The application of computer technology in foundry production has improved production efficiency and reduced casting costs, driving progress and transformation in the foundry industry in areas such as casting process design and production process control. It has shortened product development cycles, lowered development costs, and enhanced the level of casting process technology.
1. Digital Design and Manufacturing
The application of computers in the design and manufacturing of casting processes, tooling, and molds has improved design efficiency and enabled the integration of design and analysis. It allows for the simulation and predictive analysis of temperature fields, stress fields, shrinkage cavities, and porosity during the solidification process of castings, providing guidance for optimizing gating systems and feeding process plans, thereby significantly shortening the design and manufacturing cycle. The main digital design and manufacturing technologies in the foundry field include computer-aided design (CAD) for casting processes, numerical simulation of solidification processes (CAE), and rapid prototyping manufacturing. These technologies are fundamentally transforming traditional methods of casting process design and tooling and mold manufacturing.
2. Casting Production Process Control
Computer-based automatic control systems in foundry production have been applied to processes such as alloy melting, pouring, sand processing, and quality inspection, representing a development trend in casting production process control. By using microcomputers to control and optimize melting processes and regulate production operations, high-quality molten metal can be obtained, energy consumption and emissions can be reduced, the environment can be protected, and costs can be lowered.
3. Casting Expert Systems
Although research on casting expert systems started relatively late, significant progress has been made in advancing the application of computer expert systems in the quality management of molding materials such as foundry sand. Sand processing has adopted efficient continuous mixers and artificial intelligence-based online control expert systems for molding sand. These developments have led to the introduction of expert systems for molding sand quality management, casting defect analysis, and self-hardening sand quality analysis. There are also expert systems for die-casting process parameter design and defect diagnosis. Some casting mold factories have utilized casting expert systems and internet technology to achieve remote design and manufacturing of casting molds.
