Solidification forming and numerical simulation of 90° wear-resistant bend with high-vanadium cast iron

Abstract

Abstract Casting defects and macro-segregation had greatly affected the product quality. This paper revealed the effects of the arrangement of the gating system and superheat of molten iron on solid fracture, shrinkage porosity, cooling cracks, and effective stress-strain by simulation with the commercial software Pro-cast. Optimized parameters were used to produce a batch of 90° bends. The microstructure of an as-cast bend was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, and the service life of the bend was evaluated with delivery capacity. Simulation results showed that a 30° arranged location on the outer bend and superheat of 60 K comprised the optimized parameters. A batch of bends were produced with the optimized casting system and superheat, and in contrast to the simulation results. The simulation results were in accordance with the experimental results. In addition, the delivery capacity of high-vanadium cast iron, which was heat-treated using Quenching-partitioning process, was 26000 m3 and the economic costs were effectively reduced.