• Transactions of the Korean Society of Machine Tool Engineers
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.130-136
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• 2009

Semi-solid casting(SSC) of magnesium alloys is increasingly being used to produce high quality components. This process is similar to the injection molding of plastics and is called thixomolding. Using this process, higher strength, thinner wall sections and tighter tolerances without porosity are obtained. The high strength and low weight characteristics of magnesium alloys render the high-precision fabrication of thin-walled components with large surface areas. They are widely used for the IT, auto and consumer electronics industries. However, warpage of the thin-walled sections degrade quality of the parts produced in the SCC process. To produce thin-walled magnesium alloy parts, the geometry of gating system on the quality of the finished products should be clearly studied. In this paper, to minimize warpage of the thin-walled sections, Taguchi method is applied to the optimal design of the gate geometry in the thixomolding process. Width, height, length and angle of the gating system are selected for the robust design parameters. Effectiveness of the robust design is verified through the CAE software.