Simulation for Confident Decision-making
TRANSVALOR released an update to its casting simulation software, designed to help industrial teams move faster from numerical results to reliable production decisions. THERCAST® NxT 3.1 includes enhanced physical models, optimized solvers, improved usability, and a strong focus on sustainability to address critical challenges faced by foundries and steelmakers operating large, complex, and high-value casting processes.
THERCAST® NxT 3.1 introduces significant technical advances that improve predictive power, precision, and computational efficiency across a range of casting applications.
New and enhanced segregation and sedimentation models promote stable and realistic prediction of macrosegregation defects in heavy castings and large ingots. The improved sedimentation modeling captures equiaxed grain behavior and negative segregation cones, providing deeper insight into defect formation mechanisms in challenging solidification conditions.
The release also features advanced material models, including updated bubble and inclusion models, as well as a simplified Columnar-to-Equiaxed Transition (CET) formulation based on the Hunt criterion. These developments allow more realistic predictions of particle transport, microstructure evolution, and local material heterogeneities - key factors in controlling final product quality.
In addition, the new version introduces particle agglomeration capabilities, allowing particles to cluster and form clogging, further enhancing the accuracy of process and defect prediction.
To enhance realism, THERCAST® NxT 3.1 offers flexible mold configurations, including open, semi-open, and porous molds, for simulations that better reflect actual industrial thermal exchanges and flow conditions.
THERCAST® NxT 3.1 includes dedicated solutions for both foundries and steelmakers:
Continuous Casting Tool: Users can modify machine layouts, adjust roll and spray positions, and fine-tune cooling parameters directly within the GUI. This enables engineers to quickly evaluate different design configurations, shorten iteration cycles, and ensure simulations closely reflect industrial conditions.
Smooth: In this new version, the Smooth option represents a significant step forward in mesh preparation. It accelerates the detection and correction of mesh defects such as holes, folds, and other irregularities, while allowing subtle geometric offsets to ensure proper connectivity between objects. By reconstructing defective areas while preserving the surrounding curvature, Smooth produces a more regular and homogeneous mesh in record time and provides a stronger foundation for our 3D mesher to better homogenize mesh sizes.
Lost Foam Simulation: This feature accurately models the interaction between molten metal and foam patterns, predicting flow, solidification, and potential defects. By enabling more precise process planning, foundries can reduce scrap, improve part quality, and handle complex geometries with confidence
Enhanced Usability: THERCAST® NxT 3.1 streamlines workflows. Project orientation can be switched between horizontal and vertical views, result scales are fully customizable for clearer industrial interpretation, and the new Depth Plot Tool provides directional and depth-based analysis for a deeper understanding of key metrics.
THERCAST® NxT 3.1 equips industrial teams with a high-performance simulation environment to anticipate defects, optimize processes, and make reliable decisions.
By combining accuracy, efficiency, usability, and sustainability, the release empowers engineers, metallurgists, and foundry professionals to master complex metal transformation phenomena, reduce scrap, and strengthen competitiveness.
Learn more at www.transvalor.com/en/thercast