Rheocasting Structural Components

Martin Hartlieb, Viami International Inc.

Per Jansson, Comptech AB
Jean-Claude Tawil, Stéphane Bergeron, Dynatool Industries Inc.
 Introduction
• Structural (high vacuum) die casting has now been around for
several decades and is well established
• Rheocasting has also been around for decades in various forms
• Rheocasting (if done properly) is a great addition to the structural
die casting process to ”push the limits” significantly higher
• Rheocasting is one tool in the toolbox, but for making structural
castings everything needs to be done right!
• The combination of current best structural/vacuum die casting and
Rheocasting is a true winner!
 Introduction
The high vacuum HPDC process can offer the following advantages:
• Less air entrapment in the cavity ⇒ minimized gas porosity
• Significantly improved mechanical properties
• No counter-pressure ⇒ longer flow length ⇒ thinner walls possible
• Possibility to cast more intricate/complex components
• Slower injection speed possible ⇒ less die soldering ⇒ longer die life
• Improved surface quality
 Introduction
The Rheocasting process can offer the following advantages:
• Laminar metal flow ⇒ no turbulence ⇒ almost no porosity
⇒ ability to solution HT at higher temperature, weld the castings, etc.

• Slower injection speed and lower metal temperature ⇒ less

die soldering ⇒ significantly extended die life
• Longer flow and feeding due to high viscosity and globular
microstructure with low shear strength
• Simple gating ⇒ reduced projected area & Reduced intensification
pressure (less shrinkage) ⇒ significantly reduced DCM size possible!
• Ability to cast many otherwise very difficult/impossible to cast alloys
 The RheometalTM Rheocasting
process from Comptech
• Simple process using a carousel (Permanent Mold) to create an
EEM (Enthalpy Equilibration Material) that is carefully stirred in the
liquid metal of the dosing ladle, creating the semi-solid slurry with
the desired solid fraction
• Very high slurry quality with absolutely minimum oxide inclusions
• Solid fraction can be tailored (15-45%)
• Cost-efficient process (minimum addition to conventional
HPDC process, significant increase in machine capability
of HPDC cell) with small footprint for additional equipment
 THE RHEOMETALTM
RHEOCASTING PROCESS
1. The enthalpy exchange material (EEM) is cast onto a rod
2. The EEM then cools down and the riser is removed
3. The EEM is used to create the semi-solid slurry in the
ladle
 THE RHEOMETALTM
RHEOCASTING PROCESS
• The EEM is immersed under rotation into the ladle and melts during the
slurry forming step
• Controlled rotation allows to control the temperature and solid fraction
• Also ensures formation of
globular grains
• Takes less than 20 seconds
• Maximum 45% solid fraction
can still easily be poured
into the shot sleeve
• Remains semi-solid for up
to 90 seconds (depending
on the slurry)
 NOT ALL RHEOCASTING
PROCESSES ARE SUITABLE
• A low solid fraction (especially below 25%) can help reduce
porosity in a casting
Ø But is not sufficient for the casting of very thin sections, or for
very high integrity components
• If the solid fraction is too high (anything above 50%)
Ø the slurry becomes difficult to transfer into the shot sleeve
Ø Therefore, with a solid fraction of 30 – 45% the optimum properties
of the semi-solid slurry can be achieved for high quality/integrity
applications.
 The right solid fraction is very
important for part quality
Low solid fraction
(<25%) will lead to
blisters during
solution heat
treatment
High solid fraction (30-
45%) allows solution
HT at >500°C without
blisters
 Process development for
Structural Rheocasting
• Similar to that of high vacuum structural die casting.
• Many of the same rules and best practices apply here as well:
• Using the best possible vacuum
• A very leak tight die
• A temperature-controlled shot sleeve & Vacuum tip
• Minimum (atomized) spray (die and tip)
• Optimized die thermal management
• Optimized injection profile (only about a quarter/half of the speed)
• The Rheocasting process makes the die casting process itself a lot
more “forgiving” and “opens up the process window” significantly.
 Melt treatment practices
• Structural Rheocasting requires the same melt treatment any
structural (die) casting
• Melting the metal quickly without direct exposure to the flames,
and without overheating the melt
• Proper degassing (fluxing if dirty metal is recycled) and then
skimming off the dirt from the surface.
• Minimum turbulence/cascade transfers
• Filtering is always ideal, as well as applying a cover gas whenever
possible to limit oxidation and H pickup.
 Melt quality testing
• Chemistry check with spectrometer and adjust it if necessary
• Proper modification is important for best properties (esp. El)
• Check the H content / density of the melt (RPT)
• Check inclusion content (e.g. with K-mold and/or ideally with a
dross test.
• At Dynatool the AluQ from Azterlan was installed
as it combines all these tests (+ thermal analysis)
into a single (movable) piece of equipment with
easy HMI on a portable tablet.
 Melt Quality Testing
• Thermal analysis of the melt determines the exact temperature curve
during solidification.
• This shows the so-called
“arrest point” during the
solidification, when the melt
remains at constant
temperature over extended
time while the solid fraction
of the melt is increasing.
• It also shows modification
and grain refinement
 Optimum melt temperature
• Melt temperature control is
extremely important in Rheocasting
• Process and temperatures need to
be consistent. (Check heat loss!)
• Melt temperature in the holding
C
furnace must be at a clearly defined 610C 1130F
temperature above liquidus (C). B
577C 1070F
• Slurry-making takes about 20s and
EEM size/shape can be adjusted to A
different target temperatures and
solid fractions. A356
 Gating & Projected Area
• The original structural vacuum HPDC gating
design was going to enter the part over the
entire length, with overflows on the opposite
side. The projected area in this case was 4124
cm2 (639 in2)
• In the Rheocasting design the single ingate in
the center and small overflows on each end of
the casting are sufficent. The projected area was
therefore only 2006 cm2 (311 in2), less than half
of the liquid die casting design
=> 1650 ton instead of a 2600 ton HPDC machine!
Vacuum an shot Profile for Rheocasting
• Liquid metal will behave very different to semi-solid
metal, even in the shot sleeve.
• Liquid metal (like water) might create a wave (the
right speed / acceleration is very important) but
overall, it will remain more or less at the same level
• A semi-solid slurry will not create any wave. It
basically behaves like snow when pushed by a
snow-plough! This means that metal is immediately
mounting up to the top of the shot sleeve (in front
of the plunger) and then this is moved forward.
Vacuum an shot Profile for Rheocasting
• This phenomenon made it important to find
an alternative to shot sleeve evacuation.
• The solution was found by adding a small
arm to the single runner and evacuating
through this small arm with a large
hydraulic valve that is connected to the first
(large) tank of the Vacu-2 system (stage 1).
Vacuum an shot Profile for Rheocasting
• The fast shot speed can be relatively slow (at about a quarter to half
of liquid structural die casting) to be as “soft” as possible on the die
and get the maximum benefit of laminar filling.
• The flow length of the semi-solid slurry was found to be extremely
long. A356 (AlSi7Mg) offers a maximum flow length of 2200 mm in a
3mm thickness (i.e. 733mm flow length per mm wall thickness) can be
achieved when the melt is in the 30-45% solid fraction range.
Ø About 3 times longer than with liquid metal casting of a similar alloy.
• The intensification pressure can normally be lower than in liquid
HPDC, but is depending on the wall thickness of the casting.
Vacuum and shot Profile for Rheocasting
• Why vacuum in Rheocasting (laminar flow)?
• Liquid metal fills every angle and every corner of the cavity quickly.
• But advancing droplets can freeze and block the filling path!
• A semi-solid slurry has the tendency to always simply “go straight”
(inertia), which can mean that any perpendicular feature is first
“ignored” by the metal front and only filled later, once the metal front
experiences resistance on its straight forward path.
• Any such feature (e.g. a rib perpendicular to the main casting body)
will therefore only be filled completely when the metal has already
blocked the air evacuation path => remaining air will be compressed.
 Traditional HPDC vs Semi-solid
filling of a thin fin example
Traditional HPDC Semi-Solid Rheocasting
Dendritic Globular
 Traditional HPDC vs Semi-solid
filling of a thin fin example
Traditional HPDC Semi-Solid Rheocasting
Dendritic Globular
 Traditional HPDC vs Semi-solid
filling of a thin fin example
Traditional HPDC Semi-Solid Rheocasting
Dendritic Globular
 Traditional HPDC vs Semi-solid
filling of a thin fin example
Traditional HPDC Semi-Solid Rheocasting
Dendritic Globular
 Traditional HPDC vs Semi-solid
filling of a thin fin example
Traditional HPDC Semi-Solid Rheocasting
Dendritic Globular
 Traditional HPDC vs Semi-solid
filling of a thin fin example
Traditional HPDC Semi-Solid Rheocasting
Dendritic Globular
 Traditional HPDC vs Semi-solid
filling of a thin fin example
Traditional HPDC Semi-Solid Rheocasting
Dendritic Globular
 Traditional HPDC vs Semi-solid
filling of a thin fin example
Traditional HPDC Semi-Solid Rheocasting
Dendritic Globular
 Traditional HPDC vs Semi-solid
filling of a thin fin example
Traditional HPDC Semi-Solid Rheocasting
Dendritic Globular
 Traditional HPDC vs Semi-solid
filling of a thin fin example
Traditional HPDC Semi-Solid Rheocasting
Dendritic Globular
 Traditional HPDC vs Semi-solid
filling of a thin fin example
Traditional HPDC Semi-Solid Rheocasting
Dendritic Globular
 Traditional HPDC vs Semi-solid
filling of a thin fin example
Traditional HPDC Semi-Solid Rheocasting
Dendritic Globular
 Traditional HPDC vs Semi-solid
filling of a thin fin example
Traditional HPDC Semi-Solid Rheocasting
Dendritic Globular
 Traditional HPDC vs Semi-solid
filling of a thin fin example
Traditional HPDC Semi-Solid Rheocasting
Dendritic Globular
 Traditional HPDC vs Semi-solid
filling of a thin fin example
Traditional HPDC Semi-Solid Rheocasting
Dendritic Globular
 Traditional HPDC vs Semi-solid
filling of a thin fin example
Traditional HPDC Semi-Solid Rheocasting
Dendritic Globular
 Alloy selection
• The slow injection speed almost completely eliminates the need for
high Fe and/or Mn to beat die soldering
• This allows the use of Sand/PM alloys like A356, which is very
common, available and economical. (Or many exotic/new alloys!)
• Only small adjustments to Mg content, Sr (for modification) and
TiB2 (for grain refinement) can be necessary.
• In the development process it was found that a
mix of clean crushed wheels (eccomelt356.2)
and internal returns can be used with minimum
additions/adjustments.
 Mechanical Properties in T6
Solution HT at 510°C for 2h + water quench
aging time (h) @ 165 C YS UTS EL QI
0,5 130 248 15,1 425
1 137 253 16,1 434
2 163 266 15,8 446
4 207 280 8,7 421
aging time (h) @ 190 C YS UTS EL QI
0,5 179 224 9,1 403
1 190 260 7,4 355
2 237 286 7,3 416 HT
4 237 283 7,9 417 development
and tests
conducted
aging time (h) @ 220 C YS UTS EL QI at the
0,5 213 260 8,7 401
1 205 253 9,3 398
2 193 241 6,0 358 with funding
from NSERC
 Carbon Footprint
• Important objective of the OEM
• Primary A356 ingots have between 4 and over 20 tons of CO2e / t Al*,
(global average is close to 17 tons of CO2e / t Al!)
• Secondary ingots would be at least at around 1 t of CO2e / t Al*.
• The clean shredded wheels from Eccomelt from their Toronto facility
are EXW at 0.089 t of CO2e / t Al*, which brings it to 0.139 t of CO2e / t
Al delivered to the Dynatool facility.
• With the entire casting, T6 heat treatment, machining, etc. process,
the total carbon footprint of the casting is calculated at 1.1 t of CO2e
/ t Al*/**, far below basically any other structural (die) casting.
*) According to GHG Protocol Corporate Standard Scope 1-3 **) Cradle to Gate
 Conclusions
• Structural castings with highest integrity and properties can be produced on a
die casting machine equipped with high vacuum and the Comptech
Rheocasting technology, allowing for solid fractions of 30-45%
• This combination:
• Allows the casting of thick wall sections with extremely low porosity AND
thin sections like ribs (higher part complexity) in large castings – produced
on a smaller die casting machine than conventional HPDC
• Improves significantly part quality (HT, weldability, etc.)
• Allows more alloy possibilities for much improved properties
• Extends die life and allows for high production volumes
• Makes rest of the process “more forgiving” (bigger process window)
 Outlook
• Excellent opportunity for all types of structural castings including
• Typical (existing) structural parts (with higher properties/integrity)
• Optimized structural parts (larger / thicker/thinner sections / etc.)
• Currently Low Pressure Castings (including hollow castings)
• Gigacastings
• Replacement of currently other (incl. ferrous) metal castings

• Opportunity for die casters to develop new high value added

applications
• Improve competitiveness of HPDC
 Questions?
Martin Hartlieb
Martin.Hartlieb@viami.ca
Per Jansson
per.jansson@comptech.se
Jean-Claude Tawil
tawiljc@dyna-tool.com
Stéphane Bergeron
bergerons@dyna-tool.com