Modelling Hot Distortion of Inorganic Bonded Sand Cores and Application on Complex 3D Printed Automotive Cores

Inorganic bonded sand cores are getting increasing attention in industry due to their environmental advantages, and they are now widely used for series production in automotive applications. The advantages of these binder systems are nevertheless associated with a greater sensitivity of the core quality in relation to the manufacturing and storage process before casting, which is also having a major impact on the core strength. This paper presents the current work in integrating the modelling of the binder decomposition and evaporation of binder water with the mechanical performance of partially hardened and dried sand cores. This allows a local description of mechanical properties, considering different behaviour in compression and tension which depends on temperature and different levels of moisture content through the core. Recent work has shown the importance of including creep effects in the numerical modelling of 3D Printed (3DP) inorganic sand cores. Measurements of the mechanical behaviour of 3DP cores compared to shot cores have shown some fundamental differences in strength due to different density and binder content. This has been investigated in detail in collaboration with a major automotive manufacturer and the application of the model extension was done on a complex water jacket core.