Numerical analysisi and optimization of a lamellar cast iron hydraulic distributor

The design of a new cast iron hydraulic component is problematic. Usually the fluid power components are made using cast iron, in order to overcome the complexity related to the ducts geometry. Direct observations and empirical investigations during casting are difficult and expensive to make. Usually direct methods are replaced by using physical and/or mathematical modelling. A yet unsolved problem is predicting the fatigue life of the cast component. In this paper will be showed the preliminary results of a study carried out with the aim to investigate the fatigue behavior of a cast hydraulic distributor. The geometry optimization performed to reduce the local stress concentration and the first metallographic analyses on the broken sample have been showed. The results of simulations have been compared with the experimental analysis on the same component, obtaining a good correspondence. The presented work is part of the European project FLEXICAST (FP7/2007-2013 grant agreement n° 314540), which is ongoing and will be finished in November 2016.