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A feasibility study of the partial squeeze and vacuum die casting process

Article in Journal of Materials Processing Technology · September 2000

DOI: 10.1016/S0924-0136(00)00557-4

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 Journal of Materials Processing Technology 105 (2000) 42±48

A feasibility study of the partial squeeze and vacuum die casting process
E.S. Kima, K.H. Leeb, Y.H. Moonc,*
a
R & D Division, Dong Nam Precision Company Ltd., Ulsan, South Korea
b
Department of Materials and Metallurgical Engineering, University of Ulsan, Ulsan, South Korea
c
Engineering Research Center for Net Shape and Die Manufacturing, Pusan National University, Pusan, South Korea
Received 16 January 1999

Abstract

A feasibility study of the partial squeeze and vacuum die casting process was performed to make defect-free casting products with
excellent mechanical properties. The trial die casting process in this study was industrially implemented for producing a reaction shaft
support made of a hyper eutectic Al±15%Si alloy. To combine the squeezing and vacuum effect, the plunger injection system was designed
and attached to a chill vent type vacuum machinery system. The combination of the vacuum effect before injection and the squeezing effect
after injection resulted in excellent defect-free die casting products. The uniform distribution of ®ne acicular eutectic and proeutectic silicon
obtained from the trial process also provided excellent mechanical properties. # 2000 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Partial squeeze and vacuum die casting; Hypereutectic Al±Si alloy; Squeeze pressure; Plunger stroke; Injection pressure; Injection speed

1. Introduction castings. Such castings can be machined only lightly and

cannot be heat treated because the expansion of the
Recently the manufacturing of aluminum alloys for use in entrapped bubbles causes blisters and distortion. Great
several casting processes has for many different reasons improvements in quality can be made in die castings if
become a topic of prime importance to many researchers [1± the injection is done in several stages, each of which is
3]. This development has been primarily set in motion by the optimized to reduce turbulence. However, this requires
need to save energy by using lightweight materials in the increased control, and therefore more investment, to produce
®eld of transport and also because of the pressure of the a good quality product. Inevitably, enhancements designed
constantly increasing requirement of functionality and qual- either to improve product quality or to reduce cycle time will
ity. Of equal importance are the demands for more rational increase cost and so most commercial injection molding
production techniques with regard to the protection of the processes will compromise between these two elements.
environment. The die casting of aluminum alloys can ful®ll Conventional die casting uses pressure to force short freez-
this wide range of requirements in a special way when ing range alloys into the die through a relatively narrow gate.
compared with other materials and production processes. It is these very high ¯uid velocities so developed that are
Die casting injects the liquid metal into permanent molds responsible for the inherent high ¯uidity of the process.
at high speed. This means low cycle times and accurate However, the turbulent ¯ow created at such high ¯uid
castings of good surface quality. Therefore die casting is velocities entraps air in the molten metal and despite the
ideally suited for producing small near net shape artifacts applied pressure high levels of porosity are produced as the
that require good surface texture without secondary proces- relatively narrow gate solidi®es before the bulk of the
sing. casting. Controlled injection can reduce air entrapment
In the die casting process, the injection stroke can cause a but porosity is still produced if the casting is not fed
jet of liquid to hit the far end of the mold cavity and then properly. Several modi®cations to pressure die casting have
splash backwards. This produces highly turbulent condi- been developed to increase the integrity of pressure die
tions, introduces a lot of air, and results in very poor quality castings. In the ACCURAD process [4], a secondary plunger
just after a layer of metal has solidi®ed adjacent to the die
*
Corresponding author.: Tel.: ‡82-51-510-2472;
cavity wall, is used to feed center-line shrinkage. A larger
fax: ‡82-51-512-1722. gate is also designed into the die to reduce turbulence during
E-mail address: yhmoon@[Link] (Y.H. Moon). injection and to allow feeding. The secondary plunger

0924-0136/00/$ ± see front matter # 2000 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 9 2 4 - 0 1 3 6 ( 0 0 ) 0 0 5 5 7 - 4
 E.S. Kim et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 105 (2000) 42±48 43

operates typically for 0.1±1.5 s after the main plunger, Table 1

depending on the size of the casting. However, the lower Chemical composition of hyper eutectic Al±Si alloy
velocities generated by the larger gate reduce ¯uidity so that Si Cu Mg Zn Fe Mn P Al
castings cannot be as complex or thin walled as in conven-
14.5±15.5 4.0±5.0 0.5# 0.5# 0.8# 0.2±0.3 0.06 Val.
tional high pressure die casting. An alternative approach is
used in pore free die casting [5], which works by replacing
the air in the closed die by purging it with oxygen before the temperature properties. However, machining may present
molten metal is injected. The oxygen combines with the dif®culties because of the presence of high silicon particles
metal to form ®ne metallic oxides (typically <1 mm), thus in the microstructure. The hyper eutectic composition
reducing porosity. The mechanical properties are improved (above 12.7%Si) in this study aims at high strength, wear
due to the reduction in porosity and complex castings can be resistivity and thermal resistivity in use as an automotive
reproduced. However, as the cycle time is increased to allow reaction shaft support. In this regard it is necessary to
for the injection of the oxygen, the production rates are incorporate, in the eutectic matrix, suf®cient quantities of
reduced. The gas free vacuum die casting process [6] hard primary silicon particles to provide high wear resis-
reduces the air pressure (to below 200 mm Hg) inside the tance and impart strength. It is also desirable to ensure that
mold just before the injection of molten metal, drawing the the primary silicon is well re®ned. For this, a small amount
molten metal into the mold cavities through a gate. In this of phosphorus is added to keep the size of the proeutectic Si
process, the prevention of porosity formation due to vacuum to within 10±50 mm, which reacts with aluminum to form
enables good casting qualities both microstructurally and small, insoluble particles of Al±P that then serve as nuclei on
mechanically. However, the precise control and maintenance which silicon forms. The modi®cation is also performed by
of the shut on/off vacuum valve attached to the die limits adding strontium. The addition of strontium as an Al±Sr or
production rates. Squeeze casting [7] involves solidi®cation Al±Si±Sr master alloy produces a re®ned Al±Si eutectic.
of the molten metal under high pressure. The pressure The alloy composition of Al±Si alloy in this study is shown
applied by the plunger keeps the entrapped gases in solution, in Table 1.
and the contact under high pressure at the die±metal inter-
face promotes rapid heat transfer, resulting in a ®ne micro- 2.2. System design for hybriding squeeze casting with
structure with good mechanical properties. The application vacuum die casting
of pressure also overcomes feeding problems that can arise
when casting metals with a long freezing range, as parts can The machinery for making a hybrid of partial squeeze
be made to near net shape, with complex shapes and ®ne casting and vacuum die casting is shown schematically in
surface detail. However, as the cycle time is increased to Fig. 1. As shown therein a chill vent type vacuum system is
allow the squeezing effect, the production rates are reduced adopted in this study. The spontaneous shutting-off effect
and the production costs are increased due to the squeezing due to early solidi®cation of the leading molten metal at the
machinery. chill vent zone no longer needs the installation of a shut-off
Therefore, in this feasibility study, an advanced die cast- valve, which has been the main cause of malfunction in the
ing technique to satisfy high productivity (the zero vacuum conventional vacuum system [6]. This change in vacuum
die casting method) and high quality (controlling porosity system greatly increases the ef®ciency of the vacuum die
and shrinkage) is industrially implemented to produce reac- casting process without any danger of malfunction. Fig. 2
tion shaft support using hyper eutectic Al±Si alloy. The shows schematically the injection curve which describes the
hybrid technique of partial squeeze casting with vacuum injection time and squeeze pressure for the squeezing effect.
die casting in this study shows excellent productivity and In this study, the actual casting of a reaction support shaft
casting qualities when compared with other die casting using conventional die casting (CD), squeeze die casting
processes. (SD) and vacuum die casting (VD) are performed and
compared with partial squeeze and vacuum die casting
(SVD) to con®rm the usefulness and reliability of the
2. Procedure proposed process. Fig. 3 shows photographs of trial product
of a reaction shaft support. The casting conditions for the
2.1. Alloy design of Al±15%Si hyper eutectic composition reaction shaft support are summarized in Table 2.

Aluminum±silicon alloys are of particular value to the

casting industry because of their high ¯uidity [8,9] being 3. Results and discussion
imparted by the presence of a relatively large volumes of the
Al±Si eutectic. Other advantages of these castings are high 3.1. Die casting defect
resistance to corrosion and good weldability. Silicon also
reduces hot shortness on freezing and reduces the coef®cient Sectional views of the reaction shaft support cast by CD,
of thermal expansion, whilst copper improves elevated SD, VD and SVD are shown in Fig. 4. In the case of the
44 E.S. Kim et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 105 (2000) 42±48

Fig. 1. Schematic drawing of the partial squeeze and vacuum die casting machinery.

reaction shaft support cast by CD and SD, a lot of porosity is die casting method produces an almost defect-free reaction
formed, especially at the thicker sections, as shown in Fig. 4a shaft support. As explained before, the removal of gas by the
and b. Gas reactions due to the entrapped air in the mold chill vent type vacuum system and the squeezing pressure
cavity and the turbulence during injection partially intensify system during solidi®cation satis®es the basic requirements
the formation of porosity during casting. As for the reaction for the prevention of casting defects.
shaft support cast by VD, the formation of porosity is
signi®cantly prevented because of the removal of air in 3.2. Effect of squeeze pressure and time lag on
the mold cavity, but microdefects due to shrinkage are densi®cation
found, as shown in Fig. 4c. This local shrinkage during
the VD process may be caused by dif®culties in the supply of To prevent casting defects such as shrinkage and porosity
molten metal by the preferential dendritic solidi®cation of and, more importantly, to improve the mechanical properties
molten metal at the injection gate. Because these kinds of of cast products, the effects of the squeeze pressure and the
casting defects are primarily originated by gas reactions and squeeze time lag on the densi®cation of the cast products are
solidi®cation shrinkages, the fundamental cure for these investigated. The degree of densi®cation is estimated by the
defects must be focused on the elimination of gas in the measurement of speci®c gravity. Fig. 5 shows the change in
mold cavity and the pressurizing of casting products during speci®c gravity measured by an Electronic Densimeter (SD-
solidi®cation to compensate for the solidi®cation shrin- 120L).
kages. As shown in Fig. 4d, the partial squeeze and vacuum In the case of a squeeze pressure of 1500 kg/cm2, the
longer the squeeze time lag, the smaller the speci®c gravity.
In the case of 3000 kg/cm2, the longer the squeeze time lag
the larger the speci®c gravity until a time lag of 1.5 s. At too
low a squeeze pressure, 1500 kg/cm2, the deformation
resistance of the solidi®ed layer, which is estimated to be

Table 2
Casting conditions

Condition OD VD SD SVD

Pouring temperature (8C) 700 700 700 700

Injection pressure (kg/cm2) 850 850 850 850
Injection speed (m/s)
First 0.30 0.30 0.30 0.30
Second 2.5 2.5 2.5 2.5
Squeeze pressure (kg/cm2) ± ± 1500±3000 1500±3000
Time lag ± ± 0.5±2.0 0.5±2.0
Dwell timd (s) 13 13 13 13
Cycle time (s) 65 65 65 65
Fig. 2. Schematic drawing of the injection curve.
 E.S. Kim et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 105 (2000) 42±48 45

Fig. 3. Photographs of the die cast trial product of a reaction shaft support.

Fig. 4. Photographs showing sectional views of the reaction shaft support: (a) CD; (b) SD; (c) VD; and (d) SVD.
46 E.S. Kim et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 105 (2000) 42±48

Fig. 5. The effect of the squeeze pressure and time lag on the speci®c Fig. 6. The relationship between plunger stroke and squeeze pressure.
gravity of cast products.

larger than the squeeze pressure, restricts the progressive gress of the squeeze plunger stroke. Therefore the decrease
stroke of the squeezing plunger. As the time lag increases, in time lag results in progress of plunger to the squeeze
the deformation resistance is increased with an increased plunger stroke end point in a short time and suf®cient
solidi®ed layer and this results in squeezing effect decreas- squeezing effect cannot be obtained during subsequent
ing due to the shorter plunger stroke. At too high a squeeze solidi®cation. The reason for the decrease in speci®c gravity
pressure, 3000 kg/cm2, on the contrary, the squeezing pres- at the time lag of 2.0 s is that the deformation resistance of
sure, which is estimated to be larger than the deformation the solidi®ed layer prevents the plunger stroke from reaching
resistance of the solidi®ed layer, enables unrestricted pro- the end stroke point. This insuf®cient squeeze pressure is

Fig. 7. Local density variation at a squeeze pressure 2000 kg/cm2 and a time lag of: (a) 0.5 s; (b) 1.0 s; (c) 1.5 s; and (d) 2.0 s.
 E.S. Kim et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 105 (2000) 42±48 47

Table 3
Mechanical properties of the die cast procucts

Specimen Yield strength Tensile strength Elongation Hardness Specific gravity

condition (kg/cm2) (kg/cm2) (%) (Hv) (g/cm2)

CD 10.8 16.94 0.15 123 2.715

VD 12.7 23.23 0.20 127 2.730
SD 11.5 19.74 0.19 130 2.731
SVD 13.9 24.92 0.26 133 2.736

responsible for the drop of speci®c gravity at a larger time squeeze condition can be achieved when the plunger stroke
lag at 3000 kg/cm2. does not reach the squeeze end point during solidi®cation. In
In the squeeze pressure of 2000 kg/cm2 in Fig. 5, a addition to the global comparison of change in speci®c
maximum speci®c gravity of 2.736 kg/cm2 is obtained at gravity with respect to squeeze pressure and time lag, local
the time lag of 1.0 s. This good densi®cation can also be density variations in the cast product are also measured in
explained by the relationship between the plunger stroke and this study. Fig. 7 shows the local density variation at a
the squeeze pressure as shown in Fig. 6. squeeze pressure of 2000 kg/cm2 with time lags of 0.5, 1.0,
In Fig. 6, the plunger stroke is increased with increasing 1.5 and 2.0 s.
squeeze pressure and decreasing time lag. Therefore, the After sectioning the cast reaction shaft support in a
squeezing effect can be increased by increasing the squeez- rectangular manner, the speci®c gravity is measured piece
ing pressure and decreasing the time lag but too high a by piece. The measured speci®c gravity of each piece is
squeeze pressure and too low a time lag brought about compared with that of the squeezing point. When the
insuf®cient squeezing effect due to instant movement to measured speci®c gravity of a piece is similar to that of
the squeeze plunger stroke end point. Therefore an optimal squeezing point (within 0.2%), then the region of that

Fig. 8. Typical microstructure at various squeeze pressures (time lagˆ1.0 s): (a) 1500 kg/cm2; (b) 2000 kg/cm2; (c) 2500 kg/cm2; and (d) 3000 kg/cm2.
48 E.S. Kim et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 105 (2000) 42±48

piece is marked by hatched lines in Fig. 7 and if lower than 2000 kg/cm2, the microstructure is characterized by ®ne
that of the partial squeezing point, then it remains white. At eutectic and uniformly distributed proeutectic Si.
longer time lags such as 1.5 and 2.0 s, the denser parts are Therefore, uniform distribution of ®ne acicular eutectic
restricted to the vicinity of the squeezing point but with and proeutectic Si are the primary factors for the best
decreasing time lag the densi®cation spreads uniformly mechanical properties. In summary, the CD process can
along the sections of the product. From this, it can be be partially improved by VD and SD, but the best casting
inferred that the maximum densi®cation at 2000 kg/cm2 qualities and mechanical properties can be obtained by the
and time lag of 1.0 s in Fig. 5 can be achieved only when SVD process, which is considered to be the most feasible
uniform and full densi®cation along all the sections of the process.
products is obtained.

3.3. Mechanical properties 4. Conclusions

The mechanical properties of the die cast products This feasibility study of the hybrid technique of squeeze
obtained by various processes are compared in Table 3. casting with vacuum die casting was performed to make
In most engineering materials, the strength of the material is defect-free casting products having excellent mechanical
largely dependent on the microstructure. In view of tensile properties. The results of this study are as follows:
properties, SVD shows highest tensile strength and elonga-
tion. This implies that the microstructural soundness of SVD 1. the combination of the vacuum effect before injection
provides the best mechanical properties when compared to and partial squeezing after injection provided excellent
other die casting processes. Intensive microstructural ana- defect-free die cast products;
lysis shows that non-uniform dendritic structures and seg- 2. the cast products produced by SVD have a ®ne and
regations of proeutectic silicon are widely observed except uniform microstructure and show excellent mechanical
in the microstructures obtained from the SVD process. Gas properties;
entrapment, turbulent ¯ow and insuf®cient squeeze pressure 3. in SVD, the time lag for the maximum densi®cation
might be responsible for these kinds of microstructure. In the must be increased with squeeze pressure and the
case of the SVD process, the combination of the vacuum optimum squeeze condition can be achieved when the
effect and the squeezing effect enables defect-free products, plunger stroke does not reach the squeeze end point
and proeutectic Si particles having 10±30 mm diameter, during solidi®cation.
which can provide wear resistivity and heat resistivity, are
observed to be uniformly distributed. This can be explained
by the change in transformation temperature due to the References
squeeze pressure. The increase in squeeze pressure may
lead to an increase in the silicon solubility in the aluminum [1] K. Fukizawa, H. Shiina, J. Soc. Auto. Eng. Jpn. 46 (5) (1992) 66.
matrix and result in re®nement of proeutectic silicon par- [2] D.O. Kennedy, Mod. Cast. 2 (1992) 34.
ticles. [3] Metals Handbook, Vol. 15, 9th Edition, ASM, New York, 1988,
Fig. 8 shows the microstructural change with respect to p. 204.
[4] L. Maclaren, Die Cast. 31 (1967) 7.
change in squeezing pressure. In the case of low squeezing [5] T. Kan, T. Uehara, Die Casting of Aluminum Alloy, Japan Light
pressure (Fig. 8a), as the higher deformation resistance of Metals Press Co., Japan, 1988, p. 438.
solidi®ed layer restricts the plunger stroke, destruction of the [6] Technical History of Die Casting, Japan Die Casting Association,
aluminum dendritic structure and eutectic is relatively small Light Metal Communication Co., Japan, 1995, p. 11.
and microdefects are formed. In case of higher squeeze [7] R.F. Lynch, R.P. Olley, P.C.J. Gallagher, AFS Transactions Paper No.
75±122, 1975, p. 569.
pressure, Fig. 8c and d, too short a squeezing time due to [8] I.J. Polmear, Light Alloys Ð Metallurgy of the Light Metals, Arnold,
high pressure prevents suf®cient destruction of the dendritic UK, 1981.
structure and some microdefects are formed. In case of [9] F. King, Aluminum and its Alloys, Wiley, New York, 1987.

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