Prediction of hot tearing for a partially solidified bismuth bronze by using finite element method analysis

The aim of this study is the prediction of solidification cracking, or hot tearing, for bismuth bronze by fluid flow, solidification, and thermal stress analysis. Constitutive equation required for the analysis was experimentally constructed as a viscoelastic equation by using tensile and relaxation test in the partially solidified state. For the purpose of predicting crack defects, some parameters were examined as cracking criteria, e.g. hot tearing indicator (HTI) which is the equivalent plastic strain during solidification [1]. The prediction results were compared with crack locations of the experimental castings by a copper mold in order to validate the analysis. As a result, there was a reasonable correlation between the distribution of HTI and cracking occurred during solidification.