Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Casting Processes - Complete PDF
Casting Processes - Complete PDF
Possible chaplet
design and casting
with core
Production steps in sand casting including
pattern making and mold making
Variety of patters are used in casting and the
choice depends on the configuration of casting
and number of casting required
Single-piece pattern
Split pattern
Follow board pattern
Cope and drag pattern
Match plate pattern
Loose-piece pattern
Sweep pattern
Skeleton pattern
(a)Split pattern
(b) Follow-board
(c) Match Plate
(d) Loose-piece
(e) Sweep
(f) Skeleton
pattern
Shrinkage allowance
Draft allowance
Machining allowance
Distortion allowance
Major part of Moulding material in sand casting are
1. 70-85% silica sand (SiO2)
2. 10-12% bonding material e.g., clay cereal etc.
3. 3-6% water
Requirements of molding sand are:
(a) Refractoriness
(b) Cohesiveness
(c) Permeability
(d) Collapsibility
The performance of mould depends on following factors:
(a) Permeability
(b) Green strength
(c) Dry strength
Effect of moisture, grain size and shape
on mould quality
The quality of casting depends on the method of melting. The
melting technique should provide molten metal at required
temperature, but should also provide the material of good quality and
in the required quantity.
Pouring vessels
Molten metal is prevented from oxidation by covering the molten
metal with fluxes or by carrying out melting and pouring in vacuum
Ladles which pour the molten metal from beneath the surface are
used
The two main consideration during pouring are the temperature and
pouring rate
Fluidity of molten metal is more at higher temperature but it results
into more amount of dissolved gases and high temperature also
damage the mould walls and results into poor surface quality of the
casting
To control the amount of dissolved gases low, the temperature should
not be in superheated range
In ferrous metals, the dissolved hydrogen and nitrogen are removed
by passing CO. In non-ferrous metals, Cl, He, or Ar gases are used.
Therefore, fluidity and gas solubility are two conflicting
requirements. The optimum pouring temp. is therefore decided on the
basis of fluidity requirements.The temp. should be able to fill the
whole cavity at the same time it should enter inside the voids
between the sand particles.
Cooling rate depends on casting material and configuration. It also
depends on volume and surface area of the casting also.
The pouring rate should be such that solidification does not start and
the cavity is completely filled without eroding mould surface and
undue turbulence.
On the basis of experience following empirical relations are developed
for pouring time
K: Fluidity factor
W: Weight In kg
Tp: Poring time in sec
1. Minimize turbulent flow so that absorption of
gases, oxidation of metal and erosion of mould
surfaces are less
2. Regulate the entry of molten metal into the
mould cavity
3. Ensure complete filling of mould cavity, and
4. Promote a temperature gradient within the
casting so that all sections irrespective of size
and shape could solidify properly
A: pouring basin
B: Weir
C: Sprue
D: Sprue well
E: Runner
F: Ingates
G: Runner break up
H: Blind
J: Riser
Pure metal
Alloy
Pure metals solidifies at a constant temp. equal to its
freezing point, which same as its melting point.
The change form liquid to solid does not occur all at
once. The process of solidification starts with nucleation,
the formation of stable solid particles within the liquid
metal. Nuclei of solid phase, generally a few hundred
atom in size, start appearing at a temperature below the
freezing temperature. The temp. around this goes down
and is called supercooling or undercooling. In pure metals
supercooling is around 20% of the freezing temp.
A nuclease, more than a certain critical size grows, and
causes solidification.
By adding, certain foreign materials (nucleating agents)
the undercooling temp. is reduced which causes enhanced
nucleation.
In case of pure metals fine equi-axed grains are formed
near the wall of the mold and columnar grain growth
takes place upto the centre of the ingot.
In typical solid-solution alloy, the columnar grains do not
extend upto the center of casting but are interrupted by an
inner zone of equiaxed graines.
My adding typical nucleating agents like sodium,
magnesium or bismuth the inner zone of equiaxed grained
can be extended in whole casting.
In alloys, such as Fe-C, freezing and solidificaion occurs
overa wide range of temp. There is no fine line of
demarcation exists between the solid and liquid metal.
Here, start of freezing implies that grain formation
while progressing towards the center does not solidify the
metal completely but leaves behind the islands of liquid
metals in between grains which freeze later and there is
multidirectional tree like growth.
Once the material cools down to freezing
temperature, the solidification process for the
pure metals does not require a decrease in
temperature and a plateau is obtained in the
cooling curves, called thermal arrest. The
solidification time is total time required for the
liquid metal to solidify.
Solidification time has been found to be directly
proportional to volume and inversely
proportional to surface area.
Location of Risers and Open and
Closed Risers
Top riser has the
advantage of
additional pressure
head and smaller
feeding distance over
the side riser.
Blind risers are
generally bigger in
size because of
additional area of
heat conduction.
The shrinkage occurs in three stages,
1. When temperature of liquid metal drops from pouring to
zero temperature
2. When the metal changes from liquid to solid state, and
3. When the temperature of solid phase drops from freezing to
room temperature
The shrinkage for stage 3 is compensated by providing
shrinkage allowance on pattern, while the shrinkage
during stages 1 and 2 are compensated by providing risers.
The riser should solidify in the last otherwise liquid metal
will start flowing from casting to riser. It should promote
directional solidification. The shape, size and location of
the risers are important considerations in casting design
1. Casting is taken out of the mould by shaking and the
Moulding sand is recycled often with suitable
additions.
2. The remaining sand, some of which may be embedded
in the casting, is removed by means of Shot blasting.
3. The excess material in the form of sprue, runners, gates
etc., along with the flashes formed due to flow of
molten metal into the gaps is broken manuaaly in case
of brittle casting or removed by sawing and grinding in
case of ductile grinding.
4. The entire casting is then cleaned by either shot
blasting or chemical pickling.
5. Sometimes castings are heat treated to achieve better
mechanical properties.
Defects may occur due to one or more of the
following reasons:
Fault in design of casting pattern
Fault in design on mold and core
Fault in design of gating system and riser
Improper choice of moulding sand
Improper metal composition
Inadequate melting temperature and rate of pouring
Casting defects
Surface Defect Internal Defect Visible defects
Blow Blow holes Wash
Scar Porosity Rat tail
Blister Pin holes Swell
Drop Inclusions Misrun
Scab Dross Cold shut
Penetration Hot tear
Buckle Shrinkage/Shift
These are due to poor design and quality of sand molds and
general cause is poor ramming
Blow is relatively large cavity produced by gases which
displace molten metal from convex surface. Scar is shallow
blow generally occurring on a flat surface. A scar covered
with a thin layer of metal is called blister. These are due to
improper permeability or venting. Sometimes excessive gas
forming constituents in moulding sand
Drop is an irregularly-shaped projection on the cope
surface caused by dropping of sand.
A scab when an up heaved sand gets separated from the
mould surface and the molten metal flows between the
displaced sand and the mold.
Penetration occurs when the molten metal flows between
the sand particles in the mould. These defects are due to
inadequate strength of the mold and high temperature of the
molten metal adds on it.
Buckle is a vee-shaped depression on the surface of a flat
casting caused by expansion of a thin layer of sand at the
mould face. A proper amount of volatile additives in
moulding material could eliminate this defect by providing
room for expansion.
The internal defects found in the castings are mainly due to
trapped gases and dirty metal. Gases get trapped due to hard
ramming or improper venting. These defects also occur when
excessive moisture or excessive gas forming materials are used
for mould making.
Blow holes are large spherical shaped gas bubbles, while
porosity indicates a large number of uniformly distributed tiny
holes. Pin holes are tiny blow holes appearing just below the
casting surface.
Inclusions are the non-metallic particles in the metal matrix,
Lighter impurities appearing the casting surface are dross.
Insufficient mould strength, insufficient metal, low
pouring temperature, and bad design of casting are some
of the common causes.
Wash is a low projection near the gate caused by erosion
of sand by the flowing metal. Rat tail is a long, shallow,
angular depression caused by expansion of the sand.
Swell is the deformation of vertical mould surface due to
hydrostatic pressure caused by moisture in the sand.
Misrun and cold shut are caused by insufficient superheat
provided to the liquid metal.
Hot tear is the crack in the casting caused by high residual
stresses.
Shrinkage is essentially solidification contraction and
occurs due to improper use of Riser.
Shift is due to misalignment of two parts of the mould or
incorrect core location.
Casting with expendable mould:
Investment Casting
Advantages and Limitations
Graphite+oil
In Die casting the molten metal is forced to flow
into a permanent metallic mold under moderate
to high pressures, and held under pressure during
solidification
This high pressure forces the metal into intricate
details, produces smooth surface and excellent
dimensional accuracy
High pressure causes turbulence and air
entrapment. In order to minimize this larger
ingates are used and in the beginning pressure is
kept low and is increased gradually
Centrifugal Casting