As advanced wear-resistant materials, it is important to promote the process and application of high chromium cast iron (HCCI) matrix composite reinforced by zirconia toughened alumina ceramic particles (ZTA_p/HCCI composite). For the purpose of wider applications of this kind of composite, it is urgent to optimize the process parameters of casting process for it. Based on the finite element software the temperature field and thermal stress in ZTA_p/HCCI composite during casting process were simulated. The temperature fields of castings are investigated using the uniform initial temperature and the non-uniform initial temperature at the beginning of solidification. It is more appropriate to the actual situation at the end of mold filling process when the initial temperature of solidification is considered as an unstable temperature field. The influence from performs with different honeycomb shapes is considered in the calculations of temperature fields of castings. In this work, the thermo-elastic plastic model was used to accurately describe the thermal stress in the castings with different honeycomb shapes of preforms, and the results indicate that the thermal stress in them decreases with the increase of edge number of holes in preforms. Finally, the hot crack in castings is predicted and the shakeout process is optimized. It is concluded that the simulated results are in good agreement with the experimental results.