MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY

UNIT I

SPECIAL CASTING PROCESS

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Special Casting Process
Expandable Mold Casting Processes

Shell mold Casting

Investment casting

Vacuum mold Casting

Expanded polystyrene mold

Plaster mold and ceramic mold

Permanent Mold Casting Processes

Die casting

Centrifugal casting

Basic permanent mold

Variations of permanent mold

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Special Casting Process
Expandable Mold Casting
In expandable mold casting, the mold is destroyed to remove the casting and a
new mold is required for each new casting.
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Expandable Mold Casting Processes
The pattern used in this process is made from polystyrene (this
is the light, white packaging material which is used to pack
electronics inside the boxes). Polystyrene foam is 95% air
bubbles, and the material itself evaporates when the liquid
metal is poured on it.
The pattern itself is made by molding the polystyrene beads
and pentane are put inside an aluminum mold, and heated; it
expands to fill the mold, and takes the shape of the cavity.
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The pattern is removed, and used for the casting process, as
follows:
The pattern is dipped in a slurry of water and clay (or other
refractory grains); it is dried to get a hard shell around the
pattern.
The shell-covered pattern is placed in a container with sand
for support, and liquid metal is poured from a hole on top.
The foam evaporates as the metal fills the shell; upon
cooling and solidification, the part is removed by breaking
the shell.
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Expandable Mold Casting Processes

Expandable mold casting

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Expandable Mold Casting Characteristics
The process is useful since it is very cheap, and yields good
surface finish and complex geometry.
There are no runners, risers, gating or parting lines thus the
design process is simplified.
The process is used to manufacture crank-shafts for engines,
aluminum engine blocks, manifolds etc.
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Shell Mold Casting

Shell moulding is a process for producing simple or complex

near net shape castings, maintaining tight tolerances and a high
degree of dimensional stability.

The process was developed and patented by Croning in

Germany during World War II and is sometimes referred to as
the Croning shell process.
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Shell Mold Casting Process
Initially preparing a metal-matched plate
Mixing resin and sand
Heating pattern, usually between 505-550 K
Inverting the pattern (the sand is at one end of a box and the
pattern at the other, and the box is inverted for a time
determined by the desired thickness of the mill)
Curing the shell and baking it
Removing investment
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Inserting cores

Repeating for the other half

Assembling the mould

Pouring the metal

Removing casting
Cleaning and trimming
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Process Detail
Example 1
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Example 2

The shell-molding process, also called dump-box technique.

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Process Steps in Detail
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Process Steps in Detail
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1. Heated metal pattern ready for shell formation from
resin-bonded sand.
2. Box inversion for shell formation.
3. Partial cured shell layer hardened; box re-inverted to allow
the loose sand particles to be separated.
4. Sand shell is heated to complete the curing.
5. Sand shell removed from the pattern
6. Two halves of the sand shell are assembled and ready for
pouring.
7. Finished shell casting with sprue removed.
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Shell Mold Casting Process
Advantages
Good surface finish (up to 2.5 mm)
Good dimensional accuracy (0.25 mm)
Suitable for mass production

Disadvantages
Expensive metal pattern
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Area of application

Mass production of steel casting of less than 10 kg

Crankshaft fabrication

Steel casting parts, fittings

Molded tubing fabrication
Hydraulic control housing fabrication
Automotive castings (cylinder head and ribbed cylinder
fabrication).
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Process Characteristics
Is superior to other sand casting processes in the accurate duplication of
intricate shapes and dimensional accuracy
Process can be completely mechanized
Uses a thin-walled non-reusable shell composed of a sand-resin mixture
Requires a heated metal pattern for producing the shell molds
The process was optimized to get a better shell by varying the temperature
of the metal pattern, holding time of sand resin mixture and final curing
time of shell and pattern.
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Investment casting

Also Named as lost wax casting, because of the use of wax

patterns which are coated with a refractory (i.e. the patterns are
invested in alternate layers of slurry and stucco), with the wax
patterns subsequently melted out to leave a hollow shell into
which the metal is cast.

It is an extremely slow process and the production rate is

governed by the time to make the mould.
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Investment casting Process

This process uses wax patterns assembled in tree forms on a

runner. The completed assembly is coated with a ceramic
slurry, allowed to dry and then heated to melt out the wax
leaving a ceramic mould into which the molten alloy is poured.

Parts made with investment castings often do not require any

further machining, because of the close tolerances that can be
achieved.
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Processing Steps
Example 1
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Process Steps in Detail
1. Wax Pattern made.
2. Patterns attached to wax sprue.
3. Pattern tree coated with thin layer of refractory material.
4. Pattern tree coated with sufficient refractory material.
5. Invert tree and melt wax by heat.
6. Preheat mold to high temperature to induce flow and remove
contaminants.
7. Mold broken and parts remove.
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Example - 2
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Process Steps in Detail

Produce a master pattern

Produce a master die

Produce wax patterns

Assemble the wax patterns onto a common wax sprue
Coat the tree with a thin layer of investment material
Form additional investment around the coated cluster
Allow the investment to harden
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Remove the wax pattern from the mold by melting or
dissolving

Heat the mold

Pour the molten metal

Remove the solidified casting from the mold
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Example - 3
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Example - 4
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Advantages
Excellent accuracy and flexibility of design.
Useful for casting alloys that are difficult to machine.
Exceptionally fine finish.
Suitable for large or small quantities of parts.
Suitable for most ferrous / non-ferrous metals.
Complex shapes can be cast
Thin sections can be cast
Machining can be eliminated or reduced
Disadvantages
Limitations on size of casting.
Higher casting costs make it important to take full advantage of the
process to eliminate all machining operations.
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Area of application

One of the oldest casting methods

complex parts such as art pieces, jewelry, dental fixtures
from all types of metals.

Products such as rocket components, and jet engine turbine

blades
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Permanent Mold Casting
In Permanent Molding Process, instead of using sand as the mold
material, a metal is used as a mold (Die).
In contrary to sand casting, in permanent mold casting the mold is
used to produce not a single but many castings. In all the above
processes, a mold need to be prepared for each of the casting
produced.
For large-scale production, making a mold, for every casting to be
produced, may be difficult and expensive. Therefore, a permanent
mold, called the die may be made from iron or steel, although
graphite, copper and aluminum have been used as mold materials.
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The process in which we use a die to make the castings is
called permanent mold casting or gravity die casting, since the
metal enters the mold under gravity.
Some time in die casting, we inject the molten metal with a
high pressure. When we apply pressure in injecting the metal it
is called pressure die casting process.
Permanent mold casting is typically used for high-volume
production of small, simple metal parts with uniform wall
thickness.
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Processing Steps
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Process Steps in Detail

1. Mold is preheated and coated with lubricant for easier

separation of the casting;

2. Cores (if used) are inserted and mold is closed;

3. Molten metal is poured into the mold;
4. Mold is open and finished part removed.
5. Processing Finished part
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Advantages
Good dimensional accuracy
Good surface finish
Finer grain structure (stronger casting)
Possibility for automation
Disadvantages
Only for metals with low melting point
Castings with simple geometry
Area of application
Mass production of non-ferrous alloys and cast iron
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Die casting
Die casting is a very commonly used type of permanent mold
casting process.
It is used for producing many components of home appliances
(e.g rice cookers, stoves, fans, washing and drying machines,
fridges), motors, toys and hand-tools.
Surface finish and tolerance of die cast parts is so good that
there is almost no post-processing required. Die casting molds
are expensive, and require significant lead time to fabricate.
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Types of Die Casting
Hot-chamber die-casting
In hot chamber die-casting, the metal is melted in a container
attached to the machine, and a piston is used to inject the liquid
metal under high pressure into the die.
Cold chamber die casting
In cold-chamber die-casting, molten metal is poured into the
chamber from an external melting container, and a piston is used
to inject the metal under high pressure into the die cavity.
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Hot-chamber die-casting

Schematics of Hot-chamber die-casting

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Hot-chamber die-casting Process Details
In a hot chamber process (used for Zinc alloys, magnesium) the pressure
chamber connected to the die cavity is filled permanently in the molten
metal
Die is closed and gooseneck cylinder is filled with molten metal;
Plunger pushes molten metal through gooseneck passage and nozzle and
into the die cavity; metal is held under pressure until it solidifies;
Die opens and cores, if any, are retracted; casting stays in ejector die;
plunger returns, pulling molten metal back through nozzle and gooseneck;
Ejector pins push casting out of ejector die. As plunger uncovers inlet hole,
molten metal refills gooseneck cylinder
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Advantages
High productivity (up to 500 parts per hour)
Close tolerances
Good surface finish
Disadvantages
The injection system is submerged in the molten metal
Only simple shapes
Area of application
Mass production of non-ferrous alloys with very low melting
point (zinc, tin, lead)
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Cold chamber die casting

Schematics of Cold-chamber die-casting

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Cold chamber die casting Process details
In a cold chamber process, the molten metal is poured into the cold
chamber in each cycle
Die is closed and molten metal is ladled into the cold chamber cylinder;
Plunger pushes molten metal into die cavity; the metal is held under high
pressure until it solidifies;
Die opens and plunger follows to push the solidified slug from the cylinder,
if there are cores, they are retracted away;
Ejector pins push casting off ejector die and plunger returns to original
position.
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Advantages
Same as in hot chamber die-casting, but less productivity.

Disadvantages
Only simple shapes

Area of application
Mass production of aluminium and magnesium alloys, and brass
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Centrifugal casting

Centrifugal casting uses a permanent mold that is rotated about its axis at a
speed between 300 to 3000 rpm as the molten metal is poured. Centrifugal
forces cause the metal to be pushed out towards the mold walls, where it
solidifies after cooling
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This process is normally used for the making of hollow pipes, tubes,
hollow bushes, etc., which are axi symmetric with a concentric hole.
Since the metal is always pushed outward because of the centrifugal
force, no core needs to be used for making the concentric hole.
The mold can be rotated about a vertical, horizontal or an inclined
axis or about its horizontal and vertical axes simultaneously.
The length and outside diameter are fixed by the mold cavity
dimensions while the inside diameter is determined by the amount of
molten metal poured into the mold.
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Types
Horizontal Centrifugal Casting

Vertical Centrifugal Casting

Horizontal Centrifugal Casting

True centrifugal casting

In this casting, molten metal is poured into a rotating mold
to produce tubular parts such as pipes, tubes, and rings
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Horizontal Centrifugal Casting
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Vertical Centrifugal Casting

In this method, centrifugal force is used to produce solid

castings rather than tubular parts.

Density of the metal in the final casting is greater in the outer

sections than at the center of rotation.

The process is used on parts in which the center of the casting

is machined away, such as wheels and pulleys.
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Vertical Centrifugal Casting
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Centrifugal Casting

Horizontal Centrifugal Casting Vertical Centrifugal Casting

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Advantages
Rapid production rate.
Suitable for Ferrous / Non-ferrous parts.
Good soundness and cleanliness of castings.
Ability to produce extremely large cylindrical parts.
Formation of hollow interiors in cylinders without cores
Fine grained structure at the outer surface of the casting free of
gas and shrinkage cavities and porosity
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Disadvantages
More segregation of alloy component during pouring under the
forces of rotation
Contamination of internal surface of castings with non
-metallic inclusions
Inaccurate internal diameter
Only cylindrical shapes can be produced with this process.
Application
Pipe and Tube Manufacturing
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