A 3-D coupled hydromechanical granular model for simulating the constitutive behavior of metallic alloys during solidification

A three-dimensional (3-D) coupled hydromechanical granular model has been developed and validated to directly predict, for the first time, hot tear formation and stress–strain behavior in metallic alloys during solidification. This granular model consists of four separate 3-D modules: (i) the solidification module is used to generate the solid–liquid geometry at a given solid fraction; (ii) the fluid flow module (FFM) is used to calculate the solidification shrinkage and deformation-induced pressure drop within the intergranular liquid; (iii) the semi-solid deformation module (SDM) simulates the rheological behavior of the granular structure; and (iv) the failure module (FM) simulates crack initiation and propagation. Since solid deformation, intergranular flow and crack initiation are deeply linked together, the FFM, SDM and FM are coupled processes. This has been achieved through the development of a new three-phase interactive technique that couples the interaction between intergranular liquid, solid grains and growing voids. The results show that the pressure drop, and consequently hot tear formation, depends also on the compressibility of the mushy zone skeleton, in addition to the well-known contributors (lack of liquid feeding and semi-solid deformation).