Material Database Page 1 sur 34

Home > ProCAST 2018.0 User's Guide > Pre-Processing > Databases > Material Database

Material Database
Material Database can be accessed from Database menu - Material:
Material Database Usage detailed
(1) Various menus for loading, path settings, unit settings are available for access:
a. File:
i. Export Active Materials: Selected materials from the active database are exported in .xml
format.
ii. Import Materials: Materials are imported from a .db file or an xml file to User, Company or to a
new temporary database. A new folder named “User_Import_Count” is created and the materials
are populated below the new folder.
iii. RecentMatList: Displays the recently navigated materials by the user. This list is saved and
restored between sessions. Allows the user to select a material from the list and the material gets
selected if it exists.
iv. Exit: To exit the material editor.
b. Database menu: Set/load different databases.
There are four different databases, and three DB paths are shown in this panel:
i. PUBLIC: The path of this cannot be modified.
ii. COMPANY: Database can be edited and specifically created for any COMPANY. Browse folder (

) option is available to give path for DB. Created from both XML file formats (MatML and
MTXML) and ProCAST .db files. Company Database is loaded/created after necessary
conversion.

iii. USER: Database which can be exclusively used/edited by User. Browse folder ( ) option is
available to give path for DB. Created from both ProCAST .db files and XML file formats (MatML
and MTXML). User Database is created/loaded after necessary conversion.
iv. Model: This database is available when model is loaded. This DB shows the materials which are
owned by model only.
Clicking on Apply will activate the databases, as shown below.
c. Unit: Units of an entire material can be set from this menu. The available units are User defined, FPS,
SI and CGS.

The User Defined, FPS, SI and CGS units can be saved with a selected material in Database.
When the material is assigned to a volume, the material properties are converted to SI units and saved.

The material names based on region/country can be displayed by setting the required
Region/Country name in Cast Preferences tab in Preferences dialog box.
(2) Databases are changed by clicking on tabs like Public, User, ...
a. Public is a read-only database indicated by a lock icon. The materials in this database can be copied or
exported to .xml files.
b. User and Company databases: User can view, create, modify, and delete of materials and folders.
User can copy/cut/paste/export of materials.
i. Versioning: The User and Company databases has the starting version of 2.1. The databases
less than this version or without any version can be loaded into the current version. Whenever
lower version database is loaded, a file with “filename_Copy.mtxdb” is created and old database
is copied to this file and loaded into material editor. If a higher version database greater than 2.1
is loaded, then user is given a warning message.
ii. Backup: The User and Company databases are backed up once per session when the editor is
launched for the first time after a database integration check. If the integration check fails, then
the database is restored from the previous back of the database.
iii. Password Protection of Company Database: The company database can be protected using a
password against modifications to materials. The protected company database is read only and
no changes to materials are allowed. If the database is unlocked using valid credentials, then the
database is opened for read and write.

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c. Model is also a read-only database consisting of materials owned by the currently loaded model. The
model materials can be copied to user or company databases and exported to .xml files. The changes to
material in model database are saved to the model. The model database lists only the materials which
are not part of public, user or company database but owned by the current model.
(3) Filter: Materials can be filtered by folder using this drop-down list, as shown below.
(4) Explorer tree: Shows the materials available in database and various options like copy. Creating new
materials/folders (USER/COMPANY) in database is also possible.
Right-click on material and select Copy to duplicate material and paste it in Company/User database.
CTRL+C and CTRL+V can also be used for Copy and Paste.
Activate User database by clicking on the User tab ( ). Right-click on any of the materials.
Various other options
a. New Material: To create a new material.

Unique material names are required for creating / renaming materials.

i. Below UnSorted: Right-clicking on All and selecting New Material creates material below
Unsorted folder with UnSorted_New and incremental count to get a unique name in the following
fashion.
ii. Below any Folder: Right-clicking on any folder and selecting New Material creates material
named after Folder Name appended with New and incremental count to get a unique material
name in the following fashion.
b. New Folder: This option creates a New Folder.

Unique folder names are required for creating / renaming folders.

c. Cut: To remove material(s)/folder(s) and paste it to other folder or database.
d. Copy: To copy material(s)/folder(s).
e. Paste: To paste material(s)/folder(s).
f. Rename: To rename a material.
g. Delete: To delete material(s)/folder(s).
h. Encrypt
i. Right-click on the material and select Encrypt, as shown above. The Set password panel is
posted, where you can enter and confirm a password, and enter an expiry date for the password
if required. There is also an option to display the password in the panel. Click on OK in the Set
password panel to apply the password.
ii. Selected material is encrypted, as shown below.
iii. Right-click and select Decrypt to view the properties.
iv. When encrypted materials are used in the setup, solver launch or data cast execution, the
application exports encrypted properties to prefix_mat.xml.
v. Solver decrypts this data and uses it for the calculation.
Example
vi. Visual-Viewer (Cast) cannot read the encrypted data. Hence, density, liquids/solidus values are
not displayed.

Visual-Environment internally uses OpenSSL library for encryption and decryption operations.
c. Export: To export material(s)/folder(s) to xml file.
d. Drag and Drop of Materials/Folders: Materials can be dragged and dropped over folders in User and
Company databases for better categorization. The folders can be dragged or moved to other folders.
(5) Metadata: Active material metadata details like Description and Name can be entered here.

(6) Different properties of material can be accessed through these tabs. Clicking on and selecting
a tab shows/hides a category tab with properties, as shown below.
(7) Composition is the place where users get access to:

a. Thermodynamic Computations: button uses CompuTherm engine and

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thermodynamic database (option). The Base element and the solute element compositions are the
inputs to thermodynamic computations.
Properties of materials can be computed with three different diffusion models by clicking on drop-down
combo list of Solid Diffusion Model, as shown below:

When is checked, then m, k and D1 properties, which are required for CAFÉ
Computations, are also computed for the respective solute element compositions. m, k and D1
properties can also be edited manually.
i. Back Diffusion: By inputting cooling rate, properties can be computed using Back Diffusion
Rule (recommended). The default value for cooling rate is 1K/sec.
ii. Scheil
iii. Lever
For technical details about Back Diffusion, Scheil and Lever methods, see chapter: Thermodynamic
Databases.

The recommended range and default composition elements are derived from Computherm
Thermodynamic Databases recommendation.
b. CAFE Computations: An optional model for CAFÉ computations. Refer Computation of Growth
Kinetics (a2 and a3) section for details. m, k and D1 values are the required properties for the CAFÉ

Computations. These values can be computed by checking at the time of

or the values for these properties can also be edited for respective solute element
compositions. The cells for these properties are editable only for the solute elements that have
composition.

All the computed properties are shown in Blue color in all tabs.

Elements Tree node in Explorer tab for Composition: This option is shown when Composition
category tab is active and Base element is selected to add additional solute elements to the chemical
composition.

The elements that are added using this option are not used in the thermodynamic computations.
i. Add to Composition: Add selected elements to the existing list of solute elements of
Composition tab at the end of default solute elements.
Duplicate element is not allowed as base or to the list of solute elements.
ii. Delete: Deletes the selected list of optional solute elements other than default elements in
Composition tab.
(8) Plot Editor Features

a. : Creates a new table for input.

b. : Imports a new curve file with various formats.

c. : Saves the curve table.

d. : Copies the curve.

e. : Pastes the curve.

f. : Deletes the curve.

g. : To enable or disable tool tip.

h. : To translate the curve by holding left mouse button in curve window.

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i. : To zoom in to specific region of curve in curve window.

j. : To fit the curve.

k. : Dynamic zoom in /out with left mouse button in the curve window.

l. : To select points on the curve and highlight it in the table.

m. : To select a curve to display points.

n. : To set range for a curve.

o. Right-click options in Curve creation table.
(9) Table options:
Various right-click options are available in the table. They are as follows:
a. Copy: Copies the values of row. Multiple selection is possible by holding 'Shift' key.
b. Paste: Pastes the values in empty row.
c. Delete: Deletes the values in selected cells.
d. Format: Displays the values in different formats.
(10) Right-click options in the curve window.
a. View: This has various options like Zoom (to zoom curve), Pan (to translate curve), Fit (to fit the curve),
Dynamic Zoom, Legend Display (to show or turn off the Legend in curve window), Show All Curves
(showing all the hidden curves).
b. Tools: Various options to save the curve in the form of image with Save Image As (generic option to
save), Save Image to Clipboard (can be copied to any document), Save Image to File (copies to default
path).
c. Other options like Edit, Curves (basically to change the curve color, line and style), markers (to
change the marker color, line and style), and functions (to do various operations on curves like
Trigonometric, Arithmetic functions).
(11) Searching Feature: Search of materials in the active database based on criteria or select from the list of
materials using the drop-down list. The drop-down lists the materials that exist in active database based on
folder filter available at the top of Search panel. All materials are listed by default for ‘All’ filter and the list
adapts based on selected folder filter.
Folder Filter Lists the folders in active database. Based on the
selected folder, the materials are listed out in the explorer
below their parent.
Material Filter Lists the materials that exist in the active database taking
into account the folder filter. The selected material is
highlighted in the tree.
Search Edit Box Shows the selected material or active search. The active
search can be modified here. Based on active search and
folder filter, materials are listed out in the explorer.
Reset Clears the active search and list materials based on the
folder filter.
Advanced search Posts advanced search dialog to facilitate editing of
advanced search criteria. The criteria are taken into
account along with the folder filter and matching materials
are listed.
Recent Search List Displays the recent searches executed successfully. The
first installation lists a pre-defined set of searches
which are useful for editing / executing / to know how
the search syntax is.

Folder filter is always taken into account along with search criteria and matching materials
are listed out.
a. Material Filter and Edit Box: To filter Materials based on folder filter or based on criteria. Materials can
be selected in three ways:

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i. By using drop-down list:

ii. Input material name to match the material from the list of materials:
iii. Input material name using “Material:EN*” command in search edit box. Search count displays
the number of materials that matched the criteria. The tree also displays the materials matched
to search criteria with their parent folders.

Input “*” in search edit box to clear the search and to list the materials based on the folder
filter.

b. Advanced Search :

Search Syntax
Colon (:) To separate the criteria key and value
Plus (+) To join the criteria with a meaning of BOTH
Two Vertical bars (||) To join the criteria with a meaning of Either Or

Search Criteria
Material Searches Material names with the given value
Property Looks for the specified property inside the material
Property Model Finds given model inside the material
Const.Value The given float value is searched inside materials.
Curve.Value Searches the given float value inside any of curves
defined in materials
String.Value Finds a string type of value defined in materials
Curve.Label Looks for the match of curve label defined in materials.
Country If material has different names in different countries and is
specified for each material, then materials can be found
based on their country. Lists the materials whose name is
defined for the given country like US, EUROPE, CHINA,
JAPAN and INDIA.

Search Examples
Material:EN* Material is the key and EN* is the value
Material:EN* + All materials name starting with EN and having property
Property:Ag Ag
Material:A* || Material: List all materials with name starting with either A or C
C*

Click on to display a Resizable Advanced Search Dialog to Create/Edit/Delete/Show search criteria

for searching Materials with any combination.
i. Add Criteria: Add Criteria button displays a list of pre-defined Criteria to search Materials with
any combination.
After selecting a criterion, the selected criterion is shown as below. Join column displays
options to select between + and ||. Search value column displays all the values available in the
active database for the corresponding search key.
The change in each criterion is updated to the Search Edit Box as combination of "Key:Value
(join) Key :Value...".
ii. The Delete column displays the buttons to delete respective rows.
iii. The Search button executes the combined query in the Search Edit Box and the Cancel button
discards the new combined query. On a successful query, the filtered materials are displayed in
the explorer tree and a count is displayed below the Edit Box, as shown below.
Every successful query is added to the top of Recent Search List.

c. Recent Search List: On clicking button, a list of most recent successful Searches items pops
up, which enable faster search.

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d. Reset: The button clears active search in the Edit Box and resets the query. The material list is
shown as per the folder filter and the explorer refreshes with the corresponding list of materials.

Input “*” in search edit box to clear the search and to list the materials based on the folder
filter.

When material has data for specific heat, latent heat and Enthalpy, preference is given to Enthalpy data.
The data for specific heat and latent heat is deleted and Enthalpy data is retained.
(12) Tree Tab Panel:
a. Add New Material: A shortcut to create material below the selected folder in User and Company
Databases.
b. Sort Materials: Sorts list of folders/materials in alphabetical order selected any folder.
(13) Right-click options in Category Tabs:
a. Copy/Paste/Clear:
i. Copy: Selected parameter value or list of values are copied and kept in clip board for later paste
operation.
ii. Paste: Paste copied parameter values if the source and target parameter ID list match.
iii. Clear: Clear list of selected parameter values.
b. Hide columns: User can hide only optional columns in every tab.

This section consists of the following topics:

 Technical Details about Material Database
 Material Properties
 Thermodynamic Databases
 Computation of Thermophysical Properties Based On the Different Segregation Models
 Calculation of Stress Properties
 Databases Recommended Range
 Influence of Alloying Elements
 Stress Database
 Stress Models and Properties
 Digitized Hardening
 Plastic and Viscoplastic Properties Determination
 Viscoplastic Properties Recommendations
 Visco-elasticity
 Fatigue Model
 Filter Database
 Exothermic Database
 Anisotropic Database
 Microstructure Database

Home > ProCAST 2018.0 User's Guide > Pre-Processing > Databases > Technical Details about Material
Database

Technical Details about Material Database

All the material properties are stored in Databases. This section describes the database containing the material
properties for Thermal, Flow and Stress calculations.
When a material is clicked in explorer, corresponding material property details are shown and a window
appears with the following content:
Firstly, material category tabs which have property values are automatically highlighted with orange color. The

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active tab with property values is shown in yellow color. Other category tabs like Exothermic, Filter and so on,
are hidden. To add an optional tab, click on (+) tab.

Changes or modifications are only possible in USER/COMPANY database. The default category
tabs are Composition, Thermal and Fluid. The optional tabs like Filter, Exothermic and so on are not
shown when property values are not available.
Then, the material properties are organized in different tabs, with a hierarchical structure. So first let us look
into Composition, Thermal, Fluid properties:
The yellow tabs indicate that values are defined for the corresponding properties. Once a "Thermal" or "Fluid"
tab is selected, it becomes active, and so on. The figure below shows the definition of the thermal
conductivity:
The above figure shows the standard panel for material properties definition. User can define a material
property as a Const.(Constant) or a F(T) (Table) or sometimes as a user’s Function, by selecting the drop-
down option in the Type column, as shown below.

Before entering a Value / Table to a property, please select Value Unit and F(T) unit. Otherwise
changing the units after the definition, converts/ modifies the value of property.
When Const. is selected, the user can choose the units and enter the constant material property in the field
below "Value" column.
When F(T) is selected, the user can input the temperature-dependent property.
When F(t) is selected, the user can input the time-dependent property.
When "Function" is selected, the user can control the property through user function. Please refer User
Functions section for more details.
Above the table, the buttons allow to erase the whole table, erase only the selected line, import or export the
table. For imports, the table should be in the form of a text file, with X and Y values on the same line, separated
by at least a blank. The number of lines should not exceed 200. The export format is the same.

The values of a parameter both const or Table are saved to the database when material is saved.
The same way properties of different options like viscosity or stress types are also save to Database.
All the properties which can be defined as temperature-dependent are organized in the same way. The only
thing which changes is the hierarchy in properties, as shown below for the Fluid/Viscosity/Carreau-
Yasuda/Zero Viscosity definition.
Some of the properties are defined only by constants, such as the latent heat or the filter properties. In this
case, only the corresponding constant(s) should be entered, as shown below.
The following Material Properties section describes the different properties, and when they should be defined.

Home > ProCAST 2018.0 User's Guide > Pre-Processing > Databases > Material Properties

Material Properties
Good material properties are the best base for a good simulation. Properties could be found in several
locations, such as literature, material suppliers, universities, web, ...
One can get material properties from the following websites.
www.matweb.com is material properties website which contains a lot of useful data.
www.matdata.net is a search engine for material properties.
Public data is ESI data, taken from various public sources and our own experience. Data is seldom intrinsic to
a material, it depends on the state and preparation of the material.
Another way to obtain material properties is through the Thermodynamic Databases (option) which are
embedded into Visual-Cast (see the Thermodynamic Databases section for more details).

Thermal Problems
No phase change
For thermal problems (with or without solidification), the minimum data required is the following (typically for
mold materials):
Thermal conductivity

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Specific heat
Density
These properties can be either constant or temperature dependent.

With phase change (solidification)

When solidification is present (i.e., for casting materials), one should define in addition the following properties:
Fraction of solid
Latent heat or enthalpy
Liquidus and Solidus temperatures
The fraction of solid curve must be temperature-dependent. It should start at 0.0 at high temperature and
increase to 1.0 towards the low temperatures. The fraction of solid should be a strictly descending curve and it
should be strictly defined between 0.0 and 1.0. If it is not the case, a warning will be issued. If there is an
isothermal transformation (e.g. eutectic plateau), it should be "spread" over an interval of one degree.
The latent heat, liquidus and solidus temperatures are defined by constants. The liquidus and solidus
temperatures are used for the porosity models and for the calculation of the permeability of the mushy zone in
the case of flow calculations.
Visual-Cast offers an alternative in the definition of the phase change. Instead of defining the specific heat, and
the latent heat, one can define the corresponding enthalpy curve.
The enthalpy as a function of temperature, H(T), is defined as follows:

where cp(T) is the specific heat as a function of temperature, L is the latent heat and fs is the fraction of solid.
As there are two ways of defining the phase change, the software automatically detects if there is a conflict in
order to have either:
Specific Heat
Latent Heat
or
Enthalpy
Density
The density is used in thermal calculation (it multiplies the specific heat, the enthalpy and the latent heat), as
well as in fluid flow calculations and in porosity calculations. Please refer to the Porosity models section for
more details about the density definition.

Fluid Flow Problems

For fluid flow problems, it is mandatory to define the viscosity. Then, optional definitions are available, such as
"Surface Tension", "Permeability" and pressure drop with "Filter".
Viscosity
Several viscosity models are available in ProCAST:
Newtonian
Carreau-Yasuda
Power-cutoff
The Carreau-Yasuda model corresponds to Non-Newtonian flow, where the viscosity depends upon the shear
rate (see the equation below):

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with:

strain rate

zero strain rate viscosity

infinite strain rate viscosity

phase shift
n Power law coefficient
a Yasuda coefficient
The above parameters can be defined in the database (as constants or as function of temperature) as
follows:
The Power-cutoff is used in the case of Semi-Solid casting.
Surface tension
The surface tension is based on the standard formulation which says that the pressure difference across the
free surface is proportional to the free surface curvature. Air pressure and this pressure difference are used on
the free surface nodes in the flow calculation. As the curvature has to be computed, the results are only reliable
if enough mesh points reasonably describe such smooth surface. Surface tension may be used in the following
situations: thin jets, droplets formations, free surface motion, ...
Permeability
For a casting material, the permeability is defined by a Carman-Kozeny model, modified by Beckermann at low
fraction of solid. The user has also the ability to define its own permeability table, as a function of Fraction of
solid. In this case, a high permeability corresponds to a "free flow", whereas a low value corresponds to "no
flow". For "casting" materials, the permeability is applied only in between the solidus and the liquidus
temperatures.
For mold materials (in the case of lost foam or any case run with GAS 2 model), a permeability should be
defined. In this case, one can define a constant or a temperature dependent permeability.
In ProCAST, mold permeability is entered in terms of a length unit.
In QuikCAST, it is in terms of a GF index.
Most foundries (at least in North America) use an AFS index.
Here is the conversion between all of them:
Please use the following Units conversion for the value of the Permeability (K):

2
where the units of “K” are cm .
For Filter materials, if the Permeability is defined, it will override the default permeability calculated from the
Filter tab.

Temperature dependent data

For temperature dependent properties, it is recommended to define the data in a range that is sufficiently large
to cover the temperature range experienced in the simulation.
In any case, ProCAST will perform extrapolation to obtain the required data outside of the range given by the
user.
The general rule is to extend the curves with constant value equal to the last given point, i.e., the value outside
the temperature range is assumed equal to the last available value.
An exception is made for enthalpy (since constant enthalpy with temperature is meaningless). For enthalpy,
linear extrapolation of the curve is performed using the last available slope, i.e., the slope defined by the last
two points of the curve.

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Home > ProCAST 2018.0 User's Guide > Pre-Processing > Databases > Thermodynamic Databases

Thermodynamic Databases
Material properties, such as the enthalpy curve and the solidification path (i.e., the fraction of solid curve versus
temperature), density, viscosity and thermal conductivity as well as elastic and yield stress data can be
computed automatically from thermodynamic databases.
Visual-Cast has an automatic link with thermodynamic databases to calculate these properties. It is thus
possible to compute the enthalpy curve, the fraction of solid curve, the density, the viscosity and the thermal
conductivity, based upon the chemical composition, for the following systems and the following alloying
elements:

CompuTherm LLC Databases

Al database:
Ag Al B C Cr Cu Fe Gd Ge Hf Li Mg Mn Ni Sc Si Sn Sr Ti V Y Zn Zr

Fe database:
Al B C Co Cr Cu Fe Mg Mn Mo N Nb Ni P S Si Sn Ti V W Zr

Ni database:
Al B C Co Cr Cu Fe Hf Ir Mn Mo N Nb Ni Pt Re Ru Si Ta Ti W Zr

Ti database:
Al B C Cr Cu Fe H Mo N Nb Ni O Si Sn Ta Ti V Zr

Mg database:
Ag Al C Ca Ce Cu Fe Gd La Li Mg Mn Nd Ni Sc Si Sn Sr Y Zn Zr

Cu database:
Al B Bi C Cr Cu Fe Mn Ni P Pb Se Si Sn Ti Zn

Co database:
Al B C Cr Fe Mo Ni Re Ta W Pt

Computherm thermodynamic database in 2018.0:

Al database:

1: Modified the Eta_Prime and C14 laves phase as requested by Kaiser Aluminum to get rid of the miscibility
gaps of these two phases above 90F for the precipitation simulation of Al-Mg-Zn-Cu alloys.

2: The Al-Fe-Zn ternary system was revised in order to describe the Australia (AZ and AM) alloys.

3: The Al-Ag, Ag-Cu binary systems and Al-Cu-Ag ternary system were updated on the basis of reference [1, 2]
Graphical illustrations

4: The Al-Fe, Al-Si binary systems were updated on the basis of Du’s work [3]. The stability of Al2Fe and
Al5Fe2 were modified.
Graphical illustrations

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5: Three additional elements Co, Nb and Sb were added:

23 binary systems: Al-Co, Al-Sb, Co-Cu, Co-Mn, Co-Fe, Co-Si, Co-Cr, Co-Zn, Cu-Sb, Mg-Sb, Al-Nb, B-
Nb, Co-Nb, Cr-Nb, Cu-Nb, Fe-Nb, Mn-Nb, Nb-Si, Nb-Sn, Nb-Ti, Nb-V, Nb-Y, Nb-Zr
6 ternary systems: Al-Co-Cu, Al-Co-Fe, Al-Co-Si, Al-Co-Mn, Al-Cu-Sb, Al-Mg-Sb

6: The metastable (Al,Si)3Zr phase was added.

References:
1. Witusiewicz, V.T., et al., The Ag-Al-Cu system part I: Reassessment of the constituent binaries on the
basis of new experimental data. Journal of Alloys and Compounds, 2004. 385(1-2): p. 133-143.
2. Witusiewicz, V.T., et al., The Ag–Al–Cu system: II. A thermodynamic evaluation of the ternary system.
Journal of Alloys and Compounds, 2005. 387(1-2): p. 217-227.
3. Du, Y., et al., A thermodynamic description of the Al–Fe–Si system over the whole composition and
temperature ranges via a hybrid approach of CALPHAD and key experiments. Intermetallics, 2008. 16
(4): p. 554-570.

Ni database:
Minor changes: Modified Co-Si and Hf-Si binaries and some C-related ternaries

Ti database:
Added full descriptions for many binaries and modified O-related binaries:
Al-Mn, Al-Mo, Al-O, B-Mn, B-Si, B-V, C-Mn, Cr-O, Cu-Mo, Cu-Nb, Cu-Ni, Cu-Si, Cu-Sn, Cu-Ta, Cu-Zr,
Fe-O, Fe-Si, H-Ti, H-Zr, Mn-Mo, Mn-Nb, Mn-Ni, Mn-Ta, Mo-Ni, Mo-Sn, Nb-Ni, Nb-O, Nb-Si, Ni-Sn, Ni-Zr,
O-Ni, Si-Sn, Si-Ta, Si-V, V-Zr

Fe & Mg database:
Only minor modifications were made for the PanFe and PanMg databases

The other alloying elements which are not present in this list are not available in the database and will have no
effect on the computed material properties. More details about composition recommendations are given in the
Databases Recommended Range section.
To activate the thermodynamic database, one should go in the Composition tab of the material properties
window.
Then the Base alloy (i.e. Al, Fe, Co, Cu, Ni, Ti or Mg) should be set, then all alloying element with its
concentration (in weight percent) are displayed. Once the chemical composition is entered, left-click on
Compute Properties, as shown above, to get options like "Scheil" or "Lever" or "Back Diffusion" or Multiple
solidification, to start the computation of the properties.

The trace elements below 0.01% should not be entered as it can affect the convergence of the
computation.
Scheil and Lever correspond to two different microsegregation models. In the case of "Lever", the Lever
Rule is applied, which corresponds to a complete mixing of the solute in the solid (i.e., very good diffusion in
the solid). On the other hand, the Scheil model corresponds to no diffusion at all in the solid phase (both
models consider complete mixing or infinite diffusion in the liquid). The "Back Diffusion" model allows for some
diffusion in the solid and corresponds thus to a situation in between the Lever Rule and Scheil.
When the "Back Diffusion" model is used, an average cooling rate (corresponding to a representative
cooling rate of the casting to be modeled) should be specified in order to determine the amount of back
diffusion.

Please note that the cooling rate should not be set below 0.01 K/s. If a lower value is needed,
please use the Lever Rule model.
For iron and carbon steel, the Lever rule is still recommended.

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The main difference between the three models is the shape of the fraction of solid curve at the end of
solidification, as well as the solidus temperature ( see figure below).
The following figure shows the influence of the different models on the fraction of solid curve for an A356
alloy (Al-Si7%-Mg0.3%). The curves labeled 0.1 K/s and 1.0 K/s correspond to the "Back Diffusion" model with
these cooling rates. For such alloy, the Lever Rule model will correspond to low cooling rates (below 0.01 K/s),
whereas the Scheil model will correspond to high cooling rates (above 20 K/s). One can see that the back
diffusion has a quite important effect on the solidus temperature.
On the following alloy (Mar-M 200 Hf), the difference in the solidus temperature between the Scheil model
and the Lever rule is 550 degrees!

It is recommended to use the "Back Diffusion" model with a representative cooling rate. However,
when this is not known, it is recommended, for most alloys, to use the Scheil model, except for low alloy
steels where the diffusion in the solid is very fast.

Usually, solidus temperature from handbook refers to the equilibrium condition that could be
calculated using the lever or the back diffusion model with a cooling rate of 0 k/s.
However it is recommended for the calculation to use a realistic cooling rate to compute the material
properties.

The multiple solidification model allows the user to consider multiple cooling rates. The back diffusion
method is executed for all the given cooling rates. The first cooling rate is used to update the all material
properties. The rest of the cooling rates are used to update the multiple slopes for the curves of Enthalpy and
Fraction of Solid.

The multiple slopes for the curves of Enthalpy and Fraction of Solid are displayed, as shown below.
To activate this model, the parameter MFSPATH must be activated from the Thermal tab of Simulation
Parameters, as shown below.
This model cannot be used in combination with MICRO 1.

In the example above, when the Scheil button is selected, the following curves appear:
One could see the fraction of solid curve, as well as the fractions of the different phases as a function of
temperature.
In the same time, automatically, the fraction of solid curve, the liquidus and solidus temperatures, the enthalpy
curve, the density, the viscosity and the thermal conductivity are stored in the database, as shown hereafter
(of course the values are finally stored only when the "Save" button is pressed, before exiting the database).
Please note that when a thermodynamic database is used, as the enthalpy is calculated, the specific heat and
the latent heat should not be defined (as they are contained in the enthalpy).
During the Thermodynamic database calculation, a file named "prefix.phs" is created. It contains for each
temperature the phase fractions, as well as the composition of each phase. This information is not needed for a
ProCAST calculation, but it can be interesting for other purposes (e.g. growth kinetics calculations).

In Visual-Cast, it is written in temp directory: Please type %temp in command prompt of window to
get this path.
For example, it is written as shown in below path.
For some chemical compositions, it may happen that the software which extracts the data from the
Thermodynamic database is not able to find the right set of stable phases at low temperature.
Usually, this does not affect the determination of properties of interest (which are nearer the solidification
range). Thus, it is possible to use the calculated values as such. If such a situation occurs, one should check
the calculated data in order to be sure that it covers at least the temperature range of interest.
In very few cases, it is possible that the density calculation does not give relevant results. In such a situation,
this result should not be used (or the wrong values should be erased).
As a general rule, if the results are not realistic, it is advised to suppress (i.e. ignore) the elements which are
present in very low concentrations. This is especially true for traces of Sulfur (S) and Phosphorus (P) in steels,
which sometimes "corrupt" the results.

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Home > ProCAST 2018.0 User's Guide > Pre-Processing > Databases > Computation of Thermophysical
Properties Based On the Different Segregation Models

Computation of Thermophysical Properties Based On the

Different Segregation Models
The predicted thermal physical properties can be different between different calculation methods even for a
same alloy. The reason is that the different calculation methods can give different phases at low temperature
for some alloys. This is particularly true for Fe-based alloys, since there is a solid phase change at around 700°
C. Lever rule predicts the fully equilibrium phases. However, for Scheil and Back Diffusion (modified Scheil),
the solid phase change is not modeled such that the phases will change as soon as solidification finishes.
Figure 1 shows the prediction of phase fraction for an AISI1040 steel based on those three methods. Lever
calculation predicts the FCC to BCC solid phase change but not Scheil and Back Diffusion.

Hence, the predicted thermos-physical properties can be different at low temperature. On the other hand, those
properties should be quite close at above the solid phase change temperature, which is around 700°C for Fe-
based alloys. As a result, thermal analysis will not be affected much since casting FE analysis mainly focuses
on high temperatures.
Figures 2 shows the calculated enthalpy curve on those three methods. It clearly shows the phases change
for Lever but not Scheil and Back Diffusion.

Figures 3 shows the calculated thermal conductivity curve on those three methods. Because of the different
phases predicted, the predicted thermal conductivities are different below the solid phase change temperature.

Figures 4 shows the calculated density curve on those three methods. It clearly shows that there is no solid
phase change for Scheil calculation but there is one for Lever. As for Back Diffusion, a model is introduced to
predict the expansion during cooling based on the cooling rate at solid for Fe-based alloys in order to have a
better stress prediction.

In summary, the predicted thermal physical properties can be different between different calculation methods
even for the same alloy, particularly for Fe-based alloys. The density calculation for Back Diffusion is modeled
in order to better reflect the expansion based on the cooling rate. Similarly, thermal conductivity based on Back
Diffusion method can be modeled in the future.

Home > ProCAST 2018.0 User's Guide > Pre-Processing > Databases > Calculation of Stress Properties

Calculation of Stress Properties

Beside the thermal properties, it is possible to automatically calculate some Stress properties.
At this stage, the Young's modulus, the Poisson's ratio and the Thermal expansion coefficient can be
calculated based upon the phases obtained from the thermodynamic databases. For Al, Mg and Fe alloys, the
Yield Strength can also be calculated (this can be done only if the Back Diffusion model is selected).

Stress Properties are automatically calculated in Visual-Cast whenever we use "Scheil" or "Lever"
or "Back Diffusion".
Please note that the other Stress properties (i.e. hardening, viscoplastic, ...) cannot be calculated at this stage
(for Al, Mg and Fe only, the Yield stress can be calculated). Thus these properties will remain empty.
The following figures show examples of computed Stress data from C95300.

There may be thermal expansion when computing the aluminum chemical compositions.

The Yield Stress can be calculated for Al, Mg and Fe systems. Moreover, the Yield Stress calculation takes
into account the effect of the microstructure (mainly the SDAS) through the cooling rate. The following figure
shows the calculated Yield Stress of the A356 alloy, for different cooling rates:
One can see that the effect is very strong as it can change by about 100% between low and high cooling rates.

Home > ProCAST 2018.0 User's Guide > Pre-Processing > Databases > Databases Recommended Range

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Databases Recommended Range

The CompuTherm databases can be used for the following elements and in the following ranges. More
information can be obtained on the www.computherm.com website.
The recommended composition ranges mentioned directly in the Visual-Cast Material Editor are not strict
limits. These are ranges which were extensively tested.
The Thermodynamic Database User's Guide (from CompuTherm LCC) is added in the software installation.
This manual describes for each alloying system the phases which are calculated, the limitations as well as the
validations which have been made.

Al Database
Developed for Al-rich alloys such as commercial casting and wrought alloys. Tested with more than 40
commercial Al alloys.

20 Components:
Major alloy elements: Al, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn, Si, Zn
Minor alloy elements: Ag, B, C, Cr, Gd, Ge, Hf, Li, Ni, Sc, Sn, Sr, Ti, V,
Y, Zr

Major phases (total 237 phases): Liquid, Fcc_A1(Al), Diamond_A4(Si),

Al5Cu2Mg8Si6, Al8FeMg3Si6, Eps, Sigma-(Al,Cu,Zn)2Mg, T-(Al,Cu,Zn)49Mg32,
Al20Cu2Mn3, Al23CuFe4, Al7Cu2Fe, S-Al2CuMg, TAO(t), a-AlFeSi, b-AlFeSi,
AL15_FeMn3Si2(a-AlMnSi), AlMnSi-Beta, AlCu_Theta(q), Al13Fe4, AlMg_Beta,
Al11Mn4, Al12Mn, Al4Mn, AL6_FeMn, Al3Ni1, AlSr4, Mg2Si,Al3Zr, Al3Sc_x

Fe Database
Developed for Fe-rich alloys.
21 Components:
Major alloy elements: Fe, Co, Cr, Mo, Ni, V, W.
Minor alloy elements: Al, B, C, Cu, Mg, Mn, N, Nb, Ni, P, S, Si, Ti.

155 Phases: Liquid, BCC_A2 (ferrite), HCP_A3, FCC_A1 (austenite), TCP

phases, Carbides, and so on.
It was observed that alloy elements which are present in very small quantities (such as P and S) may cause
problems in the phase determination. As these elements do not significantly affect the material properties
(although it may have important effects in other fields), it is recommended to remove these elements for the
computation.

Mg Database
Developed for commercial Mg-rich alloys
21 components:
Major alloy elements: Mg, Al,Ca, Ce, Gd, Li, La, Mn, Nd, Ni, Si, Sn, Sr, Y,
Zn.
Minor alloy elements: Ag, C, Cu, Fe, Sc, Zr.

Contains more 445 phases where 160 assessed (refer to the separated manual
for more details).

Ni Database
Developed for commercial Ni-rich alloys.
22 Components: Al, B, C, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hf, Ir, Mn, Mo, N, Nb, Ni, Pt, Re,

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Ru, Si, Ta, Ti, W, and Zr

99 Phases: Liquid, Fcc_A1(g), L12_Fcc(g¢), TCP phases, Carbides, and so on.

Ti Database
Developed for commercial Ti-rich alloys such as alpha, alpha+beta, and beta alloys.
18 Components: Al, B, C, Cr, Cu, Fe, H, Mo, N, Nb, Ni, O, Si, Sn, Ta, Ti, V
and Zr

108 Phases: Liquid, BCC_A2(b), HCP_A3(a), DO19_Ti3Al(a2), Laves, and so on.

Cu Database
Developed for commercial Cu-rich alloys.
16 Components:
Major alloy elements: Cu, Cr, Fe, Ni, Pb, Si, Sn, Zn
Minor alloy elements: Al, B, Bi, C, Mn, P, Se and Ti

220 Phases are calculated.

Co Database
Developed for commercial Co-rich alloys.
11 Components: Al B C Cr Fe Mo Ni Re Ta W Pt

77 Phases are calculated.

Please note that Pb is a very "delicate" allowing element (i.e., it is very difficult to predict accurately the phases
formed in the presence of Lead) and its addition may lead to odd results. This is a known problem of the
CompuTherm database and it is not linked to ProCAST itself. If odd results are obtained, the amount of Pb
should be reduced for the calculation (or the CompuTherm database should not be used).
The Pb limit in the release notes of CompuTherm is 5%, however, it was observed that this limit is too high and
it does not work in most cases above 1%.

Home > ProCAST 2018.0 User's Guide > Pre-Processing > Databases > Influence of Alloying Elements

Influence of Alloying Elements

The goal of this section is to illustrate the influence of alloying elements on properties and to show why
properties obtained with thermodynamic databases may differ from experimental data.
Example 1: Al Alloy
Example 2: Ni Alloys

Al Alloy
An AlSi9Cu3Fe will be considered to illustrate the effect of an alloying element on the fraction of solid curve (as
well as on the liquidus and solidus lines). The usual average chemical composition of such an alloy is as
follows:
When the Scheil model is used with the above composition, 10 phases are found (in addition to the liquid
phase):
Starting from AlSi9Cu3Mg0.3, the other alloying elements are added progressively. The effect on the solid
fraction curve is shown in the following figures (please note that the Temperature scale is changing from one
graph to the next one):
The following figure shows the solid fraction curves for all the alloys together.

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In order to see the effect near the liquidus, the same figure is shown, with a different vertical scale. Only the
first 5% are shown.
One can see in the latter figure the effect of Ti. Ti is added in order to create this Al3Ti phase which is stable at
very high temperatures, and acts as an inoculant. The amount of this phase is very small (around 0.5%).
The above example shows that one should be careful with the use of Thermodynamic databases. In this case,
for instance, it would be advisable to ignore the Ti for the thermodynamic computation, in order to avoid this
"artificially" high liquidus temperature.
This also explains why there are differences observed between literature values (measurements) and
computed values for liquidus and solidus temperature. This is due to the fact that such values are measured
usually by Thermo analysis and that small amounts of solid (like the few percent due to Fe, Cr and Ti near the
liquidus temperature) cannot be detected. One should note that the usual literature value of the liquidus for this
alloy is 588°C, which corresponds to a computed value of about 5% of fraction of solid. The measurement of
the solidus temperature is even more difficult and thus, it is normal to observe differences.

Ni Alloys
Usually, alloy composition is given with a range around the nominal value. The following example illustrates the
effect of small composition changes within this range on the value of the liquidus temperature.
The following table shows the composition of three typical Ni alloys, with the Low, Nom and High compositions.

All these compositions were computed using the CompuTherm thermodynamic database of ProCAST. One
can see that taking the extreme compositions at the limit of the range can lead to differences in the liquidus
temperature of +/- 30-40°C.
This has to be taken into account when comparing experimental values with computed ones, as well as during
the real process, as composition fluctuations can significantly affect the solidification conditions and thus the
defects which may appear.

Home > ProCAST 2018.0 User's Guide > Pre-Processing > Databases > Stress Database

Stress Database
To access the Stress database, one should click on (+/-) tab and activate Stress from Category menu of
Material Database.
When a new stress database entry is created, the following window appears.
The first thing to do is to select the desired model among the four following options:
Linear-Elastic
Elasto-Plastic
Elasto-ViscoPlastic
Visco-Elastic

Vacant, Rigid are the two properties that are available inside Volume manager itself.
"Vacant" is used to specify that the domain will not participate in the stress calculation. Thus, no stress and no
strain will be calculated and the domain will not participate in the contact algorithm (i.e., the domain will not
create any resistance to the neighboring domains). No properties should be defined for a Vacant domain.
No stress calculation will be done in a "Rigid" domain; however, the domain will participate in the contact
algorithm (i.e., the neighboring domains will not be allowed to penetrate the Rigid ones). No properties should
be defined for a Rigid domain.

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For the four other models, the following data is required:

The four models, as well as the meaning of the corresponding properties, are described in the Stress Models
and Properties section.

For stress calculations, the thermal material properties must include the phase change (i.e.,
fraction of solid curve). Otherwise, no stresses will be calculated in this material. (As the fraction of solid
will not be defined, it will be considered as "zero" and no stress will be calculated).
For more advanced calculations, it is possible to define mechanical properties which are not only temperature
dependent, but also a function of the microstructure and/or the defects (such as porosity). For more details,
please refer to the Stress Properties Depending Upon Microstructure chapter.

Home > ProCAST 2018.0 User's Guide > Pre-Processing > Databases > Stress Models and Properties

Stress Models and Properties

Before defining the stress properties, one should be aware of the following: For stress calculations,
the thermal material properties must include the phase change (i.e., fraction of solid curve). Otherwise,
no stresses will be calculated in this material. (As the fraction of solid will not be defined, it will be
considered as "zero" and no stress will be calculated).
The three stress models available in ProCAST can be summarized in the following figure.

Linear Elastic Model

The Elastic model is mainly characterized by the Young's modulus. It corresponds to the slope of the initial part
of the stress-strain curve.
Beside the Young's modulus, one should define the Poisson's Ratio and the Thermal Expansion coefficients.
The value of the Poisson's ratio is usually around 0.3 for metals.

Young's modulus:

Poisson's Ratio:

Thermal Expansion:

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The thermal expansion can be defined in two different ways:

"Thermal Strain"
"Secant" thermal expansion coefficient
In case a Strain curve is measured as a function of Temperature, one can directly input such a curve in the
"Thermal Expansion/Strain" tab.

However, in the equation (see above), it is the "Secant" thermal expansion coefficient which is used.
Thus, one can define "Secant" thermal expansion coefficient directly.
The figure below shows how to transform a measured "Strain curve" (shown in blue) in a Secant thermal
expansion coefficient. To do so, one needs to define a Reference Temperature (Tref), shown in the above
figure as To, which corresponds to a zero strain. The "Secant" thermal expansion coefficient at temperature T2
corresponds to the slope S2 of the line between a zero strain (To) and the strain at the temperature T2.
In the case of a constant Thermal Expansion coefficient, the strain curve is a straight line and the coefficient
corresponds to the slope of this line. One does NOT need to define a reference temperature in the case of a
Constant coefficient.

Elasto-Plastic Model
For the Elasto-Plastic model, the properties described above for the Elastic model (i.e., the Young's modulus,
the Poisson's ratio and the Thermal Expansion coefficients) should also be defined.
In addition, one should define the Yield stress and the Hardening coefficient.
The Yield stress corresponds to the stress at which plastic deformation starts. It can be temperature
dependent.
The hardening coefficient corresponds to the slope of the stress-strain curve in the plastic range. Four
different models of hardening are available in ProCAST:
Linear hardening is defined as follows:

whereas Non-linear hardening is defined as:

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The Hardening can also be defined freely in an ASCII file where one can enter any "digitized" curve. More
information about this possibility can be found in the Digitized Hardening section.
In order to take into account for the "Kinematic" non-isotropic hardening behavior (Bauschinger effect), the
Amstrong-Frederick model is available:

x is called the back stress. It corresponds to the "movement" of the center of the Yield surface.
Isotropic and Kinematic models can be used either individually or together.

Elasto-ViscoPlastic Model
For the Elasto-ViscoPlastic model, the properties described above for both the Elastic model (i.e. the Young's
modulus, the Poisson's ratio and the Thermal Expansion coefficients) and the Elasto-Plastic model (i.e. the
Young's modulus and the Hardening coefficient) should also be defined.
In order to account for the visco-plasticity, three models are available:
a) Perzyna
b) Norton
c) Strain Hardening Creep

a) Perzyna model
This model allows to describe the secondary (steady-state) creep with threshold.

Where is Viscous Param and is power.

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b) Norton model
This model allows to describe the secondary (steady-state) creep with no threshold.

Where is Viscous Param, is power, is Activation Energy.

As there is no threshold value, the data for the Yield Stress and the Hardening will be ignored.

c) Strain Hardening Creep model

This model allows to describe both the primary (strain hardening) creep and secondary (steady-state) creep
regimes with a possible threshold.

Where is Viscous Param, is power, is Activation Energy and is Strain Power.

For the three models, one has (for the plastic model):

or

Moreover, the value of the normalization stress ( * ) is defined by the user (usually a value of 1 is
recommended, in the same unit system as the measured stresses). One should note that the value of  and n
will depend upon the selected value for *.

Further details on the Perzyna law can be found in: "Numerical Modeling in Materials Science and
Engineering", M. Bellet, M. Rappaz and M. Deville, Spinger, 2003, pp. 306-310.
The principles of the determination of plastic and visco-plastic properties from experimental measurements are
described in the Viscoplastic Properties Determination section. Some advice about the viscoplastic
properties is written in the Viscoplastic Properties Recommendations section.

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Finally, one should however notice that in most cases, the use of an elastic-plastic model gives very realistic
results, without the burden of finding appropriate data for the visco-plastic behavior.

Stress Properties Depending Upon Microstructure

For more advanced calculations, it is possible to define mechanical properties which are not only temperature
dependent, but also a function of the microstructure and/or the defects (such as porosity). For more details,
please refer to the Stress Properties Depending Upon Microstructure chapter.

Annealing
During a stress calculation, at high temperature, the plastic deformation is not contributing to the hardening.
The stress solver was modified in order to ignore the contribution of the plastic deformation to the hardening,
above a critical temperature (called "Annealing temperature"). As a result, only the plastic deformation which
has occurred below the "Annealing temperature" will contribute to the hardening.
The Annealing temperature is defined in the Stress properties panel, as shown below. The Annealing model
will be activated if a value is specified in this tab.

During a heat treatment, when a part is heated up from a low temperature to a temperature above the critical
Annealing Temperature, the "pre-existing" plastic deformation contribution to the hardening will be
"erased" (which means that when the part is further cooled below the Annealing temperature, the hardening
takes into account only the plastic deformation contribution which starts to be accumulated as soon as the
temperature is below the Annealing temperature).
Please note that the "Plastic strain" (which can be viewed in the post-processing) will be the result of the
accumulation of all the plastic deformation, below and above the Annealing temperature (without reset).
The Annealing model can be used with either the Elasto-Plastic or the Elasto-ViscoPlastic models.

Temperature-dependent Stress Data

The three graphs hereafter show how it is recommended to define the Elastic Young's modulus, the Yield
stress and the Hardening coefficient (in the case of Linear Hardening) over the whole temperature range.
These recommendations will allow the best compromise between the physics and the convergence of the
stress solver.

Please note that the definition of these parameters in the mushy zone will influence the hot tearing
indicator prediction.

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The value of the Young's modulus in the mushy zone (below a fraction of solid of 20%) should be set as a
constant value corresponding to the value of fs = 20%. Usually, this corresponds to values between 50 and 500
MPa.

Please note that the Young's modulus can be automatically calculated in Visual-Cast as function
of the chemical composition, using the thermodynamic databases.
The value of the Yield stress in the mushy zone (below a fraction of solid of 50%) should be set as a
constant value corresponding to 5-10 MPa. One should not set values below 5 MPa.
If no data are available, the Hardening (in case of linear hardening) can be set to about 1/20 of the Young's
modulus. In all cases, the Hardening should be set to 0 MPa for fraction of solid smaller than 50%.

If a tensile test is made on a sample which will be fully mushy at a given time, a non-zero value of
the Hardening should be set for fraction of solid below 50%. However, this case is never occurring in
usual casting processes.
Concerning the Poisson's ratio, if a value of 0.5 is set, it is automatically changed in the software to 0.48.
Together with these data, the corresponding Simulation Parameters are recommended (see the Stress
Simulation Parameters section for more details):
CRITFS = 0.5
CONVS = 0.01 (for more accuracy, it is advised to use a smaller value like 0.001)
PENALTY = 0.01
AVEPEN = 0.1 mm (for large casting, this value can be increased)
SCALC = 5

Home > ProCAST 2018.0 User's Guide > Pre-Processing > Databases > Digitized Hardening

Digitized Hardening
Instead of defining the Hardening either as Linear or with a Power law, it is possible to enter in an ASCII file
digitized hardening curves (i.e. the plastic part of tensile test curves at different temperatures).
To activate this mode, one should select the "Table" tab in the "Hardening" tab:

Then, the number of tables specified in the ASCII file should be set (i.e. the number of different temperatures at
which a curve is digitized - two in the example below).
The corresponding ASCII file should be called: *ssN.dat (e.g.: prefixssN.dat), where N is the domain number,
and it should have the following structure:
STRESS_UNIT 4
CURVE 1
POINTS 4
TEMPERATURE 1 293.
0. 8.1159e+01

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0.02 1.7684e+02
0.03 2.2671e+02
0.04 2.8462e+02

CURVE 2
POINTS 3
TEMPERATURE 1 823.
0. 9.838
0.01 3.89105e+01
0.05 4.73871e+01
The stress units are defined first (the unit code corresponds to the one of the ProCAST d.dat file - e.g. 4
corresponds to MPa).
Then, the number of the curve should be specified, followed by the number of points in the curve.
The temperature at which the curve is defined (with the unit code before it - e.g. 1 corresponds to degrees
Kelvin, 2 to Centigrade and 3 to Fahrenheit), followed by the curve itself (strain - stress).
Please note that only the plastic part of the curve (i.e. the hardening) is defined by the tables. This means that
each curve should start by a zero strain (this is mandatory) and that the corresponding stress value is the Yield
stress at this temperature. Thus, the Yield stress defined in the “Stress" tab in Visual-Cast will not be used in
the case of Tables (the values will be ignored).
Each curve can have a different number of points. Above the last point, the Stress is extrapolated as a
constant (i.e. perfect plasticity).

Each domain (of the mesh) for which we would like to use the digitized hardening should have its
corresponding prefixssN.dat file. This means that if it should be used in domains 2, 5 and 8, one should
duplicate the same file three times with the names prefixss2.dat, prefixss5.dat and prefixss8.dat.

Home > ProCAST 2018.0 User's Guide > Pre-Processing > Databases > Plastic and Viscoplastic Properties
Determination

Plastic and Viscoplastic Properties Determination

In order to determine the plastic and viscoplastic properties (o, H, , n) at different temperatures, including the
transition, two methods are suggested (for the Perzyna model with linear hardening):
 Tensile test method
 Creep test method

where:

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Tensile Test Method

In the "tensile test method", one should perform controlled tensile tests.
These tensile tests should be performed for different temperatures using various strain rates. To do so, the
tensile test should be done at constant RAM speed (in order to pull at specified strain rates). The stress and
strain should be recorded during these tests. This is usually obtained with a Gleeble machine.
The figure below shows the results of such measurements: at low temperature (T1 - green curve), the curve
is independent from the strain rate. Thus, the behavior is elastic-plastic. At high temperature (T3 - red curves),
one can see that the stress level depends upon the strain rate and that there is no hardening (viscoplasticity
only), as the curve is horizontal at a given stress level. At "intermediate" temperature (T2 - blue curves), one
has both plasticity (with hardening) and viscoplasticity (as the curve depends upon the strain rate).
Low Temperature
At low temperature (usually T1 < Tm/3), the tensile test curve is independent from the strain rate. This means
that different tests made at different RAM speeds give the same curve (see the green curve in the figure
below).
From this curve, one can get the Yield stress (o) and the Hardening coefficient (H).
The value of the viscous parameter () should be set to zero in order to "disable" the viscoplasticity. The Power
(n) can be set to any value as it will not be used.
High Temperature
At high temperature (usually T3 > Tm/2), the tensile test curve is dependent from the strain rate and the stress
level is constant (no hardening) after the transition stage (see the red curves in the figure below). As there is
no hardening, the value of H should be set to zero. Therefore the threshold (y) is equal to the Yield stress o.
In order to obtain the viscoplastic parameters ( and n), one should first determine the value of the Yield stress
(o), which can be equal to zero. To do so, one should perform a tensile test at the lowest possible strain rate
(possibly zero!) and see the value of the stress on the plateau. If this value is very low, one can consider that
the Yield stress (o) is zero. In order to determine this value, one can also make loading-unloading tests, with
increasing loads until plastic deformation is obtained.
Then, for each measured tensile test curve, the value of (- Y)/* (which is the stress level of the plateau
minus the Flow stress, Y, which is equal to o in this case, as H = 0) and d/dt should be plotted in a log-log
graph.
The value of  and n can be deduced from this graph ( see below).
Intermediate Temperature
At intermediate temperature (usually Tm/3 < T3 < Tm/2), the tensile test curve is dependent from the strain rate
and the stress level is not constant (hardening) after the transition stage (see the blue curves in the figure
below).
The hardening (H) corresponds to the slope of the curves (after the transition stage). In this model, the
hardening is the same for all strain rates.
In order to obtain the viscoplastic parameters ( and n), one should first determine the value of the Yield stress
(o), which can be equal to zero. To do so, one should perform a tensile test at the lowest possible strain rate
(possibly zero!) and see the value of the stress zero plastic strain. If this value is very low, one can consider
that the Yield stress (o) is zero. In order to determine this value, one can also make loading-unloading tests,
with increasing loads until plastic deformation is obtained.
Then, for each measured tensile test curve, the value of (- Y)/* (which is the extrapolated stress level at
zero strain minus the Flow stress, Y. In this case, Y is equal to o, as pl = 0 - because the extrapolation is
performed a zero strain) and d/dt should be plotted in a log-log graph. The value of  and n can be deduced
from this graph (see previous figure).

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Creep Test Method

In the "creep test method", one should perform controlled creep tests (plastic deformation as a function of time
for a given fixed load).
The creep tests should be performed for different temperatures using various loads (stress).
The figure below shows the results of such measurements: at low temperature (T1 - green curves), the
curves are independent from time (plateau). Thus, the behavior is elastic-plastic. At high temperature (T3 - red
curves), one can see that the plastic strain is increasing linearly with time (viscoplasticity only). At
"intermediate" temperature (T2 - blue curves), one has both plasticity (with hardening) and viscoplasticity.
Low Temperature
At low temperature (usually T1 < Tm/3), the following curves are measured at different loads.
From these curves, one can get the Yield stress (o) and the Hardening coefficient (H). To do so, the values
(shown in the graph below) of  and  (at the different loads) should be plotted in a - graph. A linear or
Power Law Hardening can be fitted on those points.
Beside the above, the value of the viscous parameter () should be set to zero in order to "disable" the
viscoplasticity. The Power (n) can be set to any value as it will not be used.
High Temperature
At high temperature (usually T3 > Tm/2), the slope of each curve represents the strain rate, d/dt (see the red
curves in the figure below).
In order to obtain the viscoplastic parameters ( and n), one should first determine the value of the Yield stress
(o), which can be equal to zero. To do so, one should perform a creep test at decreasing loads. The Yield
stress is reached when there is no more plastic strain. If this value is very low, one can consider that the Yield
stress (o) is zero.
Then, for each measured creep curve (shown above), the value of strain rate (d/dt) should be plotted as a
function of (- Y)/* (which is the stress level of the plateau minus the Flow stress, Y, which is equal to o in
this case, as H = 0) in a log-log graph (see below).
The value of  and n can be deduced from this graph ( see below).
Beside the above values, as there is no hardening, the value of H should be set to zero. Therefore the
threshold (y) is equal to the Yield stress o.
Intermediate Temperature
At intermediate temperature (usually Tm/3 < T3 < Tm/2), the creep test curves are dependent from both the
load (stress level) and time (see the blue curves in the figure below).
From these curves, one can get the Yield stress (o) and the Hardening coefficient (H) as described above in
the "Low Temperature" section. To do so, the values (shown in the graph below) of  and  (at the different
loads) should be plotted in a - graph. A linear or Power Law Hardening can be fitted on those points.
In order to obtain the viscoplastic parameters ( and n), one should first determine the value of the Yield stress
(o), which can be equal to zero. To do so, one should perform a creep test at decreasing loads. The Yield
stress is reached when there is no more plastic strain. If this value is very low, one can consider that the Yield
stress (o) is zero.
Then, for each measured creep curve (see blue curves in the zoom below), the values of the INITIAL strain
rate (d/dt) should be plotted as a function of (- Y)/* (which is the load, i, minus the Flow stress, Y. In this
case, Y is equal to o, as pl = 0 - because the extrapolation is performed at time=0, where the strain is zero)
in a log-log graph (as described in the "High Temperature" section).

Home > ProCAST 2018.0 User's Guide > Pre-Processing > Databases > Viscoplastic Properties
Recommendations

Viscoplastic Properties Recommendations

Perzyna model
The Perzyna model is defined as follows (see the Stress Models and Properties section for more details):

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If we express the stress as a function of the strain rate when

we have the following:

The second term of the right hand side can be called the "Viscoplastic stress" ( ).
Thus, we have:

with

If we perform a "numerical isothermal tensile test" at various strain rates, one gets the following curves. The
first graph is with a zero hardening, whereas the second graph is with hardening.
One can see how the "Viscoplastic stress" is increasing with the strain rate.
As the "Viscoplastic stress" is a function of the inverse power of the "Power" term "p", it is very sensitive to this
parameter. Thus, the combination of the "Power" term and the "Viscous parameter" term should lead to
consistent values of the "Viscoplastic stress", and that at each temperature.
The following figures show the temperature dependence of the Viscous parameter and the Power for an
A356 Aluminum alloy. Please note that the Viscous parameter is displayed in a logarithmic scale.
Based on the Viscous parameter and the Power of the above graphs, the "Viscoplastic stress" has been
calculated for different strain rates, as shown hereafter.
One can see in the above graph that the "Viscoplastic stress" is higher at intermediate temperature. However,
this "Viscoplastic stress" is normalized by the Yield Stress (see next figure)
It becomes clear that the viscoplasticity is negligible at low temperature and is significant at high temperature,
as shown below.
When viscoplastic properties are determined for a new material, it is strongly advised to compute and plot (in
Excel for instance) the "Viscoplastic stress", as well as the "Normalized Viscoplastic stress", at the different
temperatures and for different strain rates. This will allow to ensure that the curves are consistent (e.g. the
curves should normally not cross each other) and that the order of magnitudes are right. The following section
shows how the "Viscoplastic stress" can change a lot with a "small change" of the viscous parameter and/or
the Power.

Important Remark About Tabulation of Viscous Parameter

The Viscous Parameter varies across many orders of magnitude (from 1e36 at low temperature down to 1e6 at
high temperature - 30 orders of magnitude). This is why it is displayed in a logarithmic scale.
The following figure shows the same curves as the previous section, but all grouped together.
In Visual-Cast, all the properties defined by tables are linearly interpolated. In the case of the Viscous
parameter, as the values change over so many orders of magnitude, the linear interpolation is not anymore
appropriate if the curve is defined by too few points.
In the next example, the properties (corresponding to the A356 alloy of the above figure) between 300 and
500°C are defined only by two points. Thus, the software will make a linear interpolation of the Viscous
Parameter and the Power between these two temperatures. The following figures show the "interpolated"
values of the calculated "Viscoplastic Stress" at 320, 400 and 480°C (see red dots). This shows that this linear
interpolation is not appropriate and leads to "wrong" values of the "Viscoplastic Stress" (especially at 480°C).

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In order to prevent such odd behavior, one should make sure that the Viscous Parameter and the Power are
tabulated with enough points (for instance with a 20°C interval).

Norton model
The Norton law, usually used to describe secondary creep (also called stationary creep), is:

Where σ is the Von-Mises equivalent stress and the viscoplastic strain rate. A common simplification is to
consider that the effect of temperature is captured by only one parameter in pre-factor of the stress. So there
are two possible assumptions:
1. Assuming Q=0:

Then the equation reduces to and the identification of p and η is done similar to Perzyna law,
plotting ln( ) as function of ln(σ).

2. Assuming η constant:
This is a classic secondary creep description.
First, the power p is determined by plotting ln( ) as function of ln(σ) for each test temperature. The parameter p
is the slope of the linear interpolation.
Then, one can write:

So, if one plots as a function of 1/T, one can determine Q and η with a linear regression.
Of course, none of these two simplifications is physically exact. Creep mechanisms are complex and originate
in some thermally activated microstructural evolutions. However, for the scope of a parametric description of
viscoplastic effects (secondary creep) in a numerical simulation, the simplification is justified.

Strain Hardening Creep model

Here we have a large number of parameters to identify: η, Q, p and q, all temperature dependent. Without
forgetting that σycan also be given as a hardening law (in "plastic" menu), which would mean two additional
parameters.
So, here again, some simplifications are suggested:
 Assume Q=0
 At high temperature, assume that the threshold stress σy is a constant of a few MPa.
 σ* = 1 MPa for normalization. All stresses hereafter have to be in MPa.
Then we have:

This equation can be used for example to describe primary creep followed by secondary creep. During a creep
test (constant temperature T and stress σ), the integration between t=0 and time t gives the strain as function
of time:

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Knowing that η and p can be identified in the "secondary creep" part of the test (stationary regime), one can
now identify q by fitting the experimental creep curve (strain vs. time) with a power law.

Home > ProCAST 2018.0 User's Guide > Pre-Processing > Databases > Visco-elasticity

Visco-elasticity
Waxes used in investment casting are polymers which exhibit viscoelastic behavior.
As the calculation of deformations of waxes may be important for such processes, viscoelastic models were
introduced in Visual-Cast.
This section describes briefly the models which are implemented in the software, followed by a short
description of the different inputs, in relationship with the above mentioned models.
The constitutive model for viscoelasticity that is implemented in ProCAST is isotropic and assumes that the
time dependence is limited to the shear response. Thus, we can write the Cauchy stress σ as,

where s is the deviatoric stress, p is the pressure, and I is the identity matrix. The strain ε is given by,

where e is the deviatoric strain and θ is the volumetric strain.

The volumetric response is assumed to be elastic, i.e.

where K is the bulk elastic modulus defined in terms of the instantaneous Young's modulus E and the
instantaneous Poisson's ratio v as

The deviatoric response is assumed to be viscoelastic, i.e.

where G is the shear relaxation function which is defined in terms of a Prony series.

where G∞ represents the long term shear modulus, Gi are relaxation shear moduli, and the λi are shear
relaxation times. Gi and λi are user inputs. G∞ is derived from the instantaneous shear modulus, G0, and the
relaxation shear moduli. G0 is itself derived from the instantaneous Young's modulus.
The reduced time t' is related to real time through the following equation,

where T is the temperature and S(T) is the shift function. Note that when S(T)=1, which is the temperature
independent case, we have t'=t.
The Williams-Landell-Ferry (WLF) equation is used as the shift function.

where C1 and C2 are material constants, T0 is the reference temperature. A special case of T0 is the glassy

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transition temperature.
In summary, the required user input data for the viscoelastic model are instantaneous Young's modulus, the
instantaneous Poisson's ratio, the thermal expansion coefficient. These all appear in the usual place in the
stress data input screen. Then under the Shear Modulus tab, there is a Constant tab and a Relaxation tab. The
WLF constants C1, C2, and T0 are entered under the first tab. In the second tab, there is a table where the
relaxation shear moduli Gi and their corresponding shear relaxation times λi are entered.
For the Stress material properties definition, select the Visco-elastic properties.
For the Elastic properties (Young's Modulus, Poisson's Ratio and Thermal Expansion), the instantaneous
properties should be defined as a standard elastic material.
The specific data for the visco-elastic properties should be defined in the "Shear Modulus" tab.

First, the Williams-Landell-Ferry (WLF) constants (see equation above) are defined in the first "Constant" tab.
Second, the relaxation shear moduli table should be defined in the second tab (see equation above).
Otherwise, all the other conditions (e.g. displacement BC and Simulation Parameters) should be defined in a
standard way.

Home > ProCAST 2018.0 User's Guide > Pre-Processing > Databases > Fatigue Model

Fatigue Model
Hard-coded Model - (Old Model)
A fatigue indicator is automatically computed in Visual-Cast, when cycles and stress are ON. The parameters
of the model correspond to measured values for a typical die alloy (H13 steel), published by the Society of
Automotive Engineers. No values are needed for this model and one should note that the values are measured
at room temperature and thus, the effect of temperature is only taken into account through the temperature-
dependent stress properties (i.e. Young's modulus, Yield stress, Hardening, ...). One should not compare the
influence of different steels with this hard-coded fatigue model.

Modified Model - (New Model)

A modified fatigue indicator can be introduced in Visual-Cast by adding parameter FATIGUE_DATA in the
p.dat file. The life cycle NR is calculated by the so-called Coffin-Manson law and Basquin law.
FATIGUE_DATA 1 = Coffin Mason law only
FATIGUE_DATA 2 = Basquin law only
FATIGUE_DATA 3 = Coffin Mason law for low cycle and Basquin law for high cycle
When Coffin-Manson Law for low cycle fatigue is written in the form of

and Basquin Law for high cycle fatigue is written in the form of

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Where are constants and C1(T) and are temperature functions and defined at
certain temperature points.
These data can be read into Visual-Cast from an ASCII file named prefixftg.dat, which has the following
structure:
The following values correspond to the input of the new model to reproduce results of the old model:
File Prefixftg.dat:

TEMPERATURE_UNIT 2
STRESS_UNIT 4
COFFIN_MANSON_LAW
EXPONENT 1.721170396
NUMBER_OF_POINTS 1
100. 0.580404385
BASQUIN_LAW
EXPONENT 8.064516129
BASQUIN_CONSTANT 1
NUMBER_OF_POINTS 1
100. 884.
All the words appearing in the file need to be followed to the letter.
The file should always start with the line that defines the input temperature unit, and followed by the line that
defines the stress unit of the input data.
The next are two sets of data for Coffin-Manson Law and Basquin Law.
In the Coffin-Manson Law data set, it starts with the declaration line of COFFIN_MANSON_LAW, followed by a
line defining the exponent used in the equation. The next line identifies how many points are used to
define the temperature function C1(T), which is followed by these point values. First column of these values is
always for temperature and the second column is for C1(T). It is suggested that the data is given in the
ascending order of temperature, but it is not requested.
Basquin Law data is given in a similar fashion except that an additional line for the BASQUIN_CONSTANT is
included.
There is no requirement for the particular order of the two sets of data that define Coffin-Manson Law and
Basquin Law in the file. However, the order of the lines in each data set needs to be kept as shown except for
the temperature dependent function data points, otherwise ProCAST will stop with a message indicating error
in the fatigue data.

Relationship of Material Constants in Fatigue Models

The Coffin-Manson model of SAE (SAE J1099) is written as

and Basquin model is written as

Where ∆εp/2 and ∆εe/2 are plastic strain amplitude and elastic strain amplitude, E is modulus of elasticity, c is
fatigue ductility exponent, εf is fatigue ductility coefficient, b is fatigue strength exponent, σf is fatigue strength
coefficient, and 2Nf is the fatigue life cycle.
The newly implemented Coffin-Manson model is in the form of

and Basquin model is in the form of

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where ∆εp* is plastic strain amplitude, α, β and C3 are consonants, and C1(T) and σUTS(T) are temperature
functions and defined at certain temperature points, and NR is the fatigue life cycle.
To determine the relationship of the constants used in the models, we first consider the Coffin-Manson model
of Eq.(1) and Eq.(3). Noting the definition of all the variables used in Eq.(1) and Eq.(2), we can write Eq.(1),
using the variable of Eq.(3), as

Or

Which gives

Compare Eq.(7) to Eq.(3), we have β=-1/c, and C1(T)=(εf)-1/c.

Similarly, for Basquin model, we write Eq.(2), using the variable of Eq.(4) and noting the definition of all the
variables, as

Or

Which gives

Compare Eq.(10) to Eq.(4), we have α=-1/b, σUTS(T)=σf, and C3=1.

Using these relationships, data provided in SAE (SAE J1099) can be used in the newly implemented fatigue
models.

Home > ProCAST 2018.0 User's Guide > Pre-Processing > Databases > Filter Database

Filter Database
Example of Filter Database
Filters are characterized by the following properties:
Void fraction
Surface area per Unit Volume
Pressure Drop
The void fraction (Fv) corresponds to the amount of "porosity" or void inside the filter. This value is
dimensionless [-]. The definition of this value is mandatory in all cases.
The Surface area per Unit Volume (Sa) corresponds to the amount of "interface" between the filter material and
the air (when the filter is empty) per unit volume ( see example below). This value is used for the calculation
of the thermal exchange between the filter and the liquid metal going through, as well as for the automatic
permeability calculation. The units are the reversed of a distance (e.g. [1/m]). The definition of this value is
mandatory in all cases.
The Permeability of the filter (i.e. its resistance to the flow) can be calculated in three different ways.
a) Automatic permeability calculation
From the Void Fraction (Fv) and the Surface Area per Unit Volume (Sa) definitions, the permeability can be
automatically computed (based upon Carman-Kozeny), according to the following relationship:

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This mode is activated if the "Pressure Drop" and "Permeability" tabs are not defined.
b) Pressure drop calculation
If the "Pressure Drop" tab is defined, then, the permeability is calculated, using the following values (coming
from simple experiments), and the following equation:

where v, P and x are measured values which can be made in a simple experiment (or provided by the Filter
supplier). Please note that the Flow rate, v, corresponds to the velocity used in the experiment and not the
velocity of your casting model.
If both the "Pressure Drop" and "Permeability" tabs are defined, the "Permeability" values are ignored (and
replaced by the ones obtained from the above equation).
c) Specified permeability
It is also possible to define a given permeability value in the "Permeability tab". In this case, the "Void fraction"
is not used for the automatic Carman-Kozeny relationship.

See the Filters section for more details about the settings of cases with Filters.

Home > ProCAST 2018.0 User's Guide > Pre-Processing > Databases > Exothermic Database

Exothermic Database
Example of Exothermic Database
Technical Details
Exothermic sleeve can be modeled in Visual-Cast, with the appropriate heat generation.
Firstly, the exothermic sleeve should be meshed as a separate material domain. Then, the corresponding
material properties should be assigned and the "EXOTHERMIC" type should be defined in Volume Manager
as follows. (If the EXOTHERMIC type is not defined, the exothermic energy, as defined hereafter, will not be
released):
The material properties of the Exothermic sleeve must be defined as follows:
The Thermal properties (thermal conductivity, density and specific heat) should be defined as usual for sleeve
material in Thermal tab. In addition, the exothermic properties should be defined in the "Exothermic" tab. The
Exothermic energy corresponds to the amount of energy which is generated during the burning of the sleeve.
The Ignition Temperature corresponds to the temperature at which the exothermic reaction is initiated.
The "burning kinetics" is defined in the table, as a fraction of burning, which is a function of time. Once the
exothermic reaction is started (i.e. when the temperature goes above the ignition temperature), the exothermic
energy will be released according to the burnt fraction.

Home > ProCAST 2018.0 User's Guide > Pre-Processing > Databases > Anisotropic Database

Anisotropic Database
Example of Anisotropic Database
For anisotropic materials, the permeability and conductivity values in 2nd and 3rd axis can be specified in the
'Anisotropic' category of material database.
Permeability value in the main axis should be specified in 'Fluid' category whereas Conductivity in main axis
should be specified in 'Thermal' category.

Home > ProCAST 2018.0 User's Guide > Pre-Processing > Databases > Microstructure Database

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Microstructure Database
This database can be posted by clicking new tab ( + ) button.
Microstructures during cooling or during heat treatment can now be simulated based upon Time-Temperature-
Transformation (TTT) or Continuous Cooling-Transformation (CCT) diagrams. A new category is added in the
material editor.
This new TTT/CCT database containing 8 different steel alloys, coming from Sysweld, has been introduced.
Introduction
The formation of microstructures associated with solid state phase transformations during cooling or during
heat treatment can now be simulated with ProCAST using models based upon time-temperature-
transformation (TTT) or Continuous Cooling-transformation (CCT) diagrams. TTT/CCT diagrams can be found
in handbooks or scientific publications for a variety of alloys. They provide information about the starting and
ending times of a phase transformation for isothermal ( see illustration below) or continuous cooling
conditions.
The TTT/CCT module of ProCAST is based on the Kolmogorov-Johnson-Mehl-Avrami (KJMA) expression for
the overall kinetics of a phase transformation governed by a nucleation and growth process. The volume
fraction of the transformed phase (e.g. volume fraction of ferrite) is obtained with:

where fmax is a maximum for the fraction transformed (e.g. equilibrium amount of ferrite), n is an exponent and
 is a characteristic transformation time. These parameters are determined from the information contained in
the TTT/CCT diagram. They depend on the local temperature and cooling rate.
A differential form of this expression is integrated over the cooling path in order to account for the local thermal
conditions. It permits to calculate microstructure maps based on the thermal history at every node of the finite
element mesh.
Pre-processing
Coded TTT/CCT diagrams are grouped in a database which contains an entry for each of them. In short, the
operations required to activate the TTT/CCT module simply consist of assigning in Visual-Cast an entry of the
TTT/CCT database to the casting domains and setting to 1 the TTTMIC Simulation Parameter. In more detail,
the operations are as follows:
1) A TTT/CCT diagram should be assigned to all casting domains. This can be done in the Material Database's
Microstructure tab.
In the microstructure tab, all the available TTT/CCT models are displayed as a drop-down list. You have to
select the required model and click "save" button. Then that model is assigned to that material.
2) On selection of TTT/CCT Data from the list, a new tab TTT/CCT is added, as shown below.
For CCT diagrams, the user can simply introduce cooling rate.
TTT diagram display is obtained by giving various temperatures for which transformation kinetics are computed
and plotted.
On selection of “Draw CCT diagram”, following diagram is drawn.
3) The TTT/CCT module should then be activated by setting to 1 the TTTMIC parameter in the Microstructure
tab of the Simulation parameter panel, as shown below. For faster calculations, the coupling level can be set
to -1, which will deactivate the feedback from the solid state transformation to the thermal calculation.
Temperature plateaus in the cooling curve associated with the formation of pearlite are however no longer
obtained in that case.
4) Initial phase: By default, the initial phase is LIQUID. For solid state phase transformations it may be needed
to specify a different initial phase. This can be done by creating a small text file in the calculation directory. This
file must be named:
[prefix]MLp.dat
It should contain just one line with the following content:
INITIAL_CONSTITUENT [Phase_name]
where phase_name is one the phases of the TTT diagram. A list of phase names is given in the data file
METALLURGYLINK.dat which is either located in the local directory or in the TTT diagram database [ProCAST
installation directory]\dat\db\TTT\[diagram number]

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Very often, the initial phase is austenite. So the [prefix]MLp.dat file will be:
INITIAL_CONSTITUENT AUSTENITE
If the file [prefix] MLp.dat is not present in the calculation directory, the initial phase will normally be liquid.
Database
Currently the TTT/CCT database contains eight steels which are coming from the Sysweld database.
A description of the chemical compositions, phases and CCT diagrams of these alloys can be found in the
SYSWELD Database located in the software installation. Each alloy is described, as shown below.
These alloys can also be found in the standard database (for the thermophysical properties).
Post-processing
The results of TTT/CCT microstructure calculations can be visualized in the VisualCAST post-processor, as
shown below.
The list of available constituents is automatically displayed in the menu, as shown below.
Results
As an illustration, the TTT/CCT microstructure module has been applied to the heat treatment of a carbon steel
gear component. The figure below illustrates the proportion of microstructure constituents (pearlite, bainite
and martensite) obtained after heat treatment for two types of cooling conditions: water quenching and air
cooling.

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