Prof. B. Ravi, I.I.T.

Bombay First Annual NKN Workshop, IIT Bombay, 31 Oct - 2 Nov 2012

E-Foundry
Network Enabled Online Casting Simulation

Dr. B. Ravi
Institute Chair Professor Mechanical Engineering Dept. Indian Institute of Technology Powai, Mumbai-400076

E-Foundry Inauguration

Prof. B. Ravi, I.I.T. Bombay

Metal Cast Parts

Prof. B. Ravi, I.I.T. Bombay

Automobile

Aerospace

Shipping

Farming

Machine Tool

Machinery

Electrical

Energy

Defense

Sanitary

Home Fittings

Medical

Art

Development Status Metal Casting Process

Prof. B. Ravi, I.I.T. Bombay

Iron melted and poured in sand molds in a Coimbatore foundry

Indian Foundry Industry

Prof. B. Ravi, I.I.T. Bombay

Foundries = 4500 Employed = 1 million Castings = 8 mT / year Exports = US$ 1 b / year World Rank = 2

Indian Foundry Industry

Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Past President, India By 2020 India will be a leading producer of quality castings We need better tooling and quality capabilities using CAD.

Prof. B. Ravi, I.I.T. Bombay

Development Commissioner MSME, New Delhi: Indian foundries should shift from traditional low-value products to high-value special products. Key technology needed: process simulation
Acute dearth of technical manpower is the biggest hurdle confronting our foundry industry. Mr. Naresh Garg, Past President, IIF

Casting Quality Issues

Prof. B. Ravi, I.I.T. Bombay

Molten metal contracts 3-6% while solidifying

Hot spot manifests as shrinkage defect Prevented by a feeder; its size to be optimized

Feed path

Hot spot (Defect) Feeder

Early freezing section

Casting Simulation
Provides an inside picture of temperature history Enables defect reduction (by 50%)

Prof. B. Ravi, I.I.T. Bombay

Inputs required:
3D model of casting material properties process parameters

Limitations:
Too many unknown inputs Long computation time (hours to days) Difficult to learn and use even by technical persons Expensive (hardware, software, maintenance, retraining)

Motivation, Mission

Prof. B. Ravi, I.I.T. Bombay

Problem: how to make casting simulation technology freely accessible and easily usable. Solution: Online casting simulation with learning resources Accessibility: By anyone, anytime, anywhere Standard inputs: 3D CAD file created by any system Low cost: Free access through NKN or Internet Ease of use: Intuitive interface, minimal training

NKN E-Foundry Project

NKN/INTERNET

Prof. B. Ravi, I.I.T. Bombay

Client-Server / Cloud-Computing HD Video Lessons Casting Simulation Lab Other Resources & Tests

IIT Bombay Teachers & Researchers

Other institute Students, Professionals

Applications and Benefits: Teachers: Deliver more interesting lectures; engage students Students: Learn and complex process; explore industry projects Industry: Gain a better insight; improve casting quality & yield.

NKN/INTERNET

E-Foundry

E-Foundry Lab: Flow Setups

Prof. B. Ravi, I.I.T. Bombay

Flow through Gating channels

Flow in mould cavity Recorded by data acquisition system

E-Foundry Lab: Moulding Unit

Prof. B. Ravi, I.I.T. Bombay

E-Foundry Lab: Melting & Pouring Unit

Prof. B. Ravi, I.I.T. Bombay

Video Content Recording & Editing

Prof. B. Ravi, I.I.T. Bombay

E-Foundry Home (efoundry.iitb.ac.in)

Prof. B. Ravi, I.I.T. Bombay

E-Foundry Lessons Introduction

Prof. B. Ravi, I.I.T. Bombay

E-Foundry Lessons Science

Prof. B. Ravi, I.I.T. Bombay

E-Foundry Lessons Engineering

Prof. B. Ravi, I.I.T. Bombay

E-Foundry Lessons Technology

Prof. B. Ravi, I.I.T. Bombay

E-Foundry Lessons Application

Prof. B. Ravi, I.I.T. Bombay

E-Foundry Lesson Video

Prof. B. Ravi, I.I.T. Bombay

E-Foundry Lesson Graphic

Prof. B. Ravi, I.I.T. Bombay

E-Foundry Lesson Quiz

Prof. B. Ravi, I.I.T. Bombay

E-Foundry Resources

Prof. B. Ravi, I.I.T. Bombay

E-Foundry Resources Search

Prof. B. Ravi, I.I.T. Bombay

E-Foundry Resources Abstracts

Prof. B. Ravi, I.I.T. Bombay

E-Foundry Resources Case Studies

Prof. B. Ravi, I.I.T. Bombay

E-Foundry Resources Case Study

Prof. B. Ravi, I.I.T. Bombay

E-Foundry Exercises

Prof. B. Ravi, I.I.T. Bombay

E-Foundry Exercises

Prof. B. Ravi, I.I.T. Bombay

E-Foundry Simulation Lab

Prof. B. Ravi, I.I.T. Bombay

E-Foundry Simulation Lab File Check

Prof. B. Ravi, I.I.T. Bombay

E-Foundry Simulation Lab Results

Prof. B. Ravi, I.I.T. Bombay

E-Foundry Simulation Lab CAD Files

Prof. B. Ravi, I.I.T. Bombay

Benchmarking: Desktop Simulation Software

Cast part: multi-junction casting Overall size: 20 x 10 x 10 cm Metal: Ductile Iron Process: Green sand casting System: i7 PC, 4GB RAM OS: Windows 7 (32-bit) Mesh size: 2.5 million

Prof. B. Ravi, I.I.T. Bombay

Task / Time Taken Input Preparation Solver Computation

AX FLOW+ 5 min 15 min

NovaCAST 20 min 35 min

SolidCast 20 min 10 min

Benchmarking: E-Foundry Simulation Lab

Server: i7 PC, 16 GB RAM OS: Windows 7 (64-bit)

Prof. B. Ravi, I.I.T. Bombay

Part: Multi-junction block CAD file size: ~ 100 kB Mesh size: 1 million

Part simulation

Part + feeder simulation

Task / Time Taken

CAD File Upload Solver Computation

CIT, Anand Gujarat

21 sec 16 sec

DKTE, Kolhapur Maharashtra

21 sec 17 sec

SGSITS, Indore Madhya Pradesh

19 sec 15 sec

Simulation Benchmarking: E-Foundry Sim Lab

Server: i7 PC, 16 GB RAM OS: Windows 7 (64-bit)

Prof. B. Ravi, I.I.T. Bombay

Part: Engine block CAD file size: ~ 10 MB Mesh size: 1 million

Engine block casting simulation

Task / Time Taken

CAD File Upload Solver Computation

CIT, Anand Gujarat

212 sec 18 sec

DKTE, Kolhapur Maharashtra

142 sec 17 sec

SGSITS, Indore Madhya Pradesh

160 sec 20 sec

Evaluation: Classroom versus Online Learning

ME 659 Advanced Manufacturing Processes: Casting Design and Simulation Number of Students: 40 Classroom Lessons (Aug-Sep 2012)
3D CAD Models Part Wall Thickness and Junctions Hole Features & Shape Complexity Pressure, Velocity and Losses Turbulence and Fluidity Gas Evolution and Venting Solidification Temperature and Time Solidification Shrinkage Microstructure & Cooling Stresses

Prof. B. Ravi, I.I.T. Bombay

M.Tech Elective at IIT Bombay

Online Lessons (Oct 2012)

Simulation Optimization Simulation Benchmarking Simulation Best Practices Simulation Industry Survey Design for Quality Manufacturability Design for Quality Guidelines Design for Quality - Evaluation

Evaluation Criteria

Prof. B. Ravi, I.I.T. Bombay

Each lesson is evaluated by the following criteria (all in %):

Coverage (breadth): % of topics covered within a lesson Understanding (depth): % of lesson clearly understood Efficiency (effort): Lesson time / time required in learning Effectiveness (retention): % remembered one week later
Overall Rating (satisfaction): Compared to an ideal scenario
Percentage to rating conversion: divide by 10. Ex. 30% = 3 points. Maximum = 10 points. Ratings averaged for all students participating in the survey.

Evaluation Results

Prof. B. Ravi, I.I.T. Bombay

Coverage Understanding
Classroom

Efficiency Effectiveness
0 2 4 6 7.67 7.71 8 10

Online

Overall Rating

Summary and Conclusion

Overall goal:

Prof. B. Ravi, I.I.T. Bombay

NKN-based online casting simulation and education develop technical manpower for Indian foundry industry make simulation technology easily and widely accessible.

Progress so far:
GVM: 50x faster than FDM used in conventional software E-Foundry Server with Classroom, Sim Lab, Library, Test Centre Experimental facilities created to validate simulation results Till date: 10,000+ visits, 250+ registered users, 650+ simulations

Participation welcome:
Teachers: content; Students: benefit; Industry: collaborate

E-Foundry Team

Prof. B. Ravi, I.I.T. Bombay

Visit us today!

Prof. B. Ravi, I.I.T. Bombay

Real world: IDC-Hillside Road, IIT Bombay

Cyber world: http://efoundry.iitb.ac.in