Medial surface transformations for rapid approximation of casting solidification

Abstract

<p>This thesis demonstrates the feasibility of using a medial surface transformation as a tool to rapidly approximate the solidification patterns of convex faceted solid models of castings. The medial surface transformation is used to automate the greatest included sphere approach to solidification pattern approximation. The experimental software of this thesis extracts the medial surface transformation from a convex faceted model by computing the model's Voronoi diagram and uses it to identify casting hot spots and cooling patterns. Comparison with a finite difference method (FDM) solution showed that the locations and shapes of hot spots predicted by FDM converge to the shapes and locations predicted by the experimental software.