Prediction of location specific mechanical properties of aluminum casting using a new CA-FEA (cellular automaton-finite element analysis) approach

Abstract

Predicting location specific properties of industrial castings is a critical part of the Integrated Computational Materials Engineering (ICME) framework for casting design and manufacturing. In this paper, a new design methodology is presented to calculate and predict location specific mechanical properties of an aluminum casting based on its location specific microstructure. Cellular Automaton (CA) and Finite Element Analysis (FEA) tools are coupled to model the mechanical response of a cast component from the casting process conditions to its final location specific solidification microstructure. This new CA-FEA methodology can bridge multiple length scales and predict location specific microstructure and mechanical properties of an aluminum wedge casting, which was experimentally validated using X-ray Micro Computed Tomography and mechanical testing.

Keywords

• Solidification
• Cellular automaton
• Casting simulation
• Finite element analysis
• Location specific properties