Validation of MAGMAsoft simulation of the sand casting process

Abstract

There is an increasing demand in manufacturing environment for the best quality of casting products at the right time and quantity. Foundries must be able to meet the just in time (JIT) requirement in order to survive in the competitive market and to achieve customer satisfaction. Trial-and-error method to produce casting products from design to manufacturing is too costly and not effective. Various computational packages of CAD/CAE systems can be used to assist in mold design and prediction of casting quality ahead of mass production. This paper intends to validate the integrity and reliability of MAGMAsoft for the simulation of metal flow and solidification during the casting process. Sand casting is ascertained for a block of dimension 160mm x 75mm x 36mm. The validation is made against experimental data obtained from a thesis of previous research. The temperatures of control points in the sand mold and casting are used to compare the results between computational model and experiment in a qualitative manner. A very good match between them is observed. Directional solidification is achieved in the runner, however, there is a hot spot in the middle of the cast. The runner design is good because it ensures a simultaneous inflow of molten metal into the cavity through all gates. Overall, MAGMAsoft produces results that match the experimental data qualitatively and therefore the validation procedure is successful. Further work will be using MAGMAsoft for simulation of more complicated castings for sand and die casting processes.