Metal-Casting Processes and Equipment

Manufacturing Engineering and Technology
Metal-Casting Processes and Equipment

10.Fundamentals of Metal Casting
11.Metal-Casting Processes
12.Metal Casting: Design, Materials and
Economics
2005 Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd

12. Metal Casting: Design, Materials and Economics
Chapter Objectives
• Design considerations for expendable and

permanent mold casting.
• General guidelines for successful casting.
• Characteristics and applications of nonferrous
and ferrous casting alloys.
• Economic considerations in metal casting.

Chapter Outline
1. Introduction
2. Design Considerations in Casting
3. Casting Alloys
4. Economics of Casting

12.1 Introduction
• This chapter describes general design

considerations and guidelines for metal casting and
presents suggestions for avoiding defects.
• It also describes the characteristics of the alloys that
are commonly cast, together with their typical
applications.

12.2 Design Considerations in Casting
• All casting operations share some characteristics,

such as phase change and thermal shrinkage during
the casting cycle.
• Troubleshooting the causes of defects very often is
complicated, and the considerations presented in
this chapter are by no means an exhaustive list.
• Also, defects often are random and difficult to
reproduce, further complicating the implementation
of corrective measures.

12.2.1 General design considerations for casting
• There are two types of design issues in casting: (a) geometric
features, tolerances, etc., that should be incorporated into the
part and (b) mold features that are needed to produce the
desired casting.
• Robust design of castings usually involves the following
steps:
1. Design the part so that the shape is cast easily. A number
of important design considerations are given in this chapter to
assist in such design efforts.
2. Select a casting process and a material suitable for the
part, size, mechanical properties, and so on. Often, the
design of the part will not be independent of the first step
given, and the part, material and process have to be specified
simultaneously.
3. Locate the parting line of the mold in the part.

4. Locate and design the gates to allow uniform
feeding of the mold cavity with molten metal.
5. Select an appropriate runner geometry for the
system.
6. Locate mold features such as sprue, screens, and
risers, as appropriate.
7. Make sure proper controls and good practices are
in place

Design of cast parts

• Fig 12.1 shows the suggested design modifications
to avoid defects in castings.


• Corners, angles, and section thickness. Sharp
corners, angles, and fillets should be avoided as
much as possible, because they act as stress raisers
and may cause cracking and tearing of the metal (as
well as of the dies) during solidification. Fig 12.2
shows examples of designs showing the importance
of maintaining uniform cross-sections in castings to
avoid hot spots and shrinkage cavities.



• Flat areas. Large flat areas (plain surfaces) should
be avoided, since they may warp during cooling
because of temperature gradients, or they develop
poor surface finish because of an uneven flow of
metal during pouring.
• Shrinkage. To avoid cracking of the casting during
cooling, there should be allowances for shrinkage
during solidification. Table 12.1 shows the normal
shrinkage allowance for metal cast in sand molds.



• Draft. A small draft (taper) typically is provided in
sand-mold patterns to enable removal of the pattern
without damaging the mold.
• Dimensional tolerances. Dimensional tolerances
depend on the particular casting process, size of the
casting, and type of pattern used. Tolerances should
be as wide as possible, within the limits of good part
performance; otherwise, the cost of the casting
increases.


• Lettering and markings. It is common practice to
include some form of part identification (such as
lettering or corporate logos) in castings.
• Finishing operations. In designing a casting, it is
important to consider the subsequent machining and
finishing operations that often have to take place.

Selecting the cast process

• Casting process selection cannot be separated from
a discussions of economics.

Locating the parting line

• A part should be oriented in a mold so that the large
portion of the casting is relatively low and the height
of the casting is minimized.
• Part orientation also determines the distribution of
porosity.
• A properly oriented part then can have the parting
line specified.
• The parting line is the line or plane separating the
upper (cope) and lower (drag) halves of molds.

Locating the parting line

• In general, the parting line should be along a flat
plane rather than be contoured.
• The parting line should be placed as low as possible
(relative to the casting) for less dense metals (such
as aluminum alloys) and located at around mid-
height for denser metals (such as steels).

Locating and designing gates

• The gates are the connections between the runners
and the part to be cast.
• Some of the considerations in designing gating
systems are:
• Multiple gates often are preferable and are
necessary for large parts. Multiple gates have the
benefits of allowing lower pouring temperature and
reducing the temperature gradients in the casting.
• Gates should feed into thick sections of castings.


• A fillet should be used where a gate meets a
casting; this feature produces less turbulence than
abrupt junctions.
• The gate closest to the sprue should be placed
sufficiently far away so that the gate can be easily
removed. This distance may be as small as a few
millimeters for small castings and up to 500 mm for
large parts.


• The minimum gate length should be three to five
times the gate diameter, depending on the metal
being cast. The cross-section should be large
enough to allow the filling of the mold cavity and
should be smaller than the runner cross-section.
• Curved gates should be avoided, but when
necessary, a straight section in the gate should be
located immediately adjacent to the casting.

Runner design
• The runner is a horizontal distribution channel that
accepts molten metal from the sprue and delivers it
to the gates.
• Runners are used to trap dross and keep it from
entering the gates and mold cavity.

Designing other mold features

• The main goal in designing a sprue is to achieve the
required metal flow rates while preventing aspiration
or excessive dross formation.
• Flow rates are determined such that turbulence is
avoided, but the mold is filled quickly compared to
the solidification time required.

Establishing good practices

• It has been observed widely that a given mold
design can produce acceptable parts as well as
defective ones and rarely will produce good or only
defective parts.
• To check for defective castings, quality control
procedures are necessary.


• Some of the common concerns are the following:
• Starting with a high-quality molten metal is
essential for producing superior castings. Pouring
temperature, metal chemistry, gas entrainment, and
handling procedures all can affect the quality of
metal being poured into a mold.
• The pouring of metal should not be interrupted,
since this can lead to dross entrainment and
turbulence. The meniscus of the molten metal in the
mold cavity should experience a continuous,
uninterrupted, and upward advance.

• The different cooling rates within the body of a
casting cause residual stresses. Stress relieving
thus may be necessary to avoid distortions of
castings in critical applications.

Example 12.1 Illustration for poor and good casting designs
Several examples of poor and good designs I permanent-mold and die
castin are shown in Fig. 12.3. The significant differences in design are
outlined here for
each example.
a. The lower portion of the design on the left has a thin wall with no
apparent functional role. This location of the part thus may fracture if
subjected to high forces or impact. The good design eliminates this
problem and also may simplify die and mold manufacturing.
b. Large flat surfaces always present difficulties in casting metals (as

well as nonmetallic materials), as they tend to warp and develop uneven
surfaces. A
common practice to avoid this situation is to break up the surface with
ribs and serrations on the reverse side of the casting. This approach
greatly reduces
distortion and, furthermore, does not adversely affect the appearance
and function of the flat surface.
c. This example of poor and good design is relevant not only to castings
but also to parts that are machined or ground. It is difficult to produce
sharp internal radii or corners which may be required for functional
purposes, such as inserts that are designed to reach the bottom of the
part cavity. Also, in the case of lubricated cavities, the lubricant can
accumulate at the bottom and, being incompressible, will prevent full
insertion of a part into the cavity. Placement of a small radius at the
corners or periphery at the bottom of the part eliminates this problem.
d. The function of such a part could be, for instance, a knob to be

gripped and rotated—hence the outer features along its periphery. Note
in the design on the left that the inner periphery of the knob also has
features which are not functional but help save material. The casting die
for the good design is easier to manufacture.

e. Note that the poor design has sharp fillets at the base of the
longitudinal grooves, which means that the die has sharp (knife
edge) protrusions. Because of their sharpness, it is possible that
over extended use of the die these edges can chip off.
f. The poor design on the left has threads reaching the right face
of the casting. It then is possible that during casting some molten
metal can penetrate this region, thus forming a flash and
interfering with the function of the threaded insert, such as when a
nut is used. The good design uses an offset on the threaded rod,
eliminating this problem. This design consideration also is
applicable for the injection-molding of plastics.


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Manufacturing Engineering and Technology

Metal-Casting Processes and Equipment

2005 Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd

• Design considerations for expendable and

2005 Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd

2005 Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd

• This chapter describes general design

2005 Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd

• All casting operations share some characteristics,

2005 Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd

3. Locate the parting line of the mold in the part.

2005 Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd

Design of cast parts

2005 Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd

Design of cast parts

2005 Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd

2005 Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd

Design of cast parts

2005 Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd

2005 Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd

Design of cast parts

2005 Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd

Design of cast parts

2005 Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd

Selecting the cast process

2005 Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd

Locating the parting line

2005 Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd

Locating the parting line

2005 Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd

Locating and designing gates

2005 Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd

Locating and designing gates

2005 Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd

Locating and designing gates

2005 Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd

2005 Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd

Designing other mold features

2005 Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd

Establishing good practices

2005 Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd

Establishing good practices

Establishing good practices

2005 Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd

b. Large flat surfaces always present difficulties in casting metals (as

d. The function of such a part could be, for instance, a knob to be

2005 Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd

2005 Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd

2005 Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd

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