MECH202 – Manufacturing Technologies Professor’s Notes

Casting Processes - II

Permanent Mold Casting Processes

 Sand casting has two major disadvantages; necessity for making a new mold for each
casting and the possibility for some dimensional variations.
 In permanent-mold casting, molds are made from metal or graphite. Method is limited
mostly to lower melting point non-ferrous metals and alloys, which are aluminum,
magnesium and copper base alloys.
1. Nonferrous Permanent Mold Casting
 Name given to a process which employs only gravity to introduce the metal. Other types
are given special names.
 In this process molds are usually made of cast iron or steel and non-ferrous metals and
alloys are cast.
 For casting iron and steel, graphite molds are used.
 Molds are hinged so that they can be opened and closed accurately and rapidly. For
venting, slight cracks are left between the mold halves, or very small vent holes are made,
that will permit the flow of trapped air but not the metal.
 A rigid mold offers great resistance to shrinkage of the casting. As a result, only relatively
simple shapes can be cast.
 Mold halves are heated at the beginning of a run, cavity is coated with a thin refractory
wash to prevent the casting from sticking to the mold and to prolong the mold life.
When used for cast iron, an additional coating of carbon black is added.
 Sand cores or retractable metal cores can be used to increase the complexity of the casting.

2. Pressure Pouring
 A graphite mold is used and the metal is forced upward into the mold by means of air
pressure.
 Extensively used for making railroad-car wheels and steel ingots.
 Molten metal is protected from the atmosphere.
 Flow rate of the molten metal can be adjusted by adjusting the air pressure.

Casting - II
MECH202 – Manufacturing Technologies Professor’s Notes

3. Die Casting
 Molten metal is forced into the die by pressure and held under pressure during
solidification.
 Very excellent details and fine sections can be obtained, together with long die life.
 Mostly nonferrous metals and alloys are cast, but it is also possible to cast ferrous metals.
 Dies are made from alloy steel, at least in two pieces. Die sections contain cooling water
passages and knock-out pins.
 When necessary metal cores are used. Generally, mechanisms are used to retract them
before opening the die for removal of the casting.
 Small vent holes or overflows may be used to discharge trapped air from the cavity.
 Not suitable for small quantities since dies are expensive.
 Usually die cost is in excess of 3000 US$, often over 10 000 US$.
 Steps of the process are, closing and locking the dies, forcing the metal into the die
and maintaining the pressure, permitting the metal to solidify, opening the die and
ejecting the casting.
 Advantages are, excellent dimensional accuracy, smooth surface finish, low labor cost and
high production rate.

Basic Types of Die Casting Machines

 Hot Chamber Machines (Gooseneck Type)
Metal is melted within the machine, which is fast in operation but cannot be used
for higher melting point metals such as brass and bronze. Mainly used for zinc and
tin base alloys. There is a tendency to pick up some iron from the equipment when
used with aluminum.

 Cold Chamber Machines

Metal is melted outside the machine and is fed into the cold chamber, & forced into
the die by a plunger. There is less tendency for iron pick up.

Casting - II
MECH202 – Manufacturing Technologies Professor’s Notes

4. Centrifugal Casting
The molten metal conforms to the shape of the mold cavity as a result of the centrifugal
force that is developed due to the rotation of the mold about its axial central line. This
results in a dense structure, with all the lighter impurities tending to be at the inner surface,
thereby permitting them to be removed readily by a light machining cut, if required. True
centrifugal casting is used for the mass production of pipes, pressure vessels, cylinder
liners, and brake drums.

Plaster Mold Casting

 Plaster molds are used. In most cases molds basically are gypsum plaster with small
additions of talc, terra alba, or magnesium oxide, to prevent cracking and to reduce the
setting time.

Investment Casting
 It is a complex and expensive process, but on the other hand, almost unlimited complex
shapes, and very thin sections can be obtained.
 Dimensional tolerances are excellent.

Steps of investment casting are as follows:

1. Produce a master pattern using metal, wood or plastic,

2. From the master pattern, produce a master die,
3. Produce the wax patterns,
4. Assemble the wax patterns to a common wax sprue to from a pattern cluster,
5. Coat the cluster with a thin layer of investment material,
6. Produce the final investment around the coated cluster,
7. Vibrate the flask to remove the entrapped air and settle the investment material around
the cluster,
8. Allow the investment to harden,
9. Melt or dissolve the wax pattern to permit it to run out of the mold,
10. Preheat the mold preparatory to pouring,
11. Pour the molten metal,
12. Remove the castings from the mold by breaking the mold away from the casting

Casting - II
MECH202 – Manufacturing Technologies Professor’s Notes

The Shaw Process

 A slurry like mixture of a refractory aggregate, hydrolyzed ethyl silicate, and a jelling
agent are poured over the pattern. This mixture sets in a rubbery jell that can be stripped
from the pattern but having sufficient strength so that it will return to the exact shape it
had while fitted to the pattern. The mold then is ignited to burn off the volatile elements
in the mix. Next it is brought to a red heat in a furnace. This firing makes the mold rigid
and hard, but sometimes it causes a network of microscopic cracks to form that provide
excellent permeability and good collapsibility.
 Can be used for castings of all sizes and it produces excellent surface finish, detail
and dimensional accuracy. It is cheaper than investment casting.

Rubber Mold Casting

 Several types of artificial rubbers -usually silicone varieties- in liquid form are poured
over patterns, forming semirigid molds upon hardening. The molds retain sufficient
flexibility to permit them to be stripped from the pattern, thereby permitting quite
intricate shapes with reentrant sections to be cast.
 Suitable for quite small castings.

Cleaning, Finishing and Heat-Treating Castings

After solidification and removal from the molds, most castings require some cleaning and
finishing operations which are given below.

1. Removing cores. By shaking or by dissolving the core binder.

2. Removing gates and risers. On small castings they are knocked off, on large ones they are
cut off by using cut off wheel, power hacksaw, bandsaw or oxyacetylene torch.
3. Removing fins and rough spots from the surface. Tumbling machine is used to remove
cores, gates and risers. Cleaning chamber is used for large castings. Very large castings are
finished manually.
4. Cleaning the surface.
5. Repairing any defects. If possible, by arc welding. Steel castings almost always given
a full anneal. Nonferrous castings of some types are heat-treated to put them in a
normalized condition.

Casting - II