CFD ANALYSIS OF CENTRIFUGAL CASTING TO IMPROVE THE FLOW OF COOLANT DURING SOLIDIFICATION PROCESS

Centrifugal casting process is an example of complex heat transfer process. In Centrifugal casting process the flow of heat occurs in the form of conductance and convection. The quality of parts produced with process depends upon the effectiveness of solidification process and magnitude of shear stresses induced in die. Centrifugal casting process operates through process parameters such as preheating temperature of die, pouring temperature of molten metal, pouring rate, coolant temperature, convective heat transfer & rotational speed of die. The flow of coolant over the die during solidification process evaluates the rate of solidification. Insufficient flow of coolant over the die results in forming different cooling rates for solidification of casting. Different cooling rates during solidification process generate thermal stresses in the casting. Therefore, it is important to control and keep uniformity in the flow of coolant during the solidification process to minimize thermal stresses induced centrifugal casting. Hence, it is necessary to carry out the CFD analysis of centrifugal casting process by using the tool of finite element analysis (FEA). This article explains fluid flow analysis of centrifugal casting process carried out with ANSYS CFX Workbench software. Centrifugal casting process parameters are used as crucial parameters to find its influence on coolant flow and thermal stresses induced in the casting