Casting simulation: how well do reality and virtual casting match? A state of the art review

Over the last ten years or so many man-hours have been dedicated to developing methods for simulating the casting process. The majority of the methods developed have been devised by a combination of computer, mathematics and materials specialists with little or no knowledge of foundries and foundrymen. As a result of this it would appear that although there are many software packages for the foundryman to use there still exist fundamental misunderstandings as to their usefulness and suitability within the foundry. This paper is an update review and aims to identify how well current software packages are progressing towards their target of predicting casting defects. The relationships between physical phenomena, practical defects and software capability are presented. Some discussion of the use of criterion functions is also presented. Finally issues arising from the post-processing of results are discussed, as the presentation of the results to the layperson in simulation techniques is possibly one of the most important aspects in influencing the adoption of this type of software in the foundry community.