A numerical investigation into the effect of flow restriction in low pressure die-casting

Current motor racing and competition climates require the use of lighter and stronger materials. One of the most important components in all types of motor racing is a reliable and durable wheel. Unfortunately the reliability of aluminium alloy wheels when using low pressure die-casting as opposed to high-pressure casting can be limited. Low-pressure casting allows greater flexibility in low volumes of production. However, this method can yield large variations in the quality of the castings.

This final year project  assessed areas which may cause restrictions to the flow of aluminium within the die. Using the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) package Fluent, and the pre-processor Gambit, a series of investigations were carried out on existing wheel designs. The software was successfully used to simulate the flow of molten aluminium through a 3D CAD representation of the die used for casting, and the wheel cavity itself.