Casting is one of the most important shaping processes, largely used and consolidated throughout the world to produce near-net-shaping parts. The advantages, compared to other manufacturing processes, are evident: the relative low production cost and time, the high ranges of thicknesses and masses allowed, the possibility to shape alloys that are only castable (say, cast iron or certain light alloys), the high adaptability to the requirements of mass production, and, last but not least, the excellent bearing quality of the casted parts. However, all these advantages could be lost if the process parameters are not correctly calibrated to obtain near defect-free casting components. In most foundries, such parameters calibration is entrusted to experience rather than real knowledge of the rules governing the solidification phenomena. A comprehensive understanding of those rules is still unknown to the academic world and represents a formidable challenge in view of digitalization of the foundry industry.
This Special Issue collects 12 recent excellent research works [,,,,,,,,,,,] about casting and solidification processing to give the reader a good update of the actual knowledge about casting phenomena. New experimental, numerical, and analytical methodologies were proposed to investigate the intriguing relationship among alloy composition, casting geometry, and process parameters.
What will the foundry industry of the future look like? It is my opinion that smart data deriving from these rand future research works can help the modern foundry industry to take advantage of a real-time adjustment of process parameters through digitalization.
My hope is that the reader will find in this Special Issue new ideas for a modern foundry practice.
Conflicts of Interest
The author declares no conflict of interest.
References
- Prabhakar, A.; Papanikolaou, M.; Salonitis, K.; Jolly, M. Minimising Defect Formation in Sand Casting of Sheet Lead: A DoE Approach. Metals 2020, 10, 252. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [Green Version]
- Lojen, G.; Stambolić, A.; Batič, B.Š.; Rudolf, R. Experimental Continuous Casting of Nitinol. Metals 2020, 10, 505. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [Green Version]
- Yang, J.; Chen, D.; Qin, F.; Long, M.; Duan, H. Melting and Flowing Behavior of Mold Flux in a Continuous Casting Billet Mold for Ultra-High Speed. Metals 2020, 10, 1165. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Liu, G.; Liu, Q.; Ji, C.; Chen, B.; Li, H.; Liu, K. Application of a Novel Chamfered Mold to Suppress Corner Transverse Cracking of Micro-Alloyed Steel Slabs. Metals 2020, 10, 1289. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Guo, J.; Guan, Z.-P.; Yan, R.-F.; Ma, P.-K.; Wang, M.-H.; Zhao, P.; Wang, J.-G. Effect of Modification with Different Contents of Sb and Sr on the Thermal Conductivity of Hypoeutectic Al-Si Alloy. Metals 2020, 10, 1637. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- González-Yero, G.; Ramírez Leyva, R.; Mendoza, M.R.; Albertos, P.; Crespo-Lorente, A.; Alonso, J.M.R. Neuro-Fuzzy System for Compensating Slow Disturbances in Adaptive Mold Level Control. Metals 2021, 11, 56. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Ren, X.; Tang, S.; Fu, H.; Xing, J. Effect of Titanium Modification on Microstructure and Impact Toughness of High-Boron Multi-Component Alloy. Metals 2021, 11, 193. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Tian, Q.; Deng, K.; Xu, Z.; Han, K.; Zheng, H. Microstructural Characterization and Mechanical Property of Al-Li Plate Produced by Centrifugal Casting Method. Metals 2021, 11, 966. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Gandolfi, M.; Xavier, M.G.C.; Gomes, L.F.; Reyes, R.A.V.; Garcia, A.; Spinelli, J.E. Relationship between Microstructure Evolution and Tensile Properties of AlSi10Mg Alloys with Varying Mg Content and Solidification Cooling Rates. Metals 2021, 11, 1019. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Cao, J.; Zeng, Z.; Zhang, F.; Guo, D.; Hou, Z. Effect of Cooling Rates on the Local—Overall Morphology Characteristics of Solidification Structure at Different Stages for High Carbon Steel. Metals 2021, 11, 1291. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Pereira, R.P.D.A.; Almeida, G.M.D.; Salles, J.L.F.; Cuadros, M.A.; Valadão, C.T.; Freitas, R.O.D.; Bastos-Filho, T. A Model-Based Predictive Controller of the Level of Steel in the Mold with Disturbances Using a Repetitive Structure. Metals 2021, 11, 1458. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Wolff, N.; Hohlweck, T.; Vroomen, U.; Bührig-Polaczek, A.; Hopmann, C. Development of an Experimental Setup to Investigate Influences on Component Distortion in Gravity Die Casting and a First Variation of Temperature Control Strategy. Metals 2021, 11, 2028. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. |
© 2022 by the author. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).