Comparison of interfacial heat transfer coefficient estimated by two different techniques during solidification of cylindrical aluminum alloy casting

The interfacial heat transfer coefficient (IHTC) is necessary for accurate simulation of the casting process. In this study, a cylindrical geometry is selected for the determination of the IHTC between aluminum alloy casting and the surrounding sand mold. The mold surface heat flux and temperature are estimated by two inverse heat conduction techniques, namely Beck’s algorithm and control volume technique. The instantaneous cast and mold temperatures are measured experimentally and these values are used in the theoretical investigations. In the control volume technique, partial differential heat conduction equation is reduced to ordinary differential equations in time, which are then solved sequentially. In Beck’s method, solution algorithm is developed under the function specification method to solve the inverse heat conduction equations. The IHTC was determined from the surface heat flux and the mold surface temperature by both the techniques and the results are compared.