Modeling permanent mold casting of aluminum

Modeling the complex, coupled fluid flow, heat transfer and solidification phenomena taking place in metal casting is a challenging task. The quality of any metal casting depends on many parameters such as the type of mould, rate of filling, and rate of solidification. Optimization of these operational parameters is very important in reducing casting defects such as oxide inclusions and porosity. This paper addresses the first steps in validating a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model of permanent mold casting of aluminum. A mathematical model of the casting system has been developed using the commercial CFD package StarCD. A physical model of the system has been used to validate the mold filling phenomena in the process. Comparison of the results from these models will be presented.