electromagnetically stirred and solidified to produce a billet with non-dendritic microstructure. The microstructure depended on several process parameters such as stirring intensity, stirring frequency, cooling rate, and melt initial superheat. Through a series of computational studies and controlled experiments, a set of process parameters were identified to produce the best microstructures. Reheating of a billet with non-dendritic microstructure to a semisolid temperature was the next step for thixo-casting of the components. The reheating process was characterized for various reheating cycles using a vertical-type reheating machine. The induction heating cycle was optimized to obtain a near-uniform temperature distribution in radial as well as axial direction of the billet, and the heating was continued until the liquid fraction reached about 50%. These parameters were determined with the help of a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model of die filling and solidification of the semisolid alloy. The heated billets were subsequently thixo-cast into automobile components using a real-time controlled die casting machine. The results show that the castings are near net shape, free from porosity, good surface finish and have superior mechanical properties compared to those produced by conventional die casting processes using the same alloy.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	Transactions of Nonferrous Metals Society of China
Publisher:	Elsevier Science
Additional Information:	Copyright of this article belongs to Elsevier Science.
Keywords:	aluminum alloy; thixo-casting; electromagnetic stirring; induction reheating; process parameters.
Department/Centre:	Division of Electrical Sciences > Electrical Engineering Division of Mechanical Sciences > Mechanical Engineering
Date Deposited:	26 Oct 2010 07:14
Last Modified:	26 Oct 2010 07:14
URI:	http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/33398

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