THE APPLICATION OF A COMPUTER TECHNIQUE TO ASSESS THE IMPACT OF CHEMICAL COMPOSITION ON DISPERSED SHRINKAGE MICROPOROSITY OF HYPOEUTECTIC CAST SILUMINS

Abstract

This article presents the possibility of decreasing dispersed shrinkage microporosity in castings of hypoeutectic alloying silumins, as a result of narrowing – within the standards or industrial specifications – the content of particular elements of the chemical composition: alloying additions and/or impurities. This relatively-simple and, at the same time,  inexpensive method can often lead to a quick solution of this type of defects in castings and the improvement of their tightness. In order to orientate the chemical composition towards an optimal content  computer-aided statistical processing was conducted (using Statistica Ver. 9 software) with the application of figures directly related to shrinkage microporosity as well as indirectly related to the temperature range of crystallisation (ΔT = Tlik – Tsol). This data came from literature and MAGMASoft® software for simulations of pouring and solidification processes in castings. The achieved results were verified under industrial conditions.