The article presents a novel method that allows measurement of thermal conductivity that is based on Stefan-Boltzmann law. The developed method can be used to determine thermal conductivity of ceramic investment casting molds. The methodology for conducting thermal conductivity tests of ceramic material samples is presented. Knowledge of the value of thermal capacity and thermal conductivity as a function of temperature enables computer simulations of the process of cooling and solidification of liquid metal in a mold.

Aluminum alloys are widely used in the industry thanks to its many advantages such as light weight and high strength. The use of this material in the market is increasing day by day with the developing technology. Due to the high energy inputs in the primary production, the use of secondary ingots by recycling from scrap material are more advantageous. However, the liquid metal quality is quite important in the use of secondary aluminum. It is believed that the quality of recycled aluminum is low, for this purpose, many liquid metal cleaning methods and test methods are used in the industry to assess the melt cleanliness level. In this study, it is aimed to examine the liquid metal quality in castings with varying temperature using K mold. A206 alloy was used, and the test parameters were selected as: (i) at 725 °C, 750 °C and 775 °C casting temperatures, (ii) different hydrogen levels. The hydrogen level was adjusted as low, medium and high with degassing, as-cast, and upgassing of the melt, respectively. The liquid metal quality of the cast samples was examined by the K mold technique. When the results were examined, it was determined that metal K values and the number of inclusions were high at the as-cast and up-gas liquid with increasing casting temperatures. It has been understood that the K mold technique is a practical method for the determination of liquid metal quality, if there is no reduced pressure test machine available at the foundry floor.

Tensile strength of aluminum castings has been improved by employing surge and filter in a conventional non-pressurizing gating system. For this purpose, three non-pressurizing bottom-gating systems were designed where the first design was a simple design with no filter and no surge, in the second design filter and in the third one surge was added to the end of runner. Tensile strength, Weibull module, scanning electron microscopy, chemical analysis, and melt pattern during the mold filling were thoroughly analyzed to compare these three designs. It was observed that employing filter and surge in the gating system reduces flow kinetic energy and consequently avoid surface turbulence and air entrainment, which leads to castings with fewer defects and higher reliabilities. Finally, it found that appropriate use of surge in the running system can be as effective as employing a filter in reducing melt front velocity.