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Metal Casting 4.0: Closing the Loop Between Design and Manufacturing

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Abstract

Product quality depends upon symbiotic inter-dependencies among material, design, tooling and process parameters. Such multifarious relationships make it very difficult to avoid defects in metal casting—still the most economical process to produce large parts with intricate features. To get the quality ‘right first time and every time,’ we need to transform this art into science by leveraging the latest information technologies. Four relevant R&D works carried out by the author and associates over the last three decades are described in this article: (1) user-friendly simulation software to predict casting defects; (2) intelligent design and optimization of methoding and tooling; (3) cloud-based utilities for ubiquitous access; and (4) smart foundry for process data capture and analytics. These are laying the path for new technologies to reduce the difference between designed and manufactured products. Such advanced and inter-disciplinary projects are also changing the mind-set about metal casting and attracting the next generation of researchers.

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Acknowledgements

The research work described in this paper spanned three decades and involved more than one hundred researchers, engineers and industry experts from multiple disciplines and organizations. Those who led the projects or made significant contributions deserve special mention. It includes Ramesh Dommeti, who developed the first version of AutoCAST, and Kaustubh Moharir, who developed AutoCAST-X. The tooling design module was created by 3D Foundry Tech team led by BabaPrasad Lanka. The FLOW+ software was developed by Dr. Roschen Sasikumar, Dr. Savithri Sivaraman and Dr. Elizabeth Jacob at CSIR-NIIST, Thiruvananthapuram. Relevant experimental studies were carried out by Dr. MM Akarte, Dr. RG Chougule, Dr. Dinesh Pal, Dr. K. Subburaj, Dr. KH Renukananda and Dr. Himanshu Khandelwal. The E-Foundry project involved Dr. Durgesh Joshi from Indore (who sadly passed away in a road accident), Dr. Mayur Sutaria from Changa, Dr. Amit Sata from Rajkot, and Dr. Vasudev Shinde from Icchalkaranji. The SMART Foundry project brought in additional researchers including Prof. A.M. Kuthe from Nagpur, Prof. Goutam Sutradhar from Kolkata (later Manipur), Dr. Nagahanumaiah from Durgapur (later Bangalore) and Dr. Arati Mulay from Pune. The support of government agencies—National Knowledge Network for E-Foundry project, Department of Science and Technology for the SMART Foundry project, and industry (mainly 3D Foundry Tech) for software development is gratefully acknowledged. The technologies were refined with valuable inputs from many casting experts. The implicit support of the parent institutions of the researchers in sustaining the above projects over many years helped in crossing the ‘valleys of death’ from scientific concepts to practical applications.

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  1. Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai, 400076, India

    B. Ravi

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Ravi, B. Metal Casting 4.0: Closing the Loop Between Design and Manufacturing. Trans Indian Inst Met 74, 1017–1028 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12666-020-02152-y

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