Numerical Simulation and Cold Modeling experiments on Centrifugal Casting

In a centrifugal casting process, the fluid flow eventually determines the quality and characteristics of the final product. It is difficult to study the fluid behavior here because of the opaque nature of melt and mold. In the current investigation, numerical simulations of the flow field and visualization experiments on cold models have been carried out for a centrifugal casting system using horizontal molds and fluids of different viscosities to study the effect of different process variables on the flow pattern. The effects of the thickness of the cylindrical fluid annulus formed inside the mold and the effects of fluid viscosity, diameter, and rotational speed of the mold on the hollow fluid cylinder formation process have been investigated. The numerical simulation results are compared with corresponding data obtained from the cold modeling experiments. The influence of rotational speed in a real-life centrifugal casting system has also been studied using an aluminum-silicon alloy. Cylinders of different thicknesses are cast at different rotational speeds, and the flow patterns observed visually in the actual castings are found to be similar to those recorded in the corresponding cold modeling experiments. Reasonable agreement is observed between the results of numerical simulation and the results of cold modeling experiments with different fluids. The visualization study on the hollow cylinders produced in an actual centrifugal casting process also confirm the conclusions arrived at from the cold modeling experiments and numerical simulation in a qualitative sense.