Predicting concurrent structural mechanical mechanisms during microstructure evolution

The interdependence between structural mechanics and microstructure solidification has been widely observed experimentally as a factor leading to undesirable macroscopic properties and casting defects. Despite this, numerical modelling of microstructure solidification often neglects this interaction and is therefore unable to predict key mechanisms such as the development of misoriented grains. This paper presents a numerical method coupling a finite volume structural mechanics solver to a cellular automata solidification solver, where gravity or pressure-driven displacements alter the local orientation and thereby growth behaviour of the solidifying dendrites. Solutions obtained using this model are presented which show fundamental behaviours observed in experiments. The results show that small, localized deformations can lead to significant changes in the crystallographic orientation of a dendrite and ultimately affect the overall microstructure development. This article is part of the theme issue 'Transport phenomena in complex systems (part 2)'.

Monitoring of Casting Quality Using Principal Component Analysis Based Self-Organizing Map

The monitoring of casting quality is very important to ensure the safe operation of casting processes. In this paper, in order to improve the accurate detection of casting defects, a combined method based on Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Self-Organizing Map (SOM) is presented. The proposed method reduces the dimensionality of the original data by the projection of the data onto a smaller subspace through PCA. It uses Hotelling’s T2 and Q statistics as essential features for characterizing the process functionality. The SOM is used to improve the separation between casting defects. It computes the metric distances based similarity, using the T2 and Q (T2Q) statistics as input. A comparative study between conventional SOM, SOM with reduced data and SOM with selected features is examined. The proposed method is used to identify the running conditions of the low pressure lost foam casting process. The monitoring results indicate that the SOM based on T2Q as feature vectors remains important comparatively to conventional SOM and SOM based on reduced data.

A spectrum-domain instance segmentation model for casting defects

Accurate segmentation of casting defects plays a positive role in the quality control of casting products, and is of great significance for accurate extraction of the mechanical properties of defects in the casting solidification process. However, as the shape of casting defects is complex and irregular, it is challenging to segment casting defects by existing segmentation methods. To address this, a spectrum domain instance segmentation model (SISN) is proposed for segmenting five types of casting defects with complex shapes accurately. The five defects are inclusion, shrinkage, hot tearing, cold tearing and micro pore. The proposed model consists of three sub-models: the spectrum domain region proposal model (SRPN), spectrum domain region of interest alignment model (SRoIAlign) and spectrum domain instance generation model (SIGN). SRPN uses a multi-scale anchoring mechanism to detect defects of various sizes, where the SSReLU and SCPool functions are used to solve the spectrum domain gradient explosion problem and the spectrum domain over-fitting problem. SRoIAlign uses the floating-point quantization operation and the tri-linear interpolation method to quantize the 3D proposals to the feature values in an accurate manner. SIGN is a full-spectrum domain neural network applied to 3D proposals, generating a segmentation instance of defects in a point-wise manner. In the experiments, we test the effectiveness of the proposed model from three aspects: segmentation accuracy, time performance and mechanical property extraction accuracy.

Minimization of Casting Defects using SQC Tool

Casting is most widely used manufacturing technique. During casting process, number of defects in the casting takes place. In this research, Statistical Quality Control tool is used to minimize the defects. Paretro analysis technique is used to find out the defects in the castings. Recommendations are implemented in the casting line. Improved quality of casting and reduction of defects are found after the implementation of SQC tool. Keywords: Casting, Defect, Why-Why analysis, Shift, Manifold

Study on casting design and analysis of magnesium alloy wheel

PurposeThis research establishes a suitable casting model for magnesium alloy wheel. The casting of the wheel is an element that must be considered in the design of the wheel. Casting is an important basic process and technology in the field of machinery which is widely used in production, transportation, national defense, social life and other aspects. Computer numerical simulation of the casting process can shorten the product manufacturing cycle, reduce product costs, reduce casting defects and ensure product quality. The casting material in this study is AZ91 magnesium alloy used for wheel lightweight.Design/methodology/approachLightweight research of automobile is a significant trend, and people are paying attention to the lightweight design of automobiles. Higher requirement was proposed on design and casting performance of the wheel which is an important part of lightweighting vehicle. In order to achieve better quality, the parametric studies of alloy wheel and casting are necessary. This research designs a new model of automobile wheel, to ensure energy efficiency, the wheels must be as lightweight as possible, using magnesium alloy material for lightweight.FindingsAnalysis of casting process is a very complex issue. This research based on finite element theory and actual production, designed reasonable casting model, instant filling and solidification data were obtained. Aiming at reducing casting defects, process improvement of casting riser structure was designed. On the basis of the foundation, it has important guiding significance for actual foundry production.Originality/valueThis research establish a suitable casting model for magnesium alloy wheel. Aiming at reducing casting defects, process improvement of casting riser structure were designed.