Full Magazine Simulation, Pressure and Sand Ratio

This video demonstrates the air-sand motion computed by Arena-flow for a magazine used to fill multiple sand cores.  As the magazine pressurizes, the air drags sand into the core.

The plots, created by the embedded Tecplot for Arena-flow post-processor, show the sand ratio (sand volume fraction) and pressure inside the core vs. time.  When there is no sand between the core and the venting there is little pressure drop resulting in a low core pressure. The pressure then increases as the sand begins to cover vents, reaching a peak just prior to the filling of blow tubes.  Once the tubes are full of sand, the pressure then decreases due to the pressure drop associated with the air flow being restricted in the sand-filled tubes.

This phenomenon was verified by General Motors, and first published in Process Modeling: Sand Core Blowing which won the 2003 AFS Howard F Taylor Award from the American Foundry Society in recognition of the paper having the greatest long-range technical significance in the field of cast metals technology.  Additional details can be found in Sand Core Engineering & Process Modeling, available here.

Visit our Sand Cores applications page to learn more about Arena-flow by CPFD.