1) The lost foam casting process of nodular iron shell with relatively complex shape is successfully analyzed by ProCAST software, and the simulation results are used to guide the actual production. lost foam casting process design lacks systematic theoretical and empirical formulas, and there are many influencing factors in lost foam casting process. Especially the existence of foam pattern causes complex physical and chemical changes between the liquid metal and foam shape of the filling front. Therefore, the success rate of using numerical simulation technology to analyze the lost foam casting process and guide the actual production is very low. It is generally only used for parts with simple shape, such as grinding ball.
2) A new database was created. The accuracy of material thermophysical parameters has a great impact on the simulation results. The materials defined in the material database of ProCAST software are limited, and the composition of some materials will deviate slightly from the actual composition. In order to more truly reflect the actual production situation, the composition of lost foam castings is determined by measuring the actual production conditions during the research process, The thermophysical parameters are determined by solving the lever model, and the corresponding database is established.
3) The heat transfer coefficient and the permeability of dry sand are replaced by the heat transfer coefficient between the foam pattern and the mold, and the influence of the coating on heat transfer and exhaust gas is replaced. The addition of coating has an important impact on the heat transfer process of the lost mold in the casting process, such as the actual production process of the cast iron shell. Because the parts are relatively complex and the coating layer is very thin, if the coating model is added, it will not only make the mesh generation difficult, but also make the number of meshes huge and the calculation difficult. In order to consider the influence of coating on the exhaust and heat transfer, the heat transfer coefficient between the foam pattern and the mold and the permeability of the dry sand thermal parameters were reasonably set up in the simulation process in order to achieve the similar effect of the coating.
4) The simulation results of the original lost foam casting process are compared with the trial production results to verify the rationality of the parameter settings such as material thermophysical parameters, initial conditions and boundary conditions, so as to lay a foundation for the parameter settings in the subsequent process improvement.