Effect of Melt Velocity on Density of Aluminum Alloy Castings in Expendable Pattern Casting Process

The casting defects inside the aluminum alloy castings in the expendable pattern casting (EPC) process were evaluated by measuring the density of castings. The effect of melt velocity on the density of plate aluminum alloy castings was investigated experimentally. There was the tendency for the casting density to decrease with increasing melt velocity. This result seemed to be due to the increased entrainment of pattern decomposed liquid resin into the molten metal. In the case of bottom pouring, the casting density with reduced pressure is larger than that with non-reduced pressure. The result seems to be due to the increase in the discharge of the liquid resin at the coat surface through the coat layer. However, when the pouring temperature was high, in the high melt velocity region, there was the tendency for the casting density to be lower than that with non-reduced pressure. This phenomenon seemed to be caused by the forward flow of molten metal. In the case of top pouring, the casting density was higher than that in bottom pouring, and the effect of the reduced pressure was not significant. From the result of observing the castings by an X-ray computed tomography (CT) imaging, it was predicted that the density decrease of the castings might be due to voids by the residual resin defects.