UNIT-1

Objective: To make the students understand fundamentals of casting

Casting: Casting is a manufacturing process in which a liquid material is usually poured into a mould,
which contains a hollow cavity of the desired shape, and then allowed to solidify. The solidified part
is also known as a casting, which is ejected or broken out of the mould to complete the process

Steps Involved in Casting

1. Melting the metal.
2. Pouring it into a previously made mould or cavity which conforms to the shape of the
desired component.
3. Allowing the molten metal to cool and solidify in the mould.
4. Removing the solidified component from the mould, cleaning it and subjecting it to further
treatment, if necessary.

Applications of Casting
(a) Automobile engine blocks, cylinder blocks of automobile
(b) Airplane engines, pistons’ and piston rings,
(c) Machine tool beds and frames, mill rolls,
(d) Water supply and sewer pipes, sanitary fittings and agricultural parts etc.
Considerations for Preparing / Choosing the Pattern
The following factors affect the choice of a pattern.
(i) Number of Castings to be produced.
(ii) Size and complexity of the shape and size of casting
(iii) Type of moulding and castings method to be used.
(iv) Machining operation
(v) Characteristics of castings

Different types of patterns:

The common types of patterns are:
1) Single piece pattern
2) Split piece pattern
3) Loose piece pattern
4) Gated pattern
5) Match pattern
6) Sweep pattern
7) Cope and drag pattern
8) Skeleton pattern
9) Shell pattern
10) Follow board pattern

Single piece pattern:

This is the simplest type of pattern, exactly like the desired casting. For making a mould, the
pattern is accommodated either in cope or drag. Used for producing a few large castings, for
example, stuffing box of steam engine.

Split pattern:

These patterns are split along the parting plane (which may be flat or irregular surface) to
facilitate the extraction of the pattern out of the mould before the pouring operation. For a
more complex casting, the pattern may be split in more than two parts.

Loose piece pattern:

When a one piece solid pattern has projections or back drafts which lie above or below the
parting plane, it is impossible to with draw it from the mould. With such patterns, the
projections are made with the help of loose pieces. One drawback of loose faces is that their
shifting is possible during ramming.
Match plate pattern:

A match plate pattern is a split pattern having the cope and drags portions mounted on
opposite sides of a plate (usually metallic), called the "match plate" that conforms to the
contour of the parting surface.

The gates and runners are also mounted on the match plate, so that very little hand work is
required. This results in higher productivity. This type of pattern is used for a large number of
castings.

Piston rings of I.C. engines are produced by this process.

Sweep pattern:

A sweep is a section or board (wooden) of proper contour that is rotated about one edge to
shape mould cavities having shapes of rotational symmetry. This type of pattern is used when
a casting of large size is to be produced in a short time. Large kettles of C.I. are made by
sweep patterns.

Cope and drag pattern:

A cope and drag pattern is a split pattern having the cope and drag portions each mounted on
separate match plates. These patterns are used when in the production of large castings; the
complete moulds are too heavy and unwieldy to be handled by a single worker.
Skeleton pattern:

For large castings having simple geometrical shapes, skeleton patterns are used. Just like
sweep patterns, these are simple wooden frames that outline the shape of the part to be cast
and are also used as guides by the moulder in the hand shaping of the mould.

This type of pattern is also used in pit or floor moulding process.

Follow board pattern:

A follow board is not a pattern but is a device (wooden board) used for various purposes.

Materials Used for Patterns

The common materials of which the patterns are made are the following :
1) Wood :
It is the most common material used for pattern making because of the following
Advantages :
(i) It is cheap and available in abundance.
(ii) It can be easily shaped into different forms and intricate designs.
(iii) Its manipulation is easy because of lightness in weight.
(iv) Good surface finish can be easily obtained by only planning and sanding.
(v) It can be preserved for a fairly long time by applying proper preservatives like shellac
varnish.
On the other hand, it has certain disadvantages also as follows:
(i) It wears out quickly due to its low resistance to sand abrasion. As such, a wooden pattern
cannot stand a long constant use.
(ii) It is very susceptible to moisture, which may lead to its warping or splitting. This needs
its careful storing in a dry place and the application of preservatives.
(iii) Its life, owing to the above reasons, is short as compared to other pattern materials. This
confines its use to such cases only when a small number of castings are required.
2) Metals :
Metals are used with advantage, as pattern material, only when the number of castings to be
made is very high and a closer dimensional accuracy is desired. They have a much longer life
than wooden patterns and eliminate the inherent disadvantages of wood to a great extent.
But they also carry the following
Disadvantages :
(i) They are costlier than wood and, therefore, cannot be used with advantage, where a
smaller number of
castings is to be made.
(ii) For giving different shapes and fine surface finish they need machining. This again adds
to their cost.
(iii) Most of them are very heavy and in case of large castings the weight of the pattern
always poses a problem in its manipulation.
(iv) A large number of them have a tendency to get rusted.

3) Plaster :
Plaster of Paris or gypsum cement is advantageously used as a pattern material since it can be
easily casted into intricate shapes and can be easily worked also. Its expansion can be easily
controlled and it carries a very high compression strength. Its specific use is in making small
patterns and core boxes involving

intricate shapes and closer dimensional control. A marked feature of this cement is that
contrary to the action of metals, it expands on being solidified. Thus, if a cement of proper
coefficient of expansion is selected, the effect of shrinkage of casting can be automatically
neutralized.
4) Plastics :
Plastics are gradually gaining favor as pattern materials due to their following specific
characteristics :
1. Lightness in weight.
2. High strength.
3. High resistance to wear.
4. High resistance to corrosion due to moisture.
5. Fine surface finish.
6. Low solid shrinkage.
7. Very reasonable cost.

The plastics used as pattern materials are thermosetting resins. Phenolic resin plastic and
foam plastic suit best for this purpose. For making the pattern, first the moulds are made,
usually from plaster of Paris. The resin is then poured into these moulds and the two heated.
At a specific temperature, the resin solidifies to give the plastic pattern.

5) Wax :
Wax patterns are exclusively used in investment casting. For this a die or metal mould is
made in two
halves into which the heated wax is poured. The die is kept cool by circulating water around
it. As the wax
sets on cooling, the die parts are separated and the wax pattern taken out.

Pattern Allowances

Shrinkage allowance:

Draft or taper allowance:

Distortion allowance:

Finishing or machining allowance:

Shaking or rapping allowance

1. Shrinkage allowance:
After solidification of the metal from further cooling (room temp.) dimensions of the
patterns increases. So pattern size is bigger than that of the finished cast products. This is
known as shrinkage allowance.

It depends on:
a) Dimensions of casting
b) Design and intricacy of casting
c) Resistance of mol to shrinkage
d) Moulding materials used
e) Method of moulding used
f) Pouring temp of the molten metal

2. Draft or taper allowance:

Pattern draft is the taper placed on the pattern surfaces that are parallel to the direction
in which the pattern is withdrawn from the mould (that is perpendicular to the parting plane),
to allow removal of the pattern without damaging the mould cavity.
It depends on:
a) The method of moulding
b) The sand mixture used
c) The design (shape and length of the vertical side of the pattern)
d) Economic restrictions imposed on the casting
e) Intricacy of the pattern

3. Distortion allowance:
This allowance is taken into consideration when casting products of irregular shapes.
When these are cooled they are distorted due to metal shrinkage.
4. Finishing or machining allowance:
Machining allowance or finish allowance indicates how much larger the rough casting
should be over the finished casting to allow sufficient material to insure that machining will
"clean up" the surfaces.
This machining allowance is added to all surfaces that are to be machined. Machining
allowance is larger for hand moulding as compared to machine moulding.
It depends on:
a) Machining operation
b) Characteristics of metal
c) Methods of castings
d) Size, shapes and volumes of castings
e) Degree of finish required in castings
f) Configuration of the casting
5. Shaking or rapping allowance:
To take the pattern out of the mould cavity it is slightly rapped to detach it from the
mould cavity. So the cavity is increased a little.
GATING SYSTEM
It is nothing but the basic design, which is needed to construct a smooth and proper filling of
the mould cavity of the casting without any discontinuity, voids or solid inclusions. A proper
method of gating system is that it leads the pure molten metal to flow through a ladle to the
casting cavity, which ensures proper and smooth filling of the cavity. This depends on the
layout of the gating channels too, such as the direction and the position of the runner, sprue
and ingates
Procedure :
The main elements needed for the gating system are as follows:
Pouring basin or bush.
Sprue or down spure.
Sprue Well
Runner
Ingate
Ladle
Slag trap or filter.
The characteristics of each element are mentioned below:
Pouring basin : This is otherwise called as bush or cup. It is circular or rectangular in shape.
It collects the molten metal, which is poured, from the ladle.
Sprue : It is circular in cross section. It leads the molten metal from the pouring basin to the
sprue well.
Sprue Well : It changes the direction of flow of the molten metal to right angle and passes it
to the runner.
Runner : The runner takes the molten metal from sprue to the casting.
Ingate: This is the final stage where the molten metal moves from the runner to the mould
cavity.
Slag trap : It filters the slag when the molten metal moves from the runner and ingate. It is
also placed in the runner.
Types of Gating Systems :
The gating system also depends on the direction of the parting plane, which contains the
sprue, runner and the ingate. They are as follows:
Horizontal Gating System : This is used most widely. This type is normally applied in
ferrous metal's sand casting and gravity die-casting of non-ferrous metals. They are used for
flat casting, which are filled under gravity.
Vertical Gating System : This is applied in tall castings were high-pressure sand mould,
shell mould and die-casting processes are done.
Top Gating System : this is applied in places where the hot metal is poured form the top of
the casting. It helps directional solidification of the casting from top to bottom. It suits only
flat castings to limit the damage of the metal during the initial filling.

Bottom Gating System : it is used in tall castings where the molten metal enters the casting
through the bottom.
Middle Gating System : It has the characteristics of both the top and bottom.