Numerical Simulations of Low Pressure Die-Casting for A356 Aluminum Rims

This study conducted mold flow analyses on low pressure die-casting A356 aluminum rims to improve the shrinkage and porosity defects which usually occurs in die-castings so as to enhance the quality of die-casting wheels. We adopted different lift tube designs with cylindrical, taper opening and back taper opening structures while discussing the filling, exhaust, and solidification of molten flows and predicting the shrinkage and porosity formed based on the retained melt modulus. The study found that the configuration of lift tube as well as the optimization of process parameters such as the processing pressure and progressive time could effectively reduce the formations of shrinkage and porosity defects and improve the quality of die-castings.