Measurement and simulation of deformation and stresses in steel casting

Abstract

Experiments are conducted to measure displacements and forces during casting of a steel bar in a sand mold. In some experiments the bar is allowed to contract freely, while in others the bar is manually strained using embedded rods connected to a frame. Solidification and cooling of the experimental castings are simulated using a commercial code, and good agreement between measured and predicted temperatures is obtained. The deformations and stresses in the experiments are simulated using an elasto-viscoplastic finite-element model. The high temperature mechanical properties are estimated from data available in the literature. The mush is modeled using porous metal plasticity theory, where the coherency and coalescence solid fraction are taken into account. Good agreement is obtained between measured and predicted displacements and forces. The results shed considerable light on the modeling of stresses in steel casting and help in developing more accurate models for predicting hot tears and casting distortions. © Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd.