Influence of Mold Design on Shrinkage Porosity of Ti-6Al-4V Alloy Ingots

Mold design is one of the important ways to control shrinkage porosity. In this study, four mold forms with different tapers were first designed, the corresponding three-dimensional finite element models were built using the ProCAST software, and the influence of mold design on the filling and solidification processes of Ti-6Al-4V alloy was investigated. The results showed that the titanium alloy ingots exhibit typical characteristics of layer-by-layer solidification, and that the removal of the riser results in: (a) shortening the time it takes for molten metal to reach the bottom of the mold and the time needed to complete mold filling; (b) decreasing the maximum flow velocity and improving the filling stability; and (c) moving the shrinkage cavities up along the central axis of the ingot and decreasing the cavity volume. Meanwhile, it was also found that the shrinkage cavity volume decreases significantly with increasing mold taper, meaning a significant increase in ingot utilization rate. The shrinkage cavity formation mechanism was revealed through macrostructure analysis. During solidification, a grain frame is formed as a large number of equiaxed crystals intersect, thus creating an isolated liquid phase zone. When the liquid in this zone solidifies, the last zone to do so, its volume shrinkage cannot be compensated, thus leading to the formation of a shrinkage cavity.