Computer aided prediction and control of shrinkage porosity in titanium dental castings

Objectives. The main objectives were to investigate the possibility and reliability of quantitative prediction and control of the concentrated shrinkage porosity (macroporosity) in titanium dental castings by means of a numerical simulation technique; and finally to optimize the filling and feeding system design for dental castings. Methods. A commercial software, MAGMASOFT (Giessereitechnologie GmbH, Germany), was employed to simulate the mold filling and solidification process, and predict the shrinkage tendency in a sample dental casting, two simplified tooth crowns with a connector bar between them. The numerically predicted shrinkages were compared with the experimental results. The experiments were carried out on a centrifugal casting machine. The same geometric and processing parameters of the casting as in the simulations were strictly controlled. Results. The computer predicted shrinkage porosities coincided with the performed experiments, demonstrating the reliability of the numerical model and the thermal physical data chosen for the calculations. Based on the above numerical model, several filling and feeding systems for the same casting were numerically simulated and compared. Finally an optimized design for this sample casting was proposed, and porosity-free castings were obtained. Significance. It was expected that the numerical simulation technique could be further developed for dental laboratories to aid the real dental casting design.