General Abstracts: Materials Processing and Manufacturing Division

Edited by: Fernand Marquis, Ralph Napolitano, and Neville Moody

TMS (The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society), 2007

Effect of Filling Time and Gating System Design Parameters Selection on

Mold Filling Properties

Gadalla, M., Habingreither, R., Cook, R.,

Department of Engineering and Technology

Texas State University
San-Marcos, TX 78666

Keywords: Mold Filling, Gating System, Optimization

Abstract

The selection of the gating system design involves two main process parameters: geometry and
size. Traditionally non-pressurized 1:2:2 or 1:4:4 methods are recommended for pouring
Aluminum. Ten to twenty sec. mold filling time is also recommended. No explanations are
normally given for these rigging parameters. This paper is intended to provide a sound
justification for the selection of these parameters based on the result of a mold filling simulation.
Filling properties will be defined and assessed for each run. The result of this assessment should
present a path to reach a near sub-optimum solution for the gating system design and mold filling
parameters.

Introduction

A gating system design should allow the mold cavity to be filled fast enough to eliminate mis-
runs, and premature freezing but slow enough to eliminate inclusions [1]. The shape, size and
placement of the gating system is critical to the pouring process. They determine the mold filling
time, and uniformity of the flow that includes bulk and surface turbulence of the metal delivered
to the mold cavity [1, 3]. Increased bulk turbulence is mainly responsible for sand inclusion,
while the surface turbulence is mainly responsible for forming oxide films that mixes with the
molten metal leading to decreased fatigue strength [3, 7].

Masoumi Et. Al. [5] studied the effect of different gating: runner ratios on the characteristics of
mold filling. A ratio of 1:1 was recommended to have better flow characteristics. Fuoco [2]
investigated the thin and wide cross section gate design on the mold filling characteristics.

Gebelin et al. [4] studied the convergent and divergent runner geometry to slow the metal as it is
coming from the sprue base to the runner. Although none was recommended, a tapered sprue
base to minimize the formation of oxide during the initial fill was recommended.

Kennedy et. al. [6] experimentally investigated the additional choke to the runner to enhance
metal flow inside the runner and prevent the turbulence at the exit of metal from the sprue base
to the runner.

The focus of this paper is to improve the gating system design which includes the re-design of an
improved sprue base, use of a tapered runner and finding an optimal length of the runner
extension. The improved design is based on the result obtained from FlowCast ™ and was
verified experimentally for 356 Aluminum Alloy. The criterion to be used for assessment is
microstructure examination of the runner material. It is hypothesized that the improved design
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should have less voids, sand inclusion and oxide films than the aforementioned conventional
design.

Conventional Gating System Design

geometry. Various versions exist for the sprue (straight, tapered, and rectangular), sprue base
(cylindrical, rectangular) and the runner (straight, and balanced).

A 1:2:2 gating system design was selected for this study with the following geometric shape:
straight cylindrical sprue, rectangular sprue base, and rectangular runner and gates.

Sprue
Runner Gate Runner

Sprue Base

Figure 1 Conventional Gating System Design

The advantage of a conventional gating system design:

1. Easy to be implemented into a matchplate or any similar tooling for mold making.
2. Easy to be tackled and understood by the foundrymen.
3. Allow high pouring rates so small filling time is achievable.

The disadvantage
1. Low casting yield due the increased volume of the different gating system components.
2. Oxide films are formed due to the back flow and high surface turbulence ( Fig. 2)
3. Unfavorable flow velocity vector pattern inside the runner may lead to sand erosion.
4. Unfavorable flow velocity vector patterns inside the mold cavity.

Back flow

Figure 2 Back Flow in Straight Runner Aids in Oxide Film Formation

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 Optimum Mold Filling Time

Figure 3 shows the velocity vector flow pattern inside the runner. A 4, 12, and 16 sec was chosen
as the filling times for casting a 20 Ib. block. The following velocity patterns were obtained from
FlowCast™. In the 4 sec filling time ( Fig. 3.a) there is a lot of turbulence at the sprue base and
a direction change of the velocity vector that could indicate the presence of vortices and eddies
current near the runner extension. [8]. It also shows that the metal entering the gate is drawn
from the bottom of the runner which may indicate the potential for sand inclusion. In the 16 sec.
filling time (Fig. 3.b) the metal entering the gates is from the top layer which may carry a lot of
oxide films due to the backflow as illustrated in figure 2. The 12 Sec. filling time (Fig. 3.c)
shows an optimum filling characteristic where the metal is drawn from the middle stream which
has a higher quality of metal and less turbulence as shown on the scale color pallet. These three
pictures taken from the mold filling simulation system clearly demonstrates that there is an
optimum filling time for every casting. This optimum filling time depends on the casting volume,
gating system design and the cast material.

a b

Figure 3 (a) 4 Sec. Filling Time, (b)16 Sec. Filling Time, (c) 12 Sec Filling Time

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 Improved Gating System Design

Through numerous iterations to study the flow characteristics inside the runner and the mold
cavity, the gating system design displayed in figure 4 demonstrates a superior performance
compared with the conventional one. Figure 5 shows particle trace (path lines). It shows that
most of the path lines ended in the displaced sprue base and was not extended to the mold cavity.
This is an indication that the sprue base catches most of the first metal poured in the system. The
runner extension also works as a second reservoir to store the rest.

Sprue
Runner Runner
Extension
gate

Sprue
Base
Figure 4 Improved Gating System Design

Figure 5 The Improved Gating System Design Shows less Movement of the Path Lines.

Conventional Vs. Improved Gating System

The velocity vector pattern along the runner and across the mold cavity was taken as a base for
comparing between the conventional and the improved gating design. A metallurgical sectionary
and polishing examination was used to analyze the quality of the aluminum in the runner.
Finally, experimental work was done based on opening the mold to see the flow characteristics
of the molten metal inside the mold cavity for verification.

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Velocity Vector Comparison

Compared with the conventional design, figure 6 shows a more complicated pattern of velocity
vectors. Although it shows more regions where potential eddy current type flow and vortices
may appear (the white dots show a change in the y component of the velocity vectors), a number
of improvements have been obtained. First, the displaced sprue base operates as a metal cushion
to keep the good metal flowing to the mold cavity. Less activity and near zero velocity in the
runner extension indicate less problems coming from backflow. In this arrangement gates are
drawing metal from middle of the runner stream and have more uniform velocity vectors as they
change to the other perpendicular direction (y direction) more uniformly, establishing a more
uniform flow inside the mold cavity.

Figure 6 Velocity Profile at the Runner Shows a Complicated Pattern

Engineered to deliver Good Metal to the Mold Cavity

Runner Analysis

As mentioned in the introduction, the criterion for optimum mold filling characteristic, based on
the improved gating system design, is the quality of the metal in the runner and the velocity
vectors both in the runner and the mold cavity. More oxide films, voids and sand inclusions in
the runner particularly near the gates indicate a lower quality of the metal being delivered to the
cavity. In order to study this criterion, the runner is cut into three sections around each gate. Each
piece was cut into two half’s. Each half was abraded to 600 mesh and then polished to 6 micron
diamond and examined macroscopically (Fig. 7 a, b). Magnification power used was 100x, 500x
and sometimes 1000x. Figure 8 shows the result of the examination for the three sections. The
improved design shows a better metal quality that indicates higher quality metal delivered to the
mold cavity.

a b
Figure 7 (a, b) Shows the Runner Preparation for the Microscopic Examination

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 Section I

Section II

Section III
Fig. 8 Micro Structure Examination of the Three Runner Sections for the Straight
Runner (right), and Tapered Runner (left).

Experimental Analysis

An aluminum block of 10x10x2 was taken as the cast part. Two match plates were built for the
conventional and the improved gating. A no-bake method was used to build the mold. The cope
part of the mold was cut to be able to reveal the metal as it flows in the mold. Figure 9 shows the
exit stream from the gates from both molds. As it can be seen, the improved design shows
improved flow characteristics. This is depicted by the straight velocity of the metal streams as
the metal emerges from the gates into the mold cavity.

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 a b

c d
Figure 9 Mold Filling for the Conventional (a, and b) and the Improved Design (c, and d)

Conclusion

The improved gating system design provides better mold flow characteristics. Much of the high
turbulence was arrested by the displaced sprue base. The runner extension length should be at
least two inches. It also provides better mold filling characteristics by keeping better streamlines
inside the mold cavities, this would minimize misruns and cold shuts.

References

1. Strobl, S., “Good Gating Leads to Good Casting”, Modern Casting, March 1992.
2. Fucou, R., “The Effect of Gating System Design on the quality of Aluminum Gravity
Casting”.www.moderncasting.com/archive/WebOnly/0304/WebOnly0304.pdf
3. “Gating System Design & Analysis”, energymanagertraining.com/foundries/pdf/CDA5.pdf
4. Gebelin, M. R. Jollly and Hsu, F. Y. “ ‘Designing-in” controlled filling using numerical
simulation for gravity sand casting of aluminum alloys”, International Journal of Cast Metals
Research, Vol. 19, No.1 pp. 18-25.
5. Masoumi, M., Hu, H., Hedjaz, J., Boutorabi, M. A., 2005, “Effect of Gating Design on Mold
Filling”, AFS transactions paper 05-1 52(02).
6. Kennedy, D. O., Church, J. C., Knight, L. B., 1991, “ Gating Castable Metal Matrix
Composites”, AFS transaction, Vol. 99, PP. 91-87.
7. Yang, X., Huang, X., Dai, X., Campbell, J., Tatler, J., 2004, “Numerical modeling of
entrainment of oxide film defects in filling of aluminum alloy cast”, Int. J. Cast Met. Res.,
1998, Vol. 10, pp 239-253.
8. Mcdavid, R., Dantzig, J., 1998, “Design sensitivity and finite element analysis of free surface
flows with application to optimal design of casting rigging system”, Int. J. Numer. Meth.
Fluids 28:419-442.

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