Predicting Locations of Defects in the Solidification Process for Large-Scale Cast Steel

Abstract

The large-scale cast steel has been used in broad fields of industries, such as power generation, construction, vessels, and automobiles. In the solidification process of a hummer used for press machine, for example, sometimes defects such as shrinkage cavity, segregation and cracks appear at hummer’s surface. Shrinkage cavity and segregation can be predicted by performing non-steady state heat transfer analysis; and therefore such two types of defects can be eliminated by using chills which control solidification process. However, uneven cooling rates at different regions of the large-scale cast steel generate thermal stresses, which cause solidification cracks, between the chills. For causing those cracks, thermal stress may be important; however, there have been few studies for this thermal stress analysis. In this study, a three dimensional thermal elastic-plastic stress analysis has been performed by using finite element method in connection with three dimensional non-steady state heat transfer analysis, including interaction between the temperature and stress field. The results provide further understanding of the observed solidification crack failure for large-scale cast steel.