1 METAL CASTING

CHAPTER CONTENTS
1.1 Overview of Casting Technology
Definitions
Casting nomenclature
Heating and pouring
Solidification and cooling
1.2 Casting Processes
Expandable mold casting
Permanent mold casting
1.3 Casting quality

1.1 OVERVIEW OF CASTING TECHNOLOGY

Definitions
Casting is a process in which molten metal flows into a mold where it solidifies in the shape of the mold
cavity. The part produced is also called casting.

Complex shapes
Net-shape ability
Advantages Very large parts
Variety of metals
Mass production
Poor accuracy
Poor surface
Disadvantages Internal defects
Mechanical properties
Environmental impact

Casting technology involves the next steps:

Selection of castings of various
Mold preparation Metal heating Pouring Cooling Processing
materials, shapes, and sizes

Casting nomenclature
The figure in the right shows the nomencla-
ture of mold and castings in sand casting.

Casting nomenclature

1
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Pouring cup
The pouring cup, downsprue, runners, etc., are known as the
mold gating system, which serves to deliver the molten metal to all
sections of the mold cavity. Downsprue
Gates to casting

Runner

Runner extension
Downsprue well Runner well
Heating and pouring
Gating system in sand casting
Heating
The total heat required is estimated as the sum of

Heat to raise the temperature to the melting point

Heat of fusion
Heat to raise the molten metal temperature to the temperature of pouring

Pouring
Major factors affecting the pouring action

Pouring temperature
Pouring rate
Turbulence

Some important equations in pouring:

Velocity of the liquid metal at the base of the sprue: v 2 gh

Gravitational acceleration constant Sprue height

Volumetric flow rate: Q = vA

Castings cross-sectional area

Mold filling time: MFT = V/Q

Mold cavity volume

Fluidity
Fluidity is a measure of the capability of a metal to flow into and Standard testing method
to fill the mold before freezing. It defines to the great extend the
quality of casting. Pouring cup

Downsprue
Factors affecting fluidity:

Pouring temperature
Metal composition
Heat transfer to the surroundings
Limit of flow
Viscosity of the liquid metal before freezing
Spiral mold

In the foundry practice, test for fluidity is carried out for each ladle just before pouring the molten
metal into the mold
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Solidification and cooling
Solidification of metals

Pure metals solidify at a constant temperature equal to their freezing point

Most alloys freeze over a temperature range

Solidification time

TSTtotal solidification time

Chvorinovs rule n Cmmold constant
V Vvolume of the casting
TST Cm
A Asurface area of the casting
nconstant, usually n=2

Example:
Calculate the total solidification time for a 10/100/200-mm steel plate if Cm = 0.2 min/mm2
Solution:
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Shrinkage

Directional solidification

By a proper design of the casting

By external and internal chills

Riser design

Several riser designs are used in prac- Riser design Open Blind
tice as shown in the figure.
The riser must remain molten until Riser Mold Riser Mold
after the casting solidifies.
The Chvorinovs Rule is used to cal- Top
Casting Casting
culate the risers dimensions.

Mold Mold
Riser
Riser
Side
Casting Casting

Possible types and positions

for risers in sand casting
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1.2 CASTING PROCESSES

EXPENDABLE MOLD CASTING

In expendable mold casting, the mold is destroyed to remove the casting and a new mold is required
for each new casting.

Sand Casting
The next figure illustrates the basic production steps in sand casting:

Patterns
Patterns in sand casting are used to form the mold cavity. One major requirement is that patterns (and
therefore the mold cavity) must be oversized (i) to account for shrinkage in cooling and solidification,
and (ii) to provide enough metal for the subsequence machining operation(s).

(a) (b) (c) (d)

Types of patterns used in sand casting:
(a) solid pattern, (b) split pattern, (c) match-plate pattern, and (d) cope-and-drag pattern

Split pattern showing the

two sections together and
separated. Light-colored
portions are core prints.

Solid pattern for a pinion gear

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Cores
Cores serve to produce internal surfaces in castings In some cases, they have to be supported by chaplets
for more stable positioning:

(a) (b) (c)

(a) Core held in place in the mold cavity by chaplets, (b) chaplet design, (c) casting with internal cavity

Cores are made of foundry sand with addition of some

resin for strength by means of core boxes:

Core box, two core halves ready for

baking, and the complete core made by
gluing the two halves together

Foundry sands
The typical foundry sand is a mixture of fresh and recycled sand, which contains 90% silica (SiO2),
3% water, and 7% clay.
The grain size and grain shape are very important as they define the surface quality of casting and the
major mold parameters such as strength and permeability:

Bigger grain size results in a worse surface finish

Irregular grain shapes produce stronger mold

Larger grain size ensures better permeability

Valery Marinov, Manufacturing Technology Metal Casting 7
Mixing of foundry sands

Schematics of continuous (left)

and batch-type (right) sand muller.
Plow blades move the sand and the
muller wheels mix the components

Mold making
Hand packing
Machine packing
Automated methods

Shell molding

Steps in shell molding

Advantages:

Good surface finish (up to 2.5 mm)

Good dimensional accuracy (0.25 mm)
Suitable for mass production

Disadvantages:

Expensive metal pattern

Area of application:

Mass production of steel casting of less

than 10 kg Two halves of a shell mold pattern
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Investment casting (lost wax casting)

In investment casting, the pattern is made of wax, which melts after making the mold to produce the
mold cavity. Production steps in investment casting are illustrated in the figure:

Advantages:
Arbitrary complexity of castings
Good dimensional accuracy
Good surface finish
No or little additional machining (net, or near-net process)
Wax can be reused

Disadvantages:

Very expensive process

Requires skilled labor

Area of application:

Small in size, complex parts such as art pieces, jewelry, dental fixtures from all types of metals.
Used to produce machine elements such as gas turbine blades, pinion gears, etc. which do not
require or require only little subsequent machining.
Valery Marinov, Manufacturing Technology Metal Casting 9

PERMANENT MOLD CASTING PROCESSES

In contrary to sand casting, in permanent mold casting the mold is used to produce not a single but
many castings.

Steps in permanent mold casting

Steps in permanent mold casting: (1) mold is preheated and coated with lubricant for easeer separation of
the casting; (2) cores (if used) are inserted and moled is closed; 93) molten metal is poured into the mold;
and (4) mold is open and finished part removed. Finished part is shown in (5)

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
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.

Schematics of hot-chamber die-casting

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)
Cold chamber die casting

In cold-chamber die-casting,
molten metal is poured into the
chamber from an external melt-
ing container, and a piston is
used to inject the metal under
high pressure into the die cavity.

Schematics of cold-chamber die-casting

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

Valery Marinov, Manufacturing Technology Metal Casting 11
Centrifugal casting
True centrifugal casting

Setup for true horizontal centrifugal casting

In true centrifugal casting, molten metal is poured into a rotating mold to produce tubular parts such
as pipes, tubes, and rings.
Semi-centrifugal casting

Semi-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.

1.3 CASTING QUALITY

There are numerous opportunities in the casting operation for different defects to appear in the cast
product. Some of them are common to all casting processes:

Misruns: Casting solidifies before completely fill the mold. Reasons are low pouring
temperature, slow pouring or thin cross section of casting.

Cold shut: Two portions flow together but without fusion between them. Causes are similar
to those of a misrun.

Cold shots: When splattering occurs during pouring, solid globules of metal are entrapped in
the casting. Proper gating system designs could avoid this defect.
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Shrinkage cavity: Voids resulting from shrinkage. The problem can often be solved by proper riser
design but may require some changes in the part design as well.

Microporosity: Network of small voids distributed throughout the casting. The defect occurs
more often in alloys, because of the manner they solidify.

Hot tearing: Cracks caused by low mold collapsibility. They occur when the material is
restrained from contraction during solidification. A proper mold design can solve
the problem.

Some common defects in casting

Some defects are typical only for some particular casting processes, for instance, many defects occur
in sand casting as a result of interaction between the sand mold and the molten metal. Defect found
primarily in sand casting are gas cavities, rough surface areas, shift of the two halves of the mold, or
shift of the core, etc.