Using deal.

ii through CMAKE for Minimization of

Gunmetal Casting’s Uneven Cooling through
Computational Methods
Pratik Suryawanshi
Department of Mechanical Engineering, New Polytechnic, Kolhapur, India

Abstract: Casting is the far most one of the earliest metal working process known to mankind which involves pouring molten
metal into specific mould cavity so that the molten metal solidifies into the desired shape. Gun metal far most used for its
corrosion resistant properties is currently used mostly for valve components and other applications hovering over the corrosive
working conditions. Modern industrial solutions demand intricate shapes from the components. For the same reason, the
castings of gun metals have become intricate in their designs. This intricacy induces many defects into the casting, mostly due
to the thermodynamic imbalances. These thermodynamics imbalances are minimized using an open source Finite Element
Analysis tool, ‘deal.ii’ by a C++ CLI through CMAKE in Linux OS. These softwares are utilized in integrated manner to
produce the approximate models predicting the casting behaviour.

Keywords: Gun Metal Casting, Finite Element Methods, Computational Fluid Dynamics, deal.ii, Casting Enhancement.

1. INTRODUCTION INDUSTRIES, 1243/B-1, Shivaji Udyamnagar, Kolhapur-

Out of all advanced manufacturing methods out there,
casting remains the rudimentary method for forming the
basics of at most products manufactured in today’s market.
Out of all, the gun metal castings are primordially used for
valves and related accessories. Due to its large coefficient
of contraction, the gun metal castings are to be cooled
directionally to avoid any defect formation. However, the
modern solutions demand intricacy in the casting shapes
which is the most common reason for defect maximization.
These defects can be minimized prior to the actual
production process by predicting the approximate system
behaviour under the desired conditions by the use of Finite
Element Analysis techniques. There are many proprietor
analysis softwares available in the market, which are
commercially available. This hindrance gave rise to
development of similar platforms on open source software,
stated as ‘deal.ii’ and ‘CMAKE’. Both of the softwares are
integrated on a Linux operating system, provides a
Command Line Interference (C.L.I.) where the equations
are to be compiled in C++ language. The following method
was use to model and minimize the defects formed in the
gun metal casting used in the industry. The ‘deal.ii’ is an
open source finite element library which can be utilized
mostly through CMAKE but any C++ environment can be
used.
1.1 Acknowledgement
The presented research in regard to its current completion is
greatly aided by an organisation for which the gratitude is
presented to Mr. P. B. Mane Sir, Owner, MANE METAL
416008, for providing the opportunity to do internship in
their renowned industry and also to assist them in the
casting analysis process through deal.ii.The analysis done
by industry is kept confidential with them. The presented
study is done personally assisted by industry.
2. LITERATURE REVIEW
Based on prior exploration in the domain of the research,
various prior arts were found which directed the research in
right direction.
2.1 Heat Transfer and Fluid Flow Analysis
As per the insight perceived from the research carried out
(Telejko, Malinowski, Rywotycki, 2009), the basics of
mathematical modelling required for Finite Element
Analysis which are actually the governing equations for the
analysis were identified along with the method to apply the
correct constraints to those equations were identified. The
solidification of the continuous strand during continuous
steel casting is the complex process of heatand mass
transfer.
One of the most importantparameters affecting these
phenomena is temperature. Therefore all the models must
take temperatureunder consideration in calculations.The
superheated metalis poured into a mould and intensifies
convectionheat transfer due to the mass movement along
with theconduction in the liquid region. Afterwards
conductiontakes place in the shell and mixed radiation
conductionmodel is usually used for heat transfer in the air
gap.

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 Proceedings of ICIE 2019
2.2 Numerical Investigations of Fluid Flow
Continuous Casting
As per the results presented by (Bensouici, Bellaouar,
Talbi, 2009)the exact application of numerical solution to
the liquefied metallic flow were elaborated. The
approximate methods most suitable for peculiar conditions
were elaborated with their degree of exactness. The design
and the melt flow conditions must be optimized to ensure
sufficient residence times andto produce adequate metal
flow patterns. As a result, velocity distribution in liquid
steel plays a majorrole on inclusion decantation. Thus, a
perfectknowledge of flow behavior in continuous
castingtundish is essential and important which is governed
by the mathematical models and equations.
2.3 Prediction of Cracks
Casting is one of such processes where the impact and
intensity of uncertainties is very high associated with the
process. (Lee et.al, 2000) suggested the primary cause of
defects in casting strand is reported to be inhomogeneous
solidification of steel in mould. The solidification of steel is
affected by variables such as the mould, casting speed,
mould tapper, mould flux, mould oscillation and such. As
these factors have mutual interactions during casting, thus
in order to further understand the transport phenomenon in
the mould region, fluid flow, heat transfer and deformation
behavior must be considered.
3. ANALYSIS DATA AND METHODOLOGY
3.1 Analysis Data
The following data of Gunmetal is obtained from Mane
Metal Industries, Shivaji Udyamnagar, Kolhapur-416008:
Composition – Copper = 88%, Tin = 10%, Zinc = 2%
Gun Metal Density(ρ) = 8.72*103 kg/m3
Modulus of Elasticity = 103 Gpa
Thermal Expansion (at 20°C) = 19.8*10 -6 /°C
Thermal Conductivity = 74.8 W/mK
Specific Heat Capacity(c) = 377J/kgK
Casting Emissivity (εc) = 0.5
Mould Emissivity (εm) = 0.8
Melting Point = 1100°C
Casting Temperature (Tc) = 1500°C
Solidus Temperature (Tso) = 854°C
Mould Surface Temperature before Heating (T m1) = 25°C
Mould Surface Temperature after Heating (T m2) ≈ 1000°C
Ambient Temperature (Tf) = 29°C
Tensile Strength = 152 MPa
Elongation = 25%
in 3.2 Methodology
Due to the limitation of computing resources, the analysis
was constrained to computation friendly methodology. The
analysis is done after the molten metal is poured into the
mould as the dynamics transportation analysis was not
enabled due to low end computational device. The analysis
of molten pool is governed by the General Heat Transfer
equation (1) but the differential terms in the equation makes
it difficult to approximate. Thus in order to simplify the
numerical computation, the convective heat flow is
included into the conduction mechanism by using the
arbitrary increased thermal conductivity (effective
conductivity).
𝜕𝑇 𝜌 𝑞𝑣
+ 𝑣⃗. ∇𝑇 = ∇2 𝑇 + (1)
𝜕𝜏 𝑐𝜌 𝑐𝜌
Further for reducing computational load, simple mould for
rounded edges has been considered for analysis.The
symmetry of the solidification process has been assumed,
so the calculations have been limited tothe one quarter of
the strand volume. The Conduction-Convection interaction
is described by the Fourier – Kirchhoff equation (2), (3).
qm = αt (Tc − Tm ) ∈ Sm (2)
qs = αs (Tc − Tf ) ∈ Ss (3)
Where: qm–Heat flux carried by mould, αt–Mould heat
transfer coefficient, Tc–Casting temperature, Tm–Mould
surface temperature, Sm–Casting surface area in contact
with mould, qs – Heat flux radiated, αs–Radiation heat
transfer coefficient, Tf–Ambient temperature, Ss–Radiation
surface area. The mould heat transfer coefficient is sum of
conduction coefficient (αc) and internal radiation coefficient
(αr) (4). The radiation coefficient is calculated from the
Stefan-Boltzmann law for infinite parallel plates (5) while
the conduction coefficient is calculated from the empirical
relation (6).
αt = αr + αc (4)
ε +ε −ε ε T4 −T4
αr = 5.56 ∗ 10−8 c m c m c m (5)
εc εm Tc−Tm
Tc −Tso
αc = (αl − αr )exp( ) (6)
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The value of αl = 1500W/m2K (Effective Conductivity)
{empirically selected}. The above equations are given as a
library input to the CMAKE through header files (.h
extension)which are precompiled in the background as soon
as the project is started. These header files were provided
by the industry itself. Rest the geometric model is typed in
C++ syntax into a ‘.cpp’ or ‘.c’ file through a suitable
editor. Due to device limitations a fairly intricate mould is
considered in this analysis. Its dimensions are stated as the
limits of the mesh to be generated. There are various
‘Sparsity patterns’ available in the default library, however
in this study ‘Triangulation’ is used. The ‘DoFHandler’
checks and handles the degrees of freedom for the solution,
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 Proceedings of ICIE 2019
where in our case the Degrees of Freedom for an element
are 2. The weak form of all governing equations is found
and the obtained vector form is given as an input through
the function ‘SparseMatrix’ and ‘Vector’.Once done, the
program is compiled and the results are obtained in a log
file and the visuals are obtained in a ‘.vtk’ file. What to
write and what not to write can be controlled in the program
itself along with the output extension for the visual file. The
analysis in this paper is limited to a 2D solution found out
at 50mm from the bottom of the mould surface.
3.3 Defect minimization Solution
In order to minimize the defects, the industry suggested to
use hot mould as a counter action to the uneven cooling.
The sand mould was heated alongside the metal in different
chamber. This is special case application mostly used for
fast cooling castings.
4. RESULTS
Based on the procedures in section 3, the following are the
visual results obtained before and after the application of
the defect minimization technique.
Fig. 1. Visuals before application of solution
From the above visuals it can be inferred that, in this case
there is large possibility of defect formation due to uneven
cooling of the metal inside the mould and at the surface.
The uneven shrinkage of the metal due to the temperature
gradients caused the formation of pocket inside the
casting.This can be understood through the lighter area
produced in prior case in between the mould surface and the
internals of the casting. The darker area indicates lower
temperature and lighter indicates higher, this means before
the application of the solution there was a high possibility
that the casting would have a pocket formed within due to
the high temperature present.
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Fig. 2. Visuals after application of solution
In latter case, the hot sand maintains the temperature
gradient necessary for the metal to cool directionally which
causes eradication of high temperature zone inside, thus
minimizing the possibility of defects. The temperature
gradient is more uniform in this case because hot mould
surface is in contact with the molten metal, thus
directionally cooling the casting.
5. CONCLUSION
As one can infer, the results obtained are quite sustainable
and satiate the need of defect minimization. Exclusive
advantage of this method is the mathematical models can be
accurately inserted into the software for analysis as per the
application and related analysis. Additional equations,
libraries or external plugins can also be integrated with this
software package for further enhancement and refinement.
Further, application specific, dynamic executables can also
be developed for fast and reliable solution intimidation.
The prominent limitation in presented study is the power of
computational device used. The device used for this study
has very low end specifications as: Intel® Core™2 Due
E7500 @ 2.93 GHz, 2GB RAM, Intel® G41 Express
Chipset (810MB), Lubuntu18.04 LTS. These specification
are not at par for a detailed computational study. High end
computational devices are preferred for detailed and in
depth analysis.
Though open source software are used in this research,
however the process is not real-time like other specialized
softwares. This is the major drawback of this method.
However, the method is free and has higher accuracy than
other application due to the use of custom equations and
libraries. This method can be used to any finite element
analysis as far as one knows how to compile and run C++
code.
 Proceedings of ICIE 2019
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