World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology

International Journal of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering

Vol:9, No:3, 2015

Porosities Comparison between Production and

Simulation in Motorcycle Fuel Caps of Aluminum
High Pressure Die Casting
P. Meethum, C. Suvanjumrat

 This research attempted to specify porosities with locations

Abstract—Many aluminum motorcycle parts produced by a high and sizes. CAST-DESIGNER software was used to simulate
pressure die casting. Some parts such as fuel caps were a thin and the HPDC process for the motorcycle fuel cap production. The
International Science Index, Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering Vol:9, No:3, 2015 [Link]/Publication/10000715

complex shape. This part risked for porosities and blisters on surface simulated results were compared with experiments and
if it only depended on an experience of mold makers for mold design.
evaluated the software accuracy. The method which received
This research attempted to use CAST-DESIGNER software
simulated the high pressure die casting process with the same process from simulation of the HPDC process will be used to improve
parameters of a motorcycle fuel cap production. The simulated results fuel cap parts of motorcycle for better surface quality.
were compared with fuel cap products and expressed the same
porosity and blister locations on cap surface. An average of absolute II. EXPERIMENTAL METHODOLOGY
difference of simulated results was obtained 0.094 mm when
compared the simulated porosity and blister defect sizes on the fuel Fuel caps are performed using the HPDC process under
cap surfaces with the experimental micro photography. This parameters which are described in Table I. The die casting
comparison confirmed an accuracy of software and will use the machine model TOYO-350T was employed to cast parts with
setting parameters to improve fuel cap molds in the further work. melted aluminum. The horizontal cold chamber was a casting
machine type. An example of a HPDC part to produce
Keywords—Aluminum, die casting, fuel cap, motorcycle. motorcycle fuel caps with the machine is shown in Fig. 1.
Some features of the HPDC part such as vent components
I. INTRODUCTION were broken while removing it from the HPDC mold therefore

A high pressure die casting (HPDC) is a favored

methodology which produced aluminum parts for a
motorcycle [1]. Some parts have a thin and complex shape
the HPDC part not had the completely component as same as a
die cavity. Small porosities were observed on surface of fuel
caps. The quantity of porosities appeared nearly a keyhole
therefore these parts may be occurred porosities and blisters were more than another area of a motorcycle fuel cap.
on its surface cause of the impracticable mold design [2], [3]. Subsequently the interested porosities on a left side cap of a
Fuel caps are the motorcycle part which has the thin and symmetry HPDC part were closed by circles for expansion
complex shape. Production of these parts was required the best with the scanning electron microscope (SEM). Micrographs of
surface quality which depended on a good HPDC mold. If the porosities in circles at A-, B- and C-location are shown in Fig.
cap’s mold is design depending on experiences of mold 2. The defect areas were estimated by multiplying length and
makers the porosity and blister may occur which not know in width which measured from micrographs. The areas of
advance. Finally, waste of aluminum from the HPDC process porosity were 0.022, 0.019, 0.013 mm2 for A-, B- and C-
will be obtained unavoidably. location, respectively. In the meanwhile a maximum size of
Nowadays computer aided engineering (CAE) is an porosities was measured and comprised of 0.278, 0.374 and
advantage in production technology for the HPDC process. 0.188 mm for A-, B- and C-location, respectively. The biggest
The porosity could assume by the numerical analysis for the size of porosities occurred on B-location but the largest area
gas entrapment defect in HPDC parts [4]–[7]. Reduction of occurred on A- location. However the cause of porosities in
porosities in parts could perform by simulation to improve these locations was expected from the air entrapment.
runner and the gating system design of the HPDC mold before
TABLE I
production [8], [9]. The gas entrapment in HPDC parts could HIGH PRESSURE DIE CASTING PROCESS PARAMETERS
simulate to predict porosities in many literatures with the CAE Description Quantity Unit
software. However, it could not specify locations and sizes of Accumulator 12.00 MPa
porosity on the surface of HPDC parts. Instant’s Accumulator 10.50 MPa
Injection Low Speed 0.36 m/s
P. Meethum is with Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Injection High Speed 2.30 m/s
Engineering, Mahidol University, Salaya, Nakorn Pathom 73170 Thailand (e- Cast Press 90.00 MPa
mail: wichaman_53@[Link]). Injection High Speed Stroke 40.00 mm
C. Suvanjumrat is with Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Biscuit Thickness 15.00 mm
Engineering, Mahidol University, Salaya, Nakorn Pathom 73170 Thailand
Cooling Time <15 sec
(corresponding author phone: 662-889-2138 ext. 6416; fax: 662-889-2138 ext.
6429; e-mail: [Link]@ [Link]).
Aluminum Temperature 670 C

International Scholarly and Scientific Research & Innovation 9(3) 2015 429 [Link]/1307-6892/10000715
 World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology
International Journal of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering
Vol:9, No:3, 2015
International Science Index, Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering Vol:9, No:3, 2015 [Link]/Publication/10000715

Fig. 1 A HPDC part for motorcycle fuel caps

III. THE HPDC SIMULATION

A cavity of a HPDC part for producing motorcycle fuel
caps in the previous section was modeled using computer
aided design (CAD) software which was SolidWorks version
2011. The 3D-model of the fuel cap cavity comprises of a
sprue, runners, gates, ingates, overflows, and vents as shown
in Fig. 3. Subsequently, the cavity model was exported for the
standard file to use in the computer aided engineering (CAE)
software–CAST-DESIGNER software. Therefore the standard
file which was a .stp file imported into the CAST-DESIGNER
software to create elements. The 392,140 hexahedral elements
are used to divide the cavity model and the generated result of
finite element model (FEM) is shown in Fig. 4. The maximum
size of elements was 1.0 mm. The fine element or mesh which
had size about 0.7 mm was controlled to locate around the
keyhole of the motorcycle fuel cap.
The numbers of hexahedral elements which used in this
research were tested with the mesh divergence. The material
property of melted aluminum was defined into the FEM as
same as the experiment. Boundary conditions such as the
injection high speed and the aluminum temperature were
specified on the FEM according to the HPDC process Fig. 2 Micrographs of porosities on: (a) A-location (b) B-location and
parameters (Table I). Thermal properties of the HPDC mold (c) C-location of a motorcycle fuel cap
and melted aluminum are described in Tables II and III,
TABLE II
respectively [10]. The personal computer with Core-i5 CPU THERMAL PROPERTIES OF THE HPDC MOLD
and 4 GB of RAM memory was used to perform the HPDC Description Quantity Unit
simulation. Density 8.03 kg/m3
Specific Heat Capacity 502 [Link]/K
Heat Conductivity 15.10 W/(mK)
Initial Temperature 225 C

International Scholarly and Scientific Research & Innovation 9(3) 2015 430 [Link]/1307-6892/10000715
 World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology
International Journal of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering
Vol:9, No:3, 2015

aluminum flow with the velocity about 20.24 m/s inside

runners and crushed with the keyhole surface. The space of
fuel cap cavity which the melted aluminum could not fill
occurred at the injected time of 0.024 sec nearly the keyhole.
The circular surface of the keyhole obstructed flowing path of
the melted aluminum. Therefore the back of circular obstacle
often was an unfilled position. This phenomenon was known
as the air entrapment which induced the porosity in
motorcycle fuel caps.
The porosity defects can simulate and illustrate with a result
after the HPDC part is fully filled as shown in Fig. 6. Points of
the final porosity were indicated by black color. The simulated
locations of porosity had a good agreement with experiments.
The A-, B- and C-location had the maximum size of 0.430,
International Science Index, Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering Vol:9, No:3, 2015 [Link]/Publication/10000715

0.327 and 0.270 mm, respectively. Note that the porosity must
occur inside the overflow which was an important effect for
releasing gas out from motorcycle fuel caps and for the good
quality of fuel cap surface. The maximum size of porosities
Fig. 3 Components of cavity of a HPDC part for two motorcycle fuel was compared between experiments and simulated results
caps which described in Table IV. Sizes of the simulated porosity
were close to the experiments.

Fig. 4 Finite element model of a HPDC part cavity for two

motorcycle fuel caps

TABLE III
THERMAL PROPERTIES OF MELTED ALUMINUM
Description Quantity Unit
Density 12.00 kg/m3
Specific Heat Capacity 10.50 [Link]/K
Liquidus 613 C
Solidus 427 C Fig. 5 Sequential images of melted aluminum flowing into the mold
Heat Conductivity 121 W/(mK) cavity at (a) t = 0.015 sec, (b) t = 0.021 sec, (c) t = 0.024 sec and (d) t
Latent Heat 390 kJ/kg = 0.025 sec
Aluminum Temperature 660 C
TABLE IV
COMPARISON OF POROSITIES
IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Porosity size (mm)
Location
The simulation results of mold filling are shown in Fig. 5. Experiment Simulation Difference
Pattern of the melted aluminum flowing into the mold cavity A 0.278 0.430 -0.152
could be observed by the sequence images. The melted B 0.374 0.327 +0.047
aluminum flow from sprue and separated into each runner C 0.188 0.270 -0.082
which flow into the motorcycle fuel cap and passing through
overflows and vents, respectively. Velocities of melted
aluminum flow were depicted by the color contour. The
maximum velocity was depicted by red. In converse manner
the minimum velocity was signified by blue. The melted

International Scholarly and Scientific Research & Innovation 9(3) 2015 431 [Link]/1307-6892/10000715
 World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology
International Journal of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering
Vol:9, No:3, 2015

REFERENCES
[1] A.A. Luo, “Magnesium casting technology for structure applications,”
Journal of Magnesium and Alloys, vol. 1, pp. 2–22, 2013.
[2] K.K.S. Thong, B.H. Hu, X.P. Nui and I. Pinwill, “Cavity pressure
measurements and process monitoring for magnesium die casting of a
thin-wall-hand-phone component to improve quality,” J. Mater. Process.
Tech., vol. 127, pp. 238–241, 2002.
[3] J.F. Jieng, “Effect of process parameters on microstructure and
properties of AM50A magnesium alloy parts formed by double control
forming ,” Transaction of Nonferrous Metals Society of China, vol. 24,
no. 4, pp. 321–333, 2014.
[4] H.D. Zhao, F. Wang, Y.Y. Li and W. Xia, “Experiment and numerical
analysis of gas entrapment defects in plate ADC12 die casting,” J.
Mater. Process. Tech., vol. 1209, pp. 4537–241, 2002.
[5] H.D. Zhao, Y.F. Bai, X.X. Ouyang and P.Y. Dong, “Simulation of mold
filling and prediction of gas entrapment on practical high pressure die
casting,” Transaction of Nonferrous Metals Society of China, vol. 20,
pp. 2064–2070, 2010.
International Science Index, Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering Vol:9, No:3, 2015 [Link]/Publication/10000715

[6] Y.C. Kim, C.S. Kang, J.I. Cho, C.Y. Jeong, S.W. Choi and S.K. Hong,
“Die casting mold design of the thin-walled aluminum case by
computational solidification simulation,” J. Mater. Sci. Technol., vol.
24, no. 3, pp. 383–388, 2008.
[7] L. Hu, S. Chen, Y. Miao and Q. Meng, “Die-casting effect on surface
characteristics of thin-walled AZ91D magnesium components,” Appl.
Fig. 6 Locations of porosity in the HPDC model Surf. Sci, vol. 261, pp. 851–856, 2012.
[8] J.F. Jieng, G. Chen, Y. Wang, Z. Du, W. Shan and Y. Li,
“Microstructure and mechanical properties of thin-wall and high-rib
V. CONCLUSION parts of AM50A magnesium alloy formed by double control forming
The high pressure die casting (HPDC) process was and die casting under the optimal conditions,” J. Alloy. Compd., vol.
552, pp. 44–55, 2013.
performed to produce the aluminum fuel caps which were the [9] D.R. Gunasegaram, M. Givord, R.G. O’Donnell and B.R. Finnin,
motorcycle part. Fuel caps had a thin and complex shape “Improvements engineered in UTS and elongation of aluminum alloy
therefore these parts were risk to occur porosities and blisters high pressure die castings through the alteration of runner geometry and
plunger velocity,” Mat. Sci. Eng. A–Struct., vol. 559, pp. 276–286, 2013.
on surface cause of the impracticable mold design. Small [10] E.J. Vinarcik, High Integrity Die Casting Process. New York: John
porosities were observed on surface of fuel caps nearly the Wiley & Sons, 2003.
keyhole. The defect areas and sizes were measured in the
micrographs which obtained from the scanning electron
microscope (SEM). Piyanut Meethum received the [Link]. degree in
CAST-DESIGNER software which is the computer aided mechanical engineering from Mahidol University, Nakorn
Pathom, Thailand in 2012. She is currently working for
engineering (CAE) software was used to simulate the HPDC toward the [Link]. degree in mechanical engineering at
process. The material property of melted aluminum was Mahidol University. Her research interests in CAD/CAE for
defined into the finite element model (FEM) as same as the the high pressure die casting process.
experiment. Boundary conditions of FEM were also defined
Dr. Chakrit Suvanjumrat received the [Link]. degree in
according to the HPDC process parameters. The simulation mechanical engineering from Price of Songkla University,
results of mold filling could investigate by illustration of Songkhla, Thailand, in 1995. He received the [Link]. and
melted aluminum flowing. The circular surface of the keyhole [Link]. degree in mechanical engineering from Kasetsart
of fuel cap obstructed flowing path of the melted aluminum. University, Bangkok, Thailand, in 2003 and 2009,
respectively. He is currently an Assistant Professor at
Therefore it induced the porosity occurring in motorcycle fuel Department of Mechanical Engineering, Mahidol
caps. University, Nakorn Pathom, Thailand. The laboratory of computer mechanics
The porosity defects could simulate and express by for design (LCMD) is his research laboratory. His research interests include
finite element analysis, computational fluid dynamics, fluid structure
simulated results. Locations of porosity had a good agreement interaction, product design and machine design.
with experiments. The maximum size of simulated porosities
was compared with experiments which had the average of
absolute difference of 0.094 mm. The comparison confirmed
an accuracy of software therefore the setting parameters of the
HPDC simulation will be used to improve fuel cap molds in
further works.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This research was funded by The Thailand Research Fund
(TRF) and Micro Precision Co., Ltd under Research and
Researchers for Industries (RRI): Master Degree–grant no.
MSD57I0137. The CAST-DESIGNER software had permitted
for using a license by 4D Corporation Ltd.

International Scholarly and Scientific Research & Innovation 9(3) 2015 432 [Link]/1307-6892/10000715