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Module-I of Manufacturing Science-ILecture Notes of Chinmay Das
50
1.8.1 SOLIDIFICATION OF CASTINGS
After molten metal is poured into a mould, a series of events takes place during the solidificationof the casting and its cooling to ambient temperature. These events greatly influence the size, shape,uniformity, and chemical composition of the grains formed throughout the casting, which in turn influenceits overall properties. The significant factors affecting these events are the type of metal, thermal propertiesof both the metal and the mould, the geometric relationship between volume and surface area of the casting,and shape of the mould.
Nucleation and Grain Growth
When the free energy of a parent phase is reduced by means of temperature or pressure then thereis a driving force leading to crystallization. At the melting point, the thermal fluctuations result in theformation of tiny particles (containing only a few atoms) of the product phase within the parent volume.Such a tiny particle has an interface that separates it from the parent matrix. It grows by transfer of atomsacross its interface. The process of formation of the first stable tiny particle is called
nucleation
. And theprocess of increase in the sizes of these particles is called
grain growth
.The grain size in the product phase depends on the relative rates of nucleation and grain growth.Each nucleating particle becomes a grain in the final product. So a high nucleation rate means a largernumber of grains. Also, when this is combined with a low growth rate, more time is available for furthernucleation to take place in the parent phase that lies between slowly growing particles. A combination of high nucleation rate with low growth rate yields a fine grain size. On the other hand, a low nucleation ratecombined with a high growth rate yields a coarse grain size.The temperature of maximum rateof nucleation is lower than that of maximumgrowth rate. An increase in cooling ratelowers the effective transformationtemperature and results in the combinationof high nucleation rate and a relatively slowgrowth rate and yields a fine grain size.Figure 1.8.1: Grain representation
Solidification of Pure Metal or Eutectic Alloy
 Because a pure metal or eutecticalloy has a clearly definedmelting or freezing point, itsolidifies at a constanttemperature. After thetemperature of the molten metaldrops to its freezing point, itstemperature remains constantwhile the latent heat of fusion isgiven off. The solidification front(solid-liquid interface) movesthrough the molten metal,solidifying from the mould wallsin toward the centre. Oncesolidification has taken place atany point, cooling resumes. TheFigure 1.8.2: Cooling curve for metal solidified metal, called casting, is
 
Module-I of Manufacturing Science-ILecture Notes of Chinmay Das
51
taken out of the mould and is allowed to cool to ambienttemperature. At the mould walls, which are at ambienttemperature, the metal cools rapidly. Rapid cooling produces asolidified skin or shell. The grains grow in a direction opposite tothat of the heat transfer through the mould. Those grains that havefavourable orientation will grow preferentially and are calledcolumnar grains. As the driving force of the heat transfer isreduced away from the mould walls, the grains become equiaxedand coarse. Those grains that have substantially differentorientations are blocked from further growth. This graindevelopment is called homogeneous nucleation, meaning thatgrains grow upon themselves, starting from the mould wall.Figure 1.8.3: Grain structure for pure metal
Control of Solidification for obtaining Sound Castings
The solidification which starts from the mould wall toward the centre line of the cavity is called
Lateral or Progressive Solidification
. The
longitudinal or Directional Solidification
occurs at rightangles to lateral solidification at the centre line and is shown in the figure 1.8.4. The casting shown is asimple bar or plate and the metal is a pure metal, or a skin forming alloy.Figure 1.8.4: Solidification of a plateIn order to obtain a sound casting with no shrinkage void along the centerline, two requirements must besatisfied as follows:1.
 
The longitudinal solidification must be progressive toward the riser from the point, or points, mostdistant from the riser.2.
 
The temperature gradient, in addition to being properly directed, must be sufficiently steep so thatliquid metal can pass through the wedge-shaped channel to compensate for shrinkage as it occursat the centerline.If the temperature gradient is not sufficiently steep, the included angle of the wedge-shaped channel will betoo small and proper passage of feed metal is not possible. If there were no temperature gradient, the lateralsolidification at all points would reach the centerline at the same time. The result in either case is a lack of metal at the centerline, which causes an elongated narrow void known as centerline shrinkage. In othercasting sections, voids of various shapes are caused by the shrinkage of skin forming type of alloy.
 
Module-I of Manufacturing Science-ILecture Notes of Chinmay Das
52
Solidification of Alloys
Figure 1.8.5: Solidification curve of alloySolidification in alloys begins when the temperature drops below the liquidus temperature and iscomplete when it reaches the solidus temperature. Within this temperature range, the alloy is in a mushy orpasty state with columnar dendrites. The mushy zone is described in terms of a temperature difference,known as the freezing range, as follows:Freezing Range = T
L
– T
S
 The control of solidification of alloys which solidifythroughout a temperature range is more complicated. It hasbeen determined that steeper temperature gradients with thesealloys produce sounder castings. Let us consider the entirecasting and riser consist of mushy alloy for a period of time.During the early stage, the mushy alloy is quite fluid, andthere is no problem. Then the solid dendrites graduallybecome thicker, surrounded by only a small amount of liquidmetal. At this stage, whole sections may move to accomplishwhat is known as mass feeding. Later near the end of solidification, the mushy alloy becomes rigid, so it will be nolonger move as a body. Some liquid metal still surroundssome dendrites, but since it is practically impossible to supplyfeed metal through the narrow passageways, small voids in theform of porosity are formed. This is known as shrinkageporosity or micro shrinkage and it is dispersed through out Figure 1.8.6: Solidification of alloythe metal in which the temperature gradient is not sufficiently steep.
Riser Feeding or Centreline Feeding Distance
For steel castings, a riser as shown in figure 1.8.4 will promote proper solidification if the distance
L
is no greater than 4.5 times the minimum thickness
T
. This maximum distance for
L
is known as thefeeding distance for the riser. An effective metal chill located at the end most distant from the riser hasbeen found to add about 50 mm to the riser feeding distance.
Centreline Feeding Resistance
The freezing patterns of a chilled and an ordinary mould are shown in figure 1.8.7. Thesolidification starts at the centre line of the mould before the solidification is completed even at the mould
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Andrew Erameh

Thanks for d note, it really helped.

reply03 / 10 / 2012
Sachin Sharma

these usefull notes on solidification of metal casting help me a lot to understand the basic concepts regarding solidification process.......so thans to mr. chinmay dass g

reply03 / 09 / 2012
07 / 06 / 2010This doucment made it onto the Rising List!
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