April 21, 2006 -- Ashland Casting Solutions, a business group of Ashland Specialty Chemical, has released an updated version of the Arena-flow computer-aided engineering software for predicting the coremaking process. Ashaland Specialty Chemical is a division of Ashland Inc., and ACS supplies the Arena-flow software under license from its developer, Arena L.L.C.
Enhancements to Arena-flow 6.0 include a new installation wizard and graphical user interface redesign. “With Arena-flow version 6.0, users have process specific options for engineering models, sand defaults, particle and porous media solvers and grid generator settings based on solver methodology,” stated Mike Swartzlander, vice president, Ashland Specialty Chemical, and general manager, Ashland Casting Solutions. “The improvements now available in version 6.0 provide users with several additional tools to improve productivity and reduce costs.
According to Ashland, the software presents users with a complete picture of the coremaking process, including the blowing, gassing, and purging cycles, and the ability to analyze “virtual” cores before investing time resources in core production. Arena-flow software also allows tooling manufacturers to validate designs so that cold-box tooling is optimized before production begins.
Arena-flow was developed by Arena in conjunction with General Motors, NASA, the U.S. Dept. of Energy, and Ashland Casting Solutions. The software is available under license agreements, and through contract engineering projects that ACS conducts.