Cast iron objects such as axes and other artifacts excavated from ancient sites generally have a layered structure with columnar ferrite on the outside, changing to pearlite and ledeburite with increasing depth, together with a minor fraction of dispersed graphite; this structure is the result of the heat treatment used in the decarburization process. The formation of the columnar ferrite structure has previously been explained by assuming that cast iron was produced using a metal mold and then decarburized.

  In this study, in order to clarify this issue, decarburization experiments were performed on white cast iron. Part of a white cast iron block, containing the surface that had been in contact with the mold during casting, in addition to a cut surface, was heated to 1273K, held at that temperature for 96h, and then slowly cooled to 873K at 67K/h (for 6h). It was found that columnar ferrite crystals grew in the direction perpendicular to the surface regardless of the solidification direction. The ferrite structure did not have a uniform crystal orientation, similar to the case for partially decarburized ancient cast iron. Therefore, this clarified that the issue was a misunderstanding without materials scientific grounds. In addition, when white cast iron was decarburized at 1123K for 48h and cooled to 873K at 42K/h, the overall thickness of the decarburized layers was close to that for ancient artifacts. Therefore, it is likely that in ancient times, the same type of cast iron and heat treatment conditions were used.

  Particle-based computational methods, such as the Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) method, do not require numerical mesh. Because of the mesh-less characteristics, they are suitable for numerical simulation including free surfaces or moving boundaries. In the casting process, the simulation of the molten metal flow is expected to become more accurate by using particle methods.

  On the other hand, pouring experiments with water and with molten aluminum alloy show totally different filling times and wave shapes, despite the same degree of kinematic viscosity, because molten metal used for casting changes flow characteristics by generating oxide film on the melt surface. Thus, the aim of our research is to construct a numerical model, in order to reproduce the effects of the oxide film by the SPH method. We report the results of the verification of this model by comparing the experimental results and our simulation results by the particle method.