Evaluation of heat transfer coefficients during upward and downward transient directional solidification of Al–Si alloys

Aluminum alloys with silicon as a major alloying element consist of a class of alloys which provides the most significant part of all shaped castings manufactured. This is mainly due to the outstanding effect of silicon in the improvement of casting characteristics, combined with other physical properties such as mechanical properties and corrosion resistance. In general, an optimum range of silicon content can be assigned to casting processes. For slow cooling rate processes (sand, plaster, investment), the range is 5 to 7 wt%; for permanent molds, 7 to 9%; and for die castings, 8 to 12%. Since most casting parts are produced considering there is no dominant heat flow direction during solidification, it seems to be adequate to examine both upward and downward growth directions to better understand foundry systems. The way the heat flows across the metal/mold interface strongly affects the evaluation of solidification and plays a remarkable role in the structural integrity of castings. Gravity or pressure die casting, continuous casting, and squeeze casting are some of the processes where product quality is more directly affected by the interfacial heat transfer conditions. Once information in this area is accurate, foundrymen can effectively optimize the design of their chilling systems to produce sound castings. The present work focuses on the determination and evaluation of transient heat transfer coefficients from the experimental cooling curves during solidification of Al 5, 7, and 9 wt% Si alloys. The method used is based on comparisons between experimental data and theoretical temperature profiles furnished by a numerical solidification model, which applies finite volume techniques. In other words, the resulting data were compared with a solution for the inverse heat conduction problem. The necessary solidification thermodynamic input data were obtained by coupling the software ThermoCalc Fortran interface with the solidification model. A comparison between upward and downward transient metal/mold heat transfer coefficients is conducted.