Predicting Stress Development in Gray Iron Foundry Castings

Abstract

A method has been developed to predict stress development in gray iron foundry castings. Using a commercial finite element package with a user written element formulation, stresses resulting from thermal displacements in the cooling casting are computed while accounting for cast iron's radically different behavior in tension and compression with a new yield function. A user-written element is also provided to apply force-displacement boundary conditions to the surface of the casting, eliminating the mold's finite element mesh from the problem. This new method for stress allows for the correct solution of thermal stress problems in gray cast iron in only a small fraction of the time previously necessary.