Finding boundary conditions: A coupling strategy for the modeling of metal casting processes: Part I. Experimental study and correlation development

A generalized temperature boundary condition coupling strategy for the modeling of conventional casting processes was implemented via experiments and numerical simulations with commercial purity aluminum, aluminum alloy, and tin specimens in copper, graphite, and sand molds. This novel strategy related the heat transfer coefficient at the metal-mold interface to the following process variables: the size of the air gap that forms at the metal-mold interface, the roughness of the mold surface, the conductivity of the gas in the gap, and the thermophysical properties of both the metal and mold. The objective of this study was to obtain, apply, and evaluate the effect of incorporating an experimentally derived relationship for specifying transient heat transfer coefficients in a general conventional casting process. The results are presented in two parts. Part I details the implementation of a systematic experimental approach not limited to a specific process to determine the heat transfer coefficient and characterize the formation of the air gap at the metal-mold interface. The heat transfer mechanisms at the interface were identified, and seen to vary in magnitude during four distinct stages, as the air gap formed and grew. A semiempirical inverse equation was used to characterize the heat transfer coefficient-air gap relationship, across the various stages, for experimental data from the literature and this study.