Introduction to Foundry Practice (Shop-160)

Introduction:
Foundry work deals with the melting of metals and the pouring of molten metal into molds
– from which castings are obtained. It is a basic industry. Let us consider the importance of foundry
in today’s world – which is extensively dependent upon metal products.
The convenience enjoyed in the modern home and society depends largely on foundry
products. As we leave our homes to go about our daily work, we find that castings produced in the
foundry play one of the most important roles in our daily lives. Our modern day land, sea and air
transportation systems depend upon castings for their operation. An average automobile has
approximately 600 pounds or more of cast metal parts in its construction. Modern communication
and lighting system would be impossible without castings.
The electrical machinery group and automobiles are the heaviest users of iron castings,
while other uses include huge tones of this iron being used to cast iron pipes and car wheels. Rail-
roads take up a large percentage of steel castings. Castings are used very extensively in heavy
machinery. Non-ferrous (without iron) castings of brass and bronze go largely into the automobile
industry and machine tools manufacturing group. Aluminium and manganese castings are used
where light-weight characteristic of the object, while maintaining a substantial strength, is required.
The foundry industry’s products (castings) enter into every field of engineering and
technology where metals are required to serve the purpose of man. Castings are used in
transportation, communication, construction, agriculture, power generators, in aerospace and
atomic energy applications and in other activities too numerous to describe.
Modern civilization would not be so far advanced as it is today if it were not for the foundry
industry and its products. The foundry industry is a progressive one, always looking ahead into the
future. The more foundries improve, so will civilization.
Because foundry is the basic first step in manufacturing for the metal industry, to obtain
good machines and good products we must train good foundry men – who are able to carry out
foundry correctly, safely and professionally. To achieve this goal, foundry courses are being
designed to meet the industry’s demands and also to meets up with the growth and prosperity of
our country.

Foundry in metals:
A metal casting is made by allowing liquid metal to flow into the cavity of the mold of
desired shape and allowing the metal to solidify. Metal castings are the main ones usually in a
foundry. The first castings in history were made out of brass and bronze, then came cast iron and
now many other metals or alloys of metals are used. The principle types being iron, brass, bronze,
malleable cast iron, steel, aluminium and magnesium.
Most castings are sand castings, made by pouring hot molten metal into a form (mold). The
mold is made in a box (flask) – which is made of either wood or metal – which is filled with packed,

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rammed green/molding sand. The sand mold contains a cavity formed by a pattern. This pattern is
the wooden replica of the metal casting that is to be obtained.
The foundry men use patterns made of wood (mainly), sometimes metal (whose shape has
been obtained by custom machining using a CNC machine or other machine tools) and also in some
cases plastic (mainly 3D printed) etc. to form the mold for the desired castings. Some patterns are
hollow; these castings are made by replacing the holes are filled by placing cores in the mold. Cores
are made of sand that is formed in a box which shapes the core according to the size of the holes in
the casting. Sand used to make cores is mixed with binders such as linseed oil, molasses, resin, fish
oil etc. The core holds its shape due to the binder, and is then baked in an oven thoroughly to make
it hard enough to be easily handled and so that it does not break easily.

Molding:
The making of molds require great skill and care, since castings of metals must meet the close
tolerances of the final size as dictated by physical and chemical properties of the metal when it
cools and solidifies. The pattern is made keeping in mind the allowance/tolerance needed keeping
in mind how the metal acts during the conversion from molten to solid state. Thus, using that
perfect pattern forming a perfect mold requires skill and knowledge. In case of hand-made molds
the following particular skills and knowledge are necessary:
 ‘Ramming up’ a sand mold to the right hardness.
 Placing wooden poles for runner and riser, and cutting gates in the sand mold; through
which the molten metal will flow and will fill up the mold cavity.
 Cutting and Shaping the sand around the pattern in the bottom part of the mold (drag) so
that the top part (cope) of the mold could be lifted from the drag without having the sand
tear or break in the process.
 Patching any torn parts of the mold so that the molten metal when poured may not leak
and that the casting is a true reproduction of the original pattern.
 The correct setting of cores if the pattern consists of holes.
 Pouring of the molten metal in the cavity of the mold skillfully.

Definitions of some important terms:

1. Foundry: It is the process of producing a metallic object by making a mold and casting.
2. Molding: It is the process of creating an impression (cavity) in the sand body by a pattern of the
desired casting product.
3. Casting: It is the process of melting metal in a furnace and pouring the molten metal into the
mold.
4. Pattern: It is the model of the desired casting with exactly the same shape and size with or
without the addition of allowances and core prints.
5. Core: It is a sand body formed by the pattern itself or made separately from specially prepared
core sand elsewhere, and then the core introduced into the mold after the pattern has been
withdrawn. It represents the holes that may be required in a casting, and also the internal shape

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 of the casting. It helps to give shape to the impression on the sand mold which the pattern
alone cannot provide.
6. Core Print: It is the extended portion of the pattern which forms an impression in the mold
which helps to locate the right position to place the dry-sand core in the mold.
7. Core-box: It is a pattern that represents the internal shape or holes in the casting and the core
box is a two part split pattern that has the same dimensions of the hole as that of in the casting.
8. Draft Allowance: It is the allowance of the sides and corners present in the pattern that may
cause the sand mold to break or form cracks when the pattern is removed. It also helps in easy
removal of pattern. This allowance mainly refers to the slight rounding of the sharp edges that
may be present in the pattern. This allowance is not always included into the pattern as it is not
necessary for all sharp edge patterns.
9. Shrinkage Allowance: It is the tolerance of all the dimensions, provided all over the pattern, to
compensate for the shrinkage of metal that occurs when the metal cools from molten to sold
state (solidification) during casting. This allowance is a must for all patterns. The shrinkage
allowances for some common casting metals and alloys are given below:
Metal/Alloy Allowance
1
Steel /4 “ per foot
1
Cast Iron /8 “ per foot
3
Aluminium /16 “ per foot
3
Brass /16 “ per foot

10. Machining Allowance: It is the tolerance in the dimensions of the pattern provided to counter
the loss of material during the machining or finishing of the casting. This prevents decrease in
the size of the cast product, with respect to the wooden pattern, when the casting is grinded to
remove unevenness and excess metal. It is a must for all patterns.
11. Molding Sand: It is a mixture of clay, water, binders, additives and a blend of carefully selected
grains of silica which is in a semi-plastic form.
12. Core-Sand: It is used for the making of cores for pattern that have internal dimensions (holes). It
generally contains clean silica grain with a suitable binding material such as resin, molasses etc.
13. Pouring Basin: A pouring basin is either placed on top or formed into the cope (upper part)
surface and is connected to the runner to receive and transfer the molten metal from the ladle
to the runner.

14. Gates: The channels cut on the surface of the drag (bottom part) which start from the runner
and riser, and end at the mold cavity. This provides a path for the molten metal to flow into the
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 mold cavity when poured through the runner. This also provides a path for the molten metal to
rise out through the riser once the mold cavity is completely filled.
15. Runner: The vertical hole in the cope (upper part) through which molten metal is poured into
the mold is called the runner.
16. Riser: The vertical hole in the cope (upper part) through which molten metal rises after filling
the mold cavity is called the riser.
17. Crucible: It is a container for the molten metal in the furnace. It is made out of graphite fire-clay.
18. Cupola: It is a cylindrical vertical furnace used for melting cast iron. It is used for continuous
melting of metal in a mass production foundry.
19. Pig Iron: Iron produced by smelting iron ores in a blast furnace is a called pig iron. This iron is
casted in small pieces; this makes them easier to transported or traded conveniently, handling
them becomes easier.
20. Scrap Metals: Every metallic object that has lost its use and is no longer useful for any
production purpose is termed as scrap metals.
21. Mold coatings: It is a common practice to coat the surface of sand molds with refractor
materials to prevent the fusing of the sand to the castings and to resist the cutting action of
molten metal. The materials ordinarily used for this purpose are graphite, silica, mica, talc, etc.
22. Refractoriness: It is the property of molding sand to resist high temperatures without fusing.
Melting point of silica sand is about 3600ᵒF.
23. Permeability: It is the property of molding sand to permit the escape of gases and steam
formed in the mold.
24. Cohesiveness: It is the property to provide sufficient bond hold together which gives strength to
retain the impression made by the pattern in the mold.

Tools and Equipment for Molding work:

1. RIDDDLE: A riddle of a standard mesh screen is used to remove lumps or foreign particles from
the sand both hand and power riddles are available, the latter being used where large volume
of work are involved.

2. RAMMER: A hand rammer generally made of wood is used to pack the sand in the mold. It has
got two ends, one end is sharp and the other end is blunt. The sharp end of the rammer is called
the PEEN END which is used to pack the molding sand through the corners of the molding flask
and the other end is called the BUTT, which is used to pack the sand firmly in the center of the
flask.

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3. TROWEL: Small trowels of various shapes are used for repairing mold cavities as well as for
smoothing over the molding sand of the mold. This allows the parting sand to be easily spread
over the surface of the mold. The usual trowels are rectangular in shape and have either a
round end or square end.

4. SLICK-SPOON: The principle hand tool for repairing damaged molds is a slick-spoon. It is a small
double ended tool having a flat head on one end and a spoon head on the other end. This tool is
also made in a variety of other shapes.

Slick-Spoon
5. BELLOWS: A standard hand operated bellows are used for blowing off loose sand from the mold
varieties and surface of the mold.

6. LIFTER: Lifters are used for smoothing and clearing out loose sand depression in the mold. They
are made of thin section of steel of various width and length with one end bent at right angles.
A combination of slick-spoon and lifter is known as a YANKE-LIFTER.

7. SWAB: It is made of flax and hemp and is used for applying water to the mold around the edge
of the pattern. This prevents the sand edges from crumbling when the pattern is removed from
the mold.

8. DRAW SPIKE OR SCREW: The draw spike is a pointed steel rod with loops at one end. It is driven
into a wooden pattern when it is withdrawn from the sand. The draw screw is similar in shape
but threaded on the end to engage metal patterns.

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9. VENTWIRE: It is a wire rod used for making openings called vents in the mold. This helps to
carry off the steam and gases generated by the hot metal when in contact with the sand.

10. GATE CUTTER: It is a piece of sheet metal used to cut the pathway that connects the spruce
with the mold cavity. This pathway is called a gate.

11. SPRUE CUTTER: This is a tool made of brass pipe in various sizes in diameter for cutting spruce
or runner in the cope part of the mold; through which the molten metal will be poured into the
mold cavity. It is used instead of providing runner wooden pole for rapid work.

12. GEGGERS OR LIFTERS: These are iron rods that are bent at one end or both ends. These are
used to reinforce the sand in the top portion of the molding box, and for supporting the hanging
bidet of sand wash and then being placed next to one of the cross bar. The lower end should be
placed next to the patter and the upper end should extend to the top of the mold.
13. SHOVEL: It is a long tool with a wooden handle, generally made of thick sheet of hardened steel
this is to allow the spade to shift the sand from one place to another in large amounts. It can
also be used as a large spatula to mix sand and water properly for making mold.

14. RUNNER: It is a round or semi-round wooden bar which is used to provide a passage through
which the molten metal will run into the mold cavity. The size of runner varies according to the
size of the model.
15. RISER: Risers are often provided in the mold, this is to compensate for the shrinkage taking
place during solidification. It works by allowing the foundry worker to observe the filling of the
mold cavity, and make sure that the mold cavity is completely filled with the molten metal. This
filling is continued until there is a slight fill of the riser cavity. This ensures to prevent heavy
shrinkage during solidification, and so not allow damage to the casting. The riser should be
placed near the section of the mold cavity that is most likely to suffer the heaviest shrinkage.
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 Riser also serves the purpose of being a large opening for the generated gases to escape from
the mold. Also providing a place for the collection of loose sand. Riser may be of two types, one
is external or exposed and another is internal or blind.
16. MOLDING FLASK: Small or medium sized castings are made in a flask which is a box shaped
container without a top and a bottom covering. It is made in two parts held in alignment by
dowel pins. The top part of the flask is called the cope and the bottom part is called the drag. If
the flask is made in three parts then the centre part is called the cheek.

Molding Flask
17. MOLDING BOARD: The molding board is a smooth surfaced board made of either wood or
metal on which the flask and pattern are placed when the mold making is started. The board
should be perfectly flat and should be reinforced with clench on the bottom. When the mold is
turned over the mold surface is already smoothed and finished. When the mold is placed on a
similar board called the BOTTOM BOARD, this board acts as a support when molten metal is
poured into the mold.

18. STIKE OFF BAR: A strike-off bar is used for striking off the excess sand from the mould to
provide a smooth surface. It is a straight bar of wood or steel and usually have rectangular
cross-section.

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Molding Sand:
Molding sand is a mixture of silica sand grain, suitable binder – which is usually from clay, water and
sometimes other adhesives. Molding sands must fulfill these three outstanding requirements.
 They must have refractoriness, enough to withstand the high temperatures and pressures
exerted by molten metal.
 They must have enough permeability to allow the escape of gases produced as a result of
the high temperatures.
 They must have sufficient cohesive and adhesive forces of attraction to hold the shape of
the mold.
Molding sands can be classified according to the size of the silica grain. Small and ornamental
castings are required to be made using fine-grained sand, since they require a very smooth finish.
Large castings require coarser grained sand, which is more permeable to gases. This is necessary
since, when metal is poured into heavy castings it stays hot for a longer period of time, and so
produces hot gases for a longer period of time. In order to remove these hot gases from the casting
the sand grains must be coarse to have a larger permeability. The coarser sand also makes the
molding sand stronger. The Grain sizing of molding sands affects the following properties:
 Permeability
 Surface smoothness
 Green Strength
 Amount of binding forces present in the sand
 Amount of moisture required to temper the sand

**Green strength, or handling strength, can be defined as the strength of a material it is processed
to form its final ultimate tensile strength. This strength is usually considerably lower than the final
ultimate strength of a material. (Wikipedia definition)
Green means containing water, and Strength means the compressive strength of the
molding sand. Green Strength is the property of the green to retain the shape of the mold. It refers
to the compressive strength of molding sand containing moisture. Adequate green strength and
toughness is a must for making and handling the mold of moist sand.

**Temper the sand means to make the sand hard enough to form the mold.

Natural and synthetic molding sands: Molding sands are classified as either natural or synthetic.
Natural molding sand is dug from pits containing silica grains and clay already mixed and suitable
for making mold. Synthetic molding sand is made in the foundry by mixing clay free sand with
selected clay binders, water and other materials as required by the sand.

The advantages and disadvantages of synthetic molding sand compared to natural molding sand:

Advantages Disadvantages
1) Synthetic molding sands are more durable 1) Synthetic sand is workable and useful only
and will maintain strength for long periods over a narrow moisture range.
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 of time and also for pressures as high as 50
to 200 p.c. than that of natural sand.
2) Synthetic sand is more uniform than natural 2) Synthetic sand dries out more rapidly than
sand. The results are better controlled over natural sand.
the foundry conditions.
3) Free of fibers, this results in higher 3) Synthetic sand preparation requires more
permeability, better flow ability and mechanical equipment than natural sand.
considerably less water will be required to
make Synthetic sand.
4) Synthetic sand has more refractoriness than 4) Synthetic sand mold creation requires more
natural sand. skill when patching up the mold.

Types of Molds:
 Green Sand molds: Green sand molds are those in which the mold is a closed one and metal is
poured soon after the mold making is complete, before appreciable amount of drying takes
place of the molding sand. There may be 3% to 8% moisture present in this sand in this
condition after the processing.
 Dry Sand molds: In dry sand molds free moisture is completely removed by beating. As it is
harder, stronger and free of molding gases – it produces more dimensionally accurate castings
as compared with green sand mold.
 Loam molds: Loam molds are used for large castings. The mold is first built up with bricks of
large iron blocks. These parts are then plastered over a thick loam (soil) mortar, the shape of
the mold being obtained with sweeps or a skeleton pattern. The mold is then allowed to dry
thoroughly so that it can resist the heavy rush of molten metal.
 CO2 molds/Sodium silicate molds: In this process clean sand is mixed with sodium silicate and
other additives to form a type of molding sand. This molding sand is then rammed around a
pattern. Then CO2 gas is pressure-fed into the mold, this causes the sand moisture to harden.
This allows for the production of very smooth and intricate castings to be obtained by this
method.
 Metal molding: Metal molds are used mainly in the die casting of low-melting point alloys.
Castings from metal molds are accurately shaped with a smooth finish, thus eliminating much
machine work after casting.

Molding Process:
There are mainly four types of molding processes that we mainly use in foundry:
 Bench Molding: For small types of foundry work bench molding is done on a bench of
suitable height from the ground.
 Floor Molding: Large castings with difficulty in handling due to heavy mass of the pattern as
well as the casting being heavy, the mold is created on the floor.
 Pit Molding: Extremely large castings are molded in a pit (a pit is a hole in the ground that is
quite large to fit an entire person) instead of a flask. The pit acts as the drag part of the

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 mold and so this removes the need for lifting two parts of the mold for a heavy casting. The
soil that has been dug up to form the drag part of the mold (pit) is used to make the cope
part of the mold which is then placed on top of the drag to complete the mold.
 Machine Molding: Some of the molding operations such as ramming the sand, rolling the
mold over, forming the gate and drawing the pattern out can be done by machines for fast
and better production of molds for castings.

Comparison between normal pig iron and foundry pig iron:

Composition of normal pig iron Composition of foundry pig iron
Silicon: 0.20 to 14.00 % Silicon: 0.75 to 4.00 %
Sulfur: 0.25 to 1.005 % Sulfur: 0.08 to 0.20 %
Phosphorus: 0.20 to 3.500 % Phosphorus: 0.10 to 1.20 %
Manganese: 0.20 to 4.00 % Manganese: 0.50 to 2.50 %
Iron: Remaining % Carbon: 3.00 to 4.00 %
Iron: Remaining %
The reason for the addition of other elements to the foundry pig iron is as follows:
Carbon: Increases the strength and hardness of the iron.
Silicon: Decreases the hardness usually, but when the percentage is above 3.25% the hardness is
increased.
Manganese: Increases the fluidity, strength, and hardness of the molten iron.
Phosphorus: Increases the fluidity and lowers the melting temperature of the pig iron allowing easy
melting of the iron to carry out casting.

Pattern:
Definition: It is the model of the desired object whose casting is to be obtained, which has the same
shape and size with or without the addition of allowances and core prints.
Patterns may be made out of wood, metal, plaster or plastic. The material chosen for the
pattern is according to the design of the casting, the number of castings to be produced and the
method of production.

Materials for making Patterns:

 Wooden Pattern: When only a few castings are to be produced, a single loose wooden pattern
is made out of white pine wood (commonly known as Kerosene kath) and is the most sensible
choice in this case. Patterns made out of white pine wood are used only when the number of
castings required is less than 30, and the castings are small (under 20 ft.) and not too much
intricate in design. Mahogany or some other durable wood are used to make the patterns when
the number of required castings are 30 to 100, and the pattern has slender sections.
 Metallic Pattern: Metallic patterns are made out of brass, bronze, white metal (a light colored
metallic alloy that is tin based and is whitish or silvery), cast iron, aluminium alloys or any other
alloys. When the number of castings required is greater than 100 then metal patterns are used.
Small patterns are frequently made of brass or bronze. They create/draw a good form
(mold cavity) in the mold and maintain a smooth finish due to their resistance to atmospheric
corrosion. Certain alloys are called collectively as white metals; this name is given due to their
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 low shrinkage characteristics. White metals are safer and less durable, so they are less
expensive to produce because there is no cost of finishing. Castings obtained from other
patterns are also used as patterns for machine molding. Patterns are not ordinarily made from
cast iron because of the tendency of iron to rust.

Pattern Allowances:
When making patterns some allowances have to be taken into consideration;
I. Shrinkage Allowance: It is the tolerance of the dimensions; provided all over the pattern to
compensate for the shrinkage of metal during solidification and cooling after casting.
1
Steel /4 “ per foot
1
Cast Iron /8 “ per foot
3
Aluminium /16 “ per foot
Shrinkage Allowance for various metals
II. Finishing or Machining Allowance: It is the tolerance in dimension provided in a pattern to
make a pattern large enough so that, during machining of the surface of casting results in
minimum wastage of material and no loss of dimensions of the intended final object.
Machining Allowance depends on (1) Machining method, (2) Characteristics of the metal
used, (3) Size and Shape of the casting, (4) Method of casting used.
III. Draft/Tapper Allowance: To facilitate the withdrawal of a pattern from a mold proper
drafting should be applied to the pattern surface. The amount of draft on the average
pattern varies from 1/4 to 1 degree depending on the method of molding.

Types of Pattern:
 Single Piece/Solid Pattern

 Loose Piece Pattern

Loose Piece Pattern

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 Split Pattern

Split Pattern
 Match Plate Pattern

 Gated Pattern

Gated Pattern
 Cope and Drag Pattern

Cope and Drag Pattern

Cores:
Core is a sand body formed by the pattern or core box which is placed in the mold cavity to get a
slot or cavity of any required size in the casting of the object.
 CORE SAND: Various types and qualities of sand are used in making cores, depending on the
properties desired in the core. A high silica containing sand with very little if any clay is used to
make core sand in general. When choosing the sand for the core, a foundry man considers the
grain size of the sand, the shape of the grains and the mineralogical composition of the sand. A

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 high percentage of quartz is desirable in core sands, because quartz does not fracture when
exposed to high heat.
 CORE BINDERS: The function of core binders is to cement the grains of sand into the desired
forms of the cores, and to provide sufficient strength to the core to prevent breakage, distortion
or corrosion in the core during the molding and casting processes. The strong bonding in the
core sand by using commercial binders is generally attained by heating the core in an oven. This
class of binders consists of oils, corrals, resin, sulfites, liquor molasses etc.
 CORE BOXES: A core box is essentially a type of pattern made of wood or metal in which sand is
rammed or packed to form a core. The core box is made exactly in the shape and size of the
required core. Several types of core are used according to the shape of the core.

Types of Cores:
The cores used in foundries are classified according to their positions in the mold at which they are
placed. The following are classified as follows:

 Horizontal Core: It is the most common type of core used in foundry. It is usually in a cylindrical
form laid in the mold horizontally. The ends of the core rest in core seats (positions in the mold
cavity where the core is to be fixed) provided by the core prints (part of the pattern that marks
the core seats) on the pattern.
 Vertical Core: The core when it is required to be placed along a vertical axis in the mold then it
is referred to as a vertical core. The upper end of the core is forced into the cope and the lower
end is placed in the core seat of the drag.
 Balanced Core: A balance core has a single core print and produces a single opening in the
casting. It helps to create blind holes or recesses or indentations on the pattern. That is to not
create a complete hole but a cavity in the pattern.
 Stop Core: It is a core placed in the mold cavity to prevent metal from following into operation
of the cavity is referred to as a stop core.
 Ram up Core: It is called the ram up core, as it is set in the mold with the pattern before the
mold is rammed into the flask.
 Hanging Core: The hanging core is suspended vertically in the mold. This is achieved either by
hanging the core using wires or the core collar (extended part of the core) rests in the upper
part (cope) of the mold. This causes the core to be hanged within the mold cavity. This type of
core does not have a bottom support. It is a type of balance core.
 Drop Core: This core is used when the core has to be placed either above or below the parting
line of the mold flask. That is, this core is located only in one half of the mold (cope or drag).
This core is also known as the wing core, tail core, chair core, etc. It is a type of balance core.
 Kiss Core: The kiss core is used when a number of holes of less dimensional accuracy are
required. In this case, no core prints are provided and consequentially no core seat is available
for the core. The core is held in position approximately between the cope and the drag and
hence referred to as a kiss core.

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The above classification all fall under the category of dry sand mold. According to the type of sand
used to make the core, there are two types of cores:
 Green Sand Core: A core formed by the pattern itself and the same sand is used for the mold, it
is known as green sand core. The pattern is designed in such a way so that it provides the core
of green sand. The hollow part of the pattern produces the green sand core.
 Dry Sand Core: A core that is prepared separately in a core box and is dried off of moisture, it is
known as dry sand core. These cores are available in different shapes, sizes and designs as per
required by the pattern to be casted.

Core Materials:
The composition of a core material is a mixture of sand, binders and additives. Core sand usually
contains silica, zircon and olivine etc. and core binders are usually core oils, resins, molasses, dextrin
etc. These are generally used for preparation of core material. This core material is used to make
the cores in foundry.
Sand contains more than 5% clay this reduces not only permeability but also collapsibility, and
hence not suitable for core making.
The main compositions of different Core Sands are as follows:
 SAND: The sand may be green sand for smaller castings; and can be a mixture of fire clay, green
sand and betonies for heavier castings. The cores are oven baked to dry away its moisture. The
dry sand cores are stronger than green sand cores. Also, the sand with round-shaped grains is
best suited for core making as they have better permeability than sands with angular grains.
 OIL SAND: Oil sand can be used for almost any sand casting application. A typical composition of
oil sand is as follows: sand (95 – 96 %), cereal flour (1 - 1.05 %), core oil (1 – 1.5 %), water (1 – 2
%) and bentonite or clay (0.1 – 0.3 %).

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 Oil sand is very popular in core making because of the following reasons:
 It provides good amount of strength to the core
 It provides an excellent surface finish to the core
 The baked oil sand cores are sufficiently hard and not easily damaged in the handling of the
mold
 It provides the core with better collapsibility after baking
 RESIN: These are thermosetting or thermoplastic binders such as rosin, phenol, urea, furan,
formaldehyde etc. They are used to provide the core making sand a good binding – that is to allow
strong bonds to develop between the sand particles and the resin molecules to make a solid
structure. Resins are now-a-days becoming more common in use as a binder in foundry, because of
their high strength, low gas formation, excellent collapsibility, resistance to moisture absorption,
better dimensional accuracy of the casting etc.
 CO2 – SODIUM SILICATE SAND: Silica sand and sodium silicate (3 – 4 %) mixture of a molding sand is
rammed using a core box to form a core. Then CO2 gas is passed through this rammed up core to
make the core hard. The core becomes almost brick-like hard after carbon-dioxide gas is passed
around the structure. This makes it less prone to breaking when handled during molding process.
Such type of cores is used for very large castings. There is no need to dry them in an oven and hence
is fast in producing cores for casting.
Core Binders:
Natural sand does not have the necessary binding properties to hold sand particles and grains
together in a solid structure. Hence, some binders are used to improve the binding properties of
core sand. The functions of binders are to hold the sand grains together and to provide better
strength to the core. There are mainly two types of binders:
 Inorganic Binders: Such binders include fore clay, bentonite, limonite, silica powder, iron
oxide, aluminium oxide etc. Such binders are used very commonly and are available as very
fine powders commercially.
 Organic Binders: Such binders include core oils like petroleum oil, vegetable oil, linseed oil,
corn oil, molasses and dextrin (dextrins are a group of low-molecular-weight carbohydrates
produced by the hydrolysis of starch or glycogen). Organic binders get harder rapidly and
provide a good amount of strength.
Core Additives:
In addition to the core sand and core binder, some additives are mixed with them as well to
improve the required special properties of the core. The additives are as follows:
 Kaolin or fire clay – to improve stability
 Iron(III) oxide (Fe2O3) and aluminium oxide (Al2O3) – to improve heat withstanding strength
 Zircon flour and pitch flour – to improve refractoriness
 Molasses – to improve binding properties
 Organic additives – to improve collapsibility like raw dust
 Silica powder, paints and graphite bonded with resin are used to improve the surface finish
Properties of good Core Materials:
A good dry sand core must have the following properties in order to successfully us it in casting
process. They are as follows:
1. Strength: It should be strong enough to withstand the turbulence force of molten metal. It
should be erosion resistant.
2. Hardness: It should be capable of being baked to obtain a good amount of hardness as a core.

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3. Permeability: It must be permeable to allow the easy escape of the gases formed.
4. Refractoriness: It must have a high refractory nature to with stand the intense heat from the
molten metal.
5. Dimensional Stability: It should be stable in dimensional accuracy, shape and size during
pouring and solidification.
6. Minimum Gas Formation: Core material should generate minimum amount of gases when
being subjected to molten metal in the casting process.
7. Good Surface Finish: Core surface should be smooth enough to provide good surface finish of
the casting.
8. Sufficient Collapsibility: Cores must be sufficiently collapsible, that is, the core is easily
removable from the core after solidification.
Core Prints:
The core prints are extra projections provided on the pattern that form an indentation or recess in
the mold cavity to hold the core in the right position. There are several types of core prints e.g.
vertical, horizontal, balance, hanging and drop core prints.
Core Shifting:
The cores, when the molten metal is poured, shift their position due to the turbulent action of the
molten metal. Also, due to the upward thrust of the molten metal, thin cores tend to float easily
and get shifted from their right position.
To avoid shifting the weight of the core is increased by embedding steel rods, steel wires, thin steel
pipes etc. during core making process. This is known as reinforcing of the core.
Core Chaplets:
If the core length is long and the end supports are at higher distances to each other, then the core
will be sagging during the pouring of hot molten metal. In such cases, chaplets are used to
overcome these defects. Chaplets are so designed to provide the support to the core and restrict
them from sagging. The chaplets are made of the same material as the casting metal so as to
become an integral part of the casting.
Core Chills:
The core chills are metal pieces, either inserted or placed in such a way just to touch the surface of
the casting for speeding up the solidification process at that particular portion of the mold where it
is slow. The thinner area solidifies faster, creating stresses and distortion in the casting. Therefore,
it is necessary to provide a means that will uniform the solidification (chilling) rate at all sections of
the casting. The chills are of following two types:
I. Internal Chill: An internal chill is placed in a mold in place where the area is
comparatively large to help uniform solidification throughout the casting.
II. External Chill: An external chill is placed around the mold just touching the surface of it.
A complete analysis of the cores used in foundry

Inspection of castings - defective castings and the causes of these defects:

The degree of care required in the inspection of the castings depends upon the uses for
which the castings are produced. Most foundries inspect for external defects only, that is, if no
noticeable imperfections are found on the casting then the castings are considered to be good or

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ready for use. Some castings tend to develop internal or hidden defects that become visible only
when the castings are machined to remove imperfections.
Frequently, however, these hidden or concealed defects will never be discovered until the
casting has served its function satisfactorily and has been scrapped and broken down to be re-
melted to be cast again. On the other hand, some castings that may have concealed defects and
they are most likely to break or snap during use in mechanical systems. So, when safety is a very
important issue in some mechanical operations, and depends greatly on the soundness or integrity
or durability of the casting; out of normal prudence or cautiousness it makes sense that these
castings are subjected to the most rigorous inspections. Depending on the inspection for external
imperfections and machining away the defective portion of the casting is not always sufficient. In
cases of internal inspection this is often made by using an X-ray machine.

Causes of Defective Castings:

1. Blow holes: Blow holes in castings are very common and results from many different causes as
follows:
 Using a molding sand that is too fine for the size of the casting being made.
 Having the sand too damp for making the mold.
 Ramming the mold too much hardly.
 Not venting the mold in the proper place.
 Placing too much hard dry-sand cores in the mold.
 Using dry-sand cores that are not thoroughly baked on the inside.
 Too much small or incorrectly placed vent channels in the core or in the mold; through
which the evolved gases may escape freely when the molten metal is poured.
 Using either damp or rusty chaplets to hold the cores in place.
 Pouring the metal using a handle that is either too damp or rusty.
2. Cold shuts or Misruns: Misrunning of castings may result from the following:
 Pouring too much cold molten metal into the mold.
 Using either too few or small size gates.
 Pouring molten metal into the mold too slowly.
3. Cracked Castings: Some castings are likely to crack while cooling in the mold and others after
they have hardened and removed from the mold. This is mainly caused by the following cases:
 Poorly designed castings – such as those that have too light or too heavy sections.
 Allowing the light section of a casting to cool before the heavy section of the casting.
 Cracks in castings can be prevented by removing sand from the heavy section, but
allowing the sand to remain over the light section of the casting until the casting is
completely cooled.
4. Crushed Castings: This casting defect is often caused by the following reasons:
 If the sand mold half of the cope does not fit the sand mold half of the drag, when the
mold is closed the mold cavity is not formed correctly and thus the casting ends up
getting crushed.
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  If a dry sand core is too large compared to the core cavity or core print in the mold
cavity. When it is placed in the mold and the two halves of the mold are closed this
causes the mold to get distorted. And so when the molten metal is poured into the mold
the casting produced is crushed.
 If the mold is clamped too hard then this can also lead to crushed castings. As the mold
cavity may get distorted due to excessive pressure by the clamps.
5. Dirty Castings: Some foundries have much trouble in keeping the castings free from dirt; others
experience little trouble in this respect. Before a mold is made, a molder should always study
the job at hand and decide the form of the gates necessary to allow the casting to be kept clean.
Dirty castings can occur due to various reasons; some of the more common reasons include the
following :
 Not skimming out the dirt that floats in top of the molten metal before and during the
pouring process.
 Gates are made too wide and too thick; this means the gate does not stay completely
filled with metal during the pouring of molten metal which allows the dirt to flow
directly into the mold cavity instead of collecting at the gate.
 Not pouring the metal into the mold fast enough to choke the gates up – this means to
make the gates narrower to slow down and smooth out the flow of the molten metal –
thus, allowing dirt to run into the mold cavity.
 Leaving too much loose sand inside the mold cavity or applying too much loose facing
sand (to prevent the mold from sticking to the molding board) on the top surface of the
mold.
 Having too much graphite carbon in the molding sand, this acts as dirt in castings.
 Sand washing when molten metal is poured into the mold.
 Melting metal in the ladle will also result in dirty castings when poured into the mold.
6. Hard Castings: Some gray iron castings are too hard to be machined. Whereas, others are
machines easily; this is the effect of hard casting defect. Some of the reasons for this kind of
defect are as follows:
 Cooling of small gray iron castings too fast will make them too hard.
 Having used a molding sand that is too wet may also result in the small gray iron
castings becoming too hard.
 Using iron too much low on silicon content.
 Using iron too much high on sulfur or manganese content.
 Melting metal in the ladle will also result in hard castings when poured into the mold.
7. Porosity: Also known as gas porosity; it is the formation of bubbles within the casting after it
has cooled. This occurs because most liquid materials can hold a large amount of dissolved gas,
but the solid form of the same material cannot, so the gas forms bubbles within the material as
it cools. Porosity in castings is usually found on the inside of the heavy sections and this
happens when the metal is being poured into the heavy section, while the light sections are

18
 solidifying. In some cases feeders in castings help to prevent porosity, but in other cases they
are of not much use. Some causes of porosity are as follows:
 Poor design with respect to metal thickness in the castings.
 Having metal too hot when pouring into the mold.
 In gray iron castings, using metal having too high content of silicon or phosphorus.
8. Rough Castings: The surfaces of some castings can be rough whereas, others’ surfaces are
smooth. These rough castings are usually not disqualified from the production process. Castings
that are used immediately after they have been formed from the molten metal, are supposed to
have a smooth surface. There is no need to provide finish, as this is to save time of production
and also cost. On the other hand, those castings which are to be used underground or will
remain covered, then even if they develop a rough surface there is no need whatsoever to
provide excessive finish to the casting as no worker will be touching it frequently. There are
many different causes for rough castings to be formed, some of them are as follows:
 Making the mold from sand that is too much coarse.
 Having the molding sand too much damp when making the mold.
 Pouring metal into mold that has not been rammed properly and is too soft.
9. Shifts: Frequently castings have shifts within their structure that makes them unusable and so
results in the disqualification of those castings. This shift, more notably called mold shift or core
shift, can occur due to improper design, assembly, or use of the mold and may result in casing
defects and scrapped parts. Most shifts, however, can be prevented easily if the molder pays
close attention to the following:
 Pins on flasks should fit smoothly when the two halves of the mold are put together.
The pins should neither be too loose or too tight.
 The cope should be put over the drag without moving the cope around too much, while
closing the mold cavity for pouring.
 When a snap flask mold, where the flask can be remove once the mold is formed and
the flask has been removed from the mold, is carried from the molding bench to the
metal pouring bench; it should be kept level or else the cope will slide over the drag and
this may result in a shift in the casting.
 When split patterns are used, the dowel pins should fit the dowel pin holes.
 Slip jackets that are put on top of a snap flask mold in a careless manner may also result
in shifts in the castings.
10. Shrink Holes: Small and thin castings are generally free from shrink holes, but large castings are
more likely to have them. Most shrink holes are on the outside of the casting where they can be
easily seen, but other shrink holes develop on the inside of the casting. The internal shrinks are
revealed when the casting is machined to give it a good finish. Usually shrink holes are found in
the heavy parts of a casting, so when a mold is made allowance for this defect must be kept in
order to prevent it. The common causes of shrink holes are as follows:
 Molten metal is too hot when it is poured into the mold.

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  Using feeds that are too small or preheating the wrong position on the casting.
 Solidification of the lighter section before the heavier section.
11. Swelled Castings: A swell is a local displacement of the face of the sand by the pressure of the
fluid metal. It is like an inflammation in the body. The causes for swelled castings are as follows:
 The ramming was inadequate and so the sand is still soft.
 Defected ramming of the mold.
 Pressure of pouring molten metal is too high.

Fettling or Cleaning of Castings:

Whatever the type of mold used to produce a casting; the casting will require cleaning and
trimming before being passed on to form parts of a mechanical system or for other operations. The
amount of work needed depends on the following:
 The size of the casting.
 The type of alloy used to form the casting.
 The care and degree of accuracy given to the product for a particular function.
Definition: Fettling is the means by which a crude casting is turned into a cost effective quality that
meets all standards required by the customer.
In context with the casting process, fettling means the removal of unwanted metal e.g.
flashings, risers, etc. It can include any form of machining processes such as chipping, grinding, shot
blasting etc. It involves the removal of the cores, gates, sprues, runners, risers and chipping of any
of unnecessary projections on the surface of the castings. Fettling operations can be divided into
different stages. They are as follows:
 Knocking of dry sand cores: Knocking out of dry sand cores. Dry sand cores may be removed
by knocking with an iron bar. For quick knocking pneumatic or hydraulic devices are
employed. This method is used for small and medium castings. For large castings the hydro
blast process is mostly employed.
 Removal of Gate and Riser: This can be done using four methods. They are as follows:
 By using chipping hammer: It is particularly suited for castings of grey iron and for brittle
materials. The gates and risers can be easily broken by hitting with a chipping hammer.
 By using a cutting saw: This can be a hand held saw and or a power saw, and is used for
cutting ferrous materials such as steel, malleable iron and also for cutting non-ferrous
materials except for aluminium. Hand held saws are used mainly for small and medium
castings, for large castings we use power saws.
 By flame cutting: This form of cutting is mainly used for ferrous material castings of large
size, where the risers and gates are very heavy. In this technique gas cutting flames and
arc cutting methods may be employed.
 By using abrasive machine cutting: These machines can be used to remove gates and
risers for all types of metal castings, but these are specially designed for hard metals
which cannot sawed or sheared and also where flame cutting and chipping is not feasible.

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  Removal of fins, rough spots and unwanted projections: The casting surface after removal of
the gates may still contain some rough surfaces left at the time of removal gates. Such as sand
that is fused with the surface. Some fins and other projections on the surface near the parting
line. These need to be cleaned thoroughly before the casting is put to use.
The fins and other small projections may easily be chipped off with the help of either hand
tools or pneumatic tools. But for smoothing the rough cut gate edges either the pedestal or
swing frame grinder depends upon the size of the castings.
 Cleaning: Tumbling – traditional and old process of cleaning or polishing; castings are put
inside a chamber with small pieces of white cast iron and rotated at a speed of 60 – 70 rpm.
Modern Blasting Processes – the main blast machines include shot blasting, tumbling with
hydro blast and air blasting.

Melting of Metal:
Any type of furnace can be used to melt metal and so can be used for foundry operations. However,
foundry requirements can vary and depending on the uniqueness of the metal or alloy a specific
type of furnace best suited for the particular operation should be used. The choice of furnace may
be detailed by the following:
I. Consideration of initial cost.
II. Relative average cost of maintenance and repair.
III. Base cost of operation.
IV. Availability and relative cost of various fuels.
V. Cleanliness and noise level in operation.
VI. Melting efficiency; and in particular the speed of melting.
VII. The degree of control that can be executed on the furnace conditions.
VIII. Composition and melting temperature of the metal.

Common Furnaces used in the Foundry Industry:

Cupola Furnace: The cupola is the standard melting furnace system used in the iron foundry
industry. The cupolas are mainly used to melt cast iron, Ni-resist iron and some types of bronzes.
The cupolas can be of many different sizes depending on the amount of metal being melted. Cupola
melting is generally the cheapest way to melt metal. Fuel used in the cupola should preferably be of
a good grade. Low sulfur coke or anthracite coal may also be used as fuel. The furnace is charged
(fuel fed in) at frequent intervals with proportional amounts of coke, limestone and metal.
The cupola structure consists of a 20 – 35 ft, refractory lined, cylindrical steel stack that
rests on an iron bottom plate, which is supported by four steel legs. There are some specific zones
within the cupola – superheating zone, melting zone and pre-heating zone. Stack charging door is
10 – 20 ft above the bottom doors. Tuyeres through which the air blast enters the cupola are
located some 10 – 20 inches above the bottom doors.

Crucible Furnace: The crucible furnace is oldest type of melting furnace. This crucible was placed in
a pit dug into the ground. Wood or coke was packed around the crucible and ignited. But now-a-

21
days coke oil or gas can be used as fuel. All types of non-ferrous metal are melted in a pit or crucible
furnace. Furnace units that are heated using coke can also melt cast iron if enough time is given to
heating the metal. The crucible is a melting pot made of clay and graphite composition which is
molded to a standard shape and size from 1 to 400. The crucible number represents its approximate
capacity in pounds of aluminium.

Open Hearth Furnace: Open hearth furnaces are rarely used by large industries. This type of
furnace is mainly used in small shops requiring foundry to produce ingots (an ingot is a piece of
relatively pure material, usually metal, that is cast into a shape suitable for further processing. In
steelmaking, it is the first step among semi-finished casting products). The melting rate is relatively
slow. Depending upon the furnace size 10 to 200 tons of metal may be melted at any given time,
using oil and gas as fuel.

THE END

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