While lost foam casting interest increases because of the process' ability to pr

oduce near-net-shape components of high complexity, it has had its production di

fficulties. These have been due in large part to the process' requirements for a
higher degree of process control compared to traditional casting processes.
Foam patterns must have the proper characteristics and be coated with just the r
ight slurry slurry,
n a thin mixture of insoluble material floating in liquid.
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slurry
solids in suspension. Used as a method of feeding pigs slurry is pumped through fi
xed lines and delivered to troughs by hoses equipped with gasoline pump fittings
. . The gating systems must be arranged perfectly because the metal and polystyr
ene polystyrene (pol'esti`ren), widely used plastic; it is a polymer of styrene.
Polystyrene is a colorless, transparent thermoplastic that softens slightly abo
ve 100°C; (212°F;) and becomes a viscous liquid at around 185°C; mix isn't forgiving.
Metal pour temperatures must be sufficiently high to prevent premature solidifi
cation so·lid·i·fy
v. so·lid·i·fied, so·lid·i·fy·ing, so·lid·i·fies
v.tr.
1. To make solid, compact, or hard.
2. To make strong or united.
v.intr. . In addition, the filling pattern of a mold must be such that metal fro
nts do not merge in a way that traps liquefied foam material, causing internal d
efects in the cast part.
In an attempt to address these difficulties, experiments were performed by GM Po
wertrain GM Powertrain Europe is a company created by General Motors to develop
engines and transmission for the GM group.
It was known as Fiat-GM Powertrain until the termination of the GM and Fiat merg
er talks, and earlier as Opel Powertrain. , Pontiac, Michigan Pontiac is a city
in the U.S. state of Michigan named after the Ottawa Chief Pontiac. As of the 20
00 census, the city had a total population of 66,337. It is the county seat of O
akland County6. , through the AFS A distributed file system for large, widely di
spersed Unix and Windows networks from Transarc Corporation, now part of IBM. It
is noted for its ease of administration and expandability and stems from Carneg
ie-Mellon's Andrew File System.
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AFS - Andrew File System Lost Foam Consortium in conjunction with the U.S. Dept
. of Energy and the Univ. of Alabama-Birmingham to simulate the lost foam castin
g process with casting process modeling software. The computational fluid dynami
cs Computational fluid dynamics
The numerical approximation to the solution of mathematical models of fluid flow
and heat transfer. Computational fluid dynamics is one of the tools (in additio
n to experimental and theoretical methods) available to solve (CFD CFD - Comput
ational Fluid Dynamics ) modeling software Flow-3D from Flow Science, Santa Fe,
New Mexico Santa Fe, more properly Santa Fé, (pronounced ['sæn? fe?] by natives, [?sæn
? 'fe?] , was outfitted with modeling capabilities to simulate the lost foam pro
cess. Using these models, it is possible to simulate the filling of a lost foam
mold and the subsequent solidification of the metal, as well as the capability t
o predict where folds or other defects associated with trapped foam products are
 likely to be located.
This article compares the experimental and computational results from the castin
g and modeling of a lost foam test component from General Motors. This compariso
n demonstrates the accuracy of lost foam predictions.
Experimental Component
The part to be cast and modeled, called the "box cast," was designed by GM as a
test part for lost foam research. Although simple, the part has posts, partition
s, and sections of differing thickness, all things known to be a challenge to ca
sters casters
the small rubber wheels on surgical trolleys, patient stretchers, mobile equipme
nt.
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conductive casters
the casters are impregnated with carbon to facilitate the dispersal of static el
ectricity from equipment. .
In this experiment, the part was gated in a non-optimum way. This was done in or
der to increase the likelihood of defects that could serve as a guideline for co
mparing the relative advantages of a variety of process changes. Figure 1 shows
the part with an attached sprue sprue, chronic disorder of the small intestine c
aused by impaired absorption of fat and other nutrients. Two forms of the diseas
e exist. Tropical sprue occurs in central and northern South America, Asia, Afri
ca, and other specific locations. 495.3 mm (19.5 inches) high at one end. The b
ox part is resting horizontally with its internal posts and partitions upward.
The single gate between the sprue and the box is a circular cylinder 20 mm in di
ameter. Two additional gates are visible along the sprue, which were used to fil
l the part when the box was oriented vertically rather than horizontally.
As will be seen in casting, an important feature of the test component is the va
riable thickness of its bottom. Half the bottom nearest the gate is twice as thi
ck (19.8 mm) as the remainder of the bottom (10.3 mm).
Aluminum alloy A356 was poured at 1540F (838C). Experiments indicated that the a
verage speed of the metal front was 53.34 mm/sec (2.1 in/sec).
For simplicity in the numerical model for casting process modeling, the sprue wa
s removed and replaced at the entrance to the gate with a boundary condition bou
ndary condition
n. Mathematics
The set of conditions specified for behavior of the solution to a set of differe
ntial equations at the boundary of its domain. consisting of liquid metal at 15
40F (838C) and having a driving pressure corresponding to a metalostatic head of
495.3 cm (19.5 in).
The computational grid chosen to represent the box pattern in the simulation con
sisted of 124,200 rectangular elements in a regular array of 23 by 60 by 90 elem
ents, A stereolithography The first 3D printing technology, which was pioneered
by Chuck Hull of 3D Systems. See 3D printing. file was used to specify the box
geometry.
Lost Foam Modeling Results
All computations indicated a smooth filling history for the experimental compone
nt with the metal flowing continuously from the gate toward the opposite end of
the box. A characteristic feature of this flow is that metal enters the box as a
narrow jet, while at the metal-foam interface it is moving tangential tan·gen·tial
also tan·gen·tal
adj.
1. Of, relating to, or moving along or in the direction of a tangent.
2. Merely touching or slightly connected.
3. to the interface toward the sides of the box. This flow carries degraded de·gr
ad·ed
adj.
1. Reduced in rank, dignity, or esteem.
2. Having been corrupted or depraved.
3. Having been reduced in quality or value. foam material that could be trapped
and cause internal defects.
An overall idea of the filling history is shown in Fig. 2, where color indicates
the time of filling. The first place to fill is at the in-gate while the last p
lace to fill is at the top-right corner, the furthest point from the in-gate.
Bottom Defects--Defects observed in the experiments were primarily confined con·fi
ne
v. con·fined, con·fin·ing, con·fines
v.tr.
1. To keep within bounds; restrict: Please confine your remarks to the issues at
hand. See Synonyms at limit. to surface observations. For example, on the bott
om of the box, fold defects were consistently observed on that portion having a
thinner thickness. Furthermore, these defects were quite repeatable. These defec
ts are marked on the casting shown in Fig. 3a.
For comparison, Fig. 3b shows the computed probability of defects in the bottom-
most layer of computational elements, while Fig. 3c shows the same thing in the
second layer of elements above the bottom of the box. Clearly, the casting proce
ss modeling has identified the thinner bottom section as having a much greater l
ikelihood of defects. In addition, in agreement with the data, the modeling has
predicted that defects are most likely to lie toward the left and right sides of
the bottom surface.
Top Defects--On the top surface of the box a variety of defects were found to oc
cur. For example, Fig. 4a indicates that a cold shut and "blister blister, puffy
swelling of the outer skin (epidermis) caused by burn, friction, or irritants l
ike poison ivy. A response of the body to protect deeper tissue, blisters genera
lly contain serum, the liquid component of blood. " were typically seen on the t
op of a short partition located closest to the last place to fill (top left corn
er in the figure). A high likelihood of occurrence of these defects was predicte
d by casting process modeling (Fig. 4b), which shows the high probability of def
ects on the post and along the top of the partition that are located nearest the
last place to fill.
Origin of Defects--The agreement between experiment and modeling is good, but th
e true power of simulation is that it not only indicates problem areas, it also
provides detailed information as to why the problems have occurred. For example,
if metal temperature in the mold is examined, a short time after filling (t=6.0
sec) the coldest spot is precisely where cold shuts in the partition were seen
on the casting. However, this spot is not the last place to fill, as may be expe
cted. Residual momentum in the metal at the end of filling carries cold metal fr
om the last place to fill back to the partition where the observed "cold shuts"
occurred.
Returning to the defects on the bottom surface, a review of the modeling results
shows that these tend to be located toward the side walls because of the flow p
attern that develops during filling. As observed earlier, a tangential flow of m
etal along the metal-foam interface is directed toward the sides of flat section
s of the part. At the sides of the bottom, two such sections meet at right angle
s so as to form a right angle or right angles, as when one line crosses another
perpendicularly.
See also: Right , so one would expect an accumulation of foam residue along thes
e corners. However, excess fluid momentum at the end of filling is strongest in
the sidewalls. This eventually pushes the surface defect material away from the
corners and a little way back into the bottom surface.
Excess and Residual Momentum Effects--It has already been pointed out that resid
ual momentum is responsible for both moving the coldest metal away from the last
place to fill and for altering the location of trapped foam residue. For this r
eason, consider the origin of residual momentum and what might be done about it.

Metal enters the mold through the 20 mm-diameter gate. Since the speed of advanc
e of the metal-foam interface is nearly constant, the volume flow of metal throu
gh the gate must be proportional to the area of the interface (assuming the pres
sure head in the sprue is sufficient to maintain the flow). This area increases
rapidly as the interface expands outward to fill the box pattern. Inspection of
the computed metal velocity in the gate reveals that it reaches a maximum speed
of about 2.070 m/sec even though the interface speed is only 0.0533 m/sec.
A significant consequence of such high-speed metal entering the mold is the pote
ntial for turbulent mixing of foam residue into the body of the metal. In this e
xample, metal jets straight into the box cavity from the circular gate. At the m
etal-foam interface, the high-speed jet flow is deflected de·flect
intr. & tr.v. de·flect·ed, de·flect·ing, de·flects
To turn aside or cause to turn aside; bend or deviate.

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[Latin d , causing metal to flow tangentially tan·gen·tial also tan·gen·tal
adj.
1. Of, relating to, or moving along or in the direction of a tangent.
2. Merely touching or slightly connected.
3. along the interface, trapping trapping, most broadly, the use of mechanical
or deceptive devices to capture, kill, or injure animals. It may be applied to t
he practice of using birdlime to capture birds, lobster pots to trap lobsters, a
nd seines to catch fish. foam residue in the corners of the box.
From a general point of view, the presence of more (excess) momentum in the meta
l to simply fill the pattern is a cause for concern. Excess momentum appears in
the form of secondary flows, often eddies or re-circulations, that may mix liqui
d and/or solid foam products into the bulk metal. These secondary flows also may
cause folding of the interface.
A relatively simple way to reduce the amount of residual or excess momentum is t
o redesign the gate(s) so that a larger cross sectional area is feeding the patt
ern. Ideally, the gate(s) also should spread out the metal flow and prevent the
formation of localized high-speed flows such as jets.
Testing Excess Momentum--A test of this idea was conducted by repeating the simu
lation using a modified gate. The original cylindrical cyl·in·dri·cal
adj.
Of, relating to, or having the shape of a cylinder, especially of a circular cyl
inder. gate was flared out to increase (approximately double) its surface area
where it is attached to the surface of the box. It was hoped that the incoming m
etal flow would stay attached to the sides of the gate, but the flare angle was
too much and the metal continued to jet into the box. However, the flare did cau
se a re-circulation at the base of the jet that helped it spread out, reducing i
ts speed considerably.
With the new gating, the prediction of defect potential in the bottom and top su
rfaces, is much less than it was with the original gating. At least, computation
ally, this confirms the assertion that excess momentum arising from poorly sized
gates can be a source of casting defects in the lost foam process.
Experiment Shows Results
It has been shown through the comparison of computation results with carefully p
erformed experiments that casting process modeling can identify probable defects
in lost foam castings. In addition, modeling can provide insight into the origi
n of defects, which can then be used as the basis for making improvements in the
process.
For More Information
"Lost Foam Casting Simulation with Detect Prediction," C. W. Hirt and M.R. Barkh
udarov, Modeling of Casting, Welding welding, process for joining separate piece
s of metal in a continuous metallic bond. Cold-pressure welding is accomplished
by the application of high pressure at room temperature; forge welding (forging)
is done by means of hammering, with the addition of heat. and Advanced Solidif
ication Processes VIII, San Diego, California San Diego redirects here. For other
uses, see San Diego (disambiguation).
San Diego is a coastal Southern California city located in the southwestern corn
er of the continental United States. As of 2006, the city has a population of 1,
256,951. , 1998.
"Lost Foam Casting Simulation Helps Mercury Marine Mercury Marine, founded in 19
39, is a division of Brunswick Corporation of Lake Forest, Illinois, in the Unit
ed States. Company beginnings
The company began when engineer Carl Kiekhaefer purchased a small outboard motor
company in Cedarburg, Wisconsin. Reduce Defects," C.W. Hirt and M.R. Barkhudar
ov, Engineered Casting Solutions, p. 53, Spring 2001.
About the Author
C.W. flirt is the founder and chief technologist of Flow Science and was an earl
y developer of the computational methods now in use in some casting process mode
ling software. Michael R. Barkhudarov is a senior scientist for Flow Science and
has extensive experience assisting users with simulation problems