Numerical simulation for the investment casting process of a large-size titanium alloy thin-wall casing

To optimize the investment casting process when producing high quality large-size titanium alloy thin-wall components is a time-consuming job due to the complicated metallurgical process. Numerical simulation is a high-efficiency method compared with trial and error, and therefore is introduced to the investment casting process optimization to shorten the new product development cycle and reduce the production cost. In this study, weakly compressible model (WCM) and ununiformed finite difference mesh (UFDM) was developed to reduce the memory consumption and ensure the simulation efficiency. The precision of the WCM and UFDM were verified by numerical simulation of cavity heat convection in a square cavity and hydraulics simulation of centrifugal filling in a transparent cavity. The numerical simulation of the investment casting process of a titanium alloy thin-wall casing under different process conditions was accomplished using a self-developed software, and the distribution characteristics of potential shrinkage defects were predicted. It was found that the predicted defects in the titanium alloy casing matched well with the actual X-ray experimental results. For the components investigated in this paper, more numerical simulation results show that the centrifugal casting process with respect to gravity casting had no obvious improvements in the concentrated shrinkage defects, and the gravity casting process can be more reasonable from the engineering point of view.