Basic construction of intelligent expert system for riser design using database system and optimisation tools

Abstract

Process design using computer simulation and optimisation has recently garnered a great deal of attention and much progress has been made through research in this area. Most research addresses the soundness of mass products, productivity optimisation, and improvement of product reliability. In the casting industry, a mainstay of the manufacturing sector, the design method of an optimal riser has also advanced greatly and it requires a clearly defined optimisation strategy. The purpose of working out a proper optimisation strategy is to minimise the time required for long series and iterations of calculations and thereby achieve an effective result. To this end, a database system was built by means of an image retrieval method. The authors also studied a way to automatically designate an appropriate point for installing a riser using solidification simulation and the Method of Modified Feasible Direction (MMFD), an optimisation method that uses the gradient search. The present study outlines the basic algorithm for the Intelligent Expert System (IES) for design of an optimal riser. It employs solidification simulation, a database system, and the MMFD. The study also addresses the application of the system to a simple cast.