Density variations during solidification of grey cast Iron

Abstract

As part of moving towards a sustainable production of diesel engines for heavy vehicle applications, the ability to predict casting defects has become ever so important. In order to model the solidification process for cast components correctly, it is of essence to know how the material will actually behave. To produce sound castings, often of complex geometry, the industry relies on various simulation software for the prediction and avoidance of defects. Thermophysical properties, such as density, play an important part in these simulations. Previous measurements of how the volume of liquid grey iron changes with temperature has been made with a conventional dilatometer. Measurements have also been made in the austenitic range, then on iron-carbon-silicon alloys with a carbon content lower than 1.5 wt%. Based on these measurements the density variations during solidification were calculated. The scope for this paper is to model the volume changes during solidification with the control volume finite difference method, using data from the density measurements.