Effect of Different Magnesium Powertrain Alloys on the High Pressure Die Casting Characteristics of an Automatic Transmission Case

The main objective of this paper is to demonstrate how flow and solidification simulation were used in the development of a new gating system design for three different magnesium alloys; and to determine the relative castability of each alloy based on casting trials. Prototype tooling for an existing 3-slide rear wheel drive automatic transmission case designed for aluminum A380 was provided by General Motors. Flow and solidification simulation were performed using Magmasoft on the existing runner system design using A380 (baseline), AE44, MRI153M and MRI230D. Based on the filling results, new designs were developed at Meridian for the magnesium alloys. Subsequent modeling was performed to verify the new design and the changes were incorporated into the prototype tool. Casting trials were conducted with the three magnesium alloys and the relative castability was evaluated. The conclusion of the study was that all three alloys were castable; however, there were significant differences between the alloys with respect to surface and internal imperfections based on the runner design used in the trials. In addition, it was found that different gating techniques are needed when casting the MRI alloys.