Numerical Simulation of Solidification Processes of Spheroidal-Graphite Cast Iron

PATRICIA M. DARDATI; DIEGO J. CELENTANO; LUIS A. GODOY; ROBERTO E. BOERI

Journal of Computational Methods in Sciences and Engineering

IOS Press

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2005 p. 1 - 26

1472-7978

This paper reports on a thermo-microstructural model for the simulation of the  solidification process of an eutectic ductile cast iron. The thermal balance is written at a macroscopic level and takes into account both the structural component being cast and its mold. Models of nucleation and growth represent the evolution of the microstructure, and the micro segregation of silicon is also considered. The resulting formulation is solved using a finite element discretization of the macro domain, in which the evolution of the microstructure is taken into account at the Gauss integration points.  The numerical results are presented in terms of cooling curves and are compared with experimental values. Furthermore, the sensitivity of the response with respect to changes in certain parameters, such as the cooling rate and nucleation constants, are investigated. The agreement between experimental and computational values is acceptable in both quantitative and qualitative aspects. Ways to improve the computational model are suggested.