K COREMAKING

Simulation of the density distribu­

tion of the sand/binder mixture of a
turbocharger core during the core­
shooting process (Figures: Magma)

Authors: Dr. Jörg Sturm and Dr. Ingo Wagner, Foundry Engineer Development, Magma GmbH, Aachen

Practical use of core simulation for

process optimization
Simulation of the production of sand cores is a new method for fundamentally changing tool and
process design by exploiting insights into core-shooting and hardening processes. Important fac-
tors affecting the quality of the core can be determined and quantified in advance of tool pro-
duction and serial manufacture. The system’s physical basis and targeted procedures allow pre-
dictions to be made regarding the technical and economic feasibility of sand cores. This not only
increases understanding of the processes involved but also opens up opportunities for improving
the quality of castings

Core production still has the power to rial maturity regularly requires sever- and-effect principles that could ex-
surprise tool- and core-makers. Core- al time- and cost-intensive optimiza- plain such outcomes.
related casting defects are a consider- tion cycles, including practical testing More than 20 years after the introduc-
able cost factor in cast part production under serial conditions. Each trial run tion of simulation for the casting pro-
due to the additional reworking re- leads to more or less extensive chang- cess, simulation of sand-core produc-
quired. The design of core tools takes es of the tool, without the foundry ex- tion is a new method for fundamentally
place on the basis of practical knowl- pert being really sure that the measures changing tool and process design on
edge and through trial and error until will lead to the desired success. He or the basis of insights into core-shooting
a sufficient core quality is produced. she only sees the result, and therefore and hardening processes. The complex
Development of a new tool up to se- cannot base decisions on a clear cause- interactions during fluidization, trans-

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 a b c

Figure 1: a) Predicted density distribution in the core’s volute; b) and c) real flaws in the prototype core for the initial
design of the core box [8]

port and the subsequent compaction of a b

a sand/binder mixture in a core box or
during the gassing, hardening and dry-
ing of a core cannot be determined with
the usual “linear” thinking of the tech-
nician. Simulation of the core produc-
tion process allows the important factors
affecting core quality to be quantified
in advance of tool production and se-
rial manufacture. Core production and
the process sequence can already be vir-
tually represented during the planning
phase for a cast part. The entire process
sequence and the relevant physical val- Figure 2: Simulated shooting result for differing venting configurations: a) four
ues become transparent. This permits vents; b) eight vents
a targeted approach based on physical
interactions and clear facts. The tech-
nical and economic feasibility of sand
a b
cores thus become quantifiable. As a re-
sult, understanding of the processes in-
volved is also increased and the practical
implementation of quality-improving
measures simplified. Tool makers also
obtain a three-dimensional insight into
core production and can more efficient-
ly align the design of the core tool to the
demands of serial production.

Modelling core shooting Figure 3: Configuration of the venting nozzles for a) the initial state and b) the
The modelling of core shooting is an flow profile in the air
extremely demanding process due to
the continuously changing differenc- are constantly changing. In addition, ary conditions to be taken into account
es in the flows of the air and the sand. the interactions between air and sand and specialist knowledge to be integrat-
The flow process differs from mold fill- themselves and with their environ- ed [1,2,3].
ing with molten metal because the lo- ment (shooting cylinder, nozzles, and Various model approaches were com-
cal properties of the “fluids” involved tool) require the technological bound- pared with one another during program

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 K COREMAKING

development in order to assist selection one another are also taken into account. the core-shooting machine or whether
of the model. A development partner The consideration of equipment pa- it is sufficient to define suitable bound-
tested, among other models, a “mixture rameters such as the type of pressure ary conditions at the shooting nozzles.
model” (sand and air are calculated as build-up in the shot cylinder is also Consideration of the entire machine
a mixed phase) in a direct comparison a component of process modelling. leads to longer simulation times but is
with the solution that has now been ad- Shooting nozzles in effect connect the the only way to take into account the
opted [4]. The characteristic dynamism core-shooting machine with the core filling problems of core tools caused by
of core shooting, during which the sand tool. In practice, a large number of in- the machine itself. This also applies for
and air typically flow in differing direc- dividually designed shooting nozzle the use of multi-cavity tools, when it is
tions at very different speeds, could not geometries are used in core produc- necessary to examine whether all the
be satisfactorily physically represented tion. Their properties are modelled us- cores can be equally filled. Consider-
for all application cases using this ap- ing pressure loss laws. Nozzles of various ation of the shooting head is also im-
proach. sizes and designs are used for venting portant when its sand level becomes
Therefore an approach by which an core boxes. The small nozzle openings so low during shooting that it leads to
air and sand mixture and a sand and retain the core sand in the tool and let “through shots” at individual nozzles
binder mixture were treated as two sep- the shooting air escape. Experimental- affecting the shooting process.
arate phases was selected for describing ly calibrated flow laws ensure realistic
the dynamism of air/sand mixtures dur- modelling of the pressure drop at the Application of core-shooting
ing core shooting in the simulation pro- venting nozzles. simulations
gram Magma C+M [5, 6, 7]. Whereby, When simulating core shooting it is Simulation breaks up the real process in
in addition to the dominant momen- necessary to decide, according to the detail, in terms of both time and space.
tum transfer between air and sand, the objective, whether the process has to At any particular point in time one has
interactions of the grains of sand with be represented with the relevant units of results and criteria. Even before produc-
tion of a core box it makes sense to po-
sition the nozzles as well as possible. Ef-
a b fects that are, for example, caused by
variations in the shooting nozzles can
be objectively assessed and evaluated.
The visual analysis of the filling pro-
cess already allows an efficient compar-
ative assessment of different configura-
tions. Small changes in nozzle positions
can have a decisive effect on the dynam-
ics of the filling process and the core
quality to be expected.
A more precise analysis, going beyond
assessment of the final result, is neces-
sary in order to obtain clear assistance
Figure 4: Configuration of the venting nozzles for a) the optimized core tool for optimization, and not just for com-
and b) the improved flow profile in the air plicated cores. Further results – such as
the local speeds of air and sand, distri-
bution of the sand from the shooting
nozzles in the core, meaningful curve
data for sand, as well as air quantities,
speeds or pressures in the core or in the
shooting and venting nozzles – are avail-
able for this purpose.

Optimizing a cold-box core for

a turbocharger housing
Turbochargers make high demands of
the quality of the inner surfaces as a re-
sult of the efficiency of the flow char-
acteristics necessary during use. Defects
in the core’s surface quality lead to im-
Figure 5: Compacting process in the volute at the end of the shooting process mediate rejection of the casting. This
(left) and optimally shot­out core (right) [8] means that special quality demands are

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 made during production of the core.
The design of the tool is often restricted

Left-hand axis = ‘Sand speed in m/s

by customer’s requirements regarding 8
the positions of the nozzles and vents.
7
Prototype cores for the initial tool
design for a turbocharger core made of
6
polyurethane (PUR) cold-box show re-
producible flaws [8], particularly in the
5
volute – critical regarding flow. The ini-
tial core-shooting simulations carried 4
out in response provided good confir-
mation of the results (Figure 1). 3
Following the positive experienc- Conical Cylinder 1 Cylinder 2 Stepped
es with the results from Magma C+M,
simulation of core shooting was accept- Figure 6: Measured speeds at outlet of differing shooting nozzles. Given
ed by the foundry as a predictive tool otherwise identical conditions, the speed of the sand flows is largely deter­
and consistently used for further opti- mined by the nozzle geometry. With the same outlet cross­section, the “Cyl­
mization of the core box. Suggestions inder 1” and “Stepped” nozzles exhibit clear differences
for optimizing the core were checked by
specialists from the foundry using simu-
lation of the core shooting. a b
A venting problem was initially sus-
pected because of the incompletely shot
out areas in the volute. For this reason,
an initial optimization of additional
vents in the area of the volute was ap-
propriate and tested using simulation.
The comparison of the starting situa-
tion with four vents and the version
with eight vents, however, showed no
decisive improvement in the shooting
results – an outcome that was unexpect-
ed by the experts (Figure 2).
The detailed analysis of the shooting
process in the simulation showed the
real reason for the compaction prob-
lems. The air, as a carrier medium for c d
the sand, was vented too early because
the venting nozzles were placed at the
entry to the volute. The flow speed of
the air and the sand was therefore re-
duced before the sand could fully fill
the core (Figure 3). Assessment of flow
speeds in the air shows that the two
marked venting nozzles lead to a sub-
stantial reduction in the speed (from
over 5 m/s to about 2 m/s). This results
in a loss of carrier air, reduced kinetic
energy for the sand, and thus insuffi-
cient compaction.
As a consequence, a combination of
improved venting in the volute and clo- Figure 7: Comparison of real and simulated sand flows for differing nozzle
sure of the two critical venting nozzles geometries: a) the sand typically flows from the shooting nozzles as a contin­
was examined using Magma C+M (Fig- uous jet; c) a geometrical change causes the sand flow to exhibit intermit­
ure 4). The result of the air flow speeds tent pulsing, whereby the jet widens. Depending on the core geometry, this
clearly shows that the speeds at the en- can lead to improved core quality. Simulation permits a differentiated exami­
trance to the volute are higher as a re- nation of the flow processes in the nozzles, as can be seen in b) and d)

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 K COREMAKING

a b 14
Nozzle 1
10 12

Nozzle 1
8 10
Sand mass in kg

Sand mass in kg
Nozzle 2
6 8
Nozzle 2
4 6

2 4

0 2
0 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.4 0.4 0.5
0
Time in seconds 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Time in seconds

Figure 8: Simulated sand speeds and quantities as a function of time for two different nozzle geometries: a) when
shooting nozzles have the same outlet cross-section the flow speed and the mass flow depend on the geometry; b) the
resulting shot sand masses lead to differing levels of compacting (depending on the core geometry to be filled). In this
case while “Nozzle 2” fills the core box more rapidly, the total amount of sand shot is lower. The core is thus some-
what less compacted

sult of the lower venting and simultane- The geometry-related functio- miliar from fluid mechanics cannot be
ously rapidly fall off within the volute, nality of shooting nozzles applied for the special air/sand flows
leading to a large local fall in pressure. The core making shop utilizes a variaty of during core shooting. With liquids,
Whereby a large fall in pressure is a nozzle geometries. In its simplest form, for example, the use of a stepped rath-
good indicator for good compactability drilled holes in the shooting head plate er than a cylindrical nozzle leads to an
of the sand in the last of the areas to be act as shooting nozzles. Variation of the increase in fluid speed due to the con-
filled. The rapidly flowing sand reduces diameter of the drilled holes is then the tinuity (given the same pressure con-
its speed very quickly and can thus be only possibility for having a nozzle-re- ditions). During core shooting, on the
well compacted as a result of its kinet- lated effect on shooting behavior. This is other hand, the sand is agglomerated
ic energy. At the same time, the rapidly often a technically and economically fa- at the taper and the sand speed is low-
reduced air speeds show that the air is vorable solution for simple core geome- er (Figure 6). In addition to sand speed,
efficiently removed through the vent- tries. Normally, however, proper nozzles the mass flows also change – depending
ing nozzles. are used, connecting the shooting head on the nozzle geometry.
Core-shooting simulation clearly with the core box. Whereby cylindrical, With increasing core complexity, the
shows this process through the density conical or stepped shooting nozzles are demands on selection of the shooting
distribution (Figure 5). The optimized typically used in the core shops. nozzle also rise. Up to now, nozzle ge-
version led to reproducibly defect-free Differing shooting nozzle geometries ometries have been varied using knowl-
cores in practice. lead to very different flows. The laws fa- edge gained from experience as well as

a b

Figure 9: Defective core after hardening: a) the marked areas show where incomplete hardening has taken place
with the gassing parameters applied; b) simulation of amine gassing. The picture shows the concentration profile of
the amine taken up by the binder system and thus making an active contribution to hardening. Hardened (red) and
non-hardened (green) core areas are shown

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 trial and error – even in difficult cases.
Whereby the flow processes in the noz-
zles have largely remained a mystery.
Experimental investigations on the
outflow behavior of sand from shooting
nozzles show that, for example, con-
tinuous sand flows with approximate-
ly constant speed and almost constant
mass flows can be adjusted, as can inter-
mittently pulsating sand flows, merely
by making geometrical changes to the
nozzle (Figure 7). The flow processes
in the nozzle that lead to these char-
acteristic flow processes have hitherto
escaped experimental observation and
detailed investigation. Simulation now
permits a differentiated examination
of the flow processes within the noz-
zles. The physical phenomena involved
can be fundamentally understood and
quantitatively evaluated. This knowl- Figure 10: The first core-shooting ex­ Figure 11: Maximum local concentra­
edge of the influence of geometry-relat- periment for a PUR cold­box core tion of amine. The hardening gas
ed effects on the shooting result is im- (length 920 mm, shooting volume penetrates the core very unevenly
portant for the core-maker. Sand speeds 68 kg). The lower area of the core
and effective shot sand masses can dif- completely collapsed as a result of in­
fer greatly depending on the nozzle sufficient strength [10] a b
configuration. This also affects the lo-
cal compacting of the core, depending
on the core geometry (Figure 8). a binder film, amine type, and the tem-
With the knowledge gained from perature of the sand and gas [9]. The gas
simulation, nozzle geometries can be flow through the core sand primarily de-
deliberately selected in future in order pends on the core geometry, the nozzle
to be able to fill the various areas in the configuration, the gas pressure and the
core box simultaneously and evenly. permeability of the sand mixture to gas.
On the basis of the quantitative simu- A nozzle configuration favorable for
lations systematic rules can be worked core shooting is not normally optimal
out showing which nozzle geometries for gassing. A lot of amine is useless-
are most effective for which core types. ly lost, for example, when the gas flow
only has to travel short distances from
Modelling core curing with gas the gassing nozzles to the vents while,
During gas curing, a hot gas mixture is on the other hand, other areas of the
introduced into the shot core. Appro- core are only perfused under higher
priate models can be used to simulate pressure – and thus also require greater
conventional gas hardening mecha- amounts of amine.
nisms, such as PUR cold-box (or, simi- The initial aim of simulation is to cor-
larly, the drying hardening of inorganic rectly represent the timing of the amine
binders with hot air in a heated tool) [6]. gas flow. At the design phase of core
The transport of gas through the open tools it is already possible to examine Figure 12: Shooting and gassing re­
pore space of sand cores characterizes whether and how all the core areas can sult with new process parameters:
the flow process during core harden- be sufficiently perfused with hardening a) PUR cold­box core; b) predicted
ing. For PUR cold-box hardening this gas. Simulation realistically shows both local concentration of absorbed
means transporting a catalytically effec- the active gassing and the subsequent hardening gas (red fully hardened,
tive tertiary amine into all areas of the rinsing process with air. Thus the causes green critical, blue not hardened).
core. The hardening itself depends on of faults are recognized early on and tar- The affected, unhardened area ex­
many factors, e.g. the binder (compo- geted corrective measures undertaken. actly corresponds to the predicted
sition and amount), solvent (kind and An important task for the core-mak- zone, with low amine concentration
amount), wetting of the sand grains by er is to harden the core as efficiently as in the simulation result (blue)

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 K COREMAKING

flow speeds and representation of the

Optimized conditions timing of transient amine flow are im-
portant results for evaluating gassing ef-
ficiency.
Simulation already allows early co-
Mass in kg

ordination of nozzle positioning, both

for shooting and for hardening, during
Original conditions the design phase. Trials in the works in-
volving alterations to the tools and pro-
cess parameters can be reduced to a min-
imum.

0 6 12 18 24 30 36 42 48 Optimization of gassing a cold-

Time in seconds box core for a crossbeam
A core package made of solid PUR cold-
Figure 13: Total mass flow of air/amine gas through the lower venting nozzles. box cores is used for the production
The removal of some venting nozzles in the upper and central area of the core of a crossbeam for railway bogies [10].
led to a significant increase in the amount of air in the lower venting nozzles During the first attempts for one of the
cores, for which the core box was con-
ventionally designed, there were prob-
possible within a cycle time that is as lems during production that led to a
short as possible. Problems during hard- complete collapse of the lower part of
ening are often first noticed when good the core (Figure 10). As a result, the core-
cores have already been shot and the shooting and hardening steps were ana-
nozzle configuration for shooting has lyzed in detail with Magma C+M so that
been defined (Figure 9a). Simulation of conclusions regarding the defect could
amine gassing for an incorrectly hard- be drawn.
ened core very quickly shows that criti- Even the first simulation (Figure 11)
cal areas are only insufficiently perfused shows that the problem zones during
and that the amine does not reach all gassing only have a very low concen-
the areas of the core within the produc- tration of amine, which was the fun-
tion cycle (Figure 9b). damental cause of the fault. The lack
Practical measures for overcoming of core strength could be connected to
hardening-related core faults mostly in- poor hardening on the basis of these re-
volve increasing the quantity of amine, sults.
the gassing pressure, the gas temperature Differing process conditions such as
or, additionally, the gassing time. Varia- gassing and purging times or gassing
tion of these process parameters is, how- pressure were initially varied virtual-
ever, only possible to a limited extent ly. Further investigation with the help
and is restricted by the need for econom- of Magma C+M focused on evaluating
ical core production. As the core-maker the local concentration of the adsorbed
does not know the cause of the problem amine, because it showed up areas in
(which could simply result from the tool which the catalyzing gas could not ac-
concept), the familiar measures often tivate the chemical reaction. This result
only serve to combat the symptoms and clearly shows that only very low con-
not to correct the cause. The actual cause centrations of the catalyst were avail-
of hardening-related core faults is most- able locally to accelerate hardening in
Figure 14: Comparison between ly a “flow problem” due to unfavorable the imperfect areas. The optimized pro-
core­shooting defects in the simula­ nozzle configuration. Even slight chang- cess parameters provided better results
tion and prototype cores. The defec­ es in the positions of the venting nozzles both in the simulation and in reality
tive areas are those that were filled can seriously affect successful core pro- (Figure 12).
last. This is the result of filling duction. In the case of complex core ge- Evaluation of the simulated curves for
against the main shooting direction, ometries and nozzle arrangements, the the mass flow of the amine/air mixture
hindering sufficient compacting. As flow progression for gassing is also hard- through the venting nozzles made it
the defects occurred near the mold ly predictable. Whereby simulation pro- clear that the catalyst gas did not reach
joint it was assumed that the core vides a detailed and objective flow anal- the affected areas. The open ventilation
box was insufficiently sealed ysis. Pressure profiles in the core, local cross-section of the upper and centrally

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 located venting nozzles permitted early have an effect on the core shooting it- This hypothesis was examined by in-
escape of the gas, before it reached the self. For this reason, another investiga- serting a silicon seal in the tool to im-
floor. tion of the core shooting process was prove sealing of the relevant area of the
Instead of carrying out cost-intensive carried out with Magma C+M in paral- core box. After this adaptation it was
changes to the core boxes, the special- lel. The simulation results showed very possible to reliably and reproducibly
ists chose a simple solution: some of the good conformity between the real de- produce an entirely fault-free core.
venting nozzles in the upper and cen- fects and the areas of low compacting.
trally located areas were closed, increas- Animation of the flow behavior also Summary
ing the gas concentration in the lower showed that the problems in the criti- Magma C+M is a virtual tool for simu-
area. Optimization led to a consider- cal areas were caused by a countercur- lating core production. It is designed to
able rise in concentration of the gaseous rent of sand against the direction of the meet the needs of operational practice.
amine (~36 %) in the lower area of the main flow (Figure 14). Simulation of core production is a tech-
core (Figure 13). In addition, the quan- All the remaining defects in the core nologically useful tool for analyzing the
tity of condensed amine in the binder lay near the mold joint of the core box. entire shooting and curing production
also rose compared to that in the orig- Whereby some of the flawed areas had chain. The core producer is thus effi-
inal project. a smooth surface, indicating that the ciently supported in all relevant process
With the selected adaptations, the sand was being removed by a strong steps of serial production – from tool de-
Brazilian steel producer Usiminas, in flow of air in these areas during shoot- sign to quality assurance.
Belo Horizonte, produced a core with- ing. The results of the core-shooting
out any hardening faults. As the vent- simulation supported the consideration www.magmasoft.com
ing was reduced, however, the expected that an insufficient sealing of the mold-
shooting-related defects occurred. ing box was responsible for the fault: air
The specialists, however, were well could escape at high speed through the References:
aware that these changes would also mold joint. www.giesserei-verlag.de/cpt/references

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