Simulation and Validation of Castings in Shop Floor

Production of sound casting demands a thorough understanding of whole casting process. But still, defects and rejection of castings are ubiquitous because in general, the designer lacks domain knowledge about casting processes and hardly have any methodology to find out the parameters that produce sound casting. Casting simulation software simulates the way how casting engineers decide the casting process in a virtual platform and also analyzes each decision to point out the design modifications needed to enhance the quality of casting as well as reduce lead time, tooling and manufacturing costs. The application of simulation software enables us to say, “Get it right, the first time and every time”. Simulation software can be very helpful in calculating tedious formulas, constructing solid modeling which will be helpful to visualise the actual situation like core/mould assembly, gating and feeding arrangements with the main casting before going into actual practice. It can be adopted for troubleshooting existing castings, and for producing new castings without or minimum shop-floor trials. This chapter illustrates the advantages of casting simulation (both tangible and intangible), bottlenecks (technical and resource-related), and some best practices to subdue the bottlenecks. In this chapter some of the live examples have been cited to understand the process logically and scientifically.