CFD multiphase flow modelling of air porosity defect formation during high-pressure die-casting filling process

High-Pressure Die-Casting (HPDC) is an important process for manufacturing high-volume and low-cost components. In this process molten metal is injected at high speed under high pressure into the die cavity, which often leads to entrapment of air into the liquid metal. This will cause air porosity after solidification, the main defect in the parts made by HPDC. The aim of this work was to develop a CFD multiphase flow simulation method to numerically study the air porosity defect formation in HPDC. Some numerical models have been developed to predict the air porosity defect in HPDC. However, most of them are limited to one phase flow model which could only simulate the filling process of liquid metal. In this study both the bulk fluid and surrounding air were modeled by a 3D multiphase flow model. The proposed model can describe the entrapment, advection and coalescence of air bubbles within the melt, and thus has the ability to accurately simulate the air porosity defect formation in HPDC. In the present paper, an incompressible-compressible twophase flow model was developed. The numerical benchmark test of a broken dam problem was used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed model. Then numerical model was applied to simulate a high speed water filling process. Results of the modeling were compared with corresponding experimental data and good agreement has been found.