Development of a Magnesium Alloy Rotor with a Pin-Point Gate Mold

The rotor is a key determinant of the performance of a compressor and many attempts have been made to improve the efficiency of compressors by optimising rotor design. Rotors are usually made of several layers of steel sheets with thin cavities through the steel sheets, and aluminium alloys are used to fill the cavities by high pressure die casting process, and so bind the steel sheets together. Because of their high fluidity and good damping ability, magnesium alloys can be a good alternative for a high efficiency rotor. In this study, magnesium alloys were used for manufacturing rotors by high pressure die casting process using pin-point gate mold. By adopting a pin-point gate system, additional machining was eliminated and casting defects were reduced due to good castability of magnesium alloys.