Introduction

Defects in steel works.

Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon, and sometimes other elements. Because of its high tensile
strength and low cost, it is a major component used in buildings, infrastructure, tools, ships,
automobiles, machines, appliances, and weapons.

A defect in steel can be defined as a deviation in the appearance, shape, dimensions, macro
structure and or chemical properties when compared with the specifications given in the
technical standards or any other normative documents in force. These may be produced
during the processing, fabrication and use of metals in service.

Defects may occur because of:

 Design deficiencies.
 Material deficiencies.
 Specification problems.
 Workmanship deficiencies.

Defects can be 'patent' or 'latent'. Patent defects are those which can be discovered by
reasonable inspection. Latent defects are those which cannot be discovered by reasonable
inspection, for example problems with foundations which may not become apparent for
several years after completion when settlement causes cracking in the building. When a latent
defect becomes apparent, it becomes patent rather than latent.

Some of these defects result from complex metallurgical, chemical and physical reactions
that metals undergo during these processing operations and are difficult to avoid. They may
also be inherent to the process.

Structural defect
Structural defect means any defect in a structural element of a building that is attributable to
defective design, defective or faulty workmanship or defective material and sometimes any
combination of these. These defects can be caused by the use of defective materials.

Structural defects in a building can occur over time due to deterioration, wear and tear,
overloading, and poor maintenance.

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Casting defect analysis is the process of finding root causes of occurrence of defects in the
rejection of casting and taking necessary step to reduce the defects and to improve the casting
yield.
In a perfect world, there would be zero defects in steel.

In the real world, however, with the myriad of steel making processes, raw material inputs,
numerous finishing lines, and various grades and thicknesses, some imperfections are bound
to occur.

These defects are explained as follows

Casting defects in steel (materia, 2005)

1. Defects by cavities

Blowhole: Blowhole is a kind of cavities defect, which is also divided into pinhole and
subsurface blowhole. Pinhole is a very tiny hole. Subsurface blowhole can only be seen after
machining. Gases entrapped by solidifying metal on the surface of the casting, which results
in a rounded or oval blowhole as cavity. This defect mainly occurs during the manufacturing
and moulding of steel.

Causes

 Inadequate core venting

 Excessive release of gas from core
 Excessive moisture absorption by the cores.
 Low gas permeability of the core

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Remedies

• Improve core venting, provide venting channels, and ensure core prints are free of dressing

• Reduce amounts of gas. Use slow-reacting binder. Reduce quantity of binder. Use a coarser

sand if necessary.

• Apply dressing to cores, thus slowing down the rate of heating and reducing gas pressure.

2. Shape defects

Mismatch defect: Mismatch in mould defect is because of the shifting moulding flashes. It
will cause the dislocation at the parting line.

Causes

A mismatch is caused by movements of parts of the mould not remaining in their proper

position.

• This is also caused by loose box pins, inaccurate pattern dowel pins or carelessness in
placing the metal mould.

Remedies

 Check pattern mounting on match plate and Rectify, correct dowels.

 Use proper moulding box and closing pins

3. Defects by Appearance

Metallic projection: Joint flash or fins. Flat projection of irregular thickness, often with lacy
edges, perpendicular to one of the faces of the casting. It occurs along the joint or parting line
of the mould, at a core print, or wherever two elements of the mould intersect.

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Causes

 Poor dimensioning of moulds.

 Improper assembling of moulds.

Remedies

 Care in pattern making, moulding and core making.

 Control of their dimensions; Care in core setting and mould assembly
4. Inclusion/Structural anomalies

Metallic inclusions: These defects mostly appear after machining. Metallic or intermetallic
inclusions of various sizes which are distinctly different in structure and colour from the best
material and most especially different in properties

Possible Causes

 Combinations formed as intermetallic between the metal and metallic impurities

 Exposed core wires or rods
 Charge materials which have not completely dissolved in the melt
 Insoluble intermetallic compounds form and segregate, concentrating in the residual
liquid during solidification

Remedies

 Use small pieces of alloying in making up the charge

 Assure that charge materials are clean
 Do not make addition too near to the time of pouring
 Ensure that the bath is hot enough when making the additions
5. Incomplete casting

Poured short: In this, the upper portion of the casting misses. The edges adjacent o the
missing section are slightly round, all other contours conform to the pattern.

Cause:

 Premature interruption of pouring due to workman’s error

 Insufficient quantity of liquid metal in the ladle

Remedies:

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  Instruct pouring crew and supervise pouring practice
 Have sufficient metal in the ladle to fill the mold.

6. Flash defect: Flash can be described as any unwanted, excess metal which comes out
of the die attached to the cavity or runner. Typically, it forms a thin sheet of metal at
the parting faces. There are a number of different causes of flash and the amount and
severity can vary from a minor inconvenience to a major quality issue. At the very
least, flash is waste material, which mainly turns into dross when re-melted.

Causes

 Damage to die faces and die components

 Parts of the die have insufficient strength
 Cavities offset from center of platen (a flat platform)
 Pressure spikes at the end of cavity fill
 Excessive increase in pressure
 Incorrect rise in timing.

Remedies

If your sprue is very tall and the casting covers a wide area of the mould face, it's very
possible for the mould to actually be forced up by the hydrostatic pressure of the metal. The
seriousness of this depends density of the metal (aluminum is very light, but be careful with a
bronze pour!) and the weight of the mould fighting it. The solution here is very simple:
weight down the mould

7. Misrun: Misrun defect is a kind of incomplete casting defect, which causes the
casting uncompleted. The edge of this defect is round and smooth. When the metal is
unable to fill the mould cavity completely and thus leaving unfilled portion called
misrun.

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Cause: Lack of fluidity in molten metal, faulty design and faulty gating.

Remedy: Adjusting proper pouring temperature, modifying of the design and modifying the
gating system.

Cracks or tears: Cracks can appear in die castings from a number of causes. Some cracks
are very obvious and can easily be seen with the naked eye. Other cracks are very difficult to
see without magnification.

Causes

 Shrinkage of the casting within the die

 Undercuts or damage in die cavities
 Uneven, or excessive, ejection forces
 Thermal imbalance in the die

Remedies

 Reduce dry strength, add saw dust/ coal dust

 Reduce pouring temperature
 Avoid superheating of metal
 Use chill vents.
 Provide feeders (a reservoir built into a metal casting mold to prevent cavities due to
shrinkage)
 Avoid early knockout. Give sufficient cooling time.
 Correct composition

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Timber Defect

Timber. This is a type of wood which has been processed into beams and planks. It is also
known as “lumber” in US and Canada. Basically, timber or Lumber is a wood or firewood of
growing trees. Any wood capable of yielding a minimum dimensional size can be termed as a
timber or lumber. (CivilSeek, 2019)

Timber defect is an irregularity or abnormality occurring in or on wood which is responsible

for its strength reduction, lowering of durability, lowering of utility, poor appearance and
decay.

Trees give us the timber which is converted into required form and finally used. Before
reaching this final stage, timber comes across many critical stages like growing without
defects, cutting at the right time, seasoning, converting and using. Different types of defects
occur in timber at these various stages which include;

 Defects due to Natural Forces

 Defects due to Attack by Insects
 Defects due to Fungi
 Defects due to Defective Seasoning
 Defects due to Defective Conversion

Most of the defects in timber cause weaknesses or other sorts of difficulties. However some
defects can be beneficial for a specific type of work, for example, twisted wood is good for
making a bowl out of timberwork.

1. DEFECTS CAUSED BY NATURAL FORCES

Knots:

 Knots are the most common defects caused due to natural forces, during the growth of
a tree, branches close to the ground or lower branches die. Bases of those branches
remain in the tree as the trees grow which form a mark on the stem resulting into dark
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 colored stains on the surface after conversion. This dark colored stains are due to the
continuity of wood fibers.

Wind Cracks: If wood is exposed to atmospheric agencies, its exterior surface shrinks. Such
a shrinkage results into cracks as shown These are known as the wind cracks.

Shakes: Shakes are cracks in the timber which appear due to excessive heat, frost or
twisting due to wind during the growth of a tree . They occur around the annual ring or
growth ring of timber. In other words, cracks or splits in the woods are called shakes. It may
or may not be a structural problem depending upon depth and use. The main problem is
aesthetic. Where the appearance is important, shakes are undesirable. Depending upon the
shape and the positions shakes
can be classified as star shake, cup shake, ring shakes, radial shakes and heart shakes

 Cup shakes are formed due to non-uniform growth of a tree or excessive bending by
cyclones or winds. In this case, the shakes develop between annual rings and
separates them partly.

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 Heart shakes, the other type of shakes which develop in maturity approaching trees
whose inner part is under shrinkage. The shake spread from pith to sap wood
following the directions of medullary rays.

 Ring shakes are similar to cup shakes, but they completely separate the annual rings.

 Star shakes are formed due to extreme heat or severe frost action. They develop
wider cracks on the outside of timber from bark to the sap wood.

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  Radial shakes are developed radially from pith to the bark.

Rind Galls:

The meaning of rind is bark and gall is abnormal growth. So abnormal growth of the bark of
the trees is called rind galls. Improper cutting of branches causes this abnormal growth.
Wood from this portion of the timber lacks strength and desirable in structure.

Upsets:

Upsets in various wood indicate that the tree was subjected to crushing or compression.
Improper felling of trees, heavy wind blowing during the young age of the tree.

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Twisted fibres

This results when the tree is exposed to high speed winds making the fibres of wood to get
twisted. This wood is not suitable for sawing but can be used for making poles, posts

Burls: These are uneven projections on the body of the tree during its growth. These are
mainly due to the effect of shocks and injuries received by the tree during its young age.

Water stain: The wood becomes in contact with water for some time which damages the
colour of wood and forms a stain on its surface.

Chemical stain: This is formed on the wood by the action of any external chemical agents
like reaction by gases present in the atmosphere thus making the stain area to get discoloured.

Dead wood: It is obtained from the cutting of dead tree. It is light in weight, reddish in color
and its strength is very less.

Coarse grain: The age of the tree is known by the number of annual rings that is for fast
growing trees, the gap between the annual ring is very large and these trees are thus called
coarse grained trees and the timber obtained from them is of less strength.

Timber foxiness: Foxiness s generally indicated by yellow or red spots and it results when
the timber is stored without proper ventilation.

Druxiness: The top surface of timber indicates white spots which give access to fungi.

Callus: This is the soft skin covering the wound of the tree.

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Remedies

 Use of water based preservatives either vacuum or surface applied helps to reduce the
problem though it does not eliminate it completely. However, knot free or laminated
timber completely eliminates knot staining.
 If the knot has fallen out completely leaving a hole, this will have to be filled with
wood filler before finishing.
 For cracks and splits that are greater than 5mm wide, the void can be filled with a
mouldable epoxy mortar but if the crack penetrates more than 30% through timber, it
will be necessary to provide dowels (can be made of glass fibre, carbon fibre, steel or
stainless steel) or epoxy-glass bars across the filled section in order to stitch the two
halves together.

2. DEFECTS CAUSED BY INSECTS

Insects like beetles, termites or marine boars eat wood, make holes and weaken the strength
of the wood.

Beetles are small insects that make holes (diameter of around 2mm) in almost all the
sapwoods. The larvae make tunnels through the sapwood in all directions and turn wood into
powder.

Termites live in a colony. They are very fast in eating woods and making tunnels through it.
Only a few good kinds of wood can withstand the action of termites.

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Marine boars are found in salt water. Usually, they make tunnels in wood to take refuge or
shelter. All kinds of wood or timber are vulnerable to this kind of insect. The affected timber
loses its colour and strength.

Remedies:

 Charring that is half burning the portions of timber that is to be embedded in the
ground so as to save timber posts and poles from attack from termites and other born
insects. (CivilSeek, 2019)
 Use of preservatives which may either be water, oil or volatile base salts like zinc
chloride, coal, tar, creosote oil and creosote petroleum.
 Use of termite shields which act as barriers between the timber and the ground.

3. DEFECTS CAUSED BY FUNGI

Stain: When fungi feed only on sapwood, where the food materials are stored, it causes a
stain. Heartwood doesn’t contain these kinds of food materials and is not affected by it. Stain
action causes colour but does not affect the strength of the wood.

Dry rot: This occurs when there is no ventilation of air or if the wood is improperly
seasoned. Fungi feeds on wood and during feeding, they attack on wood and convert it into
dry powder form. Absence of sunlight, dampness, presence of sap also increases the growth
of dry rot causing fungi

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Wet rot: This is caused by the fungi which decomposes the timber and converts it into
greyish brown powder form. The fungi grow when there is alternate dry and wet conditions
of timber.

Brown rot: unlike white rot, it eats up the cellulose part of the cell tissue leaving behind
brownish lignin part in the rotten form.

White rot: This is the opposite of brown rot. The fungi attack lignin of wood and wood
assumes the appearance of a white mass consisting of cellulose compounds

Remedies

 Remove defective paint and prepare a surface accordingly to receive paint

 Use of environmental remedies that is the environment should be dry and properly
protected from rain, wind and direct sun.
 Use of well-seasoned wood and also free from sap for exterior work and also by
painting the timber surface with copper sulphate for underground work.

4. DEFECTS CAUSED BY DEFECTIVE SEASONING

Some of the defects resulting from defective seasoning are as follows:

Bow: Curvature formed in direction of the length of the timber.

Cup: Curvature formed in the transverse direction of the timber.

Check: Check is a kind of crack that separates fibre’s, but it doesn’t extend from one end to
another.

Split: Split is a special type of check that extends from one end to another.

Twist: when a piece of timber has spirally distorted along its length, its known as a twist.

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Honey Combing: Stress is developed in the heartwood during the drying process or
seasoning. For these stresses, cracks are created in the form of honeycomb texture.

Case-Hardening: The exposed surface of timber dries very rapidly. It therefore shrinks and
is under compression leaving the interior surface which has not completely dried is under
tension. This usually occurs in timber which is placed at the bottom during seasoning.

Causes:

 Faulty method of seasoning causes serious defects in woods. During seasoning of

timber, exterior or surface layer of the timber dries before the interior surface. So,
stress is developed due to the difference in shrinkage

Remedies

 By keeping stress at its minimum through controlling the shrinkage during seasoning.
 Storing wood in a shaded area, well away from ground moisture and allowing the
edges of the boards to aerate.
 Sealing the cut ends immediately after cutting to minimize end checking from the end
grains

5. DEFECTS CAUSED BY CONVERSION

Boxed Heart: This term is applied to the timber, which is sawn in a way that the pith or the
centre heart falls entirely within the surface throughout its length.

Machine Burnt: Caused by overheating

Machine Notches: Caused by defective holding and pulling

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Miscut: Caused by erroneous cutting or sawing of wood due to lack of experience in sawing
and carelessness.

Chip Mark: This defect is indicated by the marks or signs placed by chips on the finished
surface of timber. They may also be formed by the parts of a planning machine.

Diagonal Grain: This defect is formed due to improper sawing of timber. It is indicated by
diagonal mark on straight grained surface of timber.

Torn Grain: This defect is caused when a small depression is formed on the finished surface
of timber by falling of a tool or so.

Wane: This defect is denoted by the presence of original rounded surface on the
manufactured piece of timber.

Conclusion

In this research work different casting defects are studied. By referring different research
papers causes and their remedies are listed. These will help to quality control department of
casting industries for analysis of casting defect. This study will definitely be helpful in
improving the productivity and yield of the casting. Rejections of the casting on the basis of
the casting
defect should be as minimized and all the above research is heading in the same direction.

References
CivilSeek. (2019). Preservation of timber and wood. Its methods, causes. Retrieved from google:
https://civilseek.com/preservation of timber and wood

Dr D.N. Shivappa1, M. R. (2012). Analysis of Casting Defect and Identification of Remidial Measures.
International Journal of Engineering Inventions, 01-05.

materia, T. (2005, september). casting defects in steel: Total materia. Retrieved from google:
https://www.totalmateria.com/page

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