Multi-objective optimal gating and riser design for metal-casting

The gating and riser design plays an important role in the quality and cost of a metal casting. Due to the lack of existing theoretical procedures to follow, the design process is normally carried out on a trial-and-error basis. In this paper, the casting design is first formulated as a multi-objective optimization problem with conflicting objectives and a complex search space. An optimization method using multi-objective evolutionary algorithm (MOEA) is developed to overcome such complexities. A framework for integrating the optimization procedure driven by data for the design evaluation is then presented. The proposed optimization framework is applied to the gating and riser design of a sand casting. It is shown that the MOEA method yields good results and provides more flexibility in decision making.