Soldering of aluminum alloy die casting is a major bottleneck in production technology because it not only impairs the product quality and productivity, but also increases mold cost. Although the adhesion state of the mold release agent is important for solving the soldering problem, there has been no specific technique for quantitatively measuring the adhesion state of the release agent so far.
In this research, we focused on the fluorescence measurement, and found that the thiophene-based fluorescent agent is optimal as the tracer of water-soluble mold release agent from the viewpoints of fluorescence intensity, compatibility with the mold release agent components, and heat resistance. We have developed a fluorescence measurement technique for checking the adhesion state of the mold release agent for aluminum alloy die casting. This technique enables evaluation of the adhesion state (in terms of distribution and thickness) of water-soluble mold release agents used in the aluminum alloy die casting process, as well as its effect on the soldering resistance.
