Selection of the Optimal Gate Location for a Die-Casting Die with a Freeform Surface

This study deals with a finite-element method application for die-casting dies with freeform surfaces, in order to find an accurate and fast determination of the material injection gate location. To avoid many of the influencing factors, first the part-line of the parameter equation is created using an abductive neural network to limit the range of the gate locations. From the various gate locations in the part-line of the shell, the location producing the minimum warp is found.A prediction of the warp is then found using an abductive neural network. A simulated annealing (SA) optimisation algorithm with a performance index is then applied to the neural network for searching for the optimal position of the gate on the freeform surface, and to obtain a satisfactory result. The method can be applied in die-casting die design, in order to reduce the high cost of trial dies.