Study Of Numerical Simulation And Hot Runner Technology For Zinc Alloy Die Casting

Due to the high mechanical property and the good casting property, zinc alloy occupies anirreplaceable position in hardware accessories manufacturing. For now, most of the domesticcasting factories are facing the awkward situation of both high cost and low efficiency, becauseof the main way to design die casting mould is only rely on experience which is necessary torepeatedly test, repair and optimize. In addition, through analysis the cost and quality for zinc diecasting runner, it can be found that the die-casting hot runner has an important effect on thehands of controlling cost and improving quality. Thus, the paper attempts to propose thecorresponding countermeasure and the measure in view of above question, and mainly carried onfollowing research：1) Application of numerical simulation technology for zinc alloy die castingNumerical simulation on zinc alloy die casting also have great difficulties because of mostcastings were thin-wall, especially the size of gating system. In this paper, we simulate diecasting filling process of zinc alloy parts with FLOW3D software to predict the location ofdefects so that the gating system and process condition can be optimized. The main contentsinclude defecting and fixing errors in STL geometry files, mesh generation and model setup.2) Design and optimization of casting system for zinc alloy die castingFirstly, the paper study on a cover plate of zinc alloy product, for the casting’scharacteristics of shape and size, taper casting system and process condition parameters weredesigned and optimized according to the simulation results. By comparing the simulation resultsafter optimization with the experiment results, the rationality of new project were validated.Moreover, the experiment results also validate the feasibility of the optimal design and thereliability of numerical simulation on the die casting process.3) Application of die-casting hot runner system for zinc alloy die castingAccording to the hot runner principles, four different gating system of tap’s cover of zincdie casting part were designed and the better filling system was chosen and optimized throughthe simulation result by using the surface defect and the volume of entrained air. And then inorder to find the best die casting processing parameters, we simulate die casting filling processwith the help of orthogonal experiment. The simulation results show the optimized processingparameters for hot runner system is pouring temperature415℃, injection speed55m/s, moldinitial temperature190℃. The condition of orthogonal experiment process parameters and the hot runner system were performed, and the results show that using hot runner system can alsomake better castings. On the other hand, using hot runner system in zinc alloy die casting canreduce heat loss, avoid entrapped air and save raw materials observably.