Virtual casting improves POWERTRAIN DESIGN

As designers continue to look for ways to cut weight and increase performance, casting simulations are helping optimize designs through faster, more accurate predictions of the casting process used to create key components.

CAE (computer-aided engineering) is proving to be a vital part of the engineering process in casting. “We would not contemplate making even a simple casting today without first analyzing it using simulation,” explained Ted Kahaian. Prototype Engineering Manager of Tooling and Equipment International (TEI). The company specializes in prototype casting as well as supplying tooling for high-volume production. CAE as a tool is helping meet the challenge of taking weight out of parts such as engine blocks and heads as well as other powertrain parts.

To help design castings for lighter, ever more complex parts, TEI is turning to CAE for more accurate prediction in their design-for-manufacturing process. Visualizing data is a unique capability over physical prototypes. There is only so much data and design direction an engineer can get from a physical test of a casting. Simulation allows an operator to see temperature profiles and histories, fill velocities, solid fractions, and solidification rates at any point in the part.