Dynamic gate filling and mechanical vibration on mushy solidification behavior

During the solidification of aluminum alloy castings, internal shrinkage cavities, surface depressions, and dimensional distortions always occur. In this study, ZL205A (AlCu5Mn) aluminum alloy was selected as casting alloy and a plate structure susceptible to porosity and dimensional deformation was used as the research model. The dynamic gate filling technique and the mechanical vibration were applied during filling and solidification processes. The numerical simulation was adopted to calculate the filling and solidification processes. Experimental and simulation results showed that the coupled effect of dynamic gate filling and mechanical vibration can regulate the filling state, the distribution of the flow field and temperature field, the solidification process and the grain structure. Specifically, during the filling process, the liquid level raised steadily and slowly, and the temperature field showed good uniformity. During the solidification process, the temperature field distribution became more uniform, and a distinct mushy solidification zone was presented. The obtained casting featured a dense internal structure, good dimensional accuracy and fine grains. These findings demonstrate that the integrated process of dynamic gating and mechanical vibration can endow aluminum alloys with high internal compactness, dimensional precision, and fine-grained microstructure, underscoring its significant engineering application value and scientific research significance.