RESUMO
The author-proposed skeletal sand mold, which mainly includes a shell, air cavities and a truss support structure, has been experimentally proven to be very useful in controlling the cooling of casting at local areas and at different periods of the casting process. The modeling and simulation of the casting process using a skeletal sand mold were systemically analyzed. Complicated casting/mold and mold/air boundaries, and the thermal and mechanical behavior of the skeletal sand mold during the casting process were highlighted. A numerical simulation of the casting process of a stress frame specimen using a skeletal sand mold was performed. The temperature, stress and displacement fields of the casting and skeletal sand mold were obtained and compared with those using a traditional sand mold. The simulated results were validated with experiments. Using the skeletal sand mold, the cooling rate of the casting can be greatly improved due to the significant heat release from mold surface to environment. The residual stress and deformation of the casting can be reduced because of the decreased stiffness of this kind of mold. Although the skeletal sand mold is susceptible to cracking, it can be avoided by filleting in the conjunctions and increasing the shell thickness.
RESUMO
The selective laser melting of tin bronze (CuSn10) powder was performed with a laser energy density intensity level at 210, 220, and 230 J/mm². The composition was homogeneous with almost all tin dissolved into the matrix. The grain size of the obtained alpha copper phase was around 5 μm. The best properties were achieved at 220 J/mm² laser energy density with a density of 8.82 g/cm³, hardness of 78.2 HRB (Rockwell Hardness measured on the B scale), yield strength of 399 MPa, tensile strength of 490 MPa, and an elongation that reached 19%. “Balling effect” appeared and resulted into a decrease of properties when the laser energy density increased to 230 J/mm².