Relatively cold die material comes into contact with the substantially higher temperature melt during the casting cycle, causing high thermal fluctuations resulting into the cyclic change of thermal field. The presented contribution is devoted to the assessment of the impact of temperature distribution on individual zones in the die volume. The evaluated parameter is the die temperature. It was monitored at two selected locations with the 1 mm, 2 mm, 5 mm, 10 mm and 20 mm spacing from the die cavity surface to the volume of cover die and ejector die. As a comparative parameter, the melt temperature in the middle of the runner above the measuring point and the melt temperature close to the die face were monitored. Overall, the temperature was monitored in 26 evaluation points. The measurement was performed using the Magmasoft simulation software. The input settings of the casting cycle in the simulation were identical to those in real operation. It was found, that the most heavily stressed die zones by temperature were within the 20 mm from the die face. Above this distance, the heat supplied by the melt passes gradually into the entire die mass without significant temperature fluctuations. To verify the impact of the die cooling on the thermal field, a tempering system was designed to ensure different heat dissipation conditions in individual locations. At the end of the contribution, the measures proposals to reduce the high change of thermal field of dies resulting from the design of the tempering channel are presented. These proposals will be experimentally verified in the following research work.

Access to up-to-date information on technology, innovation, source publications, and the materials and services offered in a particular industry is very important for both industrial plants and departmental research centres. It should be noted that obtaining such information using publicly available search engines such as Google, Yahoo!, Bing, Bindu (mainly used in China) is only apparently easy because, due to their versatility, they deliver results with great redundancy. This leads to the need to analyze large data sets by linguistic methods or "manually", which is very tedious and time consuming. In this situation, it was considered reasonable to undertake studies aimed at acquiring relatively simple IT tools, i.e. crawlers, which allow their users to selectively search for information in a particular problem area, which in this particular case is casting. The intention of this work was to collect and analyze the experimental material that would allow describing the characteristics of the above solutions from the point of view of the range of their application, the quality of the results achieved, and possible limitations and preferences taking into account user needs [1, 2].

This paper discusses the joining of AZ91 magnesium alloy with AlSi17 aluminium alloy by compound casting. Molten AZ91 was cast at

650oC onto a solid AlSi17 insert placed in a steel mould under normal atmospheric conditions. Before casting, the mould with the insert

inside was heated up to about 370oC. The bonding zone forming between the two alloys because of diffusion had a multiphase structure

and a thickness of about 200 µm. The microstructure and composition of the bonding zone were analysed using optical microscopy,

scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The results indicate that the bonding zone adjacent to the AlSi17

alloy was composed of an Al3Mg2 intermetallic phase with not fully consumed primary Si particles, surrounded by a rim of an Mg2Si

intermetallic phase and fine Mg2Si particles. The bonding zone near the AZ91 alloy was composed of a eutectic (an Mg17Al12 intermetallic

phase and a solid solution of Al and Si in Mg). It was also found that the compound casting process slightly affected the AZ91alloy

microstructure; a thin layer adjacent to the bonding zone of the alloy was enriched with aluminium.

The quality of the squeeze castings is significantly affected by secondary dendrite arm spacing, which is influenced by squeeze cast input

parameters. The relationships of secondary dendrite arm spacing with the input parameters, namely time delay, pressure duration, squeeze

pressure, pouring and die temperatures are complex in nature. The present research work focuses on the development of input-output

relationships using fuzzy logic approach. In fuzzy logic approach, squeeze cast process variables are expressed as a function of input

parameters and secondary dendrite arm spacing is expressed as an output parameter. It is important to note that two fuzzy logic based

approaches have been developed for the said problem. The first approach deals with the manually constructed mamdani based fuzzy

system and the second approach deals with automatic evolution of the Takagi and Sugeno’s fuzzy system. It is important to note that the

performance of the developed models is tested for both linear and non-linear type membership functions. In addition the developed models

were compared with the ten test cases which are different from those of training data. The developed fuzzy systems eliminates the need of

a number of trials in selection of most influential squeeze cast process parameters. This will reduce time and cost of trial experimentations.

The results showed that, all the developed models can be effectively used for making prediction. Further, the present research work will

help foundrymen to select parameters in squeeze casting to obtain the desired quality casting without much of time and resource

consuming.

Al-enriched layer was formed on a magnesium substrate with use of casting. The magnesium melt was cast into a steel mould with an

aluminium insert placed inside. Different conditions of the casting process were applied. The reaction between the molten magnesium and

the aluminium piece during casting led to the formation of an Al-enriched surface layer on the magnesium substrate. The thickness of the

layer was dependent on the casting conditions. In all fabricated layers the following phases were detected: a solid solution of Mg in Al,

Al3Mg2, Mg17Al12 and a solid solution of Mg in Al. When the temperature of the melt and the mould was lower (variant 1 – 670o

C and 310 o

; variant 2 – 680o

C and 310o

C, respectively) the unreacted thin layer of aluminium was observed in the outer zone. Applying higher

temperatures of the melt (685o

C) and the mould (325o

C) resulted in deep penetration of aluminium into the magnesium substrate. Areas

enriched in aluminium were locally observed. The Al-enriched layers composed mainly of Mg-Al intermetallic phases have hardness from

187-256 HV0.1.

The study involved using the liquid-solid compound casting process to fabricate a lightweight ZE41/AlSi12 bimetallic material. ZE41 melt heated to 660 oC was poured onto a solid AlSi12 insert placed in a steel mold. The mold with the insert inside was preheated to 300 oC. The microstructure of the bonding zone between the alloys was examined using optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The chemical composition was determined through linear and point analyses with an energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscope (EDS). The bonding zone between the magnesium and aluminum alloys was about 250 μm thick. The results indicate that the microstructure of the bonding zone changes throughout its thickness. The structural constituents of the bonding zone are: a thin layer of a solid solution of Al and Zn in Mg and particles of Mg-Zn-RE intermetallic phases (adjacent to the ZE41 alloy), a eutectic region (Mg17(Al,Zn)12 intermetallic phase and a solid solution of Al and Zn in Mg), a thin region containing fine, white particles, probably Al-RE intermetallic phases, a region with Mg2Si particles distributed over the eutectic matrix, and a region with Mg2Si particles distributed over the Mg-Al intermetallic phases matrix (adjacent to the AlSi12 alloy). The microstructural analysis performed in the length direction reveals that, for the process parameters tested, the bonding zone forming between the alloys was continuous. Low porosity was observed locally near the ZE41 alloy. The shear strength of the AZ91/AlSi17 joint varied from 51.3 to 56.1 MPa.

Bimetallic AZ91/AlSi17 samples were produced by compound casting. The casting process involved pouring the AZ91 magnesium alloy heated to 650oC onto a solid AlSi17 aluminum alloy insert placed in a steel mould. Prior to casting, the mould with the insert inside was heated to about 370oC. The bonding zone formed between AZ91 and AlSi17 had a thickness of about 200 μm; it was characterized by a non-homogeneous microstructure. Two different areas were distinguished in this zone: the area adjacent to the AZ91 and the area close to the AlSi17. In the area closest to the AZ91 alloy, a eutectic composed of an Mg17Al12 intermetallic phase and a solid solution of Al in Mg was observed. In bonding zone at a certain distance from the AZ91 alloy an Mg2Si phase co-occurred with the eutectic. In the area adjacent to the AlSi17 alloy, the structure consisted of Al3Mg2, Mg17Al12 and Mg2Si. The fine Mg2Si phase particles were distributed over the entire Mg-Al intermetallic phase matrix. The microhardness of the bonding zone was much higher than those of the materials joined; the microhardness values were in the range 203-298 HV. The shear strength of the AZ91/AlSi17 joint varied from 32.5 to 36 MPa.

The tundish prevents unsteady flow affecting on the steel cleanness and temperature. The presented article offers a new design of a ladle shroud (LS) with three holes placed in a special dome (separating the steel flow) steeped in a metal bath. Various options of the LS construction were analysed, as well as its positioning in the tundish in relation to its longitudinal axis. The conducted numerical simulations enabled to assess the impact of the designed ladle shroud on the flow of liquid steel through the tundish. The results showed that the best option is to use the LS with two larger holes and one smaller which activates the flow structure and reduces the rate of the liquid steel velocity in the tundish, limiting the flow turbulence.

The near net shaped manufacturing ability of squeeze casting process requiresto set the process variable combinations at their optimal

levels to obtain both aesthetic appearance and internal soundness of the cast parts. The aesthetic and internal soundness of cast parts deal

with surface roughness and tensile strength those can readily put the part in service without the requirement of costly secondary

manufacturing processes (like polishing, shot blasting, plating, hear treatment etc.). It is difficult to determine the levels of the process

variable (that is, pressure duration, squeeze pressure, pouring temperature and die temperature) combinations for extreme values of the

responses (that is, surface roughness, yield strength and ultimate tensile strength) due to conflicting requirements. In the present

manuscript, three population based search and optimization methods, namely genetic algorithm (GA), particle swarm optimization (PSO)

and multi-objective particle swarm optimization based on crowding distance (MOPSO-CD) methods have been used to optimize multiple

outputs simultaneously. Further, validation test has been conducted for the optimal casting conditions suggested by GA, PSO and

MOPSO-CD. The results showed that PSO outperformed GA with regard to computation time.