RT M E NT O F TH E IN T ERI O R

FR A N KLI N K L
. AN E S
. E C R E T AR Y

B U REAU O F M I NE S
'

V AN . H . M A N N IN G . s c ro n

OLES, POROSITY AND UNSOUNDNESS m ,

ALUMINUM ALLOY CASTINGS -

RO B E R T J . AN D E R SO N
 Th e B u rea u of M ine s s sg n i
in ca rrying ou t one of th e p rov i s
i on of it
si n t i n f t i n c nc n i ng i n v s
d is tig ti n s d p i n t s
, or a c
a ct— em orm a ma e—

p bl i c t n s
to
s
a e o o er e a o r a

li i t d f
m diti n ch
Wh n t his d i t i n sx h a s c s
of e a it io
t d c pi s
e re e e o of u a .

i bt in d t p i nly m ay b e
nt s v n n t c W s
e e o e u e , o e o a e at o r ce o

t h gh
rou p i n t nd nt
t h e Su er e i nt i ng
e of h
D ocu m e , Go er me Pr Offi e, a

i ng t on, D C
nt ss s
. .

p i nt n d nt D ocu me f M
ss nt i l y s dd s s
Th e Su fi f i not a n ol cia l o t h e B u rea u o
s
er e e of ine .

Hi i an e p t re h ld d
e a ra e offi ce a nd he ou be a re e

SU P ERI N TE N DE N T OF D OCU M E N TS ,

G ove rnmen t P rint ing Ofiice‘

s
,

Wa hi ng t on, D . 0 .

ge n era l law n d er w h i ch s s
p ubl i ca t i on a re d i t ri b u t ed proh i b i t s
s
The th e
p u bl i ca t i on t o one p e r on T h e p ri c e of t h i s
u

gi v i ng t h a n one cop y of a
m ore
s s
of .

p ubli ca t i on i 10 ce n t
ss s ss s
.

P e r on d e i ri ng f or l ect u re p u rp o e t h e u e free of c h a rge l a nt ern

ss s s s s
of

s
, ,

l i d e of th e i ll u t ra t i on i n t h i p u bl i ca ti on h ou l d m ake t of the
s s
re' ue

D i re ct or of t h e B u re a u of M i n e W a h i n gt on D C , , . .

F ir t s e d it ion , D ecem b er, 1 919 .

 CONTE NTS .

c
I nt rod u t i on
Ma gn i t ud e l i g h t-a ll oy i nd u s
t ry
s s
s s
of th e
ou ndn e i n general a nd t h e fa ct or a fi e ct ing it
s s
poro i ty a nd u n s s
ou ndn e s
Un __

D e fi n i t i on of bl ow h ol e
G enera l fa ct ors s ss of ca s
t i ngs
, ,

a fi ect ing t h e ound ne

Ga s
s e i n a lum i n um
Sol id i fi ca t ion of

An a l ogy wi t h s t ee l
E fi ect of c a s t i n g t em p era t u re
E f fect of m e t h od of m el t i n g
E ffect of ra t e of
E fi ect of m e t h od of m ol d i ng
E fi e ct of d es i gn of c a s t i ng s
E ff e ct of ' u a l i ty of
So ca ll e d d eox i d a t i on of a l u m i n u m
s
-

D e crip t i on of
s
Met a ll og ra ph y of u n oundn e s s
ss
Ra d i og ra ph y of ca t ing
Mi s ss
c ell a neou c on i d era t i on s

Pu s me
bl i ca t i on on ta ll u rgy
 T A B LE .

T ABLE 1 D ata sh t s
ix m de on a u m l i n u m a l l oy d e t erm i n e t em
f ct s
. on ea a to

p era t u re ef e

I LLU S T R ATI ON S .

PL ATE 1 A B l owh ol e s
in 92 i n u m c opp er a ll oy ; B P oro i ty i n 9 2 : 8
8 a um l s
a l u m i n u m copp e r a ll oy , s h owi ng s
-

eep a ge i n t h e op e n g a s
.
, : ,

ol i n e

t es t ; 0 F orm of t h i n s h ell s p oured i n t h e ca s

-

t i ng e x p eri m e n t s
A Uns sa nd bl owh ol esi n
ou ndn e s
,

a l u m i n u m cop per a ll oy

p ou red a t 64 0 C ; B U n s ou ndn essand bl owh ol esi n

-
,
°
.
,

a l u m i n u m c opp e r a ll oy p ou re d a t 9 5 0 C ; 0 All oy f rom h ea t

°
-
.
,

H p ou red a t 900 C
,
°

A All oy f rom h ea t M p ou red a t 65 0 C ; B All oy f rom h e a t A

°

p ou red a t 6 50 C f rom th e b a r s
, , .
, ,

ou n d p ort i on ; 0 All oy f rom

°
.
, , ,

h ea t B pou red a t 850 C from t h e b a r i nt erg ra n ul a r u n °

s
sndn s
, .
, ,

p ou red a t 6 40 C f rom t h e c a s
ou e

A All oy f rom h e a t D tin g ; B °

p ou red a t 9 50 C from th e c a s
, , .
, ,

Al loy f rom h ea t E t i ng ; C °

h l es sa m pl e t a k e n f rom a cra n k c a s
.
, , ,

l
B ow o in a e; D I nt e rn a l
h ol e s f ra ct ure in a s
,

h own on a m pl e rem ov ed f rom a c ra n k

ca e s
s
P ouri ng g a t e from h e a t s G t o M in t h e c a s t i n g exp e ri m ent s
s s
D i a gra m of i ot h erm a l a t a re e n t ra nt a ng l e i n a c ool i ng ca s
'

t i ng
( a f t er R osenh a i n )
 BLOWHOLES, POROSITY, AND UNSOUNDNESS I N
ALUMI NUM ALLOY CASTI NGS
- .

B y R OB E RT J . A N DE R SO N )

I N TR OD U C T I ON .

s
From an in ignficant b eginning some 2 0 years a go the aluminu m
s
alloy casting industry , in magnitude , h a become one of the more im
portant b ranches of non f errous metallurgy The tech nolog y of .

aluminum -alloy castin g h owever , has not developed t o a h igh plane

,

as yet b ecause o f the in f anc y of th e industry and more l argely b e

cause of adh erenc e to traditions and precedents There is a large
s
.

amount o f re earch , b oth pure and applied , still to b e undertaken .

Investigations i n th e metallurgy of aluminu m are o f prime import

ance because of t h e p resent p aucity of accurate data ; as a matter of
‘

fact , it is dou b t fu l W hether any industry in the metallurgica l fi eld

is so empirica l i n practice as the aluminum industry This state -
.

ment is admittedly ver y general , but is sufficientl y clear to give an

s
ide a o f the exi t ing status of conditions The emp iricism mentioned
.

is true o f aluminum -foundry practice , but it i s even more marke d in

aluminum -die casting an d rolling-mill practice T he i nstallation o f
s ss s
.

te ting laboratories and the acquisition of technica l t a fi , i n i o

'

lated instances , h as greatl y aided in putting metallurgical matters

s
on a more rationa l b as i s ; neverthele s , pr obably not one -tent h as

much research , either pure or applied has be en carried ou t f or alumi

'

s
,

num a f or iron and stee l T h e national importance o f the aluminum

s
.

industry urgently require investigations f or the purpose o f improv

ing the quality of the products , preventing wa te , and instituting s
s
improved method of practice In an endeavor to aid in th is di
.

rection the B ureau of Mines h as undertaken a number o f i nvesti

s
ga t ion Inqu i ry in the industry h as l arge l y corroborated th e above
s
.

tatements and it is hoped that the resu l t s o f th e researches under

,

taken will p rove use ful

s
.

In aluminum -alloy casting practice one of the most erious prob

s
lems i s th e prevention in ca tings of defects that l ead t o rej ection
a n d consequent scrappage U nder th e general subj ect of defects ,
s
.

on e particular class o f defect — namely blowholes porosity and u n

, , ,

soundness- is very serious Fro m th e standpo int of t h e foundry

.
6 B LOWHOLE S IN AL U M I N U M C AST I N GS .

inan the occurrence of these defects i exasperating because at times s

,

blowholes appear and disappear in a seemingly mysteriou manner

,

s
without t he reasons for either condition be ing known It is o b vious .
,

howeve r th a t it mig ht be considered possible t o ascertain the causes

,

of defectiveness and when these are found to apply methods of pre , ,

v ent ion To a ttem p t to remed y troubl es t h e causes o f which are u m

.

k nown is use l ess .

In connection with its research work on th e meta l lurgy of alumi

num , the B ureau of Mines , through it minin g ex p eriment station s
at Pittsburgh P a undertoo k a study of the problem relating t o
,
.
,

blowholes porosity and unsoundness in aluminum -alloy castings

, , .

The difficulties involved in such an undertaking will be readily a p

parent to the experienced foundryman because there are so many ,

variables t o b e dealt with The obj ect o f the investigation was three .

fold t o ascerta i n th e causes th at pro d uce t h e de fects mentioned to

s
—
,

correla te a ll availabl e i n f ormat i on , an d to su gge t meth ods of pre

v en t ion The results o f thi study are presente d in th is report ; they
. s
can at best be regarded as preliminary , because actual f oundry re
ss
u lt can only be measured f rom viewing working conditions over an
extended period of time H owever it is deemed a dvisable t o place .
,

the available informatio n before the industry now .

M AGN I TU D E OF T H E L I G H T -ALL OY I N DU S TR Y .

According to a The Foundry s

urvey made by
in 19 18 there “ ” 0
,

were foundries melting aluminum in the U nited S tates in that

year These are not exclusively aluminum -alloy fou ndries ; indeed
.
,

with the possible exception of plants c asting aluminu m cooking uten

si l s th ere are few foundries i n th e Unite d S tates t h at ma k e aluminum
,

wares only Many brass f oundries produce a l uminum -allo y castings

.
,

and gray i ron sho p s also operate alum i num departments A luminum
-
.

die casting manu f acturers also cast othe r non ferrous products T o
-
.

obtain reliable data on the production of alumium -alloy castings as

such is an extremely difficult matter because of the scattered con
s
,

dit ion in the indust ry the large number o f small foundries oper ,

ating with only one or t wo molders and the uncertainty as to the ,

use of secondary and remelt aluminum The B ureau of Mines how .

,

ever hopes a t some f u t d re date t o gather reliable data in this con

,

n ect ion .

The average amount of aluminum scrap made in sand —casti ng

practice ma y b e conservative ly p ut at about 12 per cent of the
metal melted but th e fi g ure varies excee d ingl y w i th th e cl ass of cast
s
,

ings the individu a l f oundry the kind of alloy and o ther facto r
, , ,
.

a
Anon F ou n d y in d u s
r t y r ma k e sb i g g a in in t wo y sT
ea r : h e F ou n d ry , v ol . 46 , O ct b
o e r,

19 18 ,
pp . 4 5 5 —4 6 0 .
 O
U N S U N DN E SS I N GE N E RA L AN D T H E F AC T O RS AF F E C TI N G I T . 7

In certain instances which have com e to the attention of the writer ,

some foundries have turned ou t practically nothing but scrap until

they were fin ancially unable to carry the burden any longer A s
s
.

regards simple ca tings which do not have to meet any speci fi cations
s
t o speak o f , the proportion O f crap ma y b e a low as 1 p er cent s
and under A ircra ft and motor -car castin gs w h i ch m ay b e compli
.

ca t ed and diffi cult to make and which i n add i tion must conform to
,

exacting speci fi cations may consistently r esul t in scrap to the extent

s
,

of 2 5 per cent or more Foundry de f ective can b e due to many

.

causes , and the t otal percentage of scrap ma y b e raised on mach ining

s
when o-called mach ine -shop scrap i s rej ected Any exact fi gures as
s
.

to scrap product i on f or the countr y can not b e regarded now a much

bette r tha n guesses , b ecause O f th e var i able conditions in an u n
s tandardize d i ndustr y T he fi gures i n one f oundry f or a motor
.

cran k case would b e t otally inapplicable to another f oundry using

s
different method of molding and melting Figures o f this sort can .

be O b tained only after a l ong time but would no doubt be of immens e

value to the l ight -alloy industry .

The discuss i on i n this report is confi ned i n the main to blowholes ,

orosit y an d nsou n dness b u t there are , of course many othe r de

s
p ,
u , ,

f ect which arise i n a l umi num -alloy castings and which are properly
regarded as cause f or rej ection under speci fi cations , i f indeed they
d o not totally ruin t h e casting for any use In addition to b lowholes .

and unsoundness , t h e practical f oundryman is con fronted with warp

, ,
ss
i ng and shr inkage cracks m i ru n sand holes chil l bl ows and cor e
, ,

blows , poor venting and ramming , and a num b er of other f actors

s
re u l ting in de fectives T he number o f variables possible inf oundry
.

wor k is alm ost l imit l ess , and thi s fact , o f Course beclouds the stud y
s
,

of the problem i n it entirety Consequently it is extremely h azard

s
,
.

ou t o generaliz e b roadly on the results of tests unless t h e number of

variables are wel l i n hand and their influences care f ully con idered s .

Th e present report does not deal with the many possible variables ,
except in so f ar as a recogn ition of their existence and influences i s
s
necessary in t h e study o f unsoundness In discussing the subj ect , .

the practica l foundryman wants to know ( 1 ) w h at cause blowholes ,

s
porosity , a nd unsoundness and ( 2 ) how these de fects can b e pre
,

vented T he answe r to these questions together with th e accu m u

s
.
,

l ated data w h ich l ead to a tentative solution of th e pro bl em , are et

f ort h in th e f ollow i ng p ages .

U N SOU N D N E SS I N G E N E R A L A N D T H E F AC T OR S AF F E C T I N G I T .

T he urgent demand f or a systematic research on the general subj ect

s
o f blowhole porosity and unsoundness in a luminum -alloy castings
s
, ,

ha a l ready been shown B e fore taking up an account o f the ex p eri

.
8 B LOWHOL E S IN L
A U M I N U M C AS I N G S T .

mental work performed in the present inve tigation it is deemed a d s

s
,

vi able t o discuss some of the factors that may influence the occur
rence of the defects A review O f the literature i also included f or
. s
those interested It is a somewhat lamentable fact that such a sharp
.

line has been drawn betwee n fe rrous and nonferrous alloys ; there is
little doubt that the methods which have been so rigorously applied
in investigations of steel w ould have been equally successful for
a l uminum bearing in mind of course the l imitations imposed by
, , ,

the latter Accordingly it will also be well to have in mind the

.
,

main facts as to the occurrence of blowholes and porosity in steel

when making inquiry into similar defects in aluminum alloy cast
s
-

ings B lowhole in steel have been adequately discussed by a

.

num ber of wr i ters B e f ore enter i ng i nto a d iscussion of the var i ous
.

factors aff ecting the soundness of castings it will be well to fi rst

ss
,

de fine the terms blowholes porosity an d unsoundne s , o tha t w h at , ,

is meant will be clearly understood at the outset .

DE F I N I TI ON OF BL OW H O LE S ,
P OROS I T Y . AN D U N SO U N DN E SS .

B lowho l es are regarded as voids within a f rozen alloy fi lled with ,

air or oth er entrapped gas a n d the entrapped gas is held to be the ,

cause Of the blowholes B l owho l es may vary considerably i n size

.
,

but in aluminum alloy castings exceedingl y large h oles are not Often
-

found S mall holes say

. to inch in diameter and pin
, ,

h oles or microscopic holes are the rule rather than otherwise For
ss
.
, , ,

example Plate I A shows a macrograp h O f a m i cro ect ion cut f rom

, , ,

an unsound casting of N O 12 alloy ; th e entire casting was f ull of .

ho l es .

Poros i ty is hel d to b e th e inability of a casting to w i thstand

pressure , or a castin g is aid to be p orous w h en it shows seepage s
under the open test with methylene blue and gasoline Porosity may -
.

be due t o bl ow h oles crac k s or occluded f oreign m atter , or any two O f

, ,

t h ese , or a l l three In foundry practice a casting with smal l macro

.
,

scopic pinh oles is h el d to be porous and w h ile th i s may often be the

s
,

case sur f ace sand h oles are at times con fused with deep eated blow
,
-

h o l es , and th e f ormer would h a ve nothing to do w i th p orosity Pl at e I

s
.
,

B sh ows a macrograph of a section cut f rom a ca ting sh owing

,

porosi ty as indicated by the open gasoline test ; th e all oy was a p

proxima t el y N O 12 in composition
s
. .

Unsoundne s is doubtless an undesirable term because of its vague

ness ; it is used indiscrim in ately to include blowholes and porosity ,

a nd to describe conditi ons w h ere t h ere may be much foreign n on

metallic occluded matter present , and th e l i k e W ith th ese ideas in .

mind inquiry wi l l now be made into th e cause f or such de fects

,
.
BURE A U OF I
M NES TEC HN I C A L P A PE R 24 | PL A TE l

A . BL O W H O LE S I N A LU M I N U M B . P O R O S I TY I N A LU M I N U M
C O P PE R A LLO Y ; U N ET C H E D (x 5). C O P PE R ALLO Y S H O W I N G S E E PA G E
,

IN THE O PE N G AS O LI N E T E S T ;
ET C H E D WI T H N o H (x 7)
a .

0 . F O RM OF T H I N S H E LLS P O U RE D IN TH E C AS T I N G EX P E R I M E NT S
(X
8 B LOWHOL E S IN AL U M I N U M C AST I N G S .

mental work performed in the present inve tigation it is deemed a d s

s
,

vi able to discuss some of the factors that may influence the occur
rence of the defects A review of the literature i also included f or
. s
those interested It is a somewhat lamentable fact that such a sharp
.

line has been drawn b etween ferrous and non ferrous alloys ; there is
little doubt that the methods which have been so rigorously applied
in investiga tions of steel would have been equall y successful f or
aluminum bearing in mind of course the limitations imposed by
, , ,

the latter Accordingly it will also be well to h ave in mind the

.
,

main facts as to the occurrence of blowholes and porosity in steel

when making inquiry into similar defects in aluminum alloy cast
s
-

ings B lowhol e in steel have been adequately discussed b y a

.

number of writers B e f ore entering i nto a d iscussion of the var i ous

.

factors a flect ing the soundness of castings it will be well to fi rst

ss
,

de fin e the terms blowholes porosity an d unsoundne s , o that w h at , ,

is meant will be clearly understood at the outset .

DE F I N I TI ON OF BL OW H O LE S ,
P O ROS I T Y . AN D U N SO U N DN E SS .

B low h o l esare regarded as voids within a frozen alloy fi lled with ,

air or other entrapped gas a n d the entrapped gas is held to be the ,

cause Of the blowholes B l owh oles may vary considerab l y in size

.
,

b ut in aluminum -allo y castings exceedingl y large h o l es are not Often

f ound S mall h oles say
. to inch in diamete r , and pin
,

holes Or microscopic holes are the rule rath er than otherwise F or

ss
.
, , ,

exam ple Plate I A shows a macrograp h O f a m i cro ect ion cut f rom
, , ,

an unsound cast i ng of N O 12 alloy ; th e entire casting was full of .

ho l es .

Poros i ty is h eld t o be the inab ility of a casting to withstand

pressure , or a cast i ng is said to be p orous w h en it sh ows seepage
under th e open test with methylene blue and gasoline Porosity may -
.

be due to bl ow h oles cracks or occluded foreign m att er or any two of

, , ,

these , or a l l three In foundry practice a casting with small macro

.
,

scopic pinh oles is h eld to be porous and whi l e th is may O f ten be the
s
,

case sur face sand holes are at times con fused wit h deep e ated blow ' -
,

h oles , an d th e f ormer would h a ve nothing to do w i th p orosity Pl at e I .

,

B sh ows a macrograph Of a section cut f rom a c a sting showing

,

porosity as indicated by t he op en gasoline test ; th e alloy was a p

proximatel y N O 12 in composition
s
. .

Unsoundne s is doubtless an undesirable term because of its vague

ness ; it is used indiscriminate l y to include blowholes and poros ity ,

and to describe conditions where there may be much f orei gn n on

metallic occl uded matter present , and the l i k e W ith th ese ideas in .

mind inquiry will now be made in to t h e cause f or such de fects

,
.
BURE A U OF I
M N ES TECHN C I A L PA P E R 24 I PL A TE I

A . BL OW H O LE S I N A LU M I N U M B . P O RO S IT Y I N A LU M I N U M
C O P P E R A LLO Y ; U N ET C H E D ( x 5)
. C O P PE R ALLO Y S H O W I N G S E E PA G E
,

IN T HE O PE N G AS O LI N E T E S T ; ‘

ET C H E D W I T H N o H (X 7)
a .

0 . F O RM OF T H I N S H E LLS P O U RE D IN TH E C AS T I N G I
E X P E R M E NT S
(X
 O
U N S U N DN E SS I N G E N E RA L AN D T H E F AC T O RS AF F E C T I N G I T . 9

GE N E R A L F ACT O R S A F F E CT I N G TH E SO U N DN E SS OF C AS TI N G S .

Th e experience O f d ie -casting manu f acture h a th rown some light s

on the problem O f bl owholes ; in th e die -c a sting process t h e matter
O f entrapped air is of serious importance Pack and others h ave
'

a
.

been able to produce b lowholes at will in die castings , but th e pro

duction O f die castings free from blow h oles has been one of th e most
serious problems in th e die casting industr y B l owholes are the
s
“

-
.

r esult of entrapped air or g a and sh ou l d be sh arply distinguish ed

from shrinkage holes , w h ich are th e result of contraction of volume .

A frozen metal b or alloy in th e f orm of a casting O ften contains ho l es

o f various sizes or is porous ; t h ese de fects are primarily cause d b y
the liberation of gases on freezing , and th e contraction or h rin k age s
of the meta l T he l iberation of gas On f reez i ng ma y b e m i nimized
s
.

s
by keeping t h e temperature O f the metal low, b u t om e gas i s alwa y s
set free A s to contraction of volume on f reezing , th ere i no k nown
.

method of controlling , to amount to anything , the contraction in a

given alloy , a l though th e amount O f contraction can be m odi fi ed
within limits b y th e addition of a dd itive e l ements Contro l o f
s
.

shrinkage f or stee l ingo ts i e ff ecte d b y th e use of hot tops w h ic h ,

provide a means of feeding the top of th e ingot and th us con fin ing

the pipe and blowholes within a relatively restricte d volume In .

castings as such , it is a t times possible t o use l arge gates f or the

,

purpose of f eeding small th in sections and thereby minimizing the ,

eff ects of contraction In a casting porosity blowholes and nu .

, , ,

soundness are due t o a numb er of f actors , operating singl y or i n

combination T he most im p ortant of these are th e f o l lowing
.

( 1 ) Overheating the melt , l eading to change in composition by

oxidation , volatilization or interaction with the melting pot and , ,

undue absorption of gases with resultant liberation on fre ezing .

( ) H igh casting temperature causing abnormally slow coo l ing

2 ,

in the mold coarse microstructure liability t o segregation and

s
, , ,

ome of the diffi culties in ( 1 ) abov e because there can not be high
s
,

casting temperature unless the melt h a b een overheated .

( ) Failure t o skim the pou ring pot properl y causing the oc

3 ,

currence of entrained dross in the casting .

( )
4 Co l lection O f f orei g n matter— sand partic l es gas and the , ,

like— from the mold ; this leads to sur f ace sand holes and rough ness ,

and is due to poor molds , wet molds , inadequate venting or to pour ,

ing too f ast w h ich causes eros i on Of t h e mol d sur f ace

,
.

( 5 ) Faulty patt ern d esi gn resu l tin g in sh ri n k a ge h oles and

s
,

shrinkage cracks and , consequently unsoundne s , , .

0
Pa ck ,ca tin g a nd t h ei r a pp l ica ti on
0 , Die ss t o t h e wa r p rog ra m ; Bu ll . Am . I ns
t M in . .

E ng F e b ru a ry 1 9 1 9 pp 2 3 9 - 2 4 8
,

s
b R o e n h a in W An int rod ucti on t o p h y s
, . .
,

, . ica l
, meta ll u rgy, 2 d ed .
, 19 1 7 , p . 294 .

14003 0— 1 9 — 2
10 B LOW HOLE S IN AL U M I N U M C AST I N GS .

s
A a casting is a fi nal product whose defects c an not be corrected
to any extent a ft er it is m a de , the aim is to produce as perfect a
casting as possible S ome patching, welding or soldering may b e
.

feasible f or some castings but it is much cheaper to make good ,

castings in the fi rst place The fi nal structure as well as the consti
.

t u t ion of any casting depends largely upon the rate of cooling and
the rate o f solidi fi cation in the mold The best structure is Obtained .

by controlling the rate Of cooling ; ordinarily the most suitable rate ,

from the standpoint of the practical foundryman is the most r a pid ,

rate that can be employed and n ot result in cracking or w arping

from the setting up of casting strains The rate of both cooling .

and solidi fi cation can be most readily controlled by regulating the

pouring temperature ; the discreet use Of chill s is a matter Of prime
importance to the aluminum founder b ecause it is hardly possible ,

to make many kinds O f castings on a production scale without the

use of chills A high casting temperature is extremely undesirable ;
.

leaving ou t of consideration the many other di ffi culties introduced by

h igh -pouring temperature it reduces the rate of solidi fi cation in th at
,

the abundance of excess h eat may exhaust the thermal capacity of

the mold before f reezing even commences In aluminum alloy cast
s
-
.

ings high pouring temperature result in excessively coarse micro

,

structure segregation and oxidation Consequently the tempera

s
, , .

ture at the moment of casting should be as low a is possible but

s
,

not o low that imperfect castings will result through lack of fluidity
consistent with ready fi lling of the mold thereby causing cold shuts
s
, .

Wh ile it i important to maintain a low -pouring temperature for

casting aluminum alloys it is equally important to avoid overheat
s
,

ing the metal in the f urnace charges Doubtless some advantage i .

gained when overheated melts are allowed to cool to the correct

pouring temperature and part Of the danger of overheating is
s s
,

minimized by so doing N everthele s f or aluminum overheating i

.
, ,

very Obj ectionable be cause O f the rate Of dissolution O f iron from

cast -iron melting pots and of the reduction O f silica from clay
s
crucibles as well as ab orpt ion of gases f rom the local atmosphere
,
'

For molten metals the absorption Of gases increas es with rising

,

temperature this being possibly due t o the fact that metals form
,
“

loose compounds with h ydrogen and nitrogen The absorbed gases .

are often held by the metal until solidi fi cation starts when they are ,

liberated and cause unsoundness H ence an overh eate d melt would .

,

contain more absorbed gases than one not overheated and it would ,

be expected that castings poured from the former would be more

unsound than those poured from the latter
s
.

In pouring a casting having angle and corners the metal in these ,

places is the last t o solidify h ence in addition to shrinkage cracks ,

s
n
Ro e h ai n W
, An int rod u cti on to phys
i ca l m et a ll gy
ur , 2d cd .
, 1 9 17 , p . 289 .
 GASE S I N AL U M I N U M . 11

s
forming therein , there i a tendency for gases and other impurities
to be forced into t h em , causing loca l unsoundness In the olid ifica s
s
.

tion of a eu tect if erou alloy li ke N O 12 a ll oy th e l ater so l idi fi cat i on ,

.
,

O f the eutectic tends to aggravate man y of th e e ff ect s due to unequal

s
cooling and contraction , o t h at a ll th e de fects may b e more prom i
s
nent in a eutect if erou a ll oy th an i n a sub stant i a lly pure meta l or
in a so li d solution .

W ith th ese f undamental ideas at hand consideration may be ,

given to the general subj ect of gases in aluminum and aluminum

, s
allo y s o f ar as t h e available literature can f urnish information .

G ASE S I N ALU M I N U M .

A sblowholes
are intimatel y associated wit h gases a pro fi table ,

inquiry might extend in the direction Of ascertaining the ki nd and

amount O f gases present in aluminum and aluminu m allo y s The
s
.

statement has been made that b lowhole sponginess and porosity , ,

are caused by gases dissolved in the molten metal , w hi ch are li b er

s
,

ated on fi nal freezing L iquids , in general dissolve less g a with .

,

increasing temperatures but evidently molten metals depart from ,

this law and dissolve more gas with rising temperatures H ence .
“
,

the higher any metal or alloy is h eated prior to casting the more gas ,

will be dissolved According to the available in formation the solu

.
,
’
bility O f gases in liquid metals does not appear t o O bey H enry s law
s
.

D e ch b states that such solutions readily remain supersaturated and

therefore an overhe ated melt wil l usually contain more gas at the
moment O f pouring than a melt which has been merely heated to
the correct pouring temperature Evidentl y t h e porosity resulting .

fro m overheating may be largely overcome by remelting and pouring

at the proper temperature Also , practical e xperience and the results .

of tes t s made in connection with t h e present investigation have shown

that cooling an overheated melt to the correct pouring temperature

will aid in minimizing the undesirable eff ects O f overheating
s
.

From the foundry st a ndpoint two kinds of ga are recogn ized ,

namely that evolved f rom the metal on fr eezing and that libe rated
, ,

f ro m th e mold and core on pouring B lowholes which are not t h e

s
.

result of liberation of g a f rom t h e metal or mold or core are simply

entrapped bubbles o f air carried into the metal on pouring and held
s
there I rre pect i ve O f th e i r causes , blow h oles may O ften be deep -seated
.

and may not be detected even a fter mach ining ; but detecte d or unde
sA K ru m b h a a r W I
f
s G as
e n in M a t cl l e n
sl b i l it y s
a nd

ls
b er d ie LO lichk e it v on
ssin m t a ll o y s
a'
Siev e rt , .
, , .
, u nd

Le gi e ru n gen 'O n th e o u Of g a e e a a nd ' Be De t ,

r
. u . C h em . G ll
e e .
,

pp
f ct scc in g in ll oy sJ
8 9 3 —9 00
s
J a h rg 4 3 , 19 1 0,
In s
t M et a l s
. . .

D De
c
h, C H , . . S ome common d e e o u rr a : ou r . . v ol , . 4 , 1 9 1 0,
pp . 2 3 5— 2 4 6 .
 12 B LOWHOLE S IN AL U M I N U M C A STI N G S .

t ec t e d ,they constitute a source of weakne in the fi nished cast i ng and s

s
are therefore to be regarded as defects .

N ot much work has so far been done on gases in alu m inum Gui .

chard and Jourdain h ave exa mined samples Of aluminum from “

,

army utensils containing appreciable amounts of copper to ,

per cent copper They found that the total quanti t y of gases evolved .

under th e influence of heat in vacuum under the same conditions , ,

increased with the amount of alteration of the aluminum ; the sound

samples gave o fl relatively little gas while the un ound samples , s
evolved much gas In sound samples that is unaltered by excessive .
, ,

corrosion and oxidation an average O f c c of gas per 10 grams , . .

o f metal was evolved ; the gas contained roughl y per cent hydro
gen ,
per cent methane per cent carbon monoxide per , ,

cent carbon dioxide and per cent nitrogen In the altered sam , .

ples the h ydrogen content was l ower and carb on dioxide was the
predominat ing ga ; am ple evolved gas containin g up t o per ss s _

cent carb on d ioxide presumed to arise from the absorption Of car

b on dioxide b y the sur f ace al umina The samples were heated to 5 5 0 °

s
.

C . D um a
b
states that practicall y pure hydrogen may be evolved
from alum inum , 80 c c being yi e l ded from 2 00 grain s of alum inum . .

f or a particu l ar sample Details of the experiments a re not given . .

G u illem in and Dela ch anal have obtained n u merous results f or cop 0

per al l oys , and Carpenter and E l am have anal y zed the gases evolved
d

from z inc b ronze F or meta l s in general the main principles have .

,

been set f or th by S ieverts and h is collaborators e

s
.

N O gas analyses were made in connection with the pre ent investi
g a t ion A regards the general statement that gases s
are progre s
s
.

ively more soluble in liquid metals with increasing temperatures

s
,

eemingly the reverse would be true ; that is t o say w hen a liquid ,

metal at high temperatu re is allowed t o cool gas will be evolved ,

progressively F or the sake O f discussion a few postulations may .

be made .

“
G ui ch a rd M and J ou rd a in P R Su les , g a z d e l a l u m inu m 'G a e s
.
, in al u m inu m ' ,
. .
, r
’
s
C om pt ren d t 1 5 5 1 9 1 2 pp 1 60-1 6 3
Du m a s Su r le s g a z re t en u s pa r occ l u si on d a n s l a lu m inu m c t l e ma gnes
.
. .
, .
, , .

M iu m
'G a ses i on i n a l u m in u m a nd m a g n es
e ta in e d by oc cl u s
'
b
.
, ,

r i u m ' C om pt en d t 9 0 1 8 80 pp . r .
,
.
, , .

G a nd D l a ch a na l B R ech erch e s r le s g as occ l u s c ont en s d ns le s

1 02 7 — 1 02 9 .

a ll i azes earc h es
G u ill em in
d e c u iv e 'R e s on t h e g a s esocc l u d e d in c opp er a ll oy s
“
, . e ,
.
, u u a

r ' Com pt ren d t . .

, .

1 5 1 1 9 1 0 pp 8 8 1 8 8 3
H a n d E l a m C F A n inv es ti g a ti on on n s ou n d c a s ti n g s
—
, , . .

e a nd t h e re m e d y : J ou r In s
of a d

m i ra l it y b onz e ( 8 8 : 1 0 : 2 ) i t s ca u s t M e ta l sol 1 9 1 9 1 8
d H C
Ca p en t er r, . .
, . .
,
u

r . .
, v .
, .

pp 1 5 5- 1 7 5
S i evert sA nd K mb h a a r W Ub r d ie Los on G a s
. .

li ch k e it en in M e t a ll en u n d

L eg i er n g e n 'O n t h e s ol b i l it y of g a s es a n d a ll oy s D e t C h em G e s
6

in m t a l s
, .
,
a ru , e v

' B ll
S i e v e rt sA fib e Los n g en on G s
u u e er . u . . e .

J a h rg 4 3 1 9 1 0 pp 8 9 3 9 00 en in M e t ll en 'On

t he s ol b i l i ty of g a ses in m et a l s
-

s
.
, , . .
, r u v a a

pp
t off in K p f er E i s
m —7 1 2 a nd

cu s si on pp 7 1 2— 7 1 3 ; D ie L5 s on W s
'; Z h E l h B d 1 6 1 9 0 7 07
ss
t k t 1
dis
u c r e r c e . o .
, .
, , .
,

en a nd N ick e l

i ron a n d nick e l ' ; Z t s ch r p h y s

, l ich k e i t
. v a er u , ,

'S ol b i l it y of h y d og en in c opp e C h em B d 7 7 19 1 1
pp 5 9 1 et s
u r r, , . . .
, .
, ,

. e' .
14 BL OWHO LE S IN AL U M I N U M C AST I N GS .

held t o be totally amorphous W hen the temperature of a liquid .

metal is lowered to the freezing point , crystall ization commences

f rom various nuclei and the grain size O f any frozen metal is de ,

pendent upon the rate O f cooling during solidi fi cation Metals O f

s
.

high f reezing point f or example platinum u ually have a fi ne grain

, , ,

whereas aluminum having a fairly low freezing point has a rela

, ,

t ively coarse grain The constitution and microstructure O f any

.

given alloy depends upon the rate O f cooling and primarily upon the
rate O f solidi fi cation In castings control of the rate of solidi fi cation
.
,

is important ; particu l ar l y in t h e a l uminum a ll oys b ecause th ey are

n ot ord inar i l y suscept i bl e to h eat treatment
, ,
.

In foundry practice attempts a re made t o regu l ate th e rate of

s olidi fi cation O f cast ings by the u e O f suitable chills and in many s
s
,

inst a nces chil ls are nece sary In g e neral however the best rate Of
s
.
, ,

olidi fi cation i s simply the most rapid rate that can be used without
causin g warping or cracking Chill casting other thing being . s ,
s
equal have a finer microstru cture than sand castin gs ; this is so
s
,

because the chill mold rapidly conducts the heat away and cou e
quently a rapid rate of s olidi fi cation is obta ined A a sand mold . s
is as poor con d uctor O f h eat , the meta l rema ins h ot f or a re l a
t iv ely longer time Th e rate of solidi fi cation of cast ings i s also
.

a flect e d by the casting temperature being slow f or high casting ,

temperatures ; accordingly , castings shou l d be poured at as low a

temperature as possible .

IVh en a metal passes from the liquid to the solid state the change
i s usually accompanied by a change in volume Generally speaking .
,

the commercial light aluminum alloys contract on solidi fi cation and ,

the amount O f shrinkage f or No 12 alloy is taken as per cent .

or inch per foot Desch states that the percentage of volume .

“

in crease on m elting aluminum is per cent The change O f .

vol u me on solidi fi cation Of metals was found by T oepler to be a

periodic f unction of their atomic weights T urner suggested that .

aluminum expands on solidi fi cation but the seeming expansion found ,

by h im is attributed by C h a m b erl a in b
to the influence of dissolved
gases .

AN ALO G Y W I T H ST E E L .

The problem Of ma k ing so u nd ingots a nd casting of stee l h a been s s

the subj ect of much inquiry , and m e thods f or the prevention of
blowholes have been minute ly studied in thi connection Most s
s s
.

metallurgists have as ociated blowholes in steel ingots and casting

with iron oxides and t o a less extent with oxygen itself and the
0
.
,

s
c H k cit d p
In s
De h, C w or
A s t M et a l sol
96
v ol u m ch a n gesin a ll oy sJ o
“
. e ,
. .

” ham
C er a b l in
J H , . .
, t dy u of t he e : ur . .
, v .

nv es ti ga ti on s
1 0 1 9 1 3 pp 1 9 3 — 2 3 4
yl s t h e re l a tiv e m erit s v io s a g nt s
, . .

t n M
s
t ee l C a rn eg i e S ch ol M em s
Bo t he
I ron a nd S t ee l I n s
o , H . .
, I of of fo ar u e r

d oxi d ti n
e a o of , t v ol 7 1 9 1 6 pp 1 02-1 7 1
. .
, .
, , . .
 EF FEC T OF C AS TI N G TE M PE RAT U RE . 15

substances that have been used for the prevention of blowholes and
unsoundness are usually referred to as deoxidizers These o-called . s
deoxidize rs in som e instances might more properly be termed solidi
s
fier puri fi ers or d eg a ifier and lately the attempt has been made
, ,
ss ,

t o recognize f errotitanium and f erroca rb on -titanium as d enit roge

n iz er s
H owever , the essent i al f ac t to b e recognize d i n t h e M m ediate
.

discussion is that all th e substances used f or t h e deox i dation of stee l

namely silicon , titanium , manganese aluminum , etc — have a strong
s
, ,
.

affinity f or oxygen Most st e el metallurgists therefore a s ociate .

, ,

oxygen with the presence of blowholes .

Alleman and D a rlington have summed u p in an able manner t he a

available in f ormation regarding occluded gase in iron and steel s

s
.

The results O f the investigations on the cau es and p revention of

blowholes in steel cast ings show that both iron oxides , oxygen and ,

other gases are important f actors connected with the f ormation of

blowholes ; as t o prevention Of these defects the use of deoxid i zers
s
,

for the remova l Of iron oxides and of various substances for incre a
ing the holding power Of the metal f or gases h ave been employed
‘

success fu l l y I Vith particular re ference to gases in metals , som e

.

people h ave wanted t o l iberate th e gas oth ers h ave d esired to k eep i t
s s
,

in SO f ar as steel i concerned no attempt is made to remove ga es

s
.
, ,

but they are held in R a w b lown ste el h a been f ound to contain

s
.

less gas than sound stee l and in bot h steels the gases were Similar a ,

to composition In steel the holding power of th e metal for gases is

.

increased by additions Of silicon and al um inum which increase t he ,

solubility O f hydrogen nitrogen and carbon monoxi de B a ker b

s
s
, , .

h a h own that in a comparison of cast crucible steel as suc h and with

t h e a ddition O f aluminum the latter evolved twice the volume of ,

total gases O btained from the former on h eating at 1 000 C f or 110 0

.

hours .

In order t o study systematically the effect O f added elements on

the soundness of aluminum alloy castings the literature in the same -
,

connection f or ste el will be found va luable N O information of pra c

s
.

tical value has yet been supplied for aluminum -al l oy ca tings , and
the entire subj ect is an O p en ' uestion .

EFFEC T OF CA S I N G T T E M P E R ATU R E .

Th e temperature at w h ic h any alloy or metal is cast is a cog ent fac

t or in influencing the qualities o f the resultant casting In alumi .

num foundry practice it is axiomatic that the pouring temperature ,

shou l d be as low as is compatible with the alloy fi lling the mold .

All ema n , G Da r l in gt on O ccl d d g sin f

s sll y sJ n k l in
ns
a
.
, an d C J , u e ,a e . . errou a o , ou r . F ra
t v ol
sscc l d d in s
1 8 5 1 9 1 8 , p p 1 6 1- 1 9 8 , 3 3 3 — 3 5 7 , 4 6 1-4 8 0
s S t el I ns
I .
, .
, . .

b B a k e r, T , . a e G o u e ee t l
Ca r e e ho . n gi Sc l . Me m . I ron a nd e t , v ol .
1 , 1 9 09 , pp . 2 19—2 2 9 .
 6 B LOWHOLE S IN AL U M I N U M C AST I N GS .

H ence , aluminum founders strive for low pouring temperatures , and

the introduction of suitable pyrometers has resulted in noteworthy
improvements as regards correct casting temperatures H owever .
,

it does not follow that all aluminum alloy castings are poured at the -

correct temperature whatever that may b e In this connection t he

s
, .
,

following incident may be Of interest a an example Of the ill -advised

s
u e o f pyrometers in the hands of some melter s
.

On a certain casting j ob the pouring temperature was t o b e 145 0

,
°

F In watching the practice o f temperature control and casting the

.

writer O bserved tha t the melter would place the pyrometer in the
pots on their way from the melting furnaces to the molds hold the ,

pyrometer in a given pot until the indicator showed 14 5 0 F and °

s
.
,

then pull it ou t , presumably o that the reading would not go a nv

s
higher H aving o taken the temperature orders would be given to
s
.
,

pour T he writer, a a matte r Of interest took the temperature o f

.
,

one pot and found it to be approximate l y 17 00 F ; some of t h e othe r

°
.

pots may have been even hotter The foregoing is cited to indicate
.

that the mere use O f a pyrometer does not mean tha t co rrect pouring
temperature will necessarily follow .

T he actu a l pouring tem perature to be emp l oyed in the production

Of aluminum -alloy sand castings va ries with the melting point of the
a ll oy and t h e desi gn of th e casting A ny f oundry man knows that .

n o d e fin i te p our i n g temp erature can b e assigned f or general alumi

num foundry practice ; it would b e well nigh impossible to set down

a c a sting temperature to c over the range o f every de i gn of casting s .

H owever reliable data on p ouring temperatures would no doubt be

,
.

w e l comed b y p ractical f oun dries Desi gn is a f actor that power

s
.

fu ll y influenc es cast i ng temperature because i t i of fi rst importance

,

t o insure that the mel t is hot enough to fi ll the mold ; a thin casting
w i ll b e poured h otter than a thick one, and a complicated casting with
t h in web s and th ic k sections wi ll b e nece sarily poured h otter than a s
S imple casting It should of course be bo rne in mind when dis cuss
s
.
, ,

ing the eff ects of d i ff erent f actor i ndependentl y , t h at various other

f actors a l so sh ou l d b e considere d Th us in considering the e ff ect
.
,

o f casting temperature on soundness it should b e remembered that

s
,

many other causes may cont ribute t o unsoundness , such a overheat

poor design inadequate ventin g etc H owever in discussin g any
, ,
.
,

any given var i a bl e t h e contri b uta ry variab les w i ll be d isregarded f or

,

th e m oment Th i s serves to simp l i fy the d iscuss i on and in t h e fi nal

.
,

summ ation al l th e vari ab l es can be considered in relat i on to each

oth er and th eir comb ined and independent e ff ects ascert a i ned with
some exactitude N ot only do many variables influence t h e soundness
.

O f aluminum -all oy castings but these variables influence each other

, ,
 EFFE C T OF C AS TI N G TE M P E RAT U RE . 17

so that the whole problem becomes ex ceedingly complicated F or .

examp l e h igh pour in g temperature i s conducive to b l ow h oles , po

s
,

s s
ro ity and un oun d ne s , a nd at t h e same t im e t h e desi gn o f t h e cast

s s
,

ing that i , i ts we i gh t , ch an ge of size of neighb or i ng ections , con

s
—

tour etc — h a a mark e d influen ce on the possible pouring tempera

,

ture It wou l d b e o b vious l y inco rrect and no doubt impossib le to

.

cast a crank case f or a 12 -cy l in der motor and a pound h ousing -

f or a vacuum s weep er at t h e same temperature A discussion of the .

e ff ect O f var i abl es on eac h other could be extended almost ad infini

tum an d wou l d dou b t l ess serve rather to dull th e conceptions than
Sh arpen t h em
s
.

A has already b een stated the temperature at which any metal

ss
,

is ca t i an important factor in influencing the soundness and ’

strength O f the resultant product This h a been s h own as regards s

s
.
,

strength for aluminum —alloys by Gillett ; a regards soundness for

,
a
,

zinc bronze ( 8 8 b y Carpenter and la E m b

; and as regards the
mech an i ca l p ro p ert i es , f or z inc b ronz e , b y Karr and Rawdon .
c

These wr i ters and oth ers h ave come to th e conclus i on th a t the cast
ing temperature i o f p rime importance Th e casting temperature s .

aff ects the rate o f cooling and consequently the microstructure and
grain Size as well as the presence or absence of blowholes porosity
, , ,

and unsoundn ess and occluded foreign materia l ( o x i des ) F or alumi

, .

num alloys Gil l ett h as t h oroughl y demonstrat e d th e i mpo rtance of

pouring temperature as a governing fact or o f the strength but SO
s
,

f ar a is now known nothing is on record regarding the influence

Of this f act or on soundness .

T he ex periments Of Carpente r and Elam h ave shown that nu

soundness in zin c bronz e may result from pouring at too l ow or at
'

t oo high a temperature and the e writers e ven go SO f ar as t o allege , s

that the production of sound castings i n zin c bronz e i s a p roblem of
temperature control and nothing else T his i s certainly a pretty .

broad statement when viewed by practical f oundrym en , b ecause it is

well k nown that there are other contributory causes to u nsoundne s s.

F or example with ordinary N O 12 allo y ( 9 2 8 aluminum copper )

,
. .
,

under otherwi se identical condit i ons a casting poured f ro m metal ,

w h ich had bee n h ighiy overheated f or a long tim e would certain l y

be much m ore unsound than one poured from metal which h ad not
been overheated bot h being poured at the same temperature Thi,

has been de fi nitely demonstrated in the present tests as shown under

. s
“
ll
G i et t, H W , I n fluenc e of p ou rin t emp era t u re on a u m in u m a o
. . : E i h t h Int e r g l ll y s g
nat Con g App Ch em , vol 2 , 19 1 2 , pp 1 05—1 1 2
sg sd s s
. . . . . . .

H C H , an d E a m, C E , An inv e ti a ti on on u n ou n l
c a tin g of
ss
l’ Ca r ent er

s s
p , . . . .

d
a m i ra t lyb
ronz e ( 88 i t c a u e a nd t h e reme : J ou r In t M e t a l dy
d is s
10 2 )
c s
v ol 1 9 19 1 8, . .
, .
,

pp 1 5 5-1 7 5 ,i on pp 1 7 6 -2 2 0
S t nd d t s
t s
a nd
p ci m n sf zinc b nz
. u , . .

K C P nd R w d n H S , B u re a u Of
S t nd d s
0
a rr, . .
, a a o ,
. . a ar e e e o ro e :

a T ch n l ogi c P p
ar 59 e o a er , 1 9 16, 6 7 pp .

14 003 0— 1 9— 3
18 BL OW H O LE S IN AL U M I N U M C A ST I N G S .

s De cription Of Exper iment s ( pp 21 I n a di cu ion of Car

”
ss
s
s s s
.

’
pen t er a n d Elam test Dr Longm u ir h a pointed ou t that u n a

s s
.
,

oundne s ih zinc bronze d u e t o vary ing casting t emperature is of

secondary im portance t o that of the e flect on other propertie f or s ,

e xample tensile st ren gth This O bservation probably accords with

s s
,
.

the known facts Neve rthele s t h e general ubj ect of unsoundness in

.
,

n onferrous alloys a n d particularl y in aluminum alloys is in a badly

, ,

muddled condition ; th e presum ed overwhelming argument f or light

—
,
s
ness t hat is low peci fi c gr avity— in the e l atte r alloys seems t o
’
s ,

h ave destroye d bot h t h e f ounders and the engineers sense o f pro

’

portion I Vhat is actua l ly wante d are ligh t strong a nd sound al

s
.
, ,

loys ; w hether these are p roduced or n ot i another matter .

The eff ect O f po ur ing te mperature on blowholes porosity and gen

s sss
, ,

eral un oundne i s u bstantially this : The higher the temperature at

s
the moment of ca tin g the more unsound is a casting liable t o be ‘

s
, .

other thing being equal The f a ct h owev er that pouring tempe .

, ' ,

ture is so important has been made the basis O f much fallacious rea
son ing with rega rd to the quality of castin gs f or i f the effects of
s
,

molding desi gn , method of melting and other factors a re di re

, , ,

ga rded then all the av a ilable dat a are n ot properly marshaled a nd

,

deductions are l iab l e to be in error .

EFFE C T OF T H E M ET H O D OF M E LTI N G .

Alloy sf
alumin um are melted in a variety o f appliances and
o ,

there appears t o be n o well standardized mode That the method o f

s
.

melting has a profound influence on the qualities of the re ultant

s
ca tings may be briefly indicate d here Alum in u m alloys are melted
s
.

in cast iron pots clay crucibles and acid lined O pen -flam e fu rnace :
- -

s s
, ,

f or f uel O il natural g a arti fi cial ill u m ina t ing g a producer gas a n d

, , , , ,

coal h ave b ee n use d B oth th e fue l an d th e containing vessel a ff ect

.

t h e quality of the meta l A s regards the contain ing vessel the ten .
,

d eney O f substances in contact with each other is to establish a state

o f chemical equil ibrium and Chemical interactions resulting from ,

this tendency go on rapidly at more elevated temperatures The dis .

solution O f iron from cast iron melting pots and t he reduction of -

silic a from clay crucibles or from fi re brick in O pen fla m e furnace -

by molten aluminum all o y s is a matter Of common kn ow l edge H igh .

iron content is undesirable in aluminum casting alloys from the -

,

melter s standpo int because the presence of more than 2 per cent iron
’

s s
,

a ppear to render melts of N O 12 a llov pasty and vi cous a t the .

normal pouring te m per a ture .

iscu ssi on of a rticl e by H C H Ca rp ent er l am An

sc s
L ong m u ir, P D and C F E on

inv s nso n d ca s tin g s

a . . . . .
.
,

ti g a ti on of o f a d m i a l t y b onz e it a nd

t M et a l sv ol 1 9 1 9 1 8 p 1 9 5
the
In s
e u u r r au e

remed y J ou r . .
, .
, , . .
 EFFEC T OF TH E T
RA E OF M E L TI N G . 19

In addition to be ing in int imate contac t with the wall s of th e con

taining vessel molten aluminum alloys will be in contact more or , ,

-fl m
less with the f urnace atmosphere ; in open a e me lting the mel t
,

will be in direct contact with the flames and the products of com b u s
tion but in crucible and iron -pot melting this d anger is somewhat
, ,

minimized In open -pot or crucible melting there i s danger O f contam

.
'

ina t ing t h e melt by a l low i ng f ore i gn matter to f a ll into th e metal .

Laxity in c h arging scrap in any method of me l ting ma y p ermit core

,
s
sand nail wood etc , to be charge d In an oxidizing atmosphere
, ,
. .

there will be ample opportunity for aluminum oxide to be formed

s
,

a n d this will infl uence the soundness o f the castin gs De ch states .

a

that the remelting o f alloys o f aluminum and copper i s usually

necessary in large -scale practice f or the pu rpose o f eliminating the
, ,

tough pellicle Of aluminum oxide that is f ormed by oxidation during

melting The oxi de by remaining suspended in the liquid metal
s
.
, ,

prevents complete adhesion O f the crystals and in thi way reduces

the strength and ductility Of the alloy De ch remelted a . s
copper aluminum alloy three times and f ound no improvement in
-

three successive casts H owever he claims that it is readily possible .

,

t h a t minute fi lms O f aluminum oxide insu fficient to produce any

s
,

we a kening e ff ect might u flice to check the growth of crystals and

s
, ,

such fi lms would be eliminated on remelting H e then quali fi es thi .

remark by stating that f urther experiments are ne cessary to decide

whether such fi lm s a re a ctually present .

The recent work O f Rh odin b would go to Show that al u minum

oxide calcul ated as A1 0 is a normal constituent o f all aluminum
, 2 3,

and aluminum a lloys H ence it would be plausible to assume that a .

,

pro fi table line of attac k would be melting in a reducing or neutral

atmosp h ere in order to prevent oxidation Open -fla m e melt in g un der .

ox i diz i ng c on d i t i ons sh ou l d norma l ly be expected t o be conducive t o

unsoun dness in a l um inum -alloy castings ; there is more opportun ity
f or oxidation and absorption of gases when melting in this way than
when melting in cr u cible or iron pots Electric -furn a ce melting of s .

alum i nu m is a rather recent accomplishment a nd fi gures as t o per ,

f orm a nce are not n ow a v ailable .

E FFE C T OF T H E R A TE OF M E LT I N G .

The rate of melting is closely conn ected with the method of melt
ing ; in f act it would not be possible adequately to consider either
,

without the other The rate m a y vary bet w een t w o extremes ; .

“
De s
c h , C II . .
, The sl i d i
o fi c a ti on of me ta l sf om r the l i' id s
u t t a e ; Jo
ur .
,
In s
t M et a l s
.
,

v ol 1 1, 1 9 14, p 83
nt i b tion st o is
. . .

d in J G t y l in l in
ll y s
t A ch e m a um um

n sF
o . . . .
, Co r u t he r Of a nd a um um

a o ; T ra . a ra d y a Soc , v ol . 1 4 , 19 19 , pp . 13 4 -1 4 9 .
20 BL O W H OLE S IN AL U M I N U M C AS T I N GS .

namely the shortest time possible t o melt a heat as contrasted with a

,

considerably longer time The amount of dissolved gas is a function

.

of the temperature and to a less extent of the time o f melting n ot

, , ,

t o omit mentioning the nature of the furnace atmosphere F or con .

v e n ien ce a n d simplicity in considering rates of melting from the ,

standpoint O f the practical foundryman it is best to c onceive of ( 1 ) ,

a rapid rate of melting a nd ( 2 ) a slow rate In either instance the

,
.
,

rate will be a ff ected by the temperature an d by the size of the piec es

melted Other things being the same , it will take a longer time to
.

liquefy a foot cube of metal than a

- -inch cube The reason is .

se lf evident— namel y the time factor involved in bringing a larger

—
,

mass to the melting point T his can be shown math ematica ll y . .

I f the pieces o f metal charged are small they can be melted more _

rapidly t h an large piec es Also , the higher the temperature the .

more quickly will the ch a rge melt down A rapid rate o f melting .

will be induced by charging small p i eces and by employing a high

temperature while under reverse conditions a slow rate will obtain
,
.

H igh temperatu res will permit increased solubility O f gases whereas ,

low temperatures will inconveniently sl ow down p roduction Fro m

s
.

s
these brief con iderations it would appear that the best rate Of melt
ing would be the mo t rapid rate th a t can conveniently be employed .

The ill eff ects o f gas solubility a t high temperatures can be mini
m ize d by melting in covered pots or crucibles as c ontra te d with s
open fla m e fu rnaces and the rate may be increased f or a given te m
-
,

p e ra t u re b y char in
g g small ingots ,
rich a lloy ( 5 0 : 5 0 copper alumi -

num as reg a rds l igh t a l umi num -copper allo y s )

,
and sma ll pieces of ,

scrap The ext reme O f cha rging dust and exceedingly fi ne pieces O f
.

scrap can n ot be attained because fi ne particles of aluminum coalesc e

,

with difficulty .

EFFEC T OF TH E M E T H O D OF M O L D I N G .

The eff ect of the meth od o f molding on b lowh ol es porosity and , ,

unsoundness may be conveniently presente d by discussing the mold

and co res in their relations to gases It has been aid t h at in cast . s
ing p ractice blowholes can arise from gas derived from two sources
that evolved from the metal and that set free by the mold The in ,
.

h erent requirements of a mold are these : The m old must be strong

enough to resist the washing e flect of the h ot m etal stream ; it must
permit the easy es cape of gases f rom the metal a nd from itself ; and
it must im part to the casting the desi red sh ape and contour N O .

molten meta l can remai n in an impervious mold because t h e gases a

e volved must find an outlet an d wou l d escape b y th rowing the metal

s
through any pos ible opening causing a kick back through a run -

s
,

ner or ej ection th rough a ri er The gases evolved on pouring liquid .

a
M cW il liam A , , . a nd La n gmu i r , R , G en era l f ou n d y p ra ctice
r , 2d cd .
, 19 1 2 , p . 1 07 .
22 B LOW H OLE S IN AL U M I N U M C AST I N G S .

metal at these points will , therefore , st ill be liquid when the re

m a in der of t h e corresponding layers is already solid and a th ese , , s
already solid p a rts tend to contract as they cool there is an O bvious
s
,

tendency to produce shr ink a ge cracks at the e points where the metal
is weakened because hottest T here is also a tendency for gases and
, .

other impurities to be forced into

these p ositions and t h us assist the ,

oth er f orces in b r i ngin g ab out local

”
inj ury .

T he l i mitat i ons imposed upon th e

f OI m drym an b y th e nature o f hi s
bus i ne s must b e b orne in min d b y s
th e desi gner Th ese limitations ih .

el ude t h e f oun dry la y out , methods

O f mel ting and mo l d in g, capacity ,

qua l it y of su p ervi sion , and means
D iag m f i s m l st
FI
f or meta ll urg i ca l cont roL Metal
nt nt ng l in c o l in g c s
G U RE 1 .
—
ot hra O er a a

t lu rgical de f ects in an y all oy ma y

in g ( f t R°s
a ree ra a e a o a

a nh a in ’
er e
influence design and desi gn w ill be
°

a prom inent f ac tor in deciding metallurgical practice All oys

s
.

which are excessively h ot hort can n ot be used f or complicated cast

ings where thick and thin sections are in j uxtaposition I f in any .

particular cast ing it is found impossible from the standpoint of the

s s
,

de igner to eliminate thick and thin ections an alloy hav ing con
s
, ,

idera b le elongation at elevated temperatures may be required or ,

the method of moldin g may have t o be altered In any event there

s
,
.

Should be collaboration between d e igners a nd foundrymen ; other

wise high percentage O f sc rap from blowholes porosity u nsoundness
, , , ,

shrinkage cracks and warping will prevail , .

E FFE C T OF TH E ' U AL I TY OF I N G OT .

Much uncertainty exists as t o th e influence O f the quality O f a l umi

num ingot on the soundn ess of the resultant castings S ome found
s
.

”
e r have the i ll ha b i t Of blamin all f o u ndr y troubles on t h e metal
g ,

w h en in cert ain instances it i s sure that t h e f ault laid wit h the

, ,

foundry practice A thorough discussion of ingot would be b e

.

yond the Scope o f the present work The fact should not be forgot .

t en however that the quality o f the aluminum use d f or melting

, ,

certainly does aff ect the quality O f the resultant castings Ingot .

whic h shows low physical values in the tensile test and which will
not bend much in the bend test normally yields poor alloy castings ;
these may be excessively h ot short very porous and unduly cracked , ,
.

The indications are that brittle aluminum ingot is undesirable f or

sand casting and is absolutely u eless f or die casting Whereas 9 9
,
.
s .

per c ent ingot is regarded as superior to 9 8 to 99 per cent metal ,

 SO C A-
LLE D DE O X I DATI O N L
OF A U M I N U M . 3

the chemical analysis is not an absolute criterion as to quality and

s
,

must be supplement ed by physi cal tests The difficulty lie in the .

inadequacy of the present methods of analysis which do not tell ,

“

the whole story Inferior ingot can a ccount f or some o f the u n

s
.

soundne s prevalent ih sand castings

s
.

AS a matter o f actual f act the whole question i s stil l un e ttled and , ,

convincing corroborative tests have b een made only in isolated in

stances I t behooves all foundrymen in the light-alloy casting in
s
.

du t ry t o look care f ully into the quality O f aluminum ingot for the
purpose of correlating quality with the resulta nt castings The in
s s s
.

flu ence O f the various other factor such a melting practice method , ,

of molding pouring temperature , and desi gn , Should not be over

,

looked .

SO-CALLE D D E OX I D A T I ON OF ALU M I N U M .

U nder the remarks applying to steel re f erence h a b een made t o s

s
,

the deoxidation and denitrogenation of steel a an aid in producing

sound -steel castings It is advisable in connection with soundness
s
.

in aluminum -alloy ca tings to call attention to a number of beliefs

now current These are briefly the divergence o f opin ion as to
.
, ,

whether aluminum oxide ex ists in aluminum , and th e action o f the

so called deoxidizers for the metal
-
It is considered proved by the .
,

writer , that al uminum oxide w h et h er occ l ude d A12 0 3 or A13 0 in , ,

so l id so l ution in alum i num or b oth i s a norma l constituent o f all ,

aluminum and alum inum -alloy castings produced by the present

practices It is also held by the writer that there n ow i s k nown no
.

commercial method for the deoxidat i on of a l umi num Various sub .

stances have been suggested at di fferent times as deoxidiz ers in ,

cluding magnesium boron phosphorus phosphor -copper , etc and

s s
, , , .
,
“ ”
various o called fluxe h ave b een introduced for the same pur
s
-

pose The reminis cences O f ome found ry men and the tales told by
.

”
fl u x experts would almost l ead one t o b elieve t h at most of the
sound castings are m ade through a system in which no consideration
whatever is given to casting design , k ind O f alloy , methods of melt
ing and mol ding pouring temperatures , an d technical control of
,

foundry practice B y the i ntroduction o f mysterious fluxes the

.
,
”
character O f w h ich i s care f u ll y concealed and h el d secret all the
“
,

inherent troubles incident to the manufacture o f aluminum -alloy

castings are totally eliminated— according to the reports Metal
s
s
.

lu rgi t are well aware that this is utterly silly and unsound in prin
ciple and yet a pro fi table business h a
,
been built up in SO -called de s
oxidizers and fluxes for aluminum .

“
And er o sn , R . T,
. . M e t a ll og ra p h y of a u ml in um in g t ;
e C h em . a nd M e t E ng
.
, vo l. 21 S pte .

1 , 19 19 , pp . 2 2 9 -2 3 4 .
24 B L OWHOLE S IN AL U M I N U M C AST I N GS .

a few years a go remarked it is true that one s sympathies

La w, “
,
“ ’

would naturall y be extended to the unfo rtunate metallurgist who

”
was asked t o determin e the oxygen in an aluminum alloy That .

condition has n ot yet b een widely changed In f act all tests which .
,

have been made purporting t o deoxidize aluminum h ave been prae

s
t ically usele s because determinations o f the oxygen or aluminum
oxid conten t s of the samples have not been carried ou t Typical Of .

what has been writte n on the deoxidization of alum inum f or the use
O f foundrymen is a paper whose original premises were erroneous
' )

a n d whose measure of the deoxidizing e ff ect O f magnesium was the

s s
ten ile te t It i impossible to ta k e such tests seriously In Short
. s .

actual sc i enti fi c in formation on t h e subj ect is not at h and .

D E SCR I P T I ON OF E X P E R I M EN TS .

The most common alloy used in th e U nited S tate s for th e produc

t ion of light castings is that One known in the trade as N O 12 alloy .

t h at is , 92 per cen t aluminum and 8 per cent co p pe r Th is alloy .

,

or others o f a simi l ar c omposit i on is emp l oyed f or a wide variety

s
,

O f castings and aluminum founders are doubtles more familiar with

s
,

s
it than with any other on e H ence in the experimental te ts made in .
,
‘

connection with the p resent w ork it w a considered advisable to use

this alloy The experimental work performed has already been dis
s
.

cussed in anoth er r ep or t I n the test abo u t to be described con '

,

firm a t ory ev i d ence o f a l ready kn own f acts h as b een Obtained and ,

some new data have been made available The e ffect o f pouring
,
.

temperatu re and len gth o f tim e o f melting period on soundness has

been studied Th e present work did not go into the influence of
s
.

various furna ce atmospheres on the soundnes o f castings but that ,

i s a matter which merits consideration and which seemingly has ,

been given entirely t oo little attention .

In the tests made in connection with the present work small hea t s ,

f about 2 5 poun d s eac h of th e a l um inum coppe r alloy were

s
-
o

made up Th e h eat were ch arge d as foll ows : Th e requisi t e amount

.

of aluminum -copper rich a l lo y was fi rst me l te d down in a

plumbago -cl ay crucib le using a gas -fired mel ting furnace : w h en th e ,

rich alloy had melted enough virgin aluminum ingot in the form of , ,

3 -po und six notch b ars , to geth er with a b out 10 p er cent of N O

-
.

12 gates and risers were a dde d t o ma k e u p th e h eat 'S ix se ts of cast

s
.

ings were p oured and t he e sential information is summarized in ,

Table 1 .

L a w, E in fl en ce p rop e ti es m et a ls ll y sJ o
In s
F The of th e of a nd
t M e ta l sol 8 1 9 12 p p 2 2 2 2 3 0
‘
0
. .
, u ox yg en on r a o : ur
.

H M Us
-

m g n es
i m in d ox i d i in g a l m in u m a ll oy s T an s
.
, v . , , . .

” La n A m e i ca n
B as sF ou n d ersA ss
e, . e of .
, : a u e z u r . r

oc 4 1 9 1 0 pp 1 03 1 1 6
R T B l ow h ol e s it y a nd u n s s i n a l u m in u m -a ll oy ca stin gs
’
v ol

o ndn s
-

And s p o os
r .
, .
, , . .

6
er on , . . .
, ,
r ,
u e

T h e F ou n d y v ol 4 7 19 1 9 pp : 5 7 9 — 5 8 4
r , .
, , .
 DE SCRI P TI O N OF E X P E RI M E N TS . 25

T AB LE 1 .
—D a t a on s ix h ea t sm a de on a lu m/twa i n
t u re eff ect s .
a l loy t o d e t ermi ne t em p era

kspp l yin g ppe c

ti s
s
R ema r a to a a ran e of
ca ng ')

Wh it e
i t d it
s
m t good
pp nc
id ti n s
t ins g
, oo h a e ara e .

pp nc m n y sf ls
T n e w h ox a o a ; rou h

W t f i pp nc c l d st
a eara e; a u r ace ho e .

hi e, a r a eara e; o hu .

W it f i p nc c l d st
sm k s
h
o
e,
ar ed a
a r ap eara
in C .
e; o hu n ot

p l icat e runs of 25 pou n d ch arges

we h e t s f nc
h em i l com p os ition was nt s
a Du _
'
re a ed in a ga -fired ur a e
0 A v rag copp nt i n i l i on nt
.

e e c ca er per ce , ro p er ce c p er ce , a nd
alum inum ( by difi erence) percent
,
.

The s
cast ing were simp l y t h i n Sh ell a sh own i n Pl ate I , (J ( p ss .

the dim ensi ons be i ng roughly by 6 by inches and

inc h t h i c k The cut -ou t p ortion , shown i n th e photo gra p h , is s i mp l y
.

a place w h ere a section was removed f or microscopy T wo kinds .

O f castings were poured from the fi rst six heats the thin shells
ss
,

and ( 2 ) bars inc h squ are b y 12 inc h es l ong The h el l are .

herea fter re ferred to as castings and th e bars as bars f or th e sa k e of

clearness in dist inction Ca ting s of diff ere nt th ickness e were
. s s
thus poured f or t h e purpose o f ascertaining w h eth er any exa ggera
tion O f defects migh t be traced to size of section under otherwise
identica l conditions The castings and bar were poured in ordi
. s
nary sand molds properly rammed and vented ; e ach casting was
,

poured in a single m old and its companion bar in a separate mold

s
.

In the fi rst six h eat the influence Of pouring temperature and

,

lengt h of t im e of melting on soundness was Observed Du p l icate

s
.

runs in wh ic h th e data w ere e sent i a ll y as a l rea d y sh o wn i n T able

,

1 were also made f or checking purposes

,
A composi te sample O f .

the fi rst set Of S ix castings and b ars averaged per cent copper ,

per cent iron , p er cent s i l i con , and 3 p er cen t a l um inu m

( by di ff erence )
s
.

B e fore dealing with the second et of tests , sum mar i zed in T able
s
‘

2 it may be we ll t o e l uc i date th e first et O f t ests

s
.
,

Ta bl e 1 h ows that h eat A was k ep t a t as low a tem p erature as

s
po sible compat ibl e w ith f a i rl y rapid me l ting an d as soon as the
, ,

charge was totally in solution , the cas tings and bars were poured .

The total time in th e furnace ne cessary for solution was a pproxi

mately 3 0 minutes for all th e heats starting with a h ot f urnace ,

and hot crucible The shells poured from h eat A were regarded as
s
.

good c a tings moderately sound a nd O f satisfacto ry sur f ace appear

, ,

ance : S and holes were f ew .

26 BL OWHOLE S IN AL U M I N U M C AST I N G S .

In heat B the charge was rapidly brought t o 8 60 C and the cast

,
°
.
,

ing s and bars we re then poured The total time in the furn a ce was
s
.

about 40 minute T h e resultant castings from this heat were ex

s
.

t rem ely poor ; th e sur f ace were rough with many sand holes and
s
, ,

the ca tings were dark c olored '

.

In heat C th e charge was h eated rapidly to 880 C the total time

,
°
.
,

in the f u rnace be ing about 4 0 min utes ; the crucible was then re
moved and permitted to cool in the air to 63 0 C at which tempe ra °
.
,

ture the castings and bars were poured On account of the low pour .

ing temperature the shells were cold sh ut but oth er than th at their
, ,

sur face appearance was satis f actory ; there were few sand holes .

H eats D E and F were held in the furnace for 1 hour aft er com
, ,
'

p l et e solution was e flect ed ; h eat D was in the f urnace 1 hour and 3 0

minutes heat E 1 hour a nd 4 0 minutes and heat F 1 hour and 4 5

ss
, ,

minutes This was done o a t o Obtain fi gures on the eff ect of the
.

length of time Of melting on soundness H eat D w as held in the .

furnace f or an hour a fter solution was e flected ; the temperature was

kept fairly low and the castings and b ars were fi nally poured at
,

640 C T he resultant shells were cold shut but not SO markedly as

°
.
,

in h eat C poured at 630 C Th e sur f ace appearances O f both bars

,
°
.

and castings were considered satis f actory ; there were only a few
surface sand holes H eat E poured at 9 5 0 C a ft er being held in
.
,
°
.
,

the furnace f or an hour at 9 00 t o 9 5 0 C gave very poor castings ; ° °

s
.
,

the urfaces were rough and had many sand holes and the color was ,

dark and dirty H eat F however r esulted in fairly good castings ;

.
, ,

this heat was poured at 7 00 C a fter heating for an hour at 900 to °

.
°

9 50 C
°
.

Additional tests of the e ffect of the pouring temperature alone on

u nsoundness were made b y maki n g u p
-pound heats o f the
92 : 8
aluminum -copper a l lo y i n th e manner previously descri b ed and
s
, ,

pouring bars inch squar e b y inches long at 50 C interval °

s
s
.

a h own i n T able 2 Dup l icate runs were made for the purpose o f
.

checking I n the tests su mm arized in Table 2 a charge of

s
.
,

poun d was h eate d rapidl y t o 9 75 t o C ; the cruci bl e w as then °

s
.

removed from the fu rnace , and b ar were poured at 5 0 C inter °

.

vals from the same pot by allowing th e melt t o cool between pours .

The range of pouring temperature as indicated in Table 2 was from , ,

9 5 0 to 65 0 C
°
T he average composition Of a composite sample of
°

s
.

the -i nc h quare b ars was copper per cent iron per cent , ,

silicon per cent and aluminum per cent by di fference In

s
, ,
.

connection with the e tests some interesting information on the con ,

traction O f the No 12 alloy was furnished by examination O f the

.

frozen pouring gates and this will be dealt with in a later para ,

grap h .
 DE SC RI P TI O N OF E X P E RI M E N TS . 27

The resultant castings and bars from all the heats re ferred to as ,

A t o M , inclusive , were examine d f or sur f ace ap p earance and micro

scopica lly f or genera l character i stics and unsoundness Po l ish ed
s s s
.

m icro ect ion O f both ca t ing S a n d bars were examined microscopi

'

cally and machined surfaces were inspected for blowhol es All tem
s
.
,

pe ra t u re in these experiments were taken with a base -metal thermo

couple of the pyod type .

T AB LE 2 .
— Re ssf u lt o h eat ing a lloy t o 95 0
°
C . a nd p ou ring a t 5 0
°
in terv a l s .

R em ar kspp ly i g t pp
a n oa eara n ce of ca ss t ing b

p l i t ru ns of 60 p o n d ch gs h t d in a gas
fir d f n c e t o 9 75 i bl
w s t h n m ov d f om t h e f n s s p o d t 5 0 C in t rv l s
a Du ca e w u - ar e ere ea e e ur a G th e cru c e
nd b
,
.

g h em i l com p os ition w spp r 7 55 p r cent iron p r c ent s

a e re e r w u r a ce a ar ere u re a
°
e a
b Av il icon c nt
. .

era e c ca a CO e e e per e , and

a l um inum ( by d ifi eren p r c ent
.
, ,

) ce e .

M E T LL A OGR A P H Y OF U N S OU N D N E SS .

The castings and bars poured in heats A to M , inclusive were

e xamined m acroscopically and microscopically for blow h oles , poro

ity , and general unsoundne s In examining castings for relative s .

,

s
unsoundness this defect can be j udged most convenientl y b y simpl y
s
,

inspect ing poli hed or machined surfaces Microscopic examination .

is not so useful I n the present experiments the b ars cast f ro m the

.

various h eats were machined smooth ly b y milling an d the surfaces

s s
,

were inspected f or holes Micro ect ion from the bars and castings
s
.

were also prepared and studied A indicative o f w h at a macro .

graph can show as regards relative soundness reference may be ,

made to Plate II A, and Plate II B The former sh ows the sur

, ,
.

face appearance O f a microsection cut from a 5 -inc h square bar

cast from heat D ; the latter is a similar macrograp h from h eat E .

H eat D it will be recalled was poured at 640 C an d h eat E at

, ,
°
.

95 0 C Machined sur f aces also sh ow relative unsoundness and

°
.

blowho l es fairly satisfactorily Macrograp h s o f samples f rom heat

s
.

G to M inclusive proved e xtremely in tructive Plate II 0, and

, , .
,

Plate III , A, show the surface appearances o f po l ish ed sections cut

from samples taken f rom heats H and M respectively I n general ,
.
,

the number O f blowholes per unit area i n aluminum -allo y sand cast
s
,

i ngs of the 9 2 8 type increase w ith increasing pour ing temperature .

Plate II 0 shows many la rg e h o l es w h ile P l ate I I I , A, sh ows a

, , ,

few smal l h oles .

28 B LOW HO LE S IN AL U M I N U M C AST I N G S .

s
The m icro op ic examination of sections cut from the various bars
a n d castings served to throw som e light on the question Evidence
s
.

o f at least three kinds of unsoundness wa Obtained from the micro

s copic study , as follow : ( 1 ) That which is plainly intergranular and s
may be due to an actual f orcing apart O f the grains by gas atte mpting
to escape or due to intergranular occluded foreign matter ; ( 2 ) that
due to liberation o f ga which is entrapped at the moment O f fin al s
freezin g and can not escape resulting in blowholes O f varying size ;
s
,

( )
3 that which is the result of balled -
u p oxide occluded in d i crim i

n a t ely in rather large gobs in the frozen alloy Typical micrographs

s
.

showing variou structures are presented in Plate III B Plate III , , ,

( 7 Plate IV A, and Plate IV , B

, , .

It may be noted in comparing the microstructures of the inch -

bars and the -inc h castings that in t h e f ormer the grain size is

much larger th an i n the l atter T his is , of course t o be expected as .

, ,

a thin casting is ch illed muc h more rapidly by the sand than a thick
one ; a thick cast ing may even exhaust the thermal capacity o f a sand
mold b e f ore solidi fi cation provided conditions are right In ter
s
.
,

granular occluded f oreign matter whether aluminum oxide or not i

s
, ,

shown b y Plate I II , C , while un oundness due to ( 3 ) is illustrated

’

by Plate IV, B Plate III B , and Plate IV A are typical micro .

, , ,

graphs sh owing t h e average structures Of the 5 -inch square bars

and th e -inc h thic k castings respectivel
y In each of these two
s
, .

sections selected sound pots were taken for photo graphy .

RAD IOG RAP H Y OF C AST I N G S .

The proposal has been made by Davey an d oth ers and actua ll y “
,

carried ou t in some inst a nces that X -ray photographs of castings ,

would p rove usefu l in determining the presence or absence o f blow

h oles In f act T ona m y b
h as attempted to decide by radiographs
s s
.
,

w h eth er or not Casting are worth machining A regards aluminum .

'

allo y castings some machine -shop scrap is the result of undue

s
,

porosity a nd blow h oles being found a fter a f ew cut taken with a

m illing tool , f or example in the machining o f motor castings .

In conn ection with the present tests it was th ou gh t th a t possibly

'

an X -ray examination would b e o f assistance in locating the presence

O f interna l b lowholes as wel l a general poro ity and spon giness ,
s s ,

without cutting t h e suspected samp l es and polishi ng as in m et a llog

ra phy Accordingly , some samples o f th e
. a l uminum -copper
alloy were prepared and radiograph ed in th e usua l manner T wo
s
.

diff erent set o f samples were prepared -inch by -

inch by
v e y W P R d i og a p h y of m et a l s
Da T ra n s Am I n s t Min E ng v ol 5 3 19 1 6 pp
1 5 0—1 6 0 ; A pp l ic a ti on O f t h e c ool i dge t u b e t o m e t a ll u gic a l r s
“
, . .
,
a r , . . . .
, .
, , .

ea c h G n E l ec R ev v ol r e r , e . . .
, .

1 8 1 9 1 5 pp 1 3 4 — 1 3 6
D e t ecti on of int e n a l bl owh o l e s in met a l c a s by mea n s
tin g s of X r y s
.
, , .

T ona m y C H
b

J ou r In s t Met a l svol 1 4 19 1 5 pp 2 00-2 03

, . .
, r a ,

.
. .
, .
, , .
 DE SC RI P TI O N OF E X P E RI M E N TS . 9

inch plate , and s inch by -inch b y

- inch bars In both
s s
- -
.

p l ates and bars porous u n oun d samp l es were ma d e by ca t ing at

s
,

95 0 C in a damp mo l d , and f air l y ound samp l es of eac h were made

°
.

by castin g correct l y at a low temperature , i e , 6 50 C X -ra y p h oto. .

°
.

graphs O f the porous and soun d p l ates and bars were ta ken .

Th e conclusions drawn from the radiograp h s are that with the

tube used it was impossible in the c a stings radiographed to deter
, ,

mine whether the speckly eff ect in the radiographs resulted from the
s
s
diff erentia l rate O f pa age of the rays through the solid solution
matrix and the surrounding eut ectic or to general porosity W here .

large blow h oles are present in samples Obtained from various a l umi
ss
num foundrie a f or example in certain crank -case castings it was
, ,

possible to detect internal blowholes f airl y readily H owever con

s
.
,

iderab le doubt is entertain ed as t o w h ether radiography as applied

to aluminum -alloy castings f or the purpose o f detecting internal
blowholes can serve any practica l purpose I n order to determine .

w h eth er a compli cated casting would be wort h mach ining would

require a l arge number of radiographs at least and it might be ,

impossible t o take radiographs which would f urnish interpretable

. s
information A a matter O f fact it will be found much more eco
,

nom ica l t o make the original casting Sound on the molding floor .

BI I S OE LL AN E O U S C
‘

O N S I DE RAT I O N S .

Al though this report makes no attemp t to deal with the subj ects of
cracks in cast ings , it may be said that the origin of cracks is O ften
confused Cracking in an aluminum -alloy casting is customarily
s
.

regarded as resulting from direct fracture O f th e meta l by rea on of

contraction in volume on passing f rom the l iquid to t h e solid st ate .

Considerable variation in size O f contiguous sections augments the

tendency t o cracking That some sur f ace cracks are i ntima t ely asso
.

ciat ed w i t h deep -se ated internal blowholes h as been S h own b y f rac

ture stu d i es I n a numb er O f sect i ons i t was f ound that th e su rf ace

.
.

crac k s penetrate d i nto an interior b low h o l e of rather l arge s i ze say ,

-
inch diameter and tha t th e b lowho l e caused th e cracks T he
s s
, .

exam ination o f sur f ace cracks in aircra ft motor casting and in pec
s s
tion of pol ish e d m icro ect ion f rom th e same castings i nd i cate th at
blowholes may be associated with surface cracks and ma y even be the
-
d i rect cause of th em A rat h e r badly cracked crank case made O f th e
.
,

9 2 : 8 a l um i num -co pp er a ll o y , may b e cited in support o f this view .

Pl ate I V , 0 , s h ows th e microstructure o f a section cut f rom t h is par

t icu l ar casting f rom a portion which was badly cracked as to surface
s s
.

In examining fracture of the same casting internal blowholes ( ee ,

point X P l ate IV , D ) were found from which cracks l ed to the sur

, ,
30 B LO W HOLE S IN AL U M I N U M C AST I N GS .

f ace . Th is is an interesting matter , and , sfar as the writer is aware

o

has not been discussed hitherto in the literature .

It might be inferred f rom wh at has gone before that the writer

'

b e l ieves perfectl y sound castings can b e made at a ll t im e N o such s .

i n ference sh ould be d rawn Evidently however many castings are

.
, ,

needlessly unsound For certain castings , where neither strength

s s
s
.
,

ou ndne ,_ nor goo d sur f ace ap p ear a nce are d esire d t h ere wi ll be no ,

ob j ect i n ma king strenuous eff orts t o guard care ful l y the quality of
the p roduct A consideration of economic importance h owever mav
s
.
, ,

enter here ; if t heassumption is made that the use O f unsound crap

can aff ect the quality of castings made therefrom then it might as , ,

regards conservation be desirable to prod u ce sound castings entirely

s s
, .

W hat may be regarded as p ermi sible defect — that is blowho l es , ,

porosity unsoundness cracks and the like— varies so much with di f

s
, , ,

f erent castings that it i totally beyond the scope of this paper to

deal with them It i s enough to say that permissible defects depend
.

upon the casting made th e use f or which it is destined and the speci
s
, ,

fica t ion under which it is manufactured .

Th e e ff ect O f pourin g temperature on contraction of the

alum i num -copper all o y , as prev i ousl y ment i oned is apt l y illustrated ,

by th e p h otograph i n Pl ate V Th i s sh ows th e h ea d s O f th e pour ing

.

gates o f th e seri es of b ars cast at 50 C interva l , in h eats G to M °

.
,

inc l us i ve T abl e 2 Th e amount Of contract i on i s a function o f the

s
.
,

pouring temperature o far as th e l i m i tations O f t h e experiments can

s
,

h ow , b ut w h ether i t is a l s o, at the same t i me co nnected with d i s ,

so l ve d gases is not certain I t is a f act h owever that a casting

.
, ,

poured at 950 C contains more dissolve d gases at the moment o f

°
.

pouring than one poured at 65 0 C °

.

Gate G in Plate V was poured at 9 50 C , gate M at 650 C and °

.
°
.
,

the oth ers at 50 C intervals Gate G actually expanded in the

°
. .

head , w h i l e th e sh rin k age of gate M is mar k ed an d apparent l y nor

mal Gra d ations in the amount O f expansion and contraction are
.

sh own in th e other gates depend i ng upon the p ouring temperature .

Gate J poured at 800 C seemingly did n ot contract or expand

,
°
.
,

much ; gates G H , and I expanded ; gates K L a nd M contracted

, , ,
.

C O N C L U SI O N S .

B road genera l izations O f value can not be drawn from the resu l ts
of the experimental work the experience of the various f oundries

s
, ,

and the contradictory literature In other word it is impossible to .

,

compile a code of directions that a melter can fol l ow fa ithfully and

Obtain 100 per cent sound castings all th e time Th is much how .
,

ever , is f air l y well settl ed : T h at it is possible t o reco gnize the exist

 B URE A U OF I
M N ES TECHN IC A L PA PE R 2 4 l PL AT E IV

A . A LLO Y FR O M H EA T D, P O U RE D AT B . A LLOY FR O M H EA T E, O U R E D AT
P
O
6 40 C ; F R M T H E C AST I N G ; ET C H ED O
C ; FR M T H E C AS T I N G ; ET C H E D
° °
. 9 50 .

WI HT Na O H ( X 7 5) . W H IT Na O H ( X 7 5)
.

C . BL O W H O LE S I N A SA M PLE T A K E N D . A L H O LE S H OW N O N F RA C
I N T E RN
F R O M A C RA N K C A S E ( X 5) . T U R E I N A SA M PLE R E M O V E D F R O M
A C RA N K C AS E ( A C T UA L S I Z E )
. .
 O L
C N C U SI ON S . 31

ence O f a l arge num b er of var i ables that may conduce to un oun dness s
and bl ow h o l es ; that some O f th ese variab l es patent l y are much more
conducive to un soundness t h an oth ers ; an d th at there are possibili
ties O f devel oping meth ods f or el iminat in g these de fect T h e main s .

conc l usions th at can be d rawn with confi dence f rom actual Ob serva
t i on in th e exper imenta l heats may b e su mmar ized as fo ll ows :
s
( 1 ) The number of b low h o l es present i a function of th e pour ing
temperature ; the hi gher th e pouring t emperature the greater the
num b er of b l owho l es and th e more unsoun d is t h e cast ing .

( 2 ) U nsoundness varies w i th th e temperature to wh i ch th e ch arge

is h eated ; th e higher the temperature in th e furnace the more uh
sound th e r esu l tant cast in gs are , irresp ective of the pouring tem
peratu re
s
.

( 3 ) U nsoun dn ess i a funct i on of

the l en gt h of t ime o f me l t ing ;
t h e l onger an y me l t i s h e l d in th e furnace t h e more unsoun d are the
castings irresp ect i ve O f th e tem p erature of h eating an d th e p our in g
,

temperatu re .

It can be readily seen t h at th e f actors a ff ect ing the soundness O f

castings can influence one another either favorably or adversely .

Thus pouring an overheate d melt at a lower temperature by a llowing

,

the charge to cool prior to pour ing wi ll aid in min imiz in g the dele
s
t eriou eff ects of overheating Cast i ngs poured at low temperatures
.

are more sound than those pour ed at h igh temperatures , but heats
held in the furnace f or a long time a t either high or l ow te mperatures
are more unsound than those held for a short time Th e most a ggra .

v a t e d cases of unsoundness wi l l result f rom pouring a melt at a high

temperature which has previously b een exce sively overhea t ed and s

s
for a long time T h ere i nothing to l ead t o t h e belie f t h at there i s
.

a minimum temperature below which it is not sa fe to go for f ear O f

u nsound castings resulting f rom too low pouring temperature .

The result s of the experimental h eats and a l so past f oun d ry ex peri

ence together wit h the general information available w oul d lead
, ,

t o the conclusion that with the met h ods O f melting now i n v ogue
, ,

the heats shoul d be k ept at a low temperature in the furnace , melt ing
Should be as rapid as possible— that i s the charge should be poured
s
,

as soon as it is melted— and the pouring temperature sh ould b e a

low as i s cons i stent w i t h t h e meta l fi lling t h e mol d Th es e condi
.

tions can be attained only by close supervision of melting and pour

ing together with a study O f the appropriate correlation between the
,

molding floor and the furnace room It will be best t o h ave the
.

molding floor waiting f or metal rather than have the f urnace roo m
waiting f or molds Close p y rometric control is a l so presupp osed in
.

actua l foundr y production .

 PUB L I CA T I O N S ON M E T A LL U R G Y .

A limited supp l y
the following publications of the B ureau of of

Mines has been printed and is available for free distribution until
the edition is exhausted R equest f or all publications can not be
‘

s
s
.

granted and to in ure equitable distribution applicants are re

s
,

quested t o limit their selection t o publication that may be O f espe

cial intere t t o them s
R equests f or publications should be addressed .

to the Director B ureau O f Mines

s
,
.

The B ureau o f Mines issues a li t showing all its publications

available f or free distribution as well a those obtainable only from s
the S uperintendent of Documents Government P rinting Offi ce on , ,

payment o f the price of printing Interested persons should apply .

to the Director B ureau of Mines for a copy O f the latest list , ,

.

P U B LI C A TI O N S A V A I L A BLE F OR F RE E DI S TRI B U T I O N .

B UL LE T I N 1 6 . The u e s
sp Of ea t f or fu el a nd o t h er p u rp o sb y C
s e , . A D av i. s .

1 9 11 2 1 4 pp , 1 pl 1 fig
l e ct ri c fu rn a c e s s
. . .
, .

B U LLE T I N 67 E f or m a k i n g i ro n a nd t l by D A L y on a nd

s
. ee , . .

R . M K ee n e y
. . 1 9 14 . 14 2 pp .
, 3 6 fig .

B U LLE T I N 70 A p re l i m i n a ry p ort on u ra n ium di u m a nd v a n a di u m b y

s s
. re ,
ra , ,

R B M oore a nd K L K ith il 1 9 14 1 14 pp
s
sn c p
4 pl 2 fig
n i t d St t s
. . . . . . .
, .
, .

B UL LE T I N 7 3 B ra f ur a e t i ce i n th e U by H W G i l l e tt
s s
. ra c e a e , . . .

1 9 14 2 9 8 p p , 2 pl
. . .
, 2 3 fig .

B UL LE T I N 7 7 T h e l ct ri c fu rn a c e i n m et a ll u rgic a l w o k b y D A L y on e e

2 1 6 p p 5 6 fig s
. r , . .
,

R M K ee n ey a n d J F C u ll e n 1 9 14
B UL LE T I N 8 4 M e t a ll u rgi c a l s 6 p ls
. . . . .
, . .
, .

m ok e b y C H F u l t on 19 15 9 4 pp
s
.
, . . . .
. .
, ,

s min
1 5 fig
s sm p l s c l c oll e ct e d i n t h e fi s
.

B UL LE T I 85 An a l y ca l
s
N . e Of e a nd ca r a e of oa

yea r 1 9 11 to 19 13 C F i e ld n e r H I by A Sm it h A H F a y a n d Sa m u el
s
.
, . .
, .
, . .
,

S a n f ord 19 14 444 p p 2 fi g
s
s ss s
. . .
, .

B ULL E T I N 9 7 Sa m p l i n g a n d a n a l y i Of flu e g a e b y H e n ry K re i i nger a nd
s
.
,

F K O v i tz 1 9 15 68 pp 1 p l 3 7 fi g
s
s ss
.
. . . .
, .
, .

B U LLE T I N 1 00 M a n u fa ctu re a nd u e of a ll oy t ee l b y H D H i bb a rd 19 15
.
, . . . .

pp
s
78
l ct rol y s sl t i n sb y s
.

B UL LE T I N i of cy a n i d e C h ri ty
s s
1 50 E e . o u o , S . B . . 19 1 8 .

1 7 1 pp , 8 p i , 4 1 fi g . . .

B UL LE T I N 1 54 ea d L in mi nin g m i ll i n g b y C A W i gh t
s s
. 19 8 a nd z c a nd , . . r . 1 .

n n v t i ns
1 3 4 pp 1 7 p l , 1 3 fig
l d by O C R ls
,
. . .

B UL LE T N 1 5 7 I I in m t ll gy t 9 8 the of 1 1
s
o . a o e a ur ea , . . a on . .

s
1 7 6 pp , 1 3 fig
T s ts c ki n g l ct i c b s
. .

B UL LE T N 1 7 1 I f n b y H W G i ll tt of a ro a nd

s
. e e e r ra u r a ce , . . e

A E d 1 3 1 pp
t s t h e p d ct i n
R h oa 19 17 4 pi
3 M ng n s s
1 fig
sp p t i n m i n i ng c s
. . . .
. .
, .
,

B U LETI N 1 7 a nd

l ys b y C M W l d d th s 9
. a a e e : u e ,
re a ra o ,
o , ro u o

of f erro a l o 1 91
M th d s
, . . e an o er . .

TE C H N C L I A A P l y zin g c l c k by M t nt n
8 of a nd F S
s
PE R . e o a na oa o e, . . a o

a nd A C F ie ld ne r
. . . 19 13 . 42 p p .
, 1 2 fig .

TE C H N I A A M t l gi c l c k b y A W ld 91 3 8 50 Be
s
C L P PE R . e a l ur a o e, . . en . 1 . 4 pp .
; 1
pl .
, 23 fig .

32
 4 B LOWHO LE S IN AL U M I N U M C A ST I N G S .

B U LLE T I N st sb y C 47 sn s 9 pp
N ot e s m i n e ra l w a L Pa r o 1 12 44
c n ts
. on e , . . . . .

l d l v i s ty p s G v n m n t s p ci fic t i n s
5 e .

I 63 S m pl i ng i a nd of

p h s s s c nt s
B U LL E T N . a coa e er e e o er e e a o

l by p 3 68 G S Po 191 4 pi 3 fig
s
a e of coa 10
n i t d t t st h i c m p s
f or t h e
s
u rc , . . e . .
pp .
, .
, . e .

I 6 tit n if i n in The i th e U S
s s
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