Casting

Casting is process of producing metal parts by pouring molten metal into the mould
cavity of the required shape and allowing the metal to solidify.

Principles of Casting
 A wide variety of sizes and shapes of simple and intricate nature can be
produced in different metals.

Steps involved in making casting

 Making a pattern out of wood/metal/plastic.
 Making a mold cavity
 Metal to be cast is liquefied by properly heating it in a suitable furnace.
 Liquid is poured into a prepared mould cavity
 Allowed to solidify.
 Product is taken out of the mold cavity, trimmed and made to shape.

Advantages of Metal casting

 Metal casting can produce complex shapes

 Features like internal cavities or hollow sections can be easily
achieved
 Large components can be produced in one-piece cast
 Materials that are difficult or expensive to manufacture using other
manufacturing processes can be cast
 Compared to other manufacturing processes, casting is cheaper for
medium to large quantities
 Almost all the metals can be cast
 Near net shape often without or very minor post-processing

Disadvantages of Metal casting

 Relatively coarse surface finish and hence wider tolerance has to be

allowed and not suitable for mating interfaces
 Metal casting such as shell moulding has a limit in terms of size and
the pattern
 Patterns are time-consuming and expensive to make although
additive manufacturing processes such as binder jetting are being
used lately to make a mould
  Die casting can be very expensive for smaller to medium quantities
due to the high die cost
 Part size and material choices depend on the casting process
chosen. For instance, only non-ferrous metal can be used for
permanent mould castings

Pattern
The model of the required casting made in wood, metal or plastics.

Functions of a pattern
 A pattern prepares a mold cavity for the purpose of making a casting.
 A pattern may contain projections known as core print if the casting requires a
core and need to be made hollow.
 To establish the parting surfaces and lines in the mould.
 Runner, gates and riser (used for introducing and feeding molten metal to the
mold cavity) may form a part of the pattern.
 For to establish distinct locating point in the moulds.
 To minimize defects in casting.
 To minimize the cost of casting.

Selection of pattern material

The following factors assist in selecting proper pattern material
 Number of casting to be produced
 Metal to be cast
 Desired dimensional accuracy & surface finished.
 Shape, complex & size of casting.
 Casting design parameters.
 Type of molding materials.
 The chances of repeat orders.
 Nature of molding process
 Position of core print.

Difference between pattern and casting

 The main difference between a pattern and the casting is their dimesions.
 A pattern is slightly larger in size as compare to the casting because a pattern,
 Carries shrinkage allowance, it may be of the order of 1 to 2 mm/100
mm.
 Is given a machining allowance to clean and finish the required
surfaces.
  Carries a draft allowances of the order of 1 and 3 degree for external
and internal surfaces respectively.
 Carries core print
 A pattern and the casting also differ as regards the material out of which they
are made.
 A pattern may not have all holes & slots which a casting will have.
 A pattern may be in 2 or 3 pieces where as a casting is in 1 piece.
Pattern Materials
The common materials of which the patterns are made
 Wood
 Metal
 Plastic
 Plaster
 Wax
 Polystyrene

Wood
Advantages:
 Inexpensive
 Easily available in large quantities.
 Light weight
 Easy to obtain good surface finish.
 Wooden patterns can be repaired easily.

Disadvantages:
 Wooden patterns are susceptible to shrinkage and swelling
 They posses poor wear resistance.
 They absorb moisture, consequently get warped and change shape and size.
 They cannot withstand rough handling.
 They are weak as compare to metal pattern.

Application:
 Wooden patterns are used where the number casting to be produced is small
and the pattern size is large.

Wood can be divided into two groups considering pattern construction

 Soft wood
 Hand wood
Pine is the popular examples of soft wood where as mahogany is considered as hand
wood.

Metal
Metal patterns are cast from wooden pattern. The different metals and alloys used for
making pattern are:
  Aluminium
 Steel
 Cast iron
 Brass
 White metal

Advantages:
 They are more stronger and accurate as compared to wooden patterns.
 They possess life much longer than wooden patterns.
 They can withstand rough handling.
 They do not wrap.
 They possess greater resistance to abrasion (rubbing).
 They are far stable under different environments.

Disadvantages:
 Expensive as compared to wood patterns.
 Are not easily repaired (e.g Aluminium patterns).
 Ferrous patterns get rusted.
 They are heavier than wooden patterns.
Application:
Metal patterns are employed where large numbers of casting have to be produced
from the same patterns.

Plastics
Advantages:
 Durable
 Provides a smooth surface.
 Moisture resistance
 Light weight
 Good strength.
 Wear and corrosion resistance
 Plastic patterns are easy to make.
 Abrasion resistance.
Disadvantages:
 Plastic patterns are not useful at higher temperatures.
 Stronger plastic materials are more costly to use.
 Not a good abrasion resistant when compared to metal.
 They are fragile.
 Sometime narrow section may need metal reinforcement.

Plaster
Advantages:
 It can be easily worked by using wood working tools.
 Intricate shapes can be cast without any difficulty.
 It has high compressive strength (up to285kg/cm2).

Plaster patterns material: Plaster patterns may be made out of plaster of paris or
Gypsum cement.
Application: Plaster is used for making
 Small and intricate patterns
 Core boxes.

Wax
Advantages:
 Wax patterns provide very good surface finish.
 They impart high accuracy to the casting.

Types of pattern
Single Piece Pattern:
It is simplest type of pattern which is made in single piece. It is used for simple objects. It is
either placed into cope or in drag according to the simplicity of operation. It is used to cast
stuffing box of steam engines.

Split pattern:
These patterns are made into two or more pieces. The first half of pattern placed into cope
and other half into drag. It is used for complex objects where removal of single piece pattern
from mould is impossible. When pattern is made in more than three parts cheeks are also
used for easy removal.
Cope and Drag Pattern:
These are similar to the split piece pattern. In addition to split pattern, it has a gating and riser system
attached separately to the face plates. By using Cope and drag pattern, two parts of mold can be
produced separately, and later it can assemble into one.

Match Plate Pattern:

Match plate pattern is a split pattern in which cope and drag section mounted on opposite sides of a
plate. The plate is known as match plate. These will make easy to cast any shape with high production
rate. Mostly runner, gates etc. are also mounted on same plate which will easy to mould making work.
These patterns are used for mass production.

Loose Piece Pattern:

Certain patterns cannot be withdrawn once they are embedded in the molding sand. Such patterns are
usually made with one or more loose pieces for facilitating from the molding box and are known as
loose piece patterns. The main body of the pattern is drawn first followed by loose piece.
Gated Pattern:
These are simply more than one looses piece which are attached with a common gating
system. These are used for mass production. It is used to produce small size cavities into one
mould.

Skeleton Pattern:
These patterns used for large simple castings. In these patterns, skeleton like structure made by using
simple pattern sections. These will save both time and material.

Follow Board Pattern

The structurally weak portions of the pattern may break under the force of ramming. Such
cases Follow board pattern are adopted to protect structurally weak portions. Modified
bottom board (follow board) is used to support theses fragile sections during ramming.
Follow board is not necessary for drag because sand packed in drag already supports the
weak portions of the pattern.
Pattern allowances
Pattern has the same shape as that of the casting but the dimensions will be generally more
than that of the casting. This extra dimension from the required value, given on the pattern is
called as “allowances”. These allowances need to be given on the pattern due to
metallurgical and mechanical reasons.

 Shrinkage allowance
 Draft allowance
 Machining allowance
 Scale & Grinding allowance
 Distortion allowance

Shrinkage allowance: All metals and alloys undergo decrease in volume when cooled from
liquid temperature to room temperature. This change in volume of metal or alloy is called as
“shrinkage”. Fig. 1 shows the variation of shrinkage as a function of temperature. As the
molten metal is cooled from its superheat temperature, the volume starts decreasing
continuously till it reaches room temperature. This is a natural phenomenon. Shrinkage of
metal or alloy takes place in three stages viz. liquid to liquid, liquid to solid and solid to solid.
The first two are taken care of by providing risers in the castings. The last one is taken care of
by providing shrinkage allowance on the pattern. This is also referred to as pattern shrinkage
allowance. The value of this depends on the nature of the metal or alloy. This allowance
when given on to the pattern, will increase its size.
Draft allowance: It is the allowance given to the vertical surface of the pattern to facilitate
easy removal of the pattern from the mould cavity, without causing any damage to the mould.
This allowance depends on the type of moulding. Fig. 2 and 2a, 2b & 2c shows the method of
draft allowance given in patterns. Damage is caused to the vertical pattern portions of the
mold, when there is no draft. Hence by giving taper or draft on the vertical portion of the
pattern there is no damage caused to the mould when Pattern lifted upwards.

Machining allowance: Most of the castings will have more than one surface that needs
machining. The dimensions get reduced after machining. Hence, the size of the pattern is made
larger than required. During machining, this extra material on the casting is removed. This
allowance depends on the nature of the metal and the dimensions of the castings.

Distortion allowance: Casting having shapes such as C, U and large plate, looses their shapes
during solidification. The loss of shape is referred to as distortion. This is due to the shrinkage
stresses present during solidification. To take care of this, the pattern is given an allowance in the
direction opposite to the expected distortion. This is referred to as distortion allowance. More or
experience is essential is addition to the design knowledge in arriving to this allowance.
Pattern Colours
Patterns are imparted certain colour and shades in order to:
 Identify quickly the main body of the pattern and the different parts of the pattern.
 Indicate the type of metal to be cast.
 Identify core print, loose pieces etc.
 Visualise the surface to be machined etc.

The American pattern colour scheme is given below:

 Cast surfaces to be left un-machined- Black
 Cast surfaces to be machined- Red
 Loose pieces and seating- Red strips on yellow base.
 Core print seats- yellow
 Stop-offs or supports- Black strip on yellow background.
 Parting surfaces- Clear or no colour
 Core prints for machined opening- yellow strips on black background

Storing Of Pattern
 Pattern should be stored in building that are weather proof and where temperature and
humidity can be controlled.
 Suitable shelves and racks etc, can-be provided for storing the patterns.
 Pattern should be numbered so that they can be easily identified an traced at time of
repeat order.
 Store office should file a card for each pattern on which product name, pattern
number, date of manufacture, name of customer, drawing number, its location in the
store etc. should remain marked.