CIVS Presents Webinar Series to Die Casting Industry
CIVS researchers Kyle Toth and John “Jack” Moreland presented a series of webinars to members of the North American Die Casting Association (NADCA) on June 2 & 3. CIVS researcher Tyamo Okosun will also present “Computational Modeling and Visualization of Industrial Furnaces” at the Virtual Die Casting Congress & Tabletop held October 20-22.
Series Title: Advanced Visualization Technology Used in Manufacturing – Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), and immersive videos taken with 360 degree cameras are often thought of as technology for entertainment. This technology is also being utilized to advance manufacturing industries. Training, maintenance, and process improvements can all benefit from these new visualization tools.
Virtual Reality to Advance Understanding and Operation – Virtual Reality (VR) has the power to immerse the user in an environment; be it a far off world or a factory floor. This immersion allows the user to feel like they are actually there, while at the same time keeping them safe from any potential hazards. A user can see inside a blast furnace or change process settings to understand how things work. This presentation will talk about different ways VR can be used to improve understanding of the process.
360 Training Videos and Virtual Reality for Safety and Maintenance – In the effort to drive safety incidents and near misses to zero, visualization technology, such as Virtual Reality (VR) and 360 degree cameras, are being used to improve safety training. Also, these technologies are helping maintenance personnel understand maintenance procedures or to virtually communicate with the supplier to perform maintenance.
Computational Modeling and Visualization of Industrial Furnaces – Furnace operations are among the most capital and energy intensive parts of multiple industries. Economic and environmental pressures from energy consumption constantly drive research to improve the furnace operation efficiency and energy efficiency. This paper presents research conducted for various types of furnaces outside of the diecasting industry utilizing computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling and visualization to provide useful tools and recommendations on heating and melting practices. In addition to informing efficient operations, the same computational modelling and visualization tools have also been used for training. Furnace simulations to be presented will include the blast furnace (used in ironmaking), the reheat furnace (used in steelmaking), and various types of boilers. The paper will also present initial work on a virtual training tool being developed for furnace operations within the diecasting industry.