No other casting modeling program offers POWER, EASE OF USE and ACCURACY like SOLIDCast®. We continue to enhance the system to increase its power and ease of use.

New Compatibility - New compiler technology has allowed us to provide full compatibility with multi-processor, dual-core and Hyperthreading technologies. Previously, these functions had to be disabled on individual machines in order to prevent execution errors.

Speed Improvements - 20% speed increase in SOLIDCast simulations, meshing, view factor calculations and shell creation functions

Movie Making Enhancements - New higher quality WMV movie output. SOLIDCast movies still remain quite compact, but the picture quality has been dramatically improved. Movies are much clearer and vivid. Also, iso-surface movies have been adjusted to be created in the background, like the other movie functions, so that you can work on other things while the movie is being created. Previous AVI movies were created using the INDEO Codec, which is no longer a standard part of Windows. The new WMV format is supported by any reasonably recent version of the Windows Media Player. FLOWCast movies continue to be created in AVI format, but they did not rely on the INDEO Codec.

New and Improved Utilities - A number of utilities have been added. Others have been improved or expanded. And several have been newly documented in the version 7.0 training workbook. The utility changes are listed below:

Data Capture (Temperature)...: This utility is used to create a grid of thermocouples that can track temperatures in the casting and mold. While not a new utility, it has been completely documented in the training workbook.

Early Fill Tilt Pour...: (New) Allows you to specify a point in tilt pouring when most or all metal has filled the mold, prior to completion of the tilt. For example, you could set the system to pour 90% of the metal during the first half(45 degrees) of a 90 degree tilt pour.

Filter Shape...: (New) Creates a rectangular filter shape with specified open area as an STL file. The STL can be added to a SOLIDCast model to simulate metal flow through the filter.

Iron Property Calculator...:  Previously, properties of iron castings modulus with values of more than 3 cm (1.18 in.) were calculated as though the modulus were 3 cm due to limitations in the VDG Nomograms. The range of the program has now been extended to calculate iron properties for heavier castings. Both property calculations and riser design functions of this utility have been completely documented in the training workbook.
 
Ladle Calculations...:  In the previous version, fill times of over 100 seconds caused an error to occur in FLOWCast.  This has been corrected.
 
Mask Material Density in Risers...: This utility has been completely documented in the training workbook.

Project Viewer...: The Project Viewer Utility now displays the number of STL surface facets in a model.

Simulation Parameters...: (New) This lets you adjust some system settings that previously required manipulating files in the SOLIDCast folder. These settings are:

• Reduce Mold/Metal HT Coefficient at Solidus Point (for Permanent Mold)
• Thermal Center Feeding (for Riserless Iron Castings)
• Low Pressure Simulation
• SOLIDCast Fill Tuned for Horizontal
• SOLIDCast Fill Tuned for Vertical
• Thermocouple Time Step Save Increments\

Solidification Time Gradient Calc (New)...: Calculates gradients in the casting based on Solidification Time. This has been used to predict the likelihood of hot tears in the casting.

FLOWCast Version 1.59 - The current version of FLOWCast includes the following changes since 1.49, which was distributed with version 6.3.40 of SOLIDCast:

• Stop Flow Temperature now defaults to the CFS Point, and is user adjustable. It used to be locked at the Solidification Temperature.
• Velocity Vector Plotting on 2-D cuts through the 3-D model can highlight both direction and speed of metal flow, showing swirling, eddies, etc.
• New Interface Controls that work very similar to SOLIDCast.
• Tilt-pour capability to fill the mold before tilting is complete.
• Centrifugal casting filling capability has been added. This is an initial release, and functionality will be improved and expanded.
• Improved handling of cooling channels.
• Improved data handling and animation of variable flow rate simulations.
• Non-blocking messages added for cyclical simulations in permanent molds.

Operating System Requirements - Version 7.0.0 of the software will now operate under Windows XP only. The version should be from 2001 or later. Microsoft has dropped support for any older operating system, and various changes to the software and movie functions require this. If you try to install or update to version 7.0.0 on machines with Windows 2000, NT or 9x/ME installed, the system will issue a warning message and prevent installation.

The installation package now applies the .NET Framework, which will simplify future developments and updates.

The installer now checks for and REQUIRES Administrator mode for both installation and updating. This was required in the past, but now the system actually checks for it an halts installation/updating if not in the required mode.