Using stress simulation to tackle distortion and cracking in castings

The use of stress simulation in casting design and manufacturer has found wide spread use in not only the automotive industry but also more general engineering castings. The development of light-weight body structures in the automotive industry has lead to a new generation of large thin walled complex aluminium and magnesium castings with demanding dimensional and stiffness tolerances, which require particular attention to casting design and production techniques. To achieve economic production long die tool life is required and thermo mechanical fatigue cracking ?heat checking? is often the limiting factor. Minimum distortion and maximised die life can be achieved by using simulation tools and optimisation techniques during casting design and production. A group of companies with competences in casting simulation, material testing, design and high pressure die casting has worked together on the overall design and manufacturing process and examples will show the success of this approach. The paper will give a review of the current capabilities of the application of a numerical simulation to stress related problems in casting manufacture