Development and use of simulation in the design of blown cores and moulds

4Castings Technology International, UK Core box design has traditionally been achieved by a trial and error method which can lead to a lengthy and expensive development for core production. The present paper describes the development of simulation software capable of predicting the behaviour of sand and gas fl ow during the blowing stages of the core making process. Details are presented of the visualisation and examination techniques which were developed for the validation of the software, together with industrial examples illustrating the benefi ts of the simulation package in the optimisation of core box design.