Monte Carlo Simulation - A Design Tool for Fine Grain Investment Casting

拟议的SBIR第一阶段项目将开发一种软件设计工具，该工具将用于先进的材料加工，以预测材料的颗粒结构。这是一个非常重要的工具，具有广泛的商业和技术价值。颗粒结构是影响材料性能的主要因素，在几乎所有材料加工应用中都必须仔细考虑。工程工作站等先进计算能力的出现，使得在工程设计中使用计算机模拟成为可能。通过计算机模拟进行材料设计现已近在咫尺。这项研究将使用热流和蒙特卡罗耦合模拟细晶、高温合金、熔模铸造来论证这种方法在材料工艺设计中的可行性。该模拟程序将从以前由NSF支持并在文献中报告的工作中开发出来。这项研究的商业化将寻求在广泛的材料工艺中应用，在这些工艺中，颗粒结构至关重要。该项目的成功完成将使美国工业在先进材料加工领域更具生产力和竞争力。先进材料加工行业的代表豪迈公司参与了这一项目。

The proposed SBIR Phase I project will develop a software design tool that will be used in advanced materials processing to predict the grain structure of materials. This is a very important tool with wide commercial and technical value. Grain structure is a primary factor in materials properties and must be carefully considered in almost all materials processing applications. The advent of easy access to advanced computing power such as engineering workstations has made it possible to use computer simulation in engineering design. The design of materials through computer simulation is now at hand. The proposed research will use a coupled heat flow and Monte Carlo simulation of fine grain, superalloy, investment casting to demonstrate the feasibility of such an approach to materials processing design. The simulation program will be developed from work previously supported by the NSF and reported in the literature. Commercialization of the research will seek application to a wide range of materials processes where grain structure is of critical importance. The successful completion of this project will make US industry more productive and competitive in the area of advanced materials processing. A representative of the advanced materials processing industry, Howmet Corporation, is participating in this project.