journal article·2025-02-14Open access

An Artificial Intelligence-Based Digital Twin Approach for Rejection Rate and Mechanical Property Improvement in an Investment Casting Plant

Javier Nieves, David Garcia, Jorge Angulo-Pines, Fernando Santos, Pedro Pablo Rodriguez

Applied Sciences· Volume 15· Issue 4

Abstract

The manufacturing process carried out in the investment casting industry suffers from problems similar to other production processes. In addition, the high requirements of the customers and the industries that require these parts mean that high quality standards must be met. If those requirements are not achieved, this leads to the rejection of the manufactured parts. Therefore, given the current technology revolution (i.e., Industry 4.0) and the possibilities offered by tools such as digital twins and artificial intelligence, it is possible to work on a generation of intelligent systems that can reduce and even avoid these problems. Therefore, this study proposes the creation of a digital twin based on artificial intelligence to work on proactively identifying problems before they happen and, if they are detected, launch an optimization process that offers corrective actions to solve them. More specifically, this work focuses on the analysis of the manufacturing process (definition, KPI extraction, capture, distribution, and visualization), the creation of a base system for the integral management of process optimization, and experiments developed for determining the best method for making predictions. Additionally, we propose a recommender system to (i) avoid the appearance of porosities and (ii) keep the elongation of the parts in the ranges desired by the customer.
Source: crossref · Quality: baseline

Research context

OpenAlex topics: Digital Transformation in Industry · Additive Manufacturing Materials and Processes · Manufacturing Process and Optimization

SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.

Affiliations

Azterlan Member of Basque Research Team Alliance (BRTA), Aliendale Auzunea 6, 48200 Durango, Spain

EIPC Research Center, AIE, Torrekua 3, 20600 Eibar, Spain

Funding

European Union

References (78)

Show source-provided references
1. The Medieval metal industry was the cradle of modern large-scale atmospheric lead pollution in northern Europe10.1021/es990279n ↗
2. Developments in investment casting process—A review10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2012.06.003 ↗
3. Prasad, R. (2012). Progress in investment castings. Science and Technology of Casting Processes, IntechOpen.10.5772/50550 ↗
4. Alloy shrinkage factors for the investment casting process10.1007/s11663-006-0092-x ↗
5. Beeley, P.R., and Smart, R.F. (2023). Investment Casting, CRC Press.10.1201/9781003419228 ↗
6. Effect of the casting process variables on microporosity and mechanical properties in an investment cast aluminium alloy10.1016/S1468-6996(01)00069-9 ↗
7. Dučić, N., Manasijević, S., Jovičić, A., Ćojbašić, Ž., and Radiša, R. (2022). Casting Process Improvement by the Application of Artificial Intelligence. Appl. Sci., 12.10.3390/app12073264 ↗
8. The scope of artificial neural network metamodels for precision casting process planning10.1016/j.rcim.2009.04.018 ↗
9. Multi-characteristic optimization of wax patterns in the investment casting process using grey–fuzzy logic10.1007/s00170-012-4591-4 ↗
10. Implementing Deep Learning-Based Intelligent Inspection for Investment Castings10.1007/s13369-023-08240-7 ↗
12. A critical review on applications of artificial intelligence in manufacturing10.1007/s10462-023-10535-y ↗
13. Wang, W., Wang, Y., Jiang, R., and Cui, K. (2023). Machine learning-enabled early prediction of dimensional accuracy for complex products of investment casting (Preprint version). Int. J. Adv. Manuf. Technol.
14. Application of Digital Twin of Robot Cell in Investment Casting Manufacturing10.1016/j.procir.2024.10.156 ↗
15. Key Technology and Application of Digital Twin Modeling for Deformation Control of Investment Casting
16. Digital twin modeling for stress prediction of single-crystal turbine blades based on graph convolutional network10.1016/j.jmapro.2024.02.054 ↗
17. Guan, B., Wang, D., Shu, D., and Sun, B. (2024, January 25–30). Digital Twin Model of Casting Temperature and Shrinkage Porosity Prediction. Proceedings of the 75th World Foundry Congress, Deyang, China.
18. Model predictive control: Theory and practice—A survey10.1016/0005-1098(89)90002-2 ↗
19. Divide and conquer10.1093/jla/2.2.417 ↗
20. Mackey, L., Jordan, M., and Talwalkar, A. (2011, January 12–17). Divide-and-conquer matrix factorization. Proceedings of the Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems 24 (NIPS 2011), Granada, Spain.
21. Divide-and-conquer for parallel processing10.1109/TC.1983.1676280 ↗
22. Boschert, S., and Rosen, R. (2016). Digital twin—The simulation aspect. Mechatronic Futures: Challenges and Solutions for Mechatronic Systems and Their Designers, Springer.10.1007/978-3-319-32156-1_5 ↗
23. A survey on modeling and optimizing multi-objective systems10.1109/COMST.2017.2698366 ↗
24. Architecting principles for systems-of-systems
25. Boardman, J., and Sauser, B. (2006, January 24–26). System of Systems-the meaning of of. Proceedings of the 2006 IEEE/SMC International Conference on System of Systems Engineering, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
26. Research challenges for systems-of-systems10.1109/ICSMC.2005.1571630 ↗
27. Bass, L., Clements, P., and Kazman, R. (2012). Software Architecture in Practice: Software Architect Practice_c3, Addison-Wesley.
28. Distributed real time data processing for manufacturing organizations10.1109/TEM.1977.6447256 ↗
29. Systematic method for big manufacturing data integration and sharing10.1007/s00170-017-0575-8 ↗
30. Krivic, P., Skocir, P., Kusek, M., and Jezic, G. (2017, January 21–23). Microservices as agents in IoT systems. Proceedings of the Agent and Multi-Agent Systems: Technology and Applications: 11th KES International Conference, KES-AMSTA 2017 Vilamoura, Algarve, Portugal. Proceedings 11.10.1007/978-3-319-59394-4_3 ↗
31. Kalyani, Y., Rahman, S., and Collier, R.W. (2022, January 23–25). Integration of Hypermedia-Agents, Microservices and Digital Twin for Smart Agriculture. Proceedings of the PoEM Workshops, London, UK.
32. Observer-conditioned-observable design pattern
33. Tarkoma, S. (2012). Publish/Subscribe Systems: Design and Principles, John Wiley & Sons.10.1002/9781118354261 ↗
34. Baigent, D., Adamiak, M., Mackiewicz, R., and Sisco, G. (2004). IEC 61850 Communication Networks and Systems in Substations: An Overview for Users, SISCO Systems.
35. Ganesan, D., Lindvall, M., Ruley, L., Wiegand, R., Ly, V., and Tsui, T. (2010, January 13–16). Architectural analysis of systems based on the publisher-subscriber style. Proceedings of the 2010 17th Working Conference on Reverse Engineering, Beverly, MA, USA.10.1109/WCRE.2010.27 ↗
36. Patterns and performance of distributed real-time and embedded publisher/subscriber architectures10.1016/S0164-1212(02)00078-X ↗
37. Rajkumar, R., Gagliardi, M., and Sha, L. (1995, January 15–17). The real-time publisher/subscriber inter-process communication model for distributed real-time systems: Design and implementation. Proceedings of the Proceedings Real-Time Technology and Applications Symposium, Chicago, IL, USA.
38. Edwards, G.T., Schmidt, D.C., and Gokhale, A. (2004, January 2–3). Integrating publisher/subscriber services in component middleware for distributed real-time and embedded systems. Proceedings of the 42nd annual Southeast regional conference, Huntsville, AL, USA.10.1145/986537.986577 ↗
39. Likert scale: Explored and explained10.9734/BJAST/2015/14975 ↗
40. The Examples of Digitalization of Foundry Production: Virtual Engineering, Digital Twin, Additive Technologies10.15407/csc.2020.05.064 ↗
41. Digital twin: Enabling technologies, challenges and open research10.1109/ACCESS.2020.2998358 ↗
42. Karaadi, A., Sun, L., and Mkwawa, I.H. (2017, January 21–23). Multimedia communications in internet of things QoT or QoE?. Proceedings of the 2017 IEEE International Conference on Internet of Things (iThings) and IEEE Green Computing and Communications (GreenCom) and IEEE Cyber, Physical and Social Computing (CPSCom) and IEEE Smart Data (SmartData), Exeter, UK.10.1109/iThings-GreenCom-CPSCom-SmartData.2017.11 ↗
43. Bishop, C.M., and Nasrabadi, N.M. (2006). Pattern Recognition and Machine Learning, Springer.
44. An overview of the supervised machine learning methods10.20544/HORIZONS.B.04.1.17.P05 ↗
45. Jiang, J. (2025, January 20). A Literature Survey on Domain Adaptation of Statistical Classifiers. Available online: http://www.mysmu.edu/faculty/jingjiang/papers/da_survey.pdf.
46. Statistical comparisons of classifiers over multiple data sets
47. Pepe, M.S. (2003). The Statistical Evaluation of Medical Tests for Classification and Prediction, Oxford University Press.10.1093/oso/9780198509844.001.0001 ↗
48. Nieves, J., Santos, I., Penya, Y.K., Brezo, F., and Bringas, P.G. (September, January 30). Enhanced foundry production control. Proceedings of the Database and Expert Systems Applications: 21st International Conference, DEXA 2010, Bilbao, Spain. Proceedings, Part I 21.10.1007/978-3-642-15364-8_15 ↗
49. Shetty, R., Al Majali, A., and Wells, L. (2024). Enhanced Classification of Refractory Coatings in Foundries: A VPCA-Based Machine Learning Approach. Int. J. Met., 1–11.10.1007/s40962-024-01427-0 ↗
50. Cooper, G.F., and Herskovits, E. (1991). A Bayesian method for constructing Bayesian belief networks from databases. Uncertainty Proceedings 1991, Elsevier.10.1016/B978-1-55860-203-8.50015-2 ↗
51. Russell, S.J., and Norvig, P. (2016). Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach, Pearson.
52. Bayesian network classifiers10.1023/A:1007465528199 ↗
53. Guo, G., Wang, H., Bell, D., Bi, Y., and Greer, K. (2003, January 3–7). KNN model-based approach in classification. Proceedings of the On The Move to Meaningful Internet Systems 2003: CoopIS, DOA, and ODBASE: OTM Confederated International Conferences, CoopIS, DOA, and ODBASE 2003, Catania, Italy. Proceedings.10.1007/978-3-540-39964-3_62 ↗
54. Rana, A., Rawat, A.S., Bijalwan, A., and Bahuguna, H. (2018, January 22–24). Application of multi layer (perceptron) artificial neural network in the diagnosis system: A systematic review. Proceedings of the 2018 International Conference on Research in Intelligent and Computing in Engineering (RICE), San Salvador, El Salvador.10.1109/RICE.2018.8509069 ↗
55. Improving support vector machine classifiers by modifying kernel functions10.1016/S0893-6080(99)00032-5 ↗
56. Maji, S., Berg, A.C., and Malik, J. (2008, January 23–28). Classification using intersection kernel support vector machines is efficient. Proceedings of the 2008 IEEE Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition, Anchorage, AK, USA.10.1109/CVPR.2008.4587630 ↗
57. Visualisation and interpretation of support vector regression models10.1016/j.aca.2007.03.023 ↗
58. Nonlinear support vector machine visualization for risk factor analysis using nomograms and localized radial basis function kernels10.1109/TITB.2007.902300 ↗
59. Quinlan, J.R. (2014). C4. 5: Programs for Machine Learning, Elsevier.
60. Cutler, A., Cutler, D.R., and Stevens, J.R. (2012). Random forests. Ensemble Machine Learning: Methods and Applications, Springer.10.1007/978-1-4419-9326-7_5 ↗
61. Freund, Y., and Schapire, R.E. (1998, January 24–26). Large margin classification using the perceptron algorithm. Proceedings of the Eleventh Annual Conference on Computational Learning Theory, Madisson, WI, USA.10.1145/279943.279985 ↗
62. Kuncheva, L.I. (2014). Combining Pattern Classifiers: Methods and Algorithms, John Wiley & Sons.10.1002/9781118914564 ↗
63. Dietterich, T.G. (2000, January 21–23). Ensemble methods in machine learning. Proceedings of the International Workshop on Multiple Classifier Systems, First International Workshop, MCS 2000, Cagliari, Italy.
64. On combining classifiers10.1109/34.667881 ↗
65. Seewald, A.K., and Fürnkranz, J. (2001, January 13–15). An evaluation of grading classifiers. Proceedings of the International Symposium on Intelligent Data Analysis, 4th International Conference, IDA 2001, Cascais, Portugal.10.1007/3-540-44816-0_12 ↗
66. Stacked generalization10.1016/S0893-6080(05)80023-1 ↗
67. Garner, S.R. (1995, January 23–25). Weka: The waikato environment for knowledge analysis. Proceedings of the New Zealand Computer Science Research Students Conference, Citeseer, Wellington, New Zealand.
68. The area under the ROC curve and its competitors10.1177/0272989X9101100204 ↗
69. Association rule mining: A survey
70. Mooney, C.Z. (1997). Monte Carlo Simulation, Sage. Number 116.10.4135/9781412985116 ↗
71. Farahanipad, F., Rezaei, M., Nasr, M.S., Kamangar, F., and Athitsos, V. (2022). A survey on GAN-based data augmentation for hand pose estimation problem. Technologies, 10.10.3390/technologies10020043 ↗
72. Alla, S., Adari, S.K., Alla, S., and Adari, S.K. (2021). What is mlops?. Beginning MLOps with MLFlow: Deploy Models in AWS SageMaker, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure, Apress.10.1007/978-1-4842-6549-9 ↗
73. Deep neural networks as scientific models10.1016/j.tics.2019.01.009 ↗
74. Wehrens, R., and Buydens, L.M. (2000). Classical and nonclassical optimization methods. Encyclopedia of Analytical Chemistry, John Wiley & Sons.10.1002/9780470027318.a5203 ↗
75. Quantum optimization and quantum learning: A survey10.1109/ACCESS.2020.2970105 ↗
76. Nieves, J. (2012). Salomón: Un Nuevo Enfoque para la Mejora de Procesos de Negocio Mediante la Producción Inteligente Basada en Modelos Predictivos de Control Híbridos y Autoadaptativos. [Ph.D. Thesis, Universidad de Deusto].
77. Bayesian Generation of Synthetic Data
78. Reinforcement learning: A survey10.1613/jair.301 ↗