Grain Structure Modeling

Developed in collaboration with: ABB, AETC, EPFL, Howmet, PCC, Rolls-Royce and Snecma.

The grain structure of as-cast components can be an important parameter that the metallurgist has to control. A typical example is the gas turbine blade, which has been solidified under directional heat flow conditions. In this investment casting process, the alloy starts to solidify at the contact with a chill under the form of very fine grains. In the ultimate case, when a single crystal is required for extreme applications, then one grain is selected through a narrow channel under highly controlled solidification conditions. ProCAST computes the grain structure formation during solidification, which is used by many high-end industries to control casting conditions and optimize component performances. ProCAST couples a Cellular Automaton (CA) model with the Finite Element (FE) heat flow computations. For this reason, the grain structure module of ProCAST is often referred to as the CAFE module by industry experts.