Computer simulation applied to jewellery casting: challenges, results and future possibilities

Computer simulation has been successfully applied in the past to several industrial processes (such as lost foam and die casting) by larger foundries and direct automotive suppliers, while for the jewelry sector it is a procedure which is not widespread, and which has been tested mainly in the context of research projects. On the basis of a recently concluded EU project, the authors here present the simulation of investment casting, using two different softwares: one for the filling step (Flow-3D®), the other one for the solidification (PoligonSoft®). A work on material characterization was conducted to obtain the necessary physical parameters for the investment (used for the mold) and for the gold alloys (through thermal analysis). A series of 18k and 14k gold alloys were cast in standard set-ups to have a series of benchmark trials with embedded thermocouples for temperature measurement, in order to compare and validate the software output in terms of the cooling curves for definite test parts. Results obtained with the simulation included the reduction of micro-porosity through an optimization of the feeding channels for a controlled solidification of the metal: examples of the predicted porosity in the cast parts (with metallographic comparison) will be shown. Considerations on the feasibility of applying the casting simulation in the jewelry sector will be reached, underlining the importance of the software parametrization necessary to obtain reliable results, and the discrepancies found with the experimental comparison. In addition an overview on further possibilities of application for the CFD in jewellery casting, such as the modeling of the centrifugal and tilting processes, will be presented.