Elements of Gating System:

The gating systems refer to all those elements, which are connected with the flow of
molten metal from the ladle to the mould cavity. The elements of gating systems are
1. Pouring Basin
2. Sprue
3. Sprue Base Well
4. Runner
5. Runner Extension
6. Ingate
7. Riser

A gating system for castings can be broadly divided into: -

1) The entry section – consisting of the pouring basin,

sprue and sprue base.
2) The distribution section – consisting of the runners and ingates.

• The entry section of a gating has two functions: -

1) To supply liquid metal free of entrapped gases, slag and eroded sand.
2) To establish a hydraulic pressure head, which will force the metal through the
rest of the gating system and into the casting.

• The distribution section has five functions: -

1) To decrease the velocity of the metal stream.

2) To minimize turbulence, both in the gating system as well as in the mold cavity.
3) To avoid mold and core erosion.
4) To establish the best possible thermal gradient in the casting.
5) To regulate the rate of flow of metal into the mold cavity.

• In addition to these, the gating system should be of such simple design as to

facilitate molding, particularly with mechanical methods, at the same time
involving minimum fettling cost and affording maximum casting yield.
Many of these requirements and functions are conflicting with each other. Effort
should be to harmonize these so as to create conditions conducive to the production
of a defect free casting

Any gating system designed should aim at providing a defect free

casting. This can be achieved by considering following requirements.

 The mould should be completely filled in the smallest possible time

without having to raise neither metal temperature nor use of higher metal
heads.
 The metal should flow smoothly into the mould without any turbulence.
A turbulence metal flow tends to form dross in the mould.
 Unwanted materials such as slag, dross and other mould materials
should not be allowed to enter the mould cavity.
 The metal entry into the mould cavity should be properly controlled in
such a way that aspiration of the atmospheric air is prevented.
 A proper thermal gradient should be maintained so that the casting is
cooled without any shrinkage cavities or distortions.
 Metal flow should be maintained in such a way that no gating or mould
erosion takes place.
 The gating system should ensure that enough molten metal reaches the
mould cavity.
 It should be economical and easy to implement and remove after casting
solidification.
 The casting yield should be maximized

Pouring Basin:

The main function of a pouring basin is to reduce the momentum of the liquid
flowing into the mould by settling first into it. In order that the metal enters into the
sprue without any turbulence it is necessary that the pouring basin be deep enough,
also the entrance into the sprue be a smooth radius of at least 25 mm. The pouring
basin depth of 2.5 times the sprue entrance diameter is enough for smooth metal
flow and to prevent vortex formation. In order that vortex is not formed during
pouring, it is necessary that the pouring basin be kept full and constant conditions of
flow are established. This can be achieved by using a delay screen or a strainer core.
A delay screen is a small piece of perforated thin tin sheet placed in the pouring
basin at the top of the down sprue. This screen usually melts because of the heat from
the metal and in the process delays the entrance of metal into the sprue thus filling
the pouring basin fully. This ensures a constant flow of metal as also exclude slag
and dirt since only metal from below is allowed to go into the sprue. A similar
effect is also achieved by a strainer core, which is a ceramic-coated screen with
many holes. The strainer restricts the flow of metal into the sprue and thus helps in
quick filling of the pouring basin. Pouring basins are most desirable for alloys,
which form troublesome oxide skins (aluminium, aluminium bronze, etc.)

Sprue:

Sprue is a vertical channel though which the molten metal flows downward in the
mould
. The sprues should be tapered down to take into account the gain in velocity of the
metal as it flows down reducing the air aspiration. The exact tapering can be
obtained by equation of continuity. Denoting the top and the choke sections of the
sprue by the subscripts t and c respectively, we get

At Vt = Ac Vc
At = Ac (Vc / Vt)
Since the velocities are proportional to the square of the potential heads, then from
Bernoulli’s equation

At = AC (hc/ht)0.5
The square roots suggest that the profile of the sprue should be parabolic if exactly
done as per the above equation. But making a parabolic sprue is inconvenient in
practice and therefore a straight taper is preferable.

Sprue Base Well:

The provision of a sprue base well at the bottom of the sprue helps in reducing the
velocity of the incoming metal and also the mould erosion. A general guide line
could be that the sprue base well area should be five times that of the sprue choke
area and the well depth should be approximately equal to that of the runner. As it
leaves the sprue, the molten metal travels at its highest velocity and develops its
maximum energy. At the sprue base, the direction of flow abruptly change, which
causes severe turbulence. Therefore, by increasing the area of sprue base, both the
velocity and the turbulence of metal can be effectively reduced. In addition, as the
sprue base is filled, the molten metal acts as a cushion to absorb the impact of the
falling stream. In order for the sprue base to function properly, its bottom surface
must be flat. This because curved bottom surface of a sprue base will not absorb the
kinetic energy of the falling stream and will deflect the molten metal up the sides of
the bowl, thus causing severe turbulence.

Runner:
It is generally located in the horizontal plane, which connects the sprue to its in-
gates, thus allowing the metal enter the mould cavity. The runners are made
trapezoidal in cross-section. It is a general practice for ferrous metals to cut the
runners in the cope and the ingates in the drag. The main reason for this is to trap
the slag and dross, which are lighter and thus trapped in the upper portion of the
runners. When the amount of molten metal coming from the down sprue is more
than the amount flowing through the in-gates, the runner would always be full and
thus slag trapping would take place. To ensure that only clean metal enters the
gates, and thereby, the mold cavity, the runners should be filled before the gates. It
is; therefore, best to place runners in the drag and gates in the cope. The molten
metal that first enters the running system is usually contaminated due to turbulence,
aspiration and eroded sand. Runner bar extensions are, therefore, used with
advantage to prevent this metal from entering the mold cavity. The runner extension
must, however, be extended far enough beyond the last gate to prevent the
backwash of unclean metal from entering the gate.

Ingate:

The in-gate can be considered as a weir with no reduction in cross section of the
stream at the gate. Then the rate of flow of molten metal through the gates depends
on the free height of the metal in the runner and the gate area & the velocity with
which metal is flowing in the runner. The free height, h can be calculated as

Where Q = metal flow rate, mm3/s

b = gate width, mm
V = metal velocity in runner, mm/s
g = acceleration due to gravity, mm/s2
Having obtained the head of metal, the height of the gate h, is given by
h1 = h – 5 mm
Gates higher than this will not fill completely and those lower than this will
increase the velocities of the stream entering into. The ingates are generally made
wider compared to depth, up to a ratio of 4. This facilitates in the severing of the
gates from the casting after solidification. It may sometimes preferable to reduce the
actual connection between the ingate and the casting by means of a neck-down so
that the removal of it is simplified. The following points should be kept in mind
while choosing the positioning of the ingates.

In-gate Design:
The following points should be kept in mind while choosing the positioning of
the in-gates.
 1. Ingate should not be located near a protruding part of the mould to avoid the
striking of vertical mould walls by molten metal stream.
2. Ingates should be preferably be placed along the longitudinal axis of the
mould wall.
3. It should not be placed near a core print or a chill.
4. Ingate cross sectional area should preferably be smaller than the smallest
thickness of the casting so that the ingates solidify first and isolate the casting
from the gating system. This would reduce the possibility of air aspiration
through gating system in case of metal shrinkage.

It is possible that the farthest gate from the sprue is likely to flow more metal than
others, particularly in the case of unpressurised system. To make for more uniform
flow through all the gates, the runner area should be reduced progressively after
each ingate, such that restriction on the metal flow would be provided.

Types of Gates:

Top gate:

Top gates are usually limited to relatively small castings of simple design. The
turbulence of metal as it enters the mould cavity causes erosion, which is a major
problem in the manufacture of steel castings. As such, top gates are used in steel
foundries only for broad shapes of low heights.

Bottom gate:

Bottom gating reduces the turbulence and erosion of the mould to a minimum, but
creates unfavorable thermal gradients. Whereas local hot spots results at the gate
entrance, cold metal appears in the riser.

Parting line gate:

This particular form of gating is a compromise between top and bottom gating.
They are often chosen more as a molding expedient than for the intrinsic value. In
this case, metal enters the mould cavity at the same level as the mould joint or
parting line. Molten metal enters through the sprue and reaches the parting surface
where the sprue is connected to the runner or gates in a direction horizontal to the
casting. The arrangement of providing a gate at the parting line allows the use of
devices that can effectively trap any slag, dirt, or sand, which passes with the metal
down the sprue.

Slag Trap Systems:

In order to obtain sound casting quality, it is essential that the slag and other
impurities be removed from the molten metal fully before it enters the mould
cavity. Apart from the use of pouring basins and strainer cores the following
methods are also used.

Runner Extension:

Normally the metal which moves first into the gating system is likely to contain
slag and dross which should not be allowed to get into the mould cavity. This could
be achieved by extending the runner beyond the ingates so that the momentum of
the metal will carry it past the gates and to a blind alley called runner extension. A
runner extension having a minimum of twice the runner width is desirable.

Whirl Gate:
Another method employed successfully to trap the slag from entering steel casting
is a whirl gate. This utilizes the principle of centrifugal action to throw the dense
metal to the periphery and retain the lighter slag at the centre. In order to achieve
this action, it is necessary that entry area should be at least 1.5 times the exit area so
that the metal is built up at the centre quickly. Also the metal should revolve 2700
before reaching the exit gate so as to gain enough time for separating the impurities.
Riser:

The function of a riser (also called reservoir, feeders, or headers) is to feed the
casting during solidification so that no shrinkage cavities are formed. The
requirement of risers depends to a great extent upon the type of metal poured and
the complexity of the casting. Let us consider the mould of a cube, which is filled
with liquid metal. As time progresses, the metal starts losing heat through all sides
and as a result starts freezing from all sides equally trapping the liquid metal inside.
But further solidification and subsequent volumetric shrinkage and the metal
contraction due to change in temperature causes formation of a void. The
solidification when complete finally results in the shrinkage cavity as shown in the
figure. The reason for the formation of the void in the cube casting is that the liquid
metal in the centre which solidifies in the end is not fed during the solidification;
hence the liquid shrinkage ends up as a void. Such isolated spots which remain hot
till the end are called hot spots.

Functions of Riser:

 Provide extra metal to compensate for the volumetric shrinkage

 Allow mold gases to escape
 Provide extra metal pressure on the solidifying metal to reproduce mold
details more exactly.
 To compensate mould expansion during pouring of hot liquid metal because
of soft mould.
GATING SYSTEM DESIGN

The liquid metal that runs through the various channels in the mould obeys the
Bernoulli’s theorem, which states that the total energy head remains constant at any
section. Ignoring frictional losses, we have

H+(P/ρ g)+(V2/2g)= constant

Where

h = Potential Head, m

P = Static Pressure, Pa.

v = Liquid Velocity, m / s

w = Specific weight of liquid, N /

g = Acceleration due to gravity, m / s2

Though quantitatively Bernoulli’s theorem may not be applied, it helps to

understand qualitatively, the metal flow in the sand mould. As the metal enters the
pouring basin, it has the highest potential energy with no kinetic or pressure
energies. But as the metal moves through the gating system, a loss of energy occurs
because of the friction between the molten metal and the mould walls. Heat is
continuously lost through the mould material though it is not represented in the
Bernoulli’s equation.
 Another law of fluid mechanics, which is useful in understanding the gating
system behaviour, is the law of continuity which says that the volume of metal
flowing at any section in the mould is constant. The same in equation form is

Q = A1V1 = A2V2

Where Q = Rate of flow, m3 / s

A = Area of cross section, m2
V = Velocity of metal flow, m / s

Pouring Time:

The main objective for the gating system design is to fill the mould in the smallest
time. The time for complete filling of a mould is called pouring time. Too long a
pouring time requires a higher pouring temperature and too less a pouring time
means turbulent flow in the mould, which makes the casting defect prone. The
pouring time depends on the casting materials, complexity of the casting, section
thickness and casting size. Steels lose heat very fast, so required less pouring time
while for non-ferrous materials longer pouring time is beneficial because they lose
heat slowly and tend to form dross if metal is pour too quickly.
Ratio of surface area to volume of casting is important in addition to the mass
of the casting. Also gating mass is considered when its mass is comparable to the
mass of the casting.
Choke Area:
After calculation of pouring time, it is required to establish the main control area
which meters the metal flow into the mould cavity so that the mould is completely
filled within the calculated pouring time. The controlling area is the choke area. The
choke area happens to be at the bottom of the sprue and hence the first element to
be designed in the gating system is the sprue size and its proportions. The main
advantage in having sprue bottom as the choke area is that proper flow
characteristics are established early in the mould.
The choke area can be calculated using Bernoulli’s equation as

W= Casting mass, Kg
 t = Pouring time, s
d = Mass density of the molten metal, Kg / mm3
g = acceleration due to gravity, mm /s2
H = Effective metal head ( sprue height), mm
C = Efficiency factor which is a function of the gating system used
The effective sprue height H, of the mould depends on the casting dimensions and
type of the gating used. It can be calculated using the following relations.

Where h = Height of the sprue

p = Height of mould cavity in cope
c = Total height of the mould cavity

Effective sprue height

 The efficiency coefficient of the gating system depends on the various
sections that are normally used in a gating system. The elements of a gating system
should be circular in cross section since they have lower surface area to volume
ratio, which would reduce heat loss and have less friction. Moreover, streamlining
the various gating elements would greatly increase volumetric efficiency of the
gating system and allow for smaller size gates and runners, which would increase
the casting, yield. Whenever a runner changes direction or joins with another
runner or gate, there is some loss in the metal head, all of which when taken
properly into consideration would give the overall efficiency of the gating system.

Straight sprue runner

Type of system Tapered choked sprue
choke

Single runner 0.90 0.73

Two runners with multiple gates

0.90 0.73
no bends in runners

Two runners with multiple gates

0.85 0.70
90° bends in runners
Gating Ratios:
It refers to the proportion of the cross sectional areas between the sprue, runner and
ingates and is generally denoted as sprue area: runner area: ingate area. Depending
on the choke area there can be two types of gating systems:
• Non-pressurised
• Pressurised
A non –pressurised gating system-having choke at the sprue base has total runner
area and ingate area higher than the sprue area. In this system there is no pressure
existing in the metal flow system and thus it helps to reduce turbulence. This is
particularly useful for casting drossy alloys such as aluminium alloys and
magnesium alloys. When metal is to enter the mould cavity through multiple
ingates, the cross section of the runner should accordingly be reduced at each of a
runner break-up to allow for equal distribution of metal through all ingates. A
typical gating ratio is 1:4:4

The disadvantages of unpressurised gating are:

 The gating system needs to be carefully designed to see that all parts flow
full. Otherwise some elements of the gating system may flow partially
allowing for the air aspiration. Tapered sprues are invariably used with
unpressurised system. The runners are maintained in drag while the gates
are kept in cope to ensure that runners are full.

 Casting yield gets reduced because of large metal involved in the runners
and gates. In the case of pressurised gating system normally the ingates
area is the smallest, thus maintaining a backpressure throughout and
generally flows full and thereby, can minimize the air aspiration even when
a straight sprue is used. It provided higher casting yield since the volume of
metal used up in the runners and gates is reduced. Because of turbulence
and associated dross formation, this type of gating system is not used for
light alloys but can be advantageously used for ferrous castings. A typical
gating ratio is 1:2:1.
 While designing the runner system, care should be taken to reduce sharp
corners or sudden change of sections since they tend to cause turbulence and gas
entrapment. Though from heat loss factor circular cross section runners are
preferable, traditionally trapezoidal runner sections are employed to reduce the
turbulence. The approximate proportions are fro a square to rectangle with width
twice as that of the depth of the runner. When multiple ingates are used, the runner
cross-section should be suitably restricted at the separation of each runner in the
interest of uniform flow through all sections.

It is a general practice to cut runner in the cope and the ingate in the drag to help in
the trapping of the slag. Sometimes it is good to have half of the runner in the cope
side and rest in the drag.
But for aluminium alloy castings, it is recommended that the runners be placed in
the drag and the ingates in the cope so that dross (3.99 g/cm2) which is heavier
compared to aluminium (2.70 g/cmm2) is restricted. Also the entry into runners
from sprue base well should be made as smooth as possible in such castings,
otherwise the direction of flow would tend to be turbulent and leads to drossing
when any change abruptly occurs in the cross sectional areas.
Material Gating Ratio

Aluminium 1:2:1, 1:1.2:2, 1:2:4, 1:3:3, 1:4:4, 1:6:6

Aluminium bronze 1: 2.88:4.8

Brass 1:1:1, 1:1:3, 1.6:1.3:1

Copper 2:8:1, 3:9:1

Ductile iron 1.15:1.1:1, 1.25:1.13:1, 1.33:2.67:1

Grey cast iron 1:1.3:1, 1:4:4, 1.4:1.2:1, 2:1.5:1, 2:1.8:1, 2:3:1, 4:3:1

Magnesium 1:2:2, 1:4:4

Malleable iron 1:2:9.5, 1.5:1:2.5, 2:1:4.9

Steels 1:1:7, 1:2:1, 1:2:1.5, 1:2:2, 1:3:3, 1.6:1.3:1

Some gating ratios used in practice