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10.3: Heat Transfer Simulation

  • Page ID
    7845
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    Here we demonstrate how heat transfer through the mould wall determines the temperature change in a casting during solidification. The simulation assumes Newtonian cooling where heat transfer is limited by the interface between the metal and the mould.

    The simulation shows the effect of varying parameters such as the interfacial heat transfer coefficient, h, the casting length, L and the amount of superheat (determined by the pouring temperature, Tp). It can be carried out for a wide range of metals to study the effect of properties such melting temperature Tm, latent heat of fusion per unit volume, ΔHf,V, thermal conductivity, K and heat capacity per unit volume, Cp,V. Click here to see how the heat capacity per unit volume is related to specific heats measured relative to other amounts.

    The relevant thermal properties of several pure metals are shown below

    Melting temperature
    Latent Heat of fusion
    Volumetric Heat capacity
    Thermal conductivity
    K
    MJ m-3
    kJ m-3 K-1
    W m-1 K-1
    Ag
    1235
    1100
    2920
    422
    Au
    1337
    1200
    2800
    272
    Al
    933
    1070
    3100
    240
    Cu
    1358
    1842
    4080
    395
    Mg
    922
    640
    2240
    154
    Pb
    601
    260
    1590
    34
    Sn
    505
    440
    1780
    63
    Zn
    693
    812
    3070
    112

    In the simulation you can select any of these materials and its properties will be displayed. You may then vary parameters such as the casting length, the interfacial heat transfer coefficient between the solid and the mould wall and the pouring temperature in order to see how long it takes for the casting to solidify and cool.

    There are a couple of provisos: Firstly because this is a Newtonian cooling simulation you must ensure that the Biot number is low enough for this assumption to be valid (hence for the metals which have poor thermal conductivities, you must keep the casting length relatively low). Secondly, of course, you must ensure that the metal is poured above its melting temperature!

    There are a number of assumptions and simplifications we are making in this simulation which may not be the case for a real casting.


    This page titled 10.3: Heat Transfer Simulation is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Dissemination of IT for the Promotion of Materials Science (DoITPoMS) via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform; a detailed edit history is available upon request.

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