Investigation of Effect of Mold Preheating Temperature on Feeding on Aluminum Alloys in Die Casting

Die casting is the process that can produce geometrically complex metal parts using reusable molds. Due to the die casting method is an expensive method, it is preferred for mass production, but it gives a high quality result in the casting of complex and small parts. Molded casting can be made from a large number of melted materials at low temperatures (i.e. aluminum). The surfaces of the produced parts are clean and high quality and it does not require any machining process. Since the mold heat transfer coefficient is much higher than the sand mold, the cooling takes place faster and many factors are considered for manufacturing solid parts without porosity. Preheat temperature of mold directly affects the feed status in the die casting method. In this study, the effects of aluminum alloys on the feed of mold preheating temperature in die casting were investigated. For this purpose, a model design with especially different cross-sectional thicknesses were carried out. Etial 110, Etial 140, Etial 160 and Etial 177 aluminum alloys were used in casting studies. Mold preheating temperature was determined as 200 °C, 300 °C and 400 °C depending on the part geometry. The feeding status of the samples was evaluated by macroscopy, Archimedes' principle and density measurements and section view respectively. When the obtained results were evaluated, it was shown that the ascending of temperature positively affects the feedability at varying rates depending on the alloying