Shaw Process

By: Mustafa Abazari

Consultant: PhD. Saeed Farahani

Autumn of 1395|2015-2016
Contents
History & Review........................................................................................................................................... 1
What is Ceramic Molding .............................................................................................................................. 1
What is ceramic and how it’s made .......................................................................................................... 1
What Is ceramic mold and how it’s made................................................................................................. 1
Ceramic Mold Casting ................................................................................................................................... 2
The ceramic molding process can be summarized in 7 steps: .................................................................. 2
Features of Ceramic Mold Casting ............................................................................................................ 3
Ceramic Mold Casting can be performed by two distinct procedures: ........................................................ 3
True Ceramic Molding............................................................................................................................... 3
Shaw Process............................................................................................................................................. 3
Application of Ceramic Mold Casting........................................................................................................ 4
What Is Shaw Process ................................................................................................................................... 4
The Shaw Process...................................................................................................................................... 4
Focus ......................................................................................................................................................... 4
Unicast process ............................................................................................................................................. 6
Advantages and Limits of the Shaw process ................................................................................................. 6
The major advantages of the Shaw Process castings include: .................................................................. 6
Ceramic Mold Process Compared with Investment Casting in a Table Comparison ................................ 7
Applications in today’s industry ................................................................................................................ 7
References .................................................................................................................................................... 8
Available materials for the Shaw process ................................................................................................. 9
 1

History & Review

Shaw process is one of the two ceramic mold casting methods which is a
combination of investment casting and plaster mold casting that uses ceramic as
the base mold material. It is known as the Shaw process or Osborn-Shaw process.
The investment block molds, originally called the Shaw Process, originated in
England by two British scientists, Clifford and Noel Shaw, in 1938. Lubalin and
Christensen (1960) give a good description of the process and the wide range of
castings that can be made.
One can envisage a more modern variant of this process in which the mold halves
are injection molded, and thus produced rapidly for volume production with a fully
robotized process. This concept seems ripe for re-examination and fuller
exploitation.

What is Ceramic Molding

What is ceramic and how it’s made

Ceramics are materials which are made from a clay base and contain various oxides
and ingredients other than sand. The raw clays are calcined or fired at high
temperatures and are then blended, mixed with water, formed into mold
components, and then fired.

What Is ceramic mold and how it’s made

The ceramic molding process is an easy production method which guarantees the
precision required, and also gives a good surface finish, using a high temperature
method to better structure and shape parts. This process also gives a low grade of
toleration and is not very expensive.
The patterns that ceramic mold uses are plaster, plastic, wood, metal, rubber, etc.
The pattern is the shape body of the desired part.

Ceramic molding has been around for centuries. When man discovered fire, they
got curious of what they could do with the fire, so they experimented with the
process of clay and fire, and began the technique known as ceramic molding, or
pottery. Archeologists all over the world have discovered hundreds of different
types of pottery that have been linked to the history of the place the pottery was
found. For example, historians have been able to figure out the exact date and time
 2

of some wars because of the pottery. They would look at the pottery and examine
the clay, and be able to figure out exactly how old that piece of art work was, and
then be able to get an accurate estimate of when something happened.

In true ceramic molding, the refractory grain can be bonded with calcium or
ammonium phosphates. The preferred methods for producing ceramic molds is the
dry pressing method in which molds are made by pressing the clay mixture
containing 4-9% moisture in dies under a pressure of 1-10 ton/sq in. After pressing,
molds are stripped from the dies and then fired at temperatures between 1650-
2400F (899C and 1316C).

Ceramic molding can be accomplished through two diverse techniques:

1. True ceramic molding.

2. Ethyl silicate slurry molding (also known as the Shaw process, Avnet-Shaw,
Osborn-Shaw and the Dean process).

Ceramic Mold Casting

This process uses a method very near to plaster mold casting. Plaster, plastic, wood,
metal or rubber is used for making the pattern.

A ceramic slurry comprising zircon, fused silica and a bonding agent is first poured
over the pattern. Like rubber it hardens quickly. It is then peeled of the pattern and
reassembled as a mold. The volatile materials are removed in a low temperature
oven. Ceramic mold, with high temperature pours is obtained after it is baked in a
furnace at about 1000 °C (1832 °F) .

When compared to investment castings the following apply:

The ceramic molding process can be summarized in 7 steps:

 Step 1: The pattern is designed with the materials already mentioned (plastic,
wood, metal, etc.). Many materials can be used as a pattern, because most of
them support the low temperature which is used in the Ceramic Molding
Process.
 Step 2: The mix is injected into a binder.
 Step 3: Part of some refractory ceramic powder is taken out, according to what
is needed.
 3

 Step 4: To the binder, there is added a special gelling, in order to be mixed.

 Step 5: The slurry is put into the pattern.
 Step 6: The slurry is heated to a high temperature, depending on what is
required.
 Step 7: The slurry is allowed to cool and the process is done.
The principal characteristic of the molding process is that it produces very accurate
castings.
Features of Ceramic Mold Casting
 Tolerances: 0.4 %,
 Surface finish: 2 - 4 µm (.075 - .15 µin)
 Wall thickness: may be as small as 1.25 mm (.050 in),
 Weights: Range from 60 g (2oz) to a 1000kg
 Draft allowance: 1° recommended.
 Patterns: Reusable and cheap.
 Casting size: generally, not restricted except above 100 lb

Ceramic Mold Casting can be performed by two distinct procedures:

True Ceramic Molding: Here, the refractory grain is first bonded with calcium or
ammonium phosphates. The ceramic molds are generally made by the dry pressing
method. Where molds are made by pressing clay mixture with some percentage of
moisture in dies under a pressure of 1-10 ton/sq inch. The mold is finally ready after
they are stripped from the dies and baked in a furnace at temperatures that range
between 1650-2400°F (899°C and 1316°C).

Shaw Process: Shaw process or the Ethyl silicate variation takes place in the following
way. A consistent slurry is made by blending together a mixture of graded
refractory filler, hydrolyzed ethyl silicate, and a liquid catalyst. It is then poured in
the pattern and allowed to jell. After this, the mold is stripped and heated using a
high pressure gas torch. It is then cooled, assembled and fired before pouring is
done. Sometimes the Shaw process and the lost wax process are used in
combination to gain the advantages of both the processes.
 4

Application of Ceramic Mold Casting

Parts made from this process include impellers, complex cutting tools, plastic mold
tooling etc.

What Is Shaw Process

The Shaw Process
The process uses a mixture of refractory aggregate, hydrolyzed ethyl silicate,
alcohol, and a gelling agent to create a mold. This slurry mixture is poured into a
slightly tapered flask and a reusable pattern (i.e. the item used to create the shape
of the mold) is used. The slurry hardens almost immediately to a rubbery state (the
consistency of vulcanized rubber). The flask and pattern is then removed. Then a
torch is used to ignite the mold, which causes most of the volatiles to burn-off and
the formation of ceramic micro crazes (microscopic cracks). These cracks are
important, because they allow gases to escape while preventing the metal from
flowing through; they also ease thermal expansion and contraction during
solidification and shrinkage. After the burn-off, the mold is baked at 1,800 °F
(980 °C) to remove any remaining volatiles. Prior to pouring metal, the mold is pre-
warmed to control shrinkage.

Focus
Ceramic slurry is prepared as a colloidal suspension of silica in alcohol, to which are
added various ceramic fillers to make a smooth cream. The slurry is poured
(invested) over a pattern, filling up to the top of a surrounding frame. After the
mold is nearly set, but retains some flexibility as a gel, it is stripped from the pattern
 5

and placed on a board to dry and develop its green strength. At this stage the
alcohol is flamed off, causing the surface of the mold to develop its characteristic
micro-crazed structure, conferring essential permeability and thermal shock
resistance to the mold. In this way a drag half of a mold can be made. The cope half
is made similarly. The two halves are then assembled, fired and cast. The cope and
drag technique for mold assembly allows cores to be placed. Errors from the
distortion of the wax pattern are also avoided.

The chief difference between the Shaw and other investment molding processes is
that a jelling agent is added to the refractory slurry-like mixture before it is poured
over the pattern. When this mixture forms a somewhat flexible gel, the mold can
be stripped off the pattern.

The cope and drag technique for mold assembly has advantages in that cores,
filters, and chills are easily placed. Conventional filling system designs can usually
be implemented, for instance the placement of a runner around a horizontal joint
line. The fact that the mold can be placed horizontally usually means that the
velocities in the filling system are relatively low, especially from lip-poured hand-
held crucibles, so that relatively little damage is introduced compared to vacuum-
cast investment molds where the fall heights of the melt are a disaster. The
development of the process as a relatively thin shell rather than a block mold has
improved the economics (Ball 1991, 1998). There is no record that the process has
ever used a good design of pouring basin, but with very small castings, particularly
if poured rather slowly, require such narrow sprues that a conical basin may be
acceptable, because surface tension will assist to keep air out of the sprue. Finally,
the casting is relatively easily extracted by separating the mold halves after
solidification.

Patterns can be made of various materials such as plaster, wood or metal and can
be reused. In this manner, this process differs from the expendable (wax or plastic)
process. Molds are torched, then brought to a red heat in a furnace. The molds are
allowed to cool prior to assembly for pouring. Occasionally the Shaw process and
the lost wax process are combined to gain the advantages of each. The complex
pattern configurations which are difficult or impossible to remove from the mold
can be made of wax and placed into the regular pattern. This provides for the
regular pattern to be stripped off and the wax to be melted and burned out later.
 6

Depending on the geometry, Shaw Process castings can be made up to a

maximum weight of approx. 50 - 60 kg in material specification scheme.

Unicast process

The Unicast process is very similar to the Shaw process, except it does not require
the mold to be ignited and then be cured in a furnace. Instead, the mold is partially
cured so the pattern can be removed and it is then completely cured by firing it at
approximately 1,900 °F (1,040 °C). If a metal with a low melting point is cast then
the firing can be skipped, because the mold has enough strength in the "green
state" (un-fired).

Advantages and Limits of the Shaw process

The process uses a very pure strong silica gel to bond ceramic refractory powders
to form a mold suitable for molten steel. The exceptional permeability of the fired
mold not only minimizes thermal shock but also allows free passage of air,
eliminating the need for venting. High temperature thermal stability also minimizes
mold distortion after pouring, resulting in extremely accurate castings. Because a
"split-mold" technique is used. pattern equipment is less expensive than for the
expendable pattern process.
The unique feature of the Shaw Process is the "micro crazing" that is created when
the casting solution is burned off to dry the mold. This enables the Shaw Process
mold to retain its original volume and dimensional accuracy.
The major advantages of the Shaw Process castings include:

 Dimensional accuracy to 0.25 mm tolerance.

 Reduced machining costs by eliminating preliminary machining.
 Increased output by reducing machining time.
 Extremely fine surface detail.
 Increased design possibilities, even for high alloy steels.
 High integrity castings.
 Relatively low pattern costs.
 7

Ceramic Mold Process Compared with Investment Casting in a Table Comparison

Casting
Requirements
1 Surface smoothness
2 Intricacy
3 Thinness of metal sections
4 Tolerances
5 Machining costs
6 Lead time
7 Adaptability to various
sizes
8 Adaptability to various
metals and alloys
9 Pattern costs
10 Prototype adaptability
Investment Ceramic Mold Casting
Casting
40- 125 micro inch 80-125 micro inch
Excellent Excellent, approaching but
not equaling precision
castings
Excellent Excellent
Excellent Good to excellent
Minimum machining Machining greatly reduced,
required sometimes but not always
eliminated
Longest lead time Very short lead time
Restricted to small castings Casting size not restricted
except above 100 lbs. for
the top size of the casting
No limitations No limitations
Very high cost Very low cost; job-bin wood
or metal patterns may be
used
High cost

Applications in today’s industry

This casting process is commonly used to make tooling, drop forging dies, die
casting dies, glass molds and extrusion dies.
 Aircraft and aerospace components to class 1A
 Pump industry with the application of shrouded impellers for in cast iron,
cast steel, stainless and alloys like Monel(R) and Hastelloy(R).
 Parts for machinery building industries with batches from 10 to some 100
 Precision dies for plastic components, buttons, bottle tops, door handles,
light bulbs, heat plates for the sugar processing industry, rubber molding
industry equipment and the production of aluminum.
 Propellers and marine parts
 8

References
1- Degarmo, E. Paul; Black, J T.; Kohser, Ronald A. (2003), Materials and Processes in Manufacturing
(9th ed.), Wiley, pp. 315–316, ISBN 0-471-65653-4.

2- Elanchezhian, C.; Ramnath, B. Vijaya (2006). Manufacturing Technology (2nd ed.). Laxmi
Publications. pp. 80–81. ISBN 978-81-7008-943-8.

3- Blair, Malcolm; Stevens, Thomas L. (1995). Steel Castings Handbook. Steel Founders' Society of
America. p. 13‐13. ISBN 978-0-87170-556-3.

4- Campbell, J. (First edition 2011). Shaw Process. In J. Campbell, Complete Casting Metal Casting
Processes (pp. 1016,1100). Oxford: Elsevier Ltd.

5- EUGENE A. AVALLONE,THEODORE BAUMEISTER III. (1996). In T. B. EUGENE A. AVALLONE, Marks'

Standard Handbook for Mechanical Engineers (pp. 1322-1323). New York: McGraw-Hill.

6- A Ghosh and A K Mallik, Manufacturing Science, Wiley Eastern, 1986.

7- P Rao, Manufacturing Technology: Foundry, Forming And Welding, Tata McGraw

8- M.P. Groover, Introduction to manufacturing processes, John Wiley & Sons, 2012

9- Prashant P Date, Introduction to manufacturing technologies Principles and

technologies, Jaico publications, 2010 (new book)

10- J S Campbell, Principles of Manufacturing Materials and Processes, Tata McGrawHill, 1995

11- http://www.themetalcasting.com/

12- http://thelibraryofmanufacturing.com/

13- http://www.vekagesta.nl/
 9

Appendix

Available materials for the Shaw process

PP BS3 BS3100 BS3100 BS1504 ASTM AISI WERKSTOF UNIFIED OTHERS
SPEC 146 1991 1967 1976 F NUMBERIN
1975 (EN10213.4) G SYSTEM
(EN10283) (UNS)
1 - AM1 1617A - - - - - -
2 CLA1A A1 592A 161-430 A27-NI C1020/1/2/ 1.0443 - -
AL1 A216-WCA 3 1018
A216-WCC
A352-LCA
3 - - - 161-480 A352-LCB - 1.0619 - -
A216-WCB
A27 70-36
4 CLA1B A2 592B 161-540 A27-N2 C1030 1.0551 - -
5 CLA1C A3 592C - - C1040 1.0553 - -
CLA8 AW2 1.1191
6 - AW3 1760B - - - - - -
7 - - - - - - - - EN11
8 CLA2A A4 1456A - - C1027 1.1169 - -
9 CLA2B A5 1456B - - - - - -
10 CLA4 BT2 - - - 4140/42 1.7225 - -
11 CLA4 BT2 - - - - 1.6580 - 817M40
CLA3 BT1
12 CLA7 - - 623 - - 1.7273 - -
CLA5B
13 - - - - - - - - EN31
14 CLA9 AW1 - - - C1016 1.1141 - -
15 CLA13 - - - - 4617 - - -
16 - BW1 4241 - - - - - -
17 CLA11 B4 1461 - - - 1.7365 - -
18 ANC2 - - - - 431 1.4059 - -
19 - B2 1398B 621 A217-WC6 - - - -
20 - B3 1398C 622 A217-WC9 - - - -
21 - BL2 4242C 503- A352-LC3 - 1.5638 - GS10Ni1
LT60 (SEW 685) 4
23 CLA12 BW3 1956A - - - - - -
1956B
24 - - - - - - - - EN58A
25 - 304C12 1631C 304C12 A743-CF3 304L (1.4309) - -
26 ANC3A 304C15 1631A 304C15 A743-CF8 304 1.4312 - EN58A
801 1.4308 EN58E
27 ANC3B 347C17 1631B 347C17 A743-CF8C 347 1.4552 - EN58B
821Nb
28 - 316C12 1632F 316C12 A743-CF3M 316L - - -
29 LOW DELTA FERRIT HIGH NICKEL/LOW CHROME 1.4437 - -
E 1.4435
30 - 425C11 - 425C11 A487-CA6NM - 1.4313 PT 2 - -
CL.A 1.4313 PT 1
A352-
CA6NM
A743-CA6NM
A487-CA6NM
CL.B (NACE)
31 - 332C11 - 332C11 A743-CN7M - - - ALLOY
20
32 ANC4B 316C16 1632B 316C16 A351 CF10M 316 1.4408 - EN58J
316C71 316C71 A743-CF8M (1.4408)
845B
33 ANC4C 318C17 1632C 318C17 - 318 1.4581 - -
845Nb (1.4581)
34 ANC1A - 1630A 410C21 A743-CA15 403 - - EN56A
CA15 CA15M
A487 CA15A
 10

35 ANC1B 420C29 1630B 410C29 - 420 1.4027 - EN56B

GX20Cr14 EN56C
36 - 317C16 1632A 317C16 A743CG8M 317 - - -
846 A743 CG3M 317L
A351 CG3M
37 ANC20 - - - - - - - -
A
ANC20
B
38 ANC21 332C13 - - A351 - 1.4460 Cu UNS J93370 -
CD4MCU
A743CD4MC
U A890
GR1A
39 - 332C15 - - A743CD4M 329 1.4460 UNS -
A890GR3A S32900
40 - - - - A747 CB7-Cu - 1.4542 UNS 17/4 PH
1 S17400
41 - B6 1463 629 A217C12 - - - -
42 - 309C35 4238EC - A297HH - 1.4837 - -
2
43 ANC5A 310C45 4238FC - A297HK 310 1.4843 - -
44 ANC15 - - - A494N12MV - 2.4810 - -
2.4882
45 ANC16 - - - A494- - 2.4537 - -
CW12MW (Wrought)
46 - - - - - - - - ALLOY 6
AMS
5387
47 - - - - - - 1.4517 UNS -
(SEW410) S32550
(1.4517)
48 ANC18 - - - A494-M35-1 - - - BS3701
A NA1
49 ANC18 - - - A494-M25-S - 2.4368 - BS3701
C NA3
50 - - - - A351- - - - -
CG6MMN
A743-
CG6MMN
51 - - - - A743 - - UNS -
CF10SMnN S21800
52 - - - - - - 2.4858 UNS -
N08825
55 - - - - - - (SEW410) - -
1.4468
{1.4468}
56 - - - - A560 - - - -
50/50/Cb
57 - - - - - D2 - - BS4659
BD2
58 - - - - - D3 - - BS4659
BD3
60 - - - - - 01 - - BS4659
B01
64 - B1 1398A - A217-WC1 - 1.5419 - -
A352-LC1
65 - - - - A436-1 - - - BS3468
F1
67 ANC 9 - - - - - 2.4631 - -
68 - - - - A743 - - - -
CD4MCu-HM
69 - - - - A439-D2 - - - BS3468
S2
BS3468
S2W
70 - - - - - - - - EN39B
 11

72 ANC1C - - - A743 CA40 - - - -

74 - - - - A494 M30H - - - BS3701
NA2
75 - - - - A487 CL4A - - - -
76 - - - - A351CF3MA - - - -
77 - 332C15 - - A890 GR 4A - (1.4470) UNS -
A187 F51 1.4462 J92205
UNS
S31803
UNS
S39209
78 - 316C16 - 316C16 - - - - EN58M
F F
80 - - - - A439 D2W - - - -
81 - - - - A276-73 - - - -
440B
82 - - - - A276-73 - - - -
440C
83 - - - - - - - - EN43B
84 - - - - A532 CLIIIA - - - BS4844
3E
85 - - - - - - - - BS4659
BT1
86 - - - - A436 TYPE 3 - - - BS3468
F3
87 - - - - A439 D2C - - - BS3468
S2C
88 - - - - A536 - - - BS2789
GR.80.55.06 Gr 500/7
89 - - - - A436 TYPE 2 - - - BS3468
F2
91 - - - - A439 D3 - - - BS3468
S3
92 - - - - A48-CL35 - GG25 - BS1452
A48-CL40 GG30 Gr 20
A278 CL40 0.6025 BS1452
A48 CL 30B GG20 Gr 22
A48 CL 25A BS1452
A48 CL 25B Gr 350
BS1425
Gr 14
BS1452
Gr 180
BS1452
Gr 260
93 - - - - A890 GR 6A - 1.4508 UNS J93380 -
UNS
S39276
UNS
S32760
94 - - - - A395 A536 - - - BS2789
60-40-18 400/18
A536 60-42- BS2789
10 420/12
SNG
27/12
GGG 40
95 - - - - - - 1.4931 - -
96 - - - - - - 2.4851 UNS -
N06601
97 - - - - A351 - - UNS -
CK3MCuN S31254
98 - - - - - - 1.4405 - -
99 - - - - A494 - 2.4856 UNS -
CW6MC N06625
UNS
N26625
 12

101 - - - - A743 CF3MN - - - -

102 - - - - A352 LC2 - - - -
103 - - - - - - 1.4439 - -
104 - - - - A494 CW2M - 2.4686 - -
105 - - - - - - 1.4500 - -
106 - BW10 1457 - - - - - -
107 - - - - A890 GR5A - {1.4469} UNS -
S39275
UNS
J93404
UNS
S32750
108 - - - - A494 M30C - 2.4365 - -
109 - - - - - - 1.4008 - -
1.4008.05
111 - - - - A494 N7M - - - -
112 - - - - A494 CY40 - 2.4816 - -
CL2
113 - - - - A494 CW6M - - - -
114 - - - - - - 1.4876 - -
115 - - - - A494 CZ100 - 2.4170 - -
116 - - - - A494 - - - -
CX2MW
117 - - - - - 904L 1.4539 UNS -
N08904
118 - - - - - - - UNS -
N08028
119 - - - - - - 2.4819 UNS -
WROUGHT N10276
120 - - - - - - 1.4008S - -
121 - - - - - - 1.4448 - -
122 - - - - - - 1.6902 + - GX6CrNi
CHARPY 1810
(SEW685
)
123 - - - - A743 CC50 - 1.4340 - GX40Cr
Ni 274
124 - - - - - - - - BS4844
Gr 2D
125 - - - - - - 1.7219 - -
126 - - - - A351 - - - -
CF10MC
127 - - - - - - 1.4107 QT1 - -
1.4107 QT2
129 - - - - A352 LCC - - - -
130 - - - - A743 - - - -
CD4MCUN
A890 GR 1B
131 - - - - - - (1.4409) - -
{1.4409}
132 - - - - - - 1.4404 - -
133 - - - - - - 1.4536 - -
134 - - - - - - 1.4471 - -
135 - - - - A890 GR2A - - - -
136 - - - - - - 1.4306 - -
137 - - - - - - - - BS2789
700/2
138 - - - - - - - - BS2789
350/22
139 - - - - - - 1.4136 - -
Copy write from http://www.vekagesta.nl/