Recent developments of InteCAST software and its applications on special castings

with the development of computer technology, foundry CAE technology has made rapid progress. Commercialsoftware packages of casting process simulation, therefore, have become more and more practical. This paper introducesboth the recent developments and some applications of InteCAST software, a commercial numerical simulation softwarepackage for foundry industry, with more than 120 customers all over the world. The function modules of lnteCAST8.0 andsome new techniques, such as uneven mesh technology for mold filling simulation and numerical mouse technology fordata visualization, were introduced. Several applications on special castings such as investment casting, low pressure diecasting, and high pressure die casting, were given. These applications showed that the software can help engineers tooptimize casting process by forecasting casting defect.

Review of production status of heavysteel castings and key technologies for their manufacture in China

This paper expatiates on domestic status of heavy steel casting production, with a special focus on hydraulicturbine castings for Three Gorges Project. In China, there is magnificent demand for heavy castings with the rapidgrowth of the national economy in recent years and the expected high growth in the coming 10 to 20 years. Someheavy and large castings such as mill housing and hydraulic turbine runner crown, blade and band for Three GorgesProject have been successfully made. However, the domestic production capability is still far from meeting the giganticrequirements. The domestic capability still lags behind the world class level, and a lot of heavy castings still dependon import. The paper also gives a particular introduction of the key technologies in the manufacturing of heavy steelcastings like metal melting, foundry technology, heat treatment technology and numerical simulation technique, etc.In addition, several case studies on the application of numerical simulation in the production of heavy steel castingsare presented.

STUDY ON HOT SAND COOLING EQUIPMENT WITH DAMPING SAND CASCADE AND VERTICAL SPOUTED-FLUIDIZED BED

A new kind of hot sand cooling equipment with vertical spouted-fluidized bed is developed in this paper. It is similar to the traditional horizontal vibrating fluidized boiling cooler in principle but different from it in structure. The processing principle of the cooler is analyzed. The influence of main structural and processing parameters on the cooling effect and its mechanism are researched. Other characteristics of the cooler are discussed also. Experiment results show that the cooling efficiency η is equal to or larger than 83%, the temperature of output sand is less than 40℃ with the temperature of input sand is about between 80 and 90℃, and the productivity is 5t/ （h·m）

Review of current research and application of ductile cast iron quality monitoring technologies in Chinese foundry industry

There is a long history of studying and making use of ductile cast iron in China.Over the years,the foundrymen in China have carried out a lot of valuable research and development work for measuring parameters and controlling the quality in ductile cast iron production.Many methods,such as rapid metallographic phase,thermal analysis,eutectic expansion ratio,surface tension measurement,melt electrical resistivity,oxygen and sulfur activity measurement,ultrasonic measurement and sound frequency measurement,have been used and have played important roles in Chinese casting production in the past.These methods can be generally classified as liquid testing and solid testing according to the sample state.Based on the analysis of the present situation of these methods applied in the Chinese metal casting industry,the authors consider that there are two difficult technical problems to be currently solved in monitoring ductile iron quality.One is to seek an effective method for quickly evaluating the nodularizing result through on-the-spot sample analysis before the liquid iron is poured into the mould.The other is to find a nondestructive method for accurately identifying casting quality before castings are delivered.

Adhere to the direction of detailization in CC technology and equipment

Since the excessive capacity in steelmaking and continuous casting at present,and the limited development margin of CC technology and equipment in scale,the further development must be made in a profound and detailized way.This paper enumerates the items of CC technology and equipment,which need to be detailized from several aspects such as roll arrangement design,equipment design and production operation,and it points out that detailization is the future direction of CC technology and equipment.The items in roll arrangement design include eliminating periodic meniscus fluctuation by adjusting space between rolls reasonably;taking special measures to avoid dangerous regions of casting speed,in order to reduce the center porosity and centerline crack of slab;optimizing the major radius and the length of outer arc of caster before straightening point to avoid dangerous region of casting speed.The items in equipment design include choosing a suitable structure of support and guiding roll according to the concrete conditions of caster;according to bulging shape of slab,thinking more about restriction of shell to bulging force, discussing the force on rollers,optimizing split roll to support slab;safety factor should be considered together with calculation method of the bearing nominal static load.The items in aspects of continuous casting operation include the delicacy division and the function-positioning of operation modes for CC machine due to the consideration of dynamic soft reduction;monitoring and controlling system of CC machine must be further detailized to improve the stability of production operation and slab quality.In addition to the three aspects mentioned above,this article points out many other items also,such as homogenization of secondary cooling of slab,quality control of surface and internal of slab,and so on.This article emphasizes,some key technologies need to be researched also,and all these researches will never stop.

Abstracts of Papers from FOUNDRY Journal

Vol.56 No.7 July 20071Research Progress of Microprecision Casting TechnologyLI Bang-sheng,REN Ming-xing,FU Heng-zhi(Micro/nano Technology Research Center of Harbin Institute of Technology,Harbin150001.Heilongjiang,China:School of Materials Science and Engineering,Harbin Institute of Technology,Harbin150001.Heilongjiang,China)

Abstracts of Papers from FOUNDRY Journal (Monthly, in Chinese)

As an official transaction of Foundry Institution of Chinese Mechanical Engineering Society (FICMES), FOUNDRY Journal (monthly, edited In Chinese) started publication in 1952. It covers the whole fields of foundry technologies for iron, steel and non-ferrous casting including sand casting, die casting and other special casting, etc. It mainly reports advanced scientific and technological achievements, applied technologies, production and management experiences, recent delelopment and information at home and abroad, and advertises for both Chinese and foreign manufactures, Its great advantages of information are prompt, rich and broad.

Abstracts of Papers from FOUNDRY Journal

No.4 April 2007 1 Progress of Research on Law of Formation for Morphology of Primary Phase in Semi-Solid Al Alloy LIU Zheng,HU Yong-mei(Faculty of Material and Chemical Engineering, Jiangxi University of Science and Technology, Ganzhou 341000, Jiangxi, China)

Abstracts of Papers from FOUNDRY Journal

Survey Science and Techology of Foundry Express Information at Home and AbroadAs an official transaction of Foundry Institution of Chinese

Papers Contained in the Proceedings of the 67th World Foundry Congress

Casting the Future 1. Modelling Microstructural Evolution in Cast Alloys Prof. Rachel Thomson, MA Ph. D

First Forum on China Casting Quality Standards & Overview of Revision History of China's National/Industrial Standards for Foundry Operations

Both national and local governments have been paying great attention to the work of industrial standardization with the enormous increase in international trade after China joined WTO. According to the standards revising plan of Standardization Administration Committee of China (SAC),TC54 has already revised a series of national standards and industrial standards for foundry operations,and proposed some new ones. As a result,some old fashioned standards containing low-level techniques have been gradually discontinued or replaced with new versions.……

基于熔模铸造的DLP光固化增材制造装备的研制

文章将DLP光固化成型技术与熔模铸造工艺相结合,研制了适用于陶瓷浆料打印的光固化增材制造装备。以实现DLP光固化成型工艺参数:曝光时间、曝光层厚及曝光强度等为设计出发点,合理设计光固化打印机的选型及零部件布置,验证最佳工艺参数,确定了设备最佳曝光时间为30~35 s;最佳打印曝光层厚为0.1 mm。