Abstract
The impacts of gating design and riser system on structure-property relationship of high manganese steel specimens produced by CO2 sand molding process were systematically examined. The designing of gating and riser system was done first using the traditional manual method and then by SolidCast simulation method. Confirmatory experiments were done to validate the obtained results. Castings were produced using both designs to verify the extent of defects. Their microstructural and mechanical properties were explored. Visual examination of castings designed by manual method showed major shrinkage defects, whereas software designed castings were quite sound showing no shrinkage (macro porosity) and micro porosity. Furthermore, optical microscopy and SEM analysis were performed to study microstructure of the specimens. It was found that the defect-free, software-designed castings with optimized parameters showed similar to 25 % improvement in yield strength, similar to 20 % in tensile strength and similar to 30 % in hardness.