Determination of flow distance of the fluid metal due to fluidity in ductile iron casting by artificial neural networks approach

Ductile irons (DIs) have properties such as high strength, ductility, and toughness, as well as a low degree of melting, good fluidity, and good machining. Having these characteristics make them the most preferred among cast irons. The combination of excellent properties, especially in DI castings with a thin section, make it an alternative for steel casting and forging. But in the manufacture of thin-section parts, fluidity characteristics need to be improved and the liquid metal must fill the mold completely. The fluidity of liquid metal is influenced by many factors depending on the casting processes such as material and mold properties, casting temperature, inoculation, globalization, and grain refinement. In this study, an artificial neural network (ANN) model has been developed that allows for determining the flow distance of the liquid metal in the sand mold casting method under changing casting conditions of DI. Thus, the flow distance was estimated depending on the cross-sectional thickness during the sand casting under changing casting conditions. The experimental parameters were determined as casting temperature, liquid metal metallurgy quality, cross-sectional thickness, and filling time. Filling modeling was performed with FlowCast software. When the results were examined, it was seen that the developed ANN model has high success in predicting the flow distances of the liquid metal under different casting conditions. The calculated coefficient of determination (R2) value of 0.986 confirms the high prediction performance of the model.