In past presentations at the Santa Fe Symposium, various authors have shown that computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and finite element analysis (FEA) may be used to model mold filling and temperature distributions during the investment casting process. The power of mathematically modeling any chemical/metallurgical process is having the ability to predict the outcome of the product when variables and parameters are changed. A natural extension of this concept is to combine the mathematical modeling of the investment casting process with the design of the model made using three-dimensional CAD (computer aided design) software. By combining art and science in this manner, it may be possible to optimize the investment casting process by minimizing manufacturing costs, defects, and scrap.

Author: Samuel A. Davis