{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,21]],"date-time":"2026-09-21T18:14:51Z","timestamp":1790014491958,"version":"4.0.1"},"reference-count":35,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"18","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,21]],"date-time":"2026-09-21T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1789948800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"National Natural Science Foundation for Young Scientists of China","award":["52305377"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["52305377"]}]},{"name":"Shandong Province Key Research and Development Program","award":["2025CXPT001"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2025CXPT001"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Materials"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Aluminum\u2013copper alloys, typified by ZL205A (AlCu5MnTiCdV, GB\/T 1173), pose severe casting challenges due to their wide solidification interval, poor fluidity, and susceptibility to gas porosity and shrinkage defects. This study introduces a negative-pressure frozen sand mold casting process as a solution to these challenges and systematically quantifies its thermal and microstructural advantages over conventional resin sand and atmospheric frozen sand casting. Using inverse heat conduction analysis of multi-point thermocouple data, the interfacial heat transfer coefficient (IHTC) was quantitatively determined for 14 experimental conditions varying in mold type, pressure level, moisture content (2\u20136 wt.%), and initial freezing temperature (\u221220 to \u221240 \u00b0C). The results demonstrate that negative pressure combined with frozen sand molds (6 wt.% moisture, \u221240 \u00b0C) produces the highest active-period average IHTC of 236 W\/(m2\u00b7K), representing a 2.8-fold increase over atmospheric frozen sand casting and a 1.6-fold increase over negative-pressure resin sand casting. This enhanced thermal driving force promotes grain refinement and effective gas removal, yielding superior mechanical properties: tensile strength of 200.6 MPa and elongation of 9.3% in the as-cast state, and 478.5 MPa and 7.4% after T6 heat treatment. Using the optimized process parameters, a thin-walled cabin component (\u00d8180 mm \u00d7 300 mm, minimum wall thickness 3 mm) was successfully fabricated without defects. These findings establish quantitative process\u2013thermal\u2013microstructure\u2013property relationships for negative-pressure frozen sand casting of wide-solidification-interval aluminum alloys.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ma19184017","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,21]],"date-time":"2026-09-21T17:23:17Z","timestamp":1790011397000},"page":"4017","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Research on the Mechanism of High-Performance Aluminum Alloy Casting of Frozen Sand Mold Coupled with Negative Pressure"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"19","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6732-3718","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Lei","family":"Luo","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Zhengzhou Advanced Research Institute, Harbin Institute of Technology, Zhengzhou 450000, China"},{"name":"School of Materials Science and Technology, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing 210016, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"investigation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-original-draft","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"funding-acquisition","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"project-administration","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0008-6196-4432","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Can","family":"Luo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Zhengzhou Advanced Research Institute, Harbin Institute of Technology, Zhengzhou 450000, China"},{"name":"School of Materials Science and Technology, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing 210016, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"funding-acquisition","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"investigation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"methodology","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"given":"Qi","family":"Lv","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Zhengzhou Advanced Research Institute, Harbin Institute of Technology, Zhengzhou 450000, China"},{"name":"School of Materials Science and Technology, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing 210016, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"investigation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"formal-analysis","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"given":"Xiao","family":"Liang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Zhengzhou Advanced Research Institute, Harbin Institute of Technology, Zhengzhou 450000, China"},{"name":"School of Materials Science and Technology, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing 210016, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"data-curation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"supervision","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"given":"Liang","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Zhengzhou Advanced Research Institute, Harbin Institute of Technology, Zhengzhou 450000, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"methodology","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"validation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-review-editing","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"given":"Yanqing","family":"Su","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Zhengzhou Advanced Research Institute, Harbin Institute of Technology, Zhengzhou 450000, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"supervision","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"conceptualization","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"given":"Jingjie","family":"Guo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Shandong Laboratory of Aluminum Advanced Manufacturing in Binzhou, Weiqiao-University of Chinese Academy of Sciences Science and Technology Park, Binzhou 256606, China"},{"name":"Binzhou Institute of Technology, Weiqiao-University of Chinese Academy of Sciences Science and Technology Park, Binzhou 256606, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"writing-review-editing","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"methodology","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"given":"Fei","family":"Mi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Materials Science and Technology, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing 210016, China"},{"name":"Xinxiang Aviation Industry (Group) Co., Ltd., Xinxiang 453000, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"writing-review-editing","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"formal-analysis","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"given":"Chao","family":"Chen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Precision Manufacturing for Extreme Service Performance, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"data-curation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"investigation","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"given":"Binbin","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Shandong Laboratory of Aluminum Advanced Manufacturing in Binzhou, Weiqiao-University of Chinese Academy of Sciences Science and Technology Park, Binzhou 256606, China"},{"name":"Binzhou Institute of Technology, Weiqiao-University of Chinese Academy of Sciences Science and Technology Park, Binzhou 256606, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"methodology","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"formal-analysis","vocabulary":"credit"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,21]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","first-page":"68","article-title":"New Environmentally Friendly Sand Core Freezing Technology in Sand Casting","volume":"38","author":"Chen","year":"2009","journal-title":"Ind. Heat."},{"key":"ref_2","unstructured":"Moore, C., Beet, D., and Ma, D.G. (1980). A New Casting Method\u2014Freeze Casting (Effest). Mod. Cast., 79\u201385."},{"key":"ref_3","first-page":"59","article-title":"\u201cCold Hardening\u201d Process Method for Freeze Molding","volume":"1","author":"Hoult","year":"1991","journal-title":"Foundry Equip. Technol."},{"key":"ref_4","first-page":"8","article-title":"New Material for Cold Molding\u2014Molds Requiring No Excessive Freezing","volume":"9","author":"Li","year":"1980","journal-title":"Hot Work. Technol."},{"key":"ref_5","first-page":"52","article-title":"Japanese Research Institutions Prioritize Research on the Cold Casting Method","volume":"10","author":"Duan","year":"1981","journal-title":"Hot Work. Technol."},{"key":"ref_6","first-page":"531","article-title":"Compressive Strength of Frozen Mold with Colloidal Silica Addition","volume":"80","author":"Tada","year":"2008","journal-title":"J. Jpn. Foundry Eng. Soc."},{"key":"ref_7","first-page":"92","article-title":"Effects of Casting Sand on Cooling Behavior of Lead Free Bismuth Bronze Produced through Frozen Mold Casting Process","volume":"82","author":"Tada","year":"2010","journal-title":"J. Jpn. Foundry Eng. Soc."},{"key":"ref_8","first-page":"4321","article-title":"Research on Digital Moldless Cryogenic Casting Forming Method","volume":"49","author":"Shan","year":"2020","journal-title":"Rare Met. Mater. Eng."},{"key":"ref_9","first-page":"570","article-title":"Determination and Analysis of Thermal Conductivity of Frozen Sand Mold Based on Thermal Probe Method","volume":"72","author":"Liang","year":"2023","journal-title":"Foundry"},{"key":"ref_10","first-page":"64","article-title":"Brief Description of Application Practices and Development Prospects of V-Method Casting","volume":"5","author":"Li","year":"2024","journal-title":"Foundry Eng."},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"813","DOI":"10.1016\/j.matpr.2020.06.269","article-title":"Studies on Performance and Process Improvement of Implementing Novel Vacuum Process for New Age Castings","volume":"33","author":"Senthil","year":"2020","journal-title":"Mater. Today Proc."},{"key":"ref_12","first-page":"135","article-title":"Technical Research and Practice of Lost Foam Casting Process for Semi-closed Casting","volume":"53","author":"Gao","year":"2024","journal-title":"Yunnan Metall."},{"key":"ref_13","first-page":"101","article-title":"Process Development of Lost Foam Casting Technology for Large-Sized and Thin-Walled Shell Parts","volume":"1","author":"Zhang","year":"2024","journal-title":"Foundry"},{"key":"ref_14","first-page":"1","article-title":"Process Research on Lost Foam Casting Defects of Flywheel Housing and Other Castings","volume":"45","author":"Liang","year":"2024","journal-title":"Foundry Technol."},{"key":"ref_15","first-page":"173","article-title":"Thermal Effects on the Spreading and Solidification of a Micrometric Molten Particle Impacting onto a Rigid Substrate","volume":"8","author":"Oukach","year":"2012","journal-title":"Fluid Dyn. Mater. Process."},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"119","DOI":"10.1179\/136404609X367498","article-title":"A Thermomechanical Finite Element Model for Simulating the Solidification Process of Squeeze Casting","volume":"22","author":"Han","year":"2009","journal-title":"Int. J. Cast Met. Res."},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1025","DOI":"10.1007\/s00231-007-0335-7","article-title":"Comparison of Interfacial Heat Transfer Coefficient Estimated by Two Different Techniques during Solidification of Cylindrical Aluminum Alloy Casting","volume":"44","author":"Rajaraman","year":"2008","journal-title":"Heat Mass Transf."},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"135","DOI":"10.2478\/s13536-011-0017-5","article-title":"Effect of Casting\/Mould Interfacial Heat Transfer during Solidification of Aluminium Alloys Cast in CO2-Sand Mould","volume":"29","author":"Kulkarni","year":"2011","journal-title":"Mater. Sci.-Pol."},{"key":"ref_19","first-page":"65","article-title":"Developing a Localized Squeeze Cooling Technique for Improved Casting Solidification","volume":"5","author":"Singh","year":"2011","journal-title":"Int. J. Met."},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"116394","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jmatprotec.2019.116394","article-title":"Measuring the Interfacial Heat Transfer Coefficient between Flowing Molten Alloy and Sand Mold Using Fluidity Tests","volume":"276","author":"Motoyama","year":"2020","journal-title":"J. Mater. Process. Technol."},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"237","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ijthermalsci.2013.04.009","article-title":"Heat Conduction in a Planar Slab with Power-Law and Polynomial Heat Flux Input","volume":"71","author":"Woodbury","year":"2013","journal-title":"Int. J. Therm. Sci."},{"key":"ref_22","unstructured":"Xu, X. (2020). Research on Interface Heat Transfer Coefficient and Fluidity Based on Amorphous Alloy Casting. [Master\u2019s Thesis, Harbin Institute of Technology]."},{"key":"ref_23","unstructured":"Zhu, L.P. (2009). Study on Heat Transfer Coefficients at Metal\/Mold Interface during Solidification in Metal Castings. [Master\u2019s Thesis, Tianjin University of Technology]."},{"key":"ref_24","unstructured":"Sui, D.S. (2008). Research on Parameters Identification of Heat Conduction Inverse Problem in the Casting Solidification Process. [Ph.D. Thesis, Shanghai Jiao Tong University]."},{"key":"ref_25","unstructured":"Zhang, L.Q. (2011). Inverse Calculation of Interfacial Heat Transfer Coefficient During Casting Solidification and the LPDC Process Optimization for Thin-Walled Casting of Aluminum Alloy. [Ph.D. Thesis, Hunan University]."},{"key":"ref_26","unstructured":"Wang, P. (2020). Effect of Air Gap at the Interface of Mould-Ingot on the Comprehensive Interfacial Heat Transfer Coefficient. [Master\u2019s Thesis, University of Science and Technology Liaoning]."},{"key":"ref_27","unstructured":"Cao, Y.Y. (2015). Interfacial Heat Transfer in Shot Sleeve and Die Cavity During High Pressure Die Casting Process. [Ph.D. Thesis, Tsinghua University]."},{"key":"ref_28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"28","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jmst.2024.01.032","article-title":"Determination of interfacial heat transfer coefficient at the frozen sand mold casting process of ZL101 alloy","volume":"194","author":"Dong","year":"2024","journal-title":"J. Mater. Sci. Technol."},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"107728","DOI":"10.1016\/j.icheatmasstransfer.2024.107728","article-title":"inverse estimation of frozen sand mold-melt heat transfer coefficient in the solidification of A356 alloy","volume":"157","author":"Dong","year":"2024","journal-title":"Int. Commun. Heat Mass Transf."},{"key":"ref_30","first-page":"156","article-title":"Analysis of interfacial heat transfer coefficient of typical annular casting during solidification process","volume":"43","author":"Qiu","year":"2021","journal-title":"J. Shenyang Univ. Technol."},{"key":"ref_31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"211","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jmst.2024.03.026","article-title":"Advancing sustainable casting through cryogenic gradient forming of frozen sand molds: Design, error control, and experimental validation","volume":"203","author":"Shi","year":"2024","journal-title":"J. Mater. Sci. Technol."},{"key":"ref_32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"6063","DOI":"10.1007\/s11837-024-06384-x","article-title":"Effect of Cooling Rate on the Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Al-5Cu-0.38Mg-0.32Mn-0.1Ag Alloy Cylinder Heads","volume":"76","author":"Yang","year":"2024","journal-title":"JOM"},{"key":"ref_33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"4784","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jmrt.2023.08.227","article-title":"Effect of scandium on grain refinement mechanism and mechanical properties of Al-7Si-0.6Mg alloy at different cooling rates","volume":"26","author":"Mao","year":"2023","journal-title":"J. Mater. Res. Technol."},{"key":"ref_34","unstructured":"(2013). Casting Aluminium Alloy (Standard No. GB\/T 1173-2013)."},{"key":"ref_35","unstructured":"(2007). Aluminium and Aluminium Alloys\u2014Castings\u2014Chemical Composition and Mechanical Properties (Standard No. ISO 3522:2007)."}],"container-title":["Materials"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1996-1944\/19\/18\/4017\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,21]],"date-time":"2026-09-21T17:41:25Z","timestamp":1790012485000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1996-1944\/19\/18\/4017"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,21]]},"references-count":35,"journal-issue":{"issue":"18","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9]]}},"alternative-id":["ma19184017"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/ma19184017","relation":{},"ISSN":["1996-1944"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1996-1944","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,21]]}}}