Module 2

• Explain different types of casting process.

• Explain about defects in casting.
• Describe cold working process with examples.
• Describe hot working process with examples.
• Explain various stages involved in powder
metallurgy process
Casting
• Casting is the process of pouring molten metal into
a mould and allowing it to solidify. Solidified object
is called casting
• The whole process of producing castings may be
divided into four stages
– (1)Pattern making
– (2)Mould and core making
– (3)Melting and casting
– (4)fettling(cleaning)
Types of casting:
• Ferrous and non-ferrous casting:
– Casting of materials containing iron is known as ferrous
casting.
– Casting of materials not containing iron is called non-ferrous
casting.
• Casting types are:
– Gravity die casting (Permanent mould casting)
– Die casting :
• Hot chamber die casting:
– Submerged plunger type or Goose neck type
– Direct injection type or Air injection type
• Cold chamber die casting
• Vacuum die casting
– Centrifugal casting
– Slush casting
– Investment casting
Gravity die casting (Permanent mould casting):
• Molten metal is poured under gravity into a refractory
coated permanent mould or die made up of cast iron.
• These moulds are made in two halves and can be
reused many times.
• Pouring cup, sprue, gates and riser are built in the
mould halves itself.
• Casting are ejected from the mould after solidification.
• The process is mainly used for aluminium, magnesium,
copper alloys and grey cast iron
• Application: Carburettor bodies, piston, Hydraulic brake
cylinders, Oil pump bodies, etc.
Steps in permanent mold casting:
(1) mold is preheated and given a refractory coating
(2) cores (if used) are inserted and mold is closed,
(3) molten metal is poured into the mold, where it solidifies.
• Advantages of permanent mold casting:
– Good surface finish and close dimensional control.
– More rapid solidification, finer grain structure, stronger
castings.
– Casting are free from defects
Limitations of permanent mold casting:
– Generally limited to metals of lower melting point
– Simpler part geometries compared to sand casting
– High cost of mold.
Die Casting:
• Use permanent metal molds or dies.
• Molten metal is injected into mold cavity under pressure.
• Pressure is maintained during solidification, then mold is opened
and part is removed.
• Suitable for making small and medium size castings of non ferrous
metals such as zinc, aluminium, magnesium, lead, tin and their
alloys.
• Advantages:
– Economical for large production quantities
– Good accuracy and surface finish
– Close dimensional tolerance
– Thin sections are possible
– Life of die is long
– Less floor space needed
– Labor cost is low
– Metal loss in casting is low
– Rapid cooling provides small grain size and good strength to casting
• Disadvantages of die casting:
– Generally limited to metals with low melting point. (Only
non ferrous metal can be cast)
– Not suitable for low production.
– Limitation in size of casting to be made. (Heavy section
cannot be cast)
– Special skill is required for operating machine.
– Die casting unit are costly.
Hot chamber Die Casting machine
• Melting unit is an integral part of machine.
• Consists of a hot chamber and a gooseneck type metal
container.
1. Submerged Plunger type :
• Operated by pneumatically operated plunger.
• Plunger acts inside a cylinder connected to one end of a
gooseneck container and is submerged in the metal.
• When plunger is in up position metal enters the cylinder
through a port.
• As plunger moves down, the port get closed and molten
metal is forced into the die cavity at a pressure of 70 to 140
bar.
• When metal is solidified die is opened and casting is ejected.
• Die is then closed, plunger is drawn to up position and cycle is
repeated.
Air injection or Direct injection type
• Molten metal is forced into the die cavity at a pressure of 30
to 45 bar.
• Provided with suitable mechanism to raise or lower the
gooseneck.
• When gooseneck is lowered it receives the molten metal from
the pot.
• Then it is raised and held in position against nozzle.
• Compressed air is blown in to the gooseneck which forces the
metal to fill the die cavity.
• After solidification casting is ejected.
• The gooseneck is again lowered, die is closed and whole cycle
is repeated.
• This type of machine is simple in construction, no moving
parts like plunger.
Cold-Chamber Die Casting Machine:
• Metal is melted in a separate furnace, then
transferred to the die casting machine where a
measured quantity is fed into injection cylinder.
• The plunger is pushed hydraulically to force molten
metal into the die cavity at a pressure of 200 to
2000 bar.
• After solidification die is opened and casting is
ejected.
• Casting metals: Aluminum, copper, and magnesium
alloys.
• Castings produced are of great density and
dimensional accuracy, but production rate is low.
Vacuum die casting machine:
• Modified form of hot chamber or cold chamber die
casting machine, with a provision for complete
evacuation of air from the die prior to metal
injection.
• Eliminates the chances of air entrapment in the
metal resulting in good casting.
• Less power full machines can be used for forcing
the molten metal into the die.
Centrifugal casting (Liquid forging):
• Molten metal is fed into the rotating mould or die.
• Centrifugal force directs the fluid metal to the inner
surface of the mould with considerable pressure
where solidification occurs forming hollow casting.
• Advantages:
– Quick and economical
– Eliminates the use of gates, risers, cores, etc.
– Ferrous and non ferrous metal can be cast
• It is employed for casting articles of symmetrical
shape like pipes, gears, flywheel etc.
• There is horizontal and vertical centrifugal casting.
Slush casting:
• For making hollow castings without the use of cores.
• Steps:
– Molten metal is poured into a metallic mould (Permanente
mould).
– Molten metal is retained in the mould for long enough for
the outer skin to solidify.
– Then the mould is inverted to remove the extra molten
metal.
– This results in a thin walled casting which is taken out by
opening the halves of the mould.
• Thickness of the casting depends upon the time for
which the metal is allowed to remain in the mould.
• Used for making toys, ornaments, and lighting fixtures
of nonferrous metals and alloys such as gold, tin, zinc,
lead, aluminium, etc.
Investment casting (Lost wax casting):
• This process uses a wax pattern for making the mould;
which is baked in an oven so that the wax may melt
out, leaving a mould cavity having all the details of the
original pattern.
• Investment refers to the specially formulated refractory
slurry which is poured into the moulding flask and is
allowed to harden around the wax pattern.
• High accuracy (±0.005).
• Steps:
A. Creating The Pattern.
B. Mounting The Wax Patterns And Creating The Tree.
C. Creating the Mold Shell
D. Wax Removal (Dewax/burnout)
E. Melt And Cast
F. Breaking mould and finishing the casting.
Casting Cleaning
• The casting is separated from the mold and
transported to the cleaning department.
• Burned-on sand and scale are removed.
• Excess metal is removed (Fins, wires, parting line
fins, and gates).
• Subsequently the casting can be upgraded using
welding or other such as procedures.
• Final testing and inspection to check for any
defects.
Casting defects:
1. Shift or Mismatch : The defect caused due to misalignment of upper and lower
part of the casting and misplacement of the core at parting line.
Cause :
(i) Improper alignment of upper and lower part during mould preparation.
(ii) Misalignment of flask (a flask is type of tool which is used to contain a mould in
metal casting. it may be square, round, rectangular or of any convenient shape.)
Remedies:
(i) Proper alignment of the pattern or die part, molding boxes.
(ii) Correct mountings of pattern on pattern plates.
(iii) Check the alignment of flask.

2. Swell :
It is the enlargement of the mould cavity because of the molten metal pressure,
which results in localized or overall enlargement of the casting.
Causes
(i) Defective or improper ramming of the mould.
Remedies.
(i) The sand should be rammed properly and evenly.
3. Blowholes:
When gases entrapped on the surface of the casting due to
solidifying metal, a rounded or oval cavity is formed called as
blowholes. These defects are always present in the cope part of the
mold.
Causes :
(i) Excessive moisture in the sand.
(ii) Low Permeability of the sand.
(iii) Sand grains are too fine.
(iv) Too hard rammed sand.
(v) Insufficient venting is provided.
Remedies :
(i) The moisture content in the sand must be controlled and kept at
desired level.
(ii) High permeability sand should be used.
(iii) Sand of appropriate grain size should be used.
(iv) Sufficient ramming should be done.
(v) Adequate venting facility should be provided.
4. Pinholes:
They are very small holes which appears on the surface of the
casting. This defect happens because of the dissolution of the
hydrogen gases in the molten metal.
When the molten metal is poured in the mould cavity and as it starts
to solidify, the solubility of the hydrogen gas decreases and it starts
escaping out the molten metal leaves behind small holes called as
pinholes.
Causes :
(i) Use of high moisture content sand.
(ii) Absorption of hydrogen or carbon monoxide gas by molten metal.
(iii) Pouring of steel from wet ladles or not sufficiently gasified.
Remedies :
(i) By reducing the moisture content of the molding sand.
(ii) Good fluxing and melting practices should be used.
(iii) Increasing permeability of the sand.
(iv) Pouring molten metal at lower temperature.
5. Shrinkage Cavity
The formation of cavity in the casting due to volumetric
contraction is called as shrinkage cavity.
Causes :
(i) Uneven or uncontrolled solidification of molten metal.
(ii) Pouring temperature is too high.
Remedies :
(i) This defect can be removed by applying principle of
directional solidification in mould design.
(ii) Wise use of chills (a chill is an object which is used to
promote solidification in a specific portion of a metal
casting) and padding.
6. Cold Shut
It is a type of surface defects and a line on the surface can
be seen. When the molten metal enters into the mould
from two gates and when these two streams of molten
metal meet at a junction with low temperatures than
they do not fuse with each other and solidifies creating a
cold shut (appear as line on the casting). It looks like a
crack with round edge.
Causes:
(i) Poor gating system
(ii) Low melting temperature
(iii) Lack of fluidity
Remedies:
(i) Improved gating system.
(ii) Proper pouring temperature.
7. Misrun
When the molten metal solidifies before completely filling
the mould cavity and leaves a space in the mould called
as misrun.
Causes:
(i) Low fluidity of the molten metal.
(ii) Low temperature of the molten metal which
decreases its fluidity.
(iii) Too thin section and improper gating system.
Remedies
(i) Increasing the pouring temperature of the molten
metal increases the fluidity.
(ii)Proper gating system
(iii) Too thin section is avoided.
8. Slag Inclusion
This defect is caused when the molten metal containing
slag particles is poured in the mould cavity and it gets
solidifies.
Causes :
(i) The presence of slag in the molten metal
Remedies :
(i) Remove slag particles form the molten metal before
pouring it into the mould cavity.
Applications Of Casting Process:
• Transport: automobile, aerospace, railways and shipping
• Heavy equipment: construction, farming and mining
• Machine tools: machining, casting, plastics moulding, forging,
extrusion and forming
• Plant machinery: chemical, petroleum, paper, sugar, textile,
steel and thermal plants
• Defense: vehicles, artillery, munitions, storage and supporting
equipment
• Electrical machines: motors, generators, pumps and
compressors
• Municipal castings: pipes, joints, valves and fittings
• Household: appliances, kitchen and gardening equipment,
furniture and fittings
• Art objects: sculptures, idols, furniture, lamp stands and
decorative items.
Advantages Of Casting Process:
• It can create any complex structure economically.
• The size of object doesn’t matter for casting.
• The casting objects have high compressive strength.
• All structure made by casting has wide range of
properties.
• This can create an accurate object.
• All material can be cast.
• It creates isotropic structure.
• It is cheapest among all manufacturing processes.
• Composite component can be easily made by
casting.
Disadvantages Of Casting Process:
• Dimensional accuracy: Because of shrinkage in the
casting, the dimensional accuracy might be at risk.
So, the designers must take care of providing the
allowance to the product (Pattern) before pouring
the molten metal.
• Low strength: Due to high porosity compared to a
machined part.
• Post-processing: It requires Secondary machining
operations in order to improve the surface finish.
• Lower Melting Point: Generally limited to metals of
the lower melting point.
• Not suitable for low-volume production.
Mechanical working of metals:
• Plastic deformation of a metal under the action of
externally applied forces.
• Mechanical working of metals is classified as:
– Cold working
– Hot working
• Recrystallization:
– A process by which deformed grains are replaced by a new
set of defect-free grains that nucleates and grow until the
original grains have been entirely consumed is called
recrystallization.
– The temperature at which new grains are formed in a metal
replacing original distorted grain is called recrystallization
temperature.
– Recrystallization is usually accompanied by a reduction in the
strength and hardness of a material and a simultaneous
increase in the ductility.
Cold working of metals:
• Drawing
• Squeezing
• Rolling
• Bending
• Shearing
• Extruding
• Drawing:
– Process of producing various cross-sections by forcing of
metal through a die by means of a tensile force.
– Some drawing operations are:
• Wire drawing
• Tube drawing
• Deep drawing
• Wire drawing:
– Wire drawing is used to produce metal wire by
forcing a large diameter rod through a die.
• Tube drawing:
– Here the tube is pulled through the die over a
fixed mandrel.
– The outside diameter of the tube is controlled by
the opening of the die and the inside bore by the
mandrel.
• Deep Drawing or Cupping:
– It involves the production of a dish or cup from a
flat sheet metal.
• Metal spinning (Cold spinning):
– Shaping sheet metal by pressing against a form while it is rotating.
– Operation is performed on a speed lathe.
– Eg: Aluminium and other soft metals.
• Stretch forming:
– This process consists of gripping a sheet metal at
each end in suitable jaws, and stretching it over a
die to the required contour until complete forming
is achieved.
– In this process, the sheet get stretched beyond the
elastic limit while conforming to the die shape.
• Squeezing:
– The metal is made to flow within the cavity of die and
punch to attain the desired shape.
– This process requires a great amount of pressure and is
usually performed in hydraulic presses.
– Some of the important squeezing operations are:
• Cold rolling (Squeeze rolling)
• Upsetting
• Coining
• Embossing
• Cold heading (Cold forging)
• Hobbing
• Shot peening; etc.
• Cold rolling (Squeeze rolling):
– Metal is passed through a number of rollers thereby
producing reduction in area until the required thickness
is obtained.
– Mainly used for wrought iron products.
• Upsetting:
– The metal is subjected to reduction in height or length
with a corresponding increase in the cross sectional
area.
• Coining:
– Coins, medals and other similar articles are produced by this
process.
– Coining Process is described as the squeezing of metal as it is held
in closed dies.
– The work piece is placed in the die. A movable punch within the
die cold works the material and forms intricate features.
• Embossing:
– Embossing is a metal forming process for producing
raised or sunken designs or relief in sheet material by
means of matched male and female roller dies.
• Cold heading (Cold forging):
– Cold heading (or cold forming) is a method of forming
metal in progressive steps into net shaped or near net
shaped parts. This process creates very little to no waste,
offers significant material cost savings, and the volume
of the starting slug is about the same as the finished
part.
• Bending:
– Cold Bending is the process by which a straight length is
transformed into a curved length.
– It is one of the most widely used forming process for
changing plates into drums and curved channels.
• Shearing:
– Process of cutting the metal using the punch and die.
– Some of the shearing operations are trimming, blanking,
punching, etc.
• Trimming:
– Process of finishing the edges of a part by removing the flash or
excess metal around it.
• Piercing:
– Piercing or punching is a process of making a desired hole by using
a punch and die.
• Blanking:
– Blanking is a process of cutting out desired shape from the strip or
sheet by a single blow of the punch.
• Cold extrusion:
– The most popular method of cold extrusion is impact
extrusion.
– In impact extrusion cold metal billet is placed in the die
and ram drives the punch into die cavity as a result
extruded part is formed.
• Hot working processes:
– Hot rolling
– Hot piercing
– Hot drawing
– Hot spinning
– Hot extrusion
– Forging
• Hot rolling:
– The process of rolling consist of passing a hot billet through at
least two rolls rotating in opposite direction at uniform speed.
– The space between the rolls is adjusted to conform to the
desired thickness of the rolled sections. The rolls thus squeeze,
the passing billets to reduce its cross-section and to increase its
length.
• Hot piercing (Roll piercing):
– It is used to produce long seamless tube with specified
wall thickness.
– Cylindrical billets are passed between two conical
shaped rolls which rotate in same direction and the
mandrel between these rolls controls the size of the hole
as the billet is forced over it.
• Hot Extrusion:
– A plastic deformation process in which metal is
forced under pressure to flow through a single, or
series of dies until the desired shape is produced.
– Process is similar to squeezing tooth paste out of a
tooth paste tube.
– Extrusion processes can be classified as:
• Direct or forward extrusion
• Indirect or backward extrusion
• Tube extrusion
• Direct or forward extrusion:
– Metal billet is loaded into a container, and a ram
compresses the material, forcing it to flow
through one or more openings in a die at the
opposite end of the container.
– Extruded part comes out in same direction as to
the motion of the ram.
• Indirect or backward extrusion:
– The die is mounted to the ram rather than at the
opposite end of the container.
– Extruded part comes out in a direction opposite to the
motion of the ram.
• Tube extrusion:
– A form of direct extrusion, but uses a mandrel to
shape the inside of the tube.
– The metal flows through the opening between the
die and the mandrel producing seamless tubes.
• Hot spinning:
– Hot spinning is the process of shaping heated sheet
metal blank by pressing against a form while it is
rotating.
Powder Metallurgy
• Powder metallurgy is a process for forming metal parts by heating
compacted metal powders to just below their melting points. In other
words, powder metallurgy is a metal shaping process that creates
near-net parts from powdered metal.

• Advantages (Importance/relevance) of the Powder Metallurgy

Process:
– Minimizes machining by producing parts at, or close to, final dimensions
– Minimizes scrap losses by typically using more than 97% of the starting raw
material in the finished part
– Permits a wide variety of alloy systems
– Produces good surface finish
– Provides materials which may be heat treated for increased strength or
increased wear resistance
– Provides controlled porosity for self-lubrication or filtration
– Facilitates manufacture of complex or unique shapes which would be
impractical or impossible with other metalworking processes
– Is suited to moderate- to high-volume component production requirements
– Offers long-term performance reliability in critical applications
– Is cost effective
• Various stages of manufacturing a product using metal powders /
Steps involved in powder metallurgy technique:
– Preparation of powders:
• Very fine powders are obtained using various techniques.
– Blending of powders:
• The fine powders are mixed along with a lubricant. The lubricant helps in
imparting good fluidity to the powders.
– Compacting:
• The blended powder is compacted in a mould or die.
– Sintering:
• The compacted mass is sintered at a high temperature in a furnace in a
controlled atmosphere.
– Sizing:
• The sintered component is passed in a mould or dies to trim the component
and achieve high dimensional accuracy.
– Machining:
• If required final machining is done on some specific locations including drilling
very small holes.
– Treatment:
• Parts are subjected to deburring and tumbling to remove any small projections
and other treatments are given.
– Inspection:
• Finally parts are inspected to check the quality.
Powder Metallurgy Application:
• To produce a porous product.
• Babbitt bearing for automobiles.
• To produce oil pump gears for automobiles.
• Used for production of cutting tools, wire drawing dies and
deep drawing dies.
• To produce refractory metal composites.
• For manufacturing the tungsten wires for filaments in the
lamp industry.
• Diamond impregnated tools are produced by a mixture of
iron powder and diamond dust.
• To produced electrical contract material, eg: circuit breakers,
relays and resistance welding electrodes.
• Parts of cars, aircraft, gas turbine, electric clocks, etc.
• Parts of vacuum cleaners, refrigerators parts of guns, sewing
machines.
Methods to produce metal powder:
• There are three principal methods by which metallic
powders are commercially produced. The methods
are:
– Atomization
– Chemical
– Electrolytic
• In addition, mechanical methods (mechanical
pulverization) are occasionally used to reduce
powder sizes; however, these methods are much
more commonly associated with ceramic powder
production.
– It includes crushing, milling, etc.
Atomization:
• This method involves the conversion of molten
metal into a spray of droplets that solidify into
powders.
• It is the most versatile and popular method for
producing metal powders today, applicable to
almost all metals, alloys as well as pure metals.
• Gas atomization: Uses a high velocity gas stream
(air or inert gas) to atomize the liquid metal. The
resulting metal powders, which tend to be
spherical, are collected in a chamber below.

– The gas flows through an expansion nozzle, drawing off

molten metal from the melt below and spraying it into a
container. The droplets solidify into powder form (Fig a).

– Molten metal flows by gravity through a nozzle and is

immediately atomized by air jets. (Fig b)
• Water atomization (Fig c):
– Is the most common of the atomization methods,
particularly suited to metals that melt below 1600oC.
– High-velocity water stream is used instead of air.
– Cooling is more rapid, and the resulting powder shape is
irregular rather than spherical.
– The disadvantage of using water is oxidation on the
particle surface.

– A recent innovation involves the use of synthetic oil

rather than water to reduce oxidation. In both air and
water atomization processes, particle size is controlled
largely by the velocity of the fluid stream; particle size is
inversely related to velocity.
• Centrifugal atomization (Fig d)): The liquid metal
stream pours onto a rapidly rotating disk that sprays
the metal in all directions to produce powders.
• Chemical reduction:
– It includes a variety of chemical reactions by which metallic
compounds are reduced to elemental metal powders.

– A common process involves liberation of metals from their

oxides by use of reducing agents such as hydrogen or carbon
monoxide.

– The reducing agent is made to combine with the oxygen in

the compound to free the metallic element.

– Reduction process is carried out in an atmosphere controlled

furnace.

– This approach is used to produce powders of iron, tungsten,

and copper.
• Electrolytic method:

– In electrolysis, an electrolytic cell is set up in which the

source of the desired metal is the anode.

– The anode is slowly dissolved under an applied voltage,

transported through the electrolyte, and deposited on
the cathode.

– The deposit is removed, washed, and dried to yield a

metallic powder of very high purity.

– The technique is used for producing powders of

beryllium, copper, iron, silver, tantalum, and titanium.
• Crushing process:
– Requires equipment such as crushers.
– Various ferrous and non-ferrous alloys can be heat-
treated in order to obtain sufficiently brittle material
which can be easily crushed into powder form.
• Milling Process:
– Carried out using ball mill, vortex mill etc.
– A ball mill is a horizontal barrel shaped container holding
a quantity of balls, which, being free to tumble about as
the container rotates, crush and abrade any particles
that are introduced into the container.
– Generally, a large mass to be powdered first of all, goes
through heavy crushing machines, then through
crushing rolls and finally through a ball mill to produce
successively finer grades of powder.