International Journal of Arts and Sciences
3(9): 320-325 (2010)
CD-ROM. ISSN: 1944-6934
© InternationalJournal.org
Investigation the Effects of Process Parameters on Product Quality
in Cold Chamber High Pressure Die Casting of Magnesium Alloys
Ali Serdar Vanli, Yildiz Technical University, Turkey
Anil Akdogan, Yildiz Technical University, Turkey
Huseyin Sonmez, Yildiz Technical University, Turkey
Abstract: Magnesium alloys can be used for lots of sectors with its suitable characteristics
especially preferred for automotive and aerospace industry because of its light weight
properties. This material is slight just like the polymers but also exhibits a unique strength
feature as the other metals. High pressure die casting of magnesium alloys has been the fastest
grown up and the most globally developed section of the magnesium industry. Besides, in die
casting industry the cold chamber process has been favored for its unique ability to transform
the injected molten magnesium into an accurately dimensioned form in the shortest possible
cycle time. Although high pressure die casting is a very precision process; there are lots of
factors which are effective on the product quality and mechanical properties. The process
parameters; casting and die temperatures, filling time, plunger and gate velocities, injection
and intensification pressures, spearhead of these factors. This paper investigates the present
works about the effects of process parameters on the product quality in literature. For obtain
qualified casting products which have good mechanical properties and low porosity contents;
the casting process should be made under high injection and intensification pressures, with
low casting and high die temperatures and with minimum flow velocities.
Keywords: Magnesium alloys, cold chamber die casting, process parameters, product quality.
1. Introduction
Magnesium is an ultra-light structural metal, its density (1.73 gm/cm
3
) is two-thirds that of
aluminum. As a result, during the recent years, cast magnesium alloys have received
considerable attention from the automotive industry for the components such as instrument
panels, steering wheels, seat frames, doorframes and power train components due to potential
of fuel efficiencies and lower emission levels. Magnesium alloy castings are also used in the
microelectronics and telecommunications industries for disk drives, DVD chassis, and cell
phones, etc. (Department of Trade and Industry 2004; Lee, Gokhale, Patel, and Evans, 2006).
High pressure die casting of magnesium is a proven manufacturing process by which products
are being produced in volume, from tiny electronic parts to truck transmission cases. High
pressure casting is a repetitive process where identical parts are cast at high production rates
by injecting molten metal under pressure into a steel die. A die casting die or mould is a
closed vessel into which molten metal is injected under high pressure and temperature and
then rapidly cooled until the solidified part is sufficiently rigid to permit ejection from the
mould (Brungs, 1997; Friedrich and Mordike, 2006).
High-pressure die casting, has the unique ability to transform the injected molten magnesium
into an accurately dimensioned and smoothly finished form in the shortest possible cycle time.
With similarities to the plastic injection molding process, die casting can make parts to the
final shape, often with no additional machining or other operations required. Unlike plastics,