MAGMASOFT® 6.0 - The Right Tools for the Complete Permanent Mold Casting Process
Highlights IN MAGMASOFT® 6.0 - Non Ferrous
New capabilities and new algorithms provide a better and more accurate representation of the complete permanent mold casting process for:
- Following and evaluating entrapped air in the gating and casting during pouring
- Generation and transport of core gases during filling and solidification
- Effects of melt surface tension and wetting
- Accurate description of the pouring conditions for the casting
- Heating of the mold before starting production
- Influence of flow through cooling lines on local heat transfer from the die
- Effects of electrical heating cartridges and Variotherm control on the die thermal balance
- TAG meshes for an accurate representation of the casting contour and fewer elements with mesh coarsening
Robust Production of Aluminum Castings with Reproducible Quality
The quality and profitability of non-ferrous castings are driven by the tooling design, the gating and risering layout, the thermal control of the die and reproducible manufacturing conditions for metal treatment and alloy chemistry.
MAGMASOFT® is capable of autonomously establishing robust process conditions and optimized solutions for non-ferrous sand, permanent mold and low pressure die castings regarding cast part geometry, mold and die layout, thermal control and process parameters. The integrated tools to statistically set up virtual Designs of Experiments and automatically assess results support the die caster in determining optimal design and process conditions, for example regarding:
- optimization of the gating system for low turbulence filling, reduced gas and oxide inclusions and misruns
- positioning and sizes of feeders/risers eliminating shrinkage and porosity while maintaining high yield levels
- efficient thermal control of the die and extended die life
- optimum alloy chemistry for prevention of critical phases during solidification and further metal cooling
- robust process parameters, including metal treatment for the desired microstructure and the required properties
- optimized die design and heat treatment conditions for minimized casting stresses and part distortion
Gravity casting
'Flow Tracer' result to analyze whether the flow behaviour is turbulent or laminar
Mould filling and solidification for an aluminium oil pan in a sand casting process
Gravity casting
Tilt pouring of a suspension part
Mold filling considering surface tension and turbulence
Assessment of mold filling and oxide inclusions
Gravity casting
Original and optimized gating and risering for a gravity die casting
Assessment of die pre-production heating cycles
Animation of die opening sequence
Pressure-assisted solidification
Die temperature distributions
Casting stresses during casting, heat treatment and machining
Von Mises equivalent stresses in an aluminium cylinder head
Residual stresses in a cylinder head after T6 heat treatment and machining
MAGMASOFT®’s unique integrated methodology of virtual experimentation and autonomous optimization lets the software automatically run through various non-ferrous casting design and parameter combinations. MAGMASOFT® helps identify a set of process conditions best meeting the specified requirements. This is done quickly and comprehensively, matching different objectives considering all the driving forces decisive for non-ferrous casting quality.
This makes MAGMASOFT® key for part designers, pattern and tool makers, and metal casters to layout optimal cast component designs, implement reliable production processes, minimize quality risks, set up reliable process windows and realize the full potential of non-ferrous cast materials.
Non Ferrous Reference
Methodical Assessment of Different Casting Layouts
At ZI in Bergzabern, Germany, the new virtual experimentation capabilities in MAGMA5 were recently used to make a successful comparison of different production alternatives for a gear housing.
