Special Issue "Casting and Solidification Processing (Second Edition)"

Dear Colleagues,

Casting is one of the most important shaping processes largely used and consolidated throughout the world to produce near-net-shaping parts. Its advantages compared to other manufacturing processes are evident: relatively low production cost and time, high ranges of thicknesses and masses allowed, the possibility to shape alloys that are only castable (cast iron or certain light alloys), high adaptability to the requirements of mass production, and last, but not least, the excellent bearing quality of the casted parts. However, all of these advantages could be lost if the process parameters are not correctly calibrated to obtain nearly defect-free casting components. In most foundries, such parameter calibration is entrusted to experience rather than to real knowledge of the rules governing the solidification phenomena. A comprehensive understanding of those rules is still unknown to the academic world and represents a formidable challenge. This Special Issue will collect recent research works about casting and solidification processing in order to give the reader an overview of the actual knowledge about casting phenomena. Papers dealing with experimental, theoretical, and numerical analyses of casting and solidification processing are welcome.

We were asked by the Journal Metals to be the Guest Editors for a Special Issue devoted to “Casting and Solidification Processing (Second Edition)”. Given your expertise in the field, we would like to invite you to submit a manuscript to be considered for inclusion in thia Special Issue. Manuscripts should be submitted through the journal’s web platform. There will be a slot activated for the Special Issue “Casting and Solidification Processing (Second Edition)”. Please do not forget to “tick” the correct box accordingly. The manuscripts will undergo the standard review process of the journal and will be judged exclusively based on their scientific content.

We look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience.

Prof. Dr. Paolo Ferro
Dr. Alessandro Morri
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Metals is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• microstructure
• solidification
• defect
• modeling
• casting processes

Title: Integrity Evaluation of a HPDC Al Alloy Through a New Material Quality Index Based on Defects-Driven Plasticity
Authors: G. Angella; Lung Fu; Giulio Timelli; Franco Bonollo
Affiliation: Research Institute CNR-ICMATE, DSCTM, via R. Cozzi 53, 20125 Milano, Italy; Department of Management and Engineering, University of Padua, Str. S. Nicola, 3, 36100 Vicenza, Italy.
Abstract: A procedure for evaluating the integrity of metal alloys produced in foundries is based on modeling the tensile strain hardening by using the physically based constitutive equation of Voce, and can classify the goodness of the possible parameters that define the production routes of foundry components. By plotting the Voce parameters obtained from the strain hardening analysis in the Matrix Assessment Diagram (MAD), it is possible to evaluate the defectiveness of the foundry materials from the analysis of the arrangement of the experimental Voce data in MAD. Through a new Material Quality Index (MQI) based on Defects-Driven Plasticity, the MAD analysis results can be numerically summarized, and different production routes characterized by specific production parameters can be evaluated and compared. The results of the integrity analysis of an Al alloy produced through High Pressure Die Casting (HPDC) using five different die casting profiles are reported. The approach based on MAD analysis assessed the HPDC production profile which produced fewer defects. The results were compared with conventional tensile mechanical properties and microstructural analysis results.