Lost Core Insert Tooling for Vehicle Component Casting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for forming vehicle components with complex shapes and fluid passages, such as engine cylinder heads and blocks, face challenges like core material limitations, high pressure process incompatibility, and loss of desired features due to core shifting or destruction during the casting process.
Innovation Solution
A tool and process utilizing a lost core insert encapsulated in a cast metal shell, constrained by multiple dies to maintain precise positioning and form fluid passages, allowing for high-pressure material injection while protecting the core from deformation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Shape
If a sand core or lost core is used in a low pressure process to provide complex shapes and fluid passages, then the desired features can be formed in the component, but the core material cannot withstand high pressure processes, leading to core crushing and loss of desired features
Solution Approach 1:
The tool is segmented into multiple independent dies (first die, second die, third die) that can be moved separately. This allows the core to be constrained from multiple directions independently, preventing core crushing during high-pressure material injection while maintaining the ability to form complex shapes.
Solution Approach 2:
Locating members (first locating member, second locating member) act as intermediaries between the dies and the core. These locating members engage with the core to provide precise positioning and constraint, mediating the force transmission from the dies to the core without direct die-core contact that could cause crushing.
2Shape
If a sand core or lost core is used to form fluid passages, then the desired features can be created, but the core material shifts during the process, resulting in incomplete or inaccurate features
Solution Approach 1:
The locating functionality is extracted from the dies themselves and implemented through separate locating members. This allows the locating mechanism to be optimized independently for precision while the dies focus on constraining the core from multiple directions. The locating members can be precisely fitted to engage with specific features on the core.
Solution Approach 2:
The core is positioned and located before the high-pressure material injection process begins. The dies are moved to constrain the core in multiple degrees of freedom, and locating members are engaged to secure precise positioning. This preliminary constraint action prevents any shifting during the subsequent material injection that would compromise feature accuracy.
3Manufacturing precision
If multiple dies are used to constrain the insert in at least five degrees of freedom, then the insert positioning precision is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Each die serves multiple functions: the first die constrains the core from one direction and provides a locating surface, the second die provides another constraining direction and includes a locating recess, and the third die provides the final constraining direction. This multi-functionality reduces the need for additional separate locating mechanisms, achieving five degrees of freedom constraint with a manageable number of components.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables the precise formation of vehicle components with complex geometries and fluid passages, ensuring the integrity of the core and resulting features, even in high-pressure processes, reducing post-processing needs and improving accuracy and control over component geometry.
Implementation Method 1
The dies are closed around the insert to constrain the insert relative to the tool in at least four degrees of freedom
Implementation Method 2
Material is injected into the tool to form the component
Data Source
AI summary
A tool and a process for forming a vehicle component is provided. An insert has a lost core generally encapsulated by a cast metal shell. The insert has an anchor surface and a first locating member spaced apart therefrom, and is shaped to form a fluid passage in the vehicle component. A first die is configured to mate with the anchor surface and constrain the insert. A second die defines a first locator recess sized to receive the first locating member and constrain the insert. The first and second dies mate with one another to form the tool. The first and second dies constrain the insert in multiple degrees of freedom.