Cqi27 PT D

CQI-27
Special Process: Casting System Assessment

Version 1, 10/2015
PROCESS TABLE D - Aluminum Semi-Permanent Mold
All requirements given below are subordinate to customer specific requirements.

When performing the CQI-27 Casting Assessment the auditor shall verify foundry is conforming to customer requirements; including a customer approved Control Plan defining the
agreed upon inspection testing and frequencies.
*If minimum requirements are not met, provide supporting records to justify actual conditions.
What is the scope covered by this audit? The entire foundry? A specific product line? A specific part number? Other?
Describe the scope of the audit:
Observations / Comments
Pass / Fail /
Item Category/Process Step Minimum Requirement Not
about Actual
Applicable
Condition
1.0 Casting Design and Tooling
The semi-permanent mold process is to be used to produce the raw castings. The semi-
D1.1 Casting Process permanent mold process may include different types of cast machine equipment such
as: gravity die casting, tilt pour, and low pressure die cast.
1. Casting plant must be compliant to customer specific software requirements.

D1.2 Design Software 2. Casting plant must have and maintain customer specific requirements for math data
transfer for the tooling and for part Drawings / Models.
1. The design responsible party must complete an FEA (Finite Element Analysis) for the
casting. The ultimate tensile strength, yield strength, and percent elongation used in the
FEA must be over the lower limit of engineering requirement for the specified alloy for
similar applications.
2. The foundry should know the specific features of the casting where maximum
D1.3 FEA Analysis
stresses exceed 50% of the Yield Strength. For purposes of this assessment, the
expression "high stress" refers to any feature exceeding 50% of the Yield Strength.
3. Any high stress features identified in the FEA must be evaluated when casting
simulations are reviewed, and when establishing product audits such as wall thickness,
microstructure, hardness, x-ray, crack inspections.
1. The casting plant must use solidification modeling software such as MagmaSoft,
AnyCasting, ProCast, EKK, FLOW-3D or similar software approved by the customer
Product Engineering on the casting as part of the design process for the gating and
feeding system prior to tooling construction and prototype part submission. Simulation
D1.4 Casting Simulation must include both fill and solidification analysis.
2. Results must be reviewed with the Customer Product Engineering.
3. At any high stress features in the FEA, the simulation should avoid hot spots, air
entrapment, multiple metal fronts converging.
Single cavity dies are required. If the casting plant predicts a multi-cavity die will work,
D1.5 Single Cavity the proposal must be approved by customer Product Engineering. Casting simulations
must support that multi-cavity would be same quality, or better, than single cavity.
1. If the casting plant creates the raw casting drawing, that drawing must be approved
by the customer Product Engineering.
2. If the casting plant creates the tolerance limits between the raw casting drawing and
any other drawing, those tolerance limits must be approved by the customer Product
Engineering.
D1.6 Casting Datum 3. Whenever possible, the X-Y-Z datum surfaces used on
the machined components should be the same X-Y-Z datum surfaces as the raw
castings. This is for dimensional control purposes and minimizing datum shifts between
the casting and machined surfaces (one of the causal factors related to thin-wall
conditions).
4. The X-Y-Z raw casting datum surfaces should be on one piece of the tooling.
All production core boxes and dies / molds should be made from steel alloys unless
D1.7 Casting Tool Material
customer Product Engineering approves alternate material.
Core boxes must be designed such that filing on the locating surfaces of core prints is
D1.8 Core Box Design
not allowed. Avoid blow tubes, vents, parting lines on the locating surfaces.
Slotted contoured vents are recommended to be used on casting cavity surfaces of

D1.9 Core Box Vents
core tooling cavities.
1. Vents or Risers should be located where simulations show the last places to fill.
2. All molds should be vented to atmosphere unless the application includes vacuum or
D1.10 Mold Vents counter pressure.
3. Only slotted vents are to be used in the molds unless other types approved by
customer.
Molds must be built with venturi aspirator systems in order to minimize core gas related
D1.11 Design Feature problems unless customer approves alternative construction. Molds can be aspirated
out the bottom, ends, or sides.
D1.12 Design Feature Molds must be built with anti-float features to keep the cores in position during pouring.
© 2015 Automotive Industry Action Group 1

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The mold should have internal circuit connections to air and/or water lines with
Internal Mold Cooling Circuit regulated temperature and flow rates. The mold must be design with sufficient internal
D1.13
Design cooling circuits. These circuits must be confirmed with simulation software, and
approved by the customer.
1. Check-sheet verification to account for potential issues outside of the standard

Preventative Maintenance scope of work.
Mold Inspection 2. Internal mold water lines must be checked for mineral build up at every mold
D1.14
(Such as End of Run Inspection) teardown. If build up is present, waterlines must be cleaned to remove deposits. Some
customers may require water flow for each water circuit to be measured and
documented.
1. Molds must be recoated at a fixed frequency for preventative maintenance.

D1.15 Mold Preparation
2. Gages to check coating thickness are required when feasible.
1. Confirmation of de-calcification of the water flow lines.

2. Water and air line plumbing flow checks.
Pre- Release Checklist Elements 3. Thermocouple function check.
D1.16
Tool Room Specific 4. Ejector pin function check.
5. Steel Core and slide condition.
6. Other Items ( Hydraulic Connections, Air line Connections, Limit Switches).
1. The life of the tooling is tracked based on number of cycles.

2. There is an itemized list of regular maintenance items completed at pre-defined
frequencies.
D1.17 Tooling Maintenance 3. Checksheet to track completion of regular maintenance.
4. Abrasive systems (such as shot blast and hand grinding) not permitted for cleaning
tooling. Non-abrasive systems (such as dry ice, high pressure water blast, solvent
washing and ultrasonic) are required.
1. Replacement inserts (new steel), where there is a customer specific requirement, a

PPAP approval may be required. Customer specific requirements may require a
process change request submission with possible production trial run requirements.
2. All tooling repair (welding, grinding, machining, insert replacement) requires
D1.18 Tool Changes
dimensional verification (internal approval) prior to re-instituting the tool for production
volumes.
3. The supplier complies with all customer requirements related to which PPAP
requirements are needed when tooling is corrected.
1. All castings produced must be identified with customer branding requirements,

casting plant logo (as applicable), casting part number, cavity number, and cast date in
designated locations per customer requirements.
D1.19 Casting Traceability 2. In some applications, traceability to both casting machine and/or
measured process parameters specific to the casting may be required. Identification
must be accurate and readily visible on non-machined surfaces, and must not interfere
with parting lines, appearance, function, processing or assembly.
1. Gage and fixture plan must be reviewed and approved by customer. (May include in-
line gage equipment for 100% check of critical dimensions as identified on part
specification and/or part drawing.).
2. The dimensional accuracy of all fixtures and gages must be per Customer
requirements. Typically, all fixtures and gages shall be built to a tolerance that is 10% or
less of part working tolerance. Some customers may require all fixtures and gages to be
built to +/- 5 micron maximum accuracy (this refers to the actual gage, not the part).
D1.20 Fixtures and Gages
3. All surfaces of fixtures and gages which touch the part should be made from hard
tool steel.
4. The tips of all clamps on fixtures and gages may require to be built with replaceable
tips.
5. Variable gages must pass Gage R&R per AIAG or similar standard.
6. All fixtures and gages must be certified periodically either by in-house if capable or by
third party.

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Cores
2.0
(Cold Box, Hot Box and Shell)
1. There must be an on-site sand lab equipped for checking core sand.
2. The sand lab must be capable of making audits for common parameters such as
Sieve analysis, loss on ignition (LOI), core strength tests, moisture.
D2.1 Sand Lab
3. Cold box and hot box mix recipe should be verified by measured weight of resins.
4. Weight of mixed core sand should be minimized; 6 to 10 blows typical, not to exceed
one hour of mixed sand.
Cores may be purchased, or blown in-house. If they are purchased, core supplier must
D2.2 Outsourced Cores
be in full compliance with this Process Table.
1. The compressed air supply for cold box blowers must have a dew point below -40º C.
2. Cold box core boxes must be designed with tamping pins in areas of casting
D2.3 Cold Box surfaces.
3. Cold box cores preferred to be stored in an environment below 40% humidity, special
rooms with temperature and humidity control may be necessary.
1. The compressed air supply for hot box blowers must have a dew point below -40º C.
2. Hot box core boxes must have internal thermocouples. The temperatures must be
displayed. There must be an alarm if the temperature is out of range. Automatic
D2.4 Hot Box
temperature adjustment is preferred.
3. Hot box cores preferred to be stored in an environment below 40%
humidity, special rooms with temperature and humidity control may be necessary.
Shell core boxes must have internal thermocouples. The temperatures must be
D2.5 Shell Core displayed. There must be an alarm if the temperature is out of range. Automatic
temperature adjustment is preferred.
Repair of cores requires customer approval for this practice. If allowed, the repairs must
D2.6 Core Repair
be done in the core department, not at the mold line.
There must be a regular audit to cut open cores to check to see if they are properly
D2.7 Cured Core Check
cured hard to the center.
1. If any cores are wet coated, they must be oven dried prior to use.
Coating / painting / dipping / spraying any liquids onto the cores is permitted as long as
the cores get baked dry. Includes water base, alcohol base, oil base, kerosene base,
D2.8 Core Coating
methylated spirits, or any other liquid.
2.The Baume or viscosity of coatings must be measured and controlled.
3. Coating tanks must have continuous mixing and filtering.
D2.9 Core Coating The use of graphite coatings is discouraged. They are a common cause of inclusions.
D2.10 Chaplet/Spacer Any chaplets or spacers used must be completely clean and dry.
Filing on cores at the cast machines is not allowed. Cores and core assemblies must be
D2.11 Core Preparation
thoroughly blown off from all sides before they are set into molds.
1.Cores must be thoroughly blown off from all sides before they are used to make core
assemblies.
2. Core assemblies must be gaged.
3. Cores and core assemblies must be inspected for damage or breakage before
D2.12 Core Assembly
delivery to the cast machines.
4. Inspection criteria must be clearly defined and displayed. Core defects and their
location should be documented.
5. Use of automated or manual assist setters are preferred for assembled core packs.
1. Cores must not be stacked touching each other. Adequate storage racks must be
provided to place cores in single layers.
D2.13 Core Storage
2. Racks, containers, trays, may need foam padding or similar as appropriate to protect
cores from damage during movement or handling.

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1. During regular production, the core inventory must not exceed 48 hours, preferably
less than 24 hours. Customer approval required for more than 48 hours core inventory
D2.14 Core Inventory as a regular practice.
2. Cold box cores must have 2 hours minimum wait time after being blown before
placing in molds.
3.0 Cast Machines
1. A start up checklist must be used to confirm that all water and air lines are hooked up
as designed.
D3.1 Startup Procedure
2. Error proofed or color coded lines are required.
3. A checklist must be confirmed for every setup.
1. Startup sequence must account for cycles used to warm up the mold.
2. Auto scrap or manual method is
used to segregate warm up parts as scrap.
D3.2 Startup and Downtime Recovery 3. Cycle time must be measured for each casting cycle to account for cycle
interruptions, should they occur.
4. Auto scrap or manual method is used to separate parts after restarting from
interrupted cycles.
1. Pre-control charting is required, however continuous measurement systems with

alarm notification may be used in place of charting.
2. The cooling air and/or water should be automatically turned on / off based on the
mold temperature. Continuous measurement of die temperature is preferred.
D3.3 Die Temperature 3. For reference, when thermocouples in the molds are used it is recommended that the
target temperatures for control be at the same temperature as the Solidification
simulation model or established by use of designed experiments. Temperatures should
be displayed.
4. Flow meters are recommended on the exits of all water / oil lines.
D3.4 Mold Coating When needed, masks should be designed to protect critical areas from coating buildup.
D3.5 Mold Cleanliness Molds must be blown out each cycle before the slides close.
1. Each part may be cooled with water or air.

2. Extraction tools should be designed to clamp on the gating or risers without touching
the final casting product.
D3.6 Extraction Tools
3. Automatic extraction is preferred.
4. Automatic extractors should be programmed to scrap castings when parameters,
such as mold temperature, are out of range.
4.0 Metal Control
Incoming/Returned Material Raw /Returned materials must be stored without mixing them in marked storage areas
D4.1
Storage by type.
Primary metal may be required for some applications based on customer specific
D4.2 Source of Material
requirements.
1. Chemistry must be controlled at each key point in the process (melting, holding, and
pouring).
2. It is required to use ASTM E716 disk book molds (or approved equivalent) for
chemistry samples.
3. There must be a spectrometer on site for chemistry control. Industry Standards, such
as ASTM E1251, must be followed for sampling, verification, standardization and
calibration.
4.The spectrometer must have certified Master calibration Standards which cover the
range of each chemistry element being controlled. These Calibration Masters should
D4.3 Metal Chemistry
be on site.
5. A procedure must be posted near the spectrometer which clearly defines the
permissible tolerance range of the Master calibration Standards.
6. There must be control limits for all key elements of the material grade.
7. The Sludge Factor must be measured and should be controlled below 2.0, preferably
below 1.8. Maximum limit must be clarified prior to the start of production; and it will
affect what are the Iron (Fe) and Manganese (Mn) specifications.
SF = %Fe + 2X %Mn + 3X %Cr.
8. The recommended Iron:Manganese ratio target is 2:1.
For any elements with customer specified mandatory limits, these limits must be
D4.4 Chemistry
reduced by the tolerance permitted on the Master Calibration Standards.

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The most frequent grain refinement additive is Titanium Boron.
1. If Titanium Boron is added either in-stream or in the ladle by an automated system
there must be an audit to confirm that wire is being measured for correct length and
D4.5 Grain Refinement
confirmation that wire is being dissolved for each mold cycle.
2. Grain refinement may be required by customer Product
Engineering.
1. The most frequent silicon modification element is Strontium.

D4.6 Silicon Modification
2. Silicon modification may be required by customer Product Engineering.
1. All metal should be rotary degassed before pouring. Degassing may be in a transfer
ladle or in a holder at the cast machine. The preferred design of the degassing unit is a
baffle plate or anti-vortex system.
2. The use of cast machines with integral melter/holders is discouraged. It is often

difficult to meet requirements for metal cleanliness and degassing. A minimum
expectation is a baffled chamber with a rotary degassing unit running continuously.
D4.7 Degassing
3. After rotary degassing, a vacuum gas sample must be taken in order to determine
the specific gravity. Calculate specific gravity of sample using weight in air vs. weight in
water method. The specific gravity must be within 0.10 of the theoretical maximum
based on the chemistry of the alloy and a maximum of -27 inches of Mercury vacuum
pressure. For many alloys, the theoretical maximum is around 2.70.
4. Depending on customer-specific requirements, vacuum gas sample testing may not
be required for each degassing cycle if the degassing unit monitors process parameters
including flow rate, RPM, and gas pressure.
Molten metal from the melting furnaces may be tapped directly to go to the cast line, or
D4.8 Metal Transfer it may be transferred to intermediate holders. If intermediate holders are used, they
must have heat.
The temperature of metal being delivered to a cast machine holding furnace must be
checked. The temperature of metal being delivered must be within internally specified
D4.9 Metal Transfer
control limits such that the cast machine holding furnace stays in specification.
1. Metal at the cast line may be in a ladle or in a holder.

2. If holders are used at the cast line, they must have heat.
3. If holders are used, the temperature output must be readable by the machine
operator. If the metal temperature in the holding furnace falls outside of the specified
Holding Metal Treatment and range, an alarm must be established to indicate an out of tolerance condition.
D4.10
Temperature Control 4. Holding furnaces at the cast machines must be capable of controlling metal
temperature at the metal extraction point to within +/- 5°C, unless the customer agrees
to a wider range.
5. Alloying into the cast machine holding furnaces or ladles is allowed, but must
be minimized in order to prevent defects such as inclusions.
5.0 Cast In Place Inserts
1. The customer Product Engineering must approve the source for cast in place inserts.
2. The insert source must implement Full Compliance with the applicable template
D5.1 Insert Source Process Table before PPAP. For example, a ductile iron bearing cap in a bedplate, the
casting source must implement Full Compliance with the Ductile Iron Casting Process
Table before PPAP.
1. Cast-in-place inserts must be pre-heated immediately prior to pouring metal into the
die.
D5.2 Insert Process Control 2. The cast-in-place inserts must be completely dry. The volatiles content on the inserts
must be audited, measured, and recorded.
3. The cast-in-place inserts must be properly stored (maintained clean and dry).
1. There must be a regular audit to section the castings to inspect the bonding of the
cast in place insert with the aluminum. Audit results must be documented.
D5.3 Insert Audit 2. Depending on customer design requirements, dye penetrant inspection may be
required on machined castings to inspect for cracks (or contact separation) around the
inserts. Audit results must be documented.
6.0 Pouring
D6.1 Filter Filters may be required by customer to be used in all molds.
1. If stationary auto pouring holders are used, they must have heat.
2. Stationary auto pouring holders must be capable of controlling metal temperature at
the metal extraction point to +/-10C.
D6.2 Auto Pouring
3. If stationary auto holders or tilting auto ladles are used, they should have an infrared
measurement sensor to check the temperature of the metal stream for each mold
poured. The device should alarm if the temperature is out of range.

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1. Automatic pouring of molten metal into the mold is preferred. Manual pouring is
allowed if approved by customer.
D6.3 Metal Pouring
2. Dip wells should be covered when the holding furnace is not in use.
3. Metal ladles should be on heat at their home position.
Immersion temperature audit from each ladle or pour box to confirm that all molds were
D6.4 Batch Pour System
poured within specified temperature range.
Charging raw materials or scrap into the auto pouring holders or ladles and running
D6.5 Metal Quality
production out of them at the same time is prohibited.
Alloying into the auto pouring holders or ladles is allowed, but must be minimized in
D6.6 Alloying
order to prevent defects such as inclusions.
Ladles must be free of skull (aluminum oxide film) before entering the dip well. Visual
D6.7 Ladle Cleanliness
inspection criteria should be defined and posted in the work area.
D6.8 Ladle Design Best practice for ladle design uses a dam (hole in the back) to hold back the dross.
When pressure pour dosing furnaces are used, an inert gas or dry air may be used to
D6.9 Dosing Furnace pressurize the chamber. If air is used, the dew point must be less than -40º C,
preferably below -80º C.
Launders from dosing furnaces must be designed and maintained such that metal does
D6.10 Launders
not buildup in them.
1. Metal quality must be tested for oxide content. As a minimum verification PoDFA
D6.11 Oxide Control (Porous Disk Filter Analysis), or other analysis approved by customer.
2. Dip wells must be frequently skimmed to minimize the dross accumulation.
It is recommended that equipment computer programs or mechanical limits for pouring

D6.12 Machine Settings and cycle times are protected from non-authorized changes so that only authorized
personnel can change the program or settings.
Cast machine should have real time closed loop monitoring which is either tied into the
extractor/robot control or creates an alarm when key parameters are beyond control
D6.13 Control Limits
limits. Castings that are outside the control limits must be segregated for additional
inspections.
7.0 Low Pressure Casting Process
1. Machine must have real time monitoring capability for chamber pressure, metal
position in tube, cavity fill time, mold temperature, metal temperature, and cycle time.
2. When applicable, flow monitoring transducers should be in place for cooling lines.
D7.1 Process Profile Monitoring
3. Cast machine should have real time closed loop monitoring which is either tied into
the extractor/robot control or creates an alarm when key parameters are beyond control
limits.
1. A coarse filter may be used in the top of the fill tube.

2. A fine filter may be used in the bottom of the fill tube.
D7.2 Fill Tube Best Practices 3. All fill tubes should be made of solid ceramic material. If the holding furnace is
stationary, the bottom end of the fill tube should be inside a fine filter chamber
submerged in the molten metal.
Inert gases are preferred. If dry air is used the dew point must be less than -40º C,
D7.3 Low Pressure Cover Gas
preferably below -80º C.
D7.4 Metal Quality Chemistry and density samples must be taken from the low pressure holding furnace.
1. If the holding furnace is stationary, pouring blocks with filters should be used when
filling the holder.
D7.5 Metal Quality
2. The holding furnace should be skimmed off after every
fill of the furnace.
The software for the fill/pressure profile should have an infinite number of channels
D7.6 Process Control
available for process options.
8.0 Post Processing and Heat Treating

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Impact or clamping on the final part geometry is not allowed during core removal.
D8.1 De-Coring
Vibration is preferred for de-coring (instead of hammering).
Riser removal should be done with an accurate cutting process such as CNC, robot, or
D8.2 Riser Removal
saw, which accurately locates the casting.
1. All parts must be cooled to a defined temperature prior to fixturing for riser removal
and trimming.
D8.3 Trimming
2. Trimming operations must allow the part to be properly fixtured to prevent damage.
Automated part handling systems are preferred.
Heat treating must be before machining and may be in-house or outsourced. Heat
D8.4 Heat Treatment treating must be in compliance with CQI-9: Special Process: Heat Treat System
Assessment (HTSA), published by AIAG.
Any liquid quench must have automatic temperature control and agitation. Equipment
D8.5 Heat Treatment
must be capable to control quenching medium to within ± 5º C. Preferably over 80C.
D8.6 Heat Treatment Cold water not to be introduced to the quench tank while parts are being quenched.
D8.7 Heat Treatment The delay from solution heat treat into a quenchant must not exceed 30 seconds.
9.0 Inspection and Testing
Retained Material or Cleanliness Equipment must be available onsite to properly administer retained material inspection
D9.1
Requirement per customer requirements.
1. As a minimum, the casting plant shall have a programmable Coordinate Measuring

Machine (CMM) on site. The CMM must be run in an automatic mode. Where possible,
the application of point cloud/laser scanning inspection technology is preferred. When
used in combination with point cloud scanning technology, the CMM is considered the
“gage of record” for dimensional measurements because of precision associated with
D9.2 Dimensional Inspection - Part One the points measured.
2. The casting plant shall maintain a CMM hit point map/drawing showing all CMM hit
points that are agreed upon between the casting plant and the customer. (Point Cloud
Inspection/laser scanning can be used in place of CMM inspection if agreed upon with
customer Product Engineering).
3. The CMM program must include checking the flatness of each individual raw casting
datum surface if the datum pad is intended to be a flat surface. Preferably less than
0.250mm.
4. Point cloud/laser scanning inspection must use the part-design datum construction to
align the measurement data. Unless otherwise specified by the customer, "best-fit" data
alignment is not allowed.
D9.2 5. The casting plant is responsible for comparing the scan with the 3D Math Model. In
Dimensional Inspection - Part Two
(Continued) all cases the Point Cloud/laser scan must be aligned to the math model using the X-Y-Z
raw casting datum surfaces. Results must be shared with customer Product
Engineering and the responsible APQP Quality Engineer.
6. Point Cloud/laser scanning Inspection is recommended for prototype parts and PPAP
parts as defined by the customer specific requirements. The scanning may be out-
sourced.
There must be regular audits to section raw castings for wall thickness verification;
including any high stress features in the FEA. If the supplier is responsible for any
D9.3 Wall Thickness
machining, there must be regular audits to section machined castings for wall thickness
verification.
Supplier is responsible to acquire proper non-destructive inspection tools to evaluate for

D9.4 Internal Passages blocked passages. This may include boroscopes, endoscopes, probes, fiber optics, flow
meters, or X-ray.

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1. There must be a regular audit to dye penetrant check (color check) or fluorescent
penetrant inspection (FPI) entire casting or sections of castings specified by customer;
Dye Penetrant Check and NaOH
D9.5 including any high stress features in the FEA.
Etch Castings
2. There must be on-site capability to cut and NaOH etch castings for internal
inspections. (NaOH is sodium hydroxide, also called caustic soda.).
1. The supplier shall have a real time fluoroscopic/X-ray unit on-site.

2. X-ray equipment must be capable of measuring the sensitivity and resolution so that
the system can be proven to meet customer requirements defined by product design
D9.6 X-ray
record.
3. X-ray audits must include any high stress features in the FEA.
4. For some applications, automated defect recognition may be required.
1. Customer must approve any salvage repair procedures. Casting repairs, such as
welding, epoxy, Devcon, and impregnation, are not permitted, unless approved by
customer Product Engineering.
2. If repairs are allowed, repair method and procedures must be approved by Customer
D9.7 Repairs
Product Engineering.
3. If straightening is allowed, a customer Product Engineering approved method is
required, normally with a fixtured, automated process. Manual methods should not be
used.
10.0 Material Properties
The supplier shall have a metallurgical lab located on-site with capabilities to analyze
chemistries, hardness, microstructure, area fraction porosity, dendritic arm spacing
D10.1 Laboratory Location
(DAS), silicon particle size, and any other features specified by customer Product
Engineering.
Material property testing must be defined per customer design records. Mechanical
properties testing must be available, preferably on site. Mechanical property testing
must include ultimate tensile strength, yield strength, and percent elongation. Some
D10.2 Material Property Testing customers may require yield strength to be measured by an extensometer attached to
the specimen. If retest or replacement is necessary must be with agreement of the
customer Product Engineering. Testing begins with prototypes and continues through
regular production.
The casting source must prepare test bars from a location approved by customer
Product Engineering. For example, these might be cut from a casting or from a
separately cast bar. Mechanical properties are often required from test bars cut from
D10.3 Mechanical Property
actual castings in an area designated on the engineering drawing or in the part quality
document. The test bar location in the casting will be dimensioned from casting
features.
1. Metallurgical examination is to be done by the supplier prior to any component

testing to insure microstructure meets engineering drawing specifications.
2. A metallograph image analyzer is preferred.
D10.4 Microstructure Analysis
3. Reference photographs must be readily available at the metallograph for all
microstructure requirements.
4. Microstructure audits must include any high stress features in the FEA.
1. Hardness testing is to be done per ASTM E10.

Supplier site must have certified Master blocks for auditing the calibration of the
hardness tester.
2. The Tolerance range for the Master block must be posted on the hardness tester.
3. The Tolerance range for the Master must not exceed +/- 3%.
4. The customer specified range for hardness must be reduced by the tolerance
D10.5 Hardness Testing
allowed on the hardness Master block.
5. Unless Product Engineering specifies otherwise, Brinell hardness test using a 500Kg
load, 10 mm diameter indenter, and 30 second dwell time.
6. Hardness to be measured at a specified location from customer Product Engineering.
7. If hardness readings are out of specification, all castings in the Lot shall be hardness
tested with any out-of-specification castings rejected.

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The casting plant shall demonstrate the corrosion rate of metal shall not exceed
Maximum rate as customer requirement. If applicable and required by the Customer,
D10.6 Corrosion Testing
the corrosion test shall be salt spray (Reference ASTM B117) and humidity as customer
requirement.
11.0 Leak Testing
1. Acceptable methods for testing are: air under water, pressure decay, mass flow.
2. For applications where 100% verification is required it is preferred that pressure
decay or mass flow systems be used. Some customers may require 100% air under
water.
3. Leak rate specification must be defined on the product engineering document.
D11.1 Leak Test Requirement 4. It is preferred the internal volumes for each cavity be leak tested separately.
5. It is preferred castings be thoroughly dried before going to air decay leak test. An in-
line drier may be needed.
6. Some castings may also require 100% flow testing. If flow testing is required, this
must be automated equipment. Using round balls or probes is acceptable if customer
Product Engineering agrees.
It is preferred that the casting plant have a water dunk capability on site for determining
D11.2 Water Dunk Capability
the location of leaks on air decay rejects. The water temperature must be at least 20C.

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Special Process: Casting System Assessment

PROCESS TABLE D - Aluminum Semi-Permanent Mold

All requirements given below are subordinate to customer specific requirements.

Describe the scope of the audit:

1. Casting plant must be compliant to customer specific software requirements.

Slotted contoured vents are recommended to be used on casting cavity surfaces of

© 2015 Automotive Industry Action Group 1

PROCESS TABLE D - Aluminum Semi-Permanent Mold

All requirements given below are subordinate to customer specific requirements.

Describe the scope of the audit:

1. Check-sheet verification to account for potential issues outside of the standard

1. Molds must be recoated at a fixed frequency for preventative maintenance.

1. Confirmation of de-calcification of the water flow lines.

1. The life of the tooling is tracked based on number of cycles.

1. Replacement inserts (new steel), where there is a customer specific requirement, a

1. All castings produced must be identified with customer branding requirements,

© 2015 Automotive Industry Action Group 2

PROCESS TABLE D - Aluminum Semi-Permanent Mold

All requirements given below are subordinate to customer specific requirements.

Describe the scope of the audit:

© 2015 Automotive Industry Action Group 3

PROCESS TABLE D - Aluminum Semi-Permanent Mold

All requirements given below are subordinate to customer specific requirements.

Describe the scope of the audit:

3.0 Cast Machines

1. Pre-control charting is required, however continuous measurement systems with

1. Each part may be cooled with water or air.

4.0 Metal Control

© 2015 Automotive Industry Action Group 4

PROCESS TABLE D - Aluminum Semi-Permanent Mold

All requirements given below are subordinate to customer specific requirements.

Describe the scope of the audit:

1. The most frequent silicon modification element is Strontium.

2. The use of cast machines with integral melter/holders is discouraged. It is often

1. Metal at the cast line may be in a ladle or in a holder.

5.0 Cast In Place Inserts

© 2015 Automotive Industry Action Group 5

PROCESS TABLE D - Aluminum Semi-Permanent Mold

All requirements given below are subordinate to customer specific requirements.

Describe the scope of the audit:

It is recommended that equipment computer programs or mechanical limits for pouring

7.0 Low Pressure Casting Process

1. A coarse filter may be used in the top of the fill tube.

8.0 Post Processing and Heat Treating

© 2015 Automotive Industry Action Group 6

PROCESS TABLE D - Aluminum Semi-Permanent Mold

All requirements given below are subordinate to customer specific requirements.

Describe the scope of the audit:

1. As a minimum, the casting plant shall have a programmable Coordinate Measuring

Supplier is responsible to acquire proper non-destructive inspection tools to evaluate for

© 2015 Automotive Industry Action Group 7

PROCESS TABLE D - Aluminum Semi-Permanent Mold

All requirements given below are subordinate to customer specific requirements.

Describe the scope of the audit:

1. The supplier shall have a real time fluoroscopic/X-ray unit on-site.

10.0 Material Properties

1. Metallurgical examination is to be done by the supplier prior to any component

1. Hardness testing is to be done per ASTM E10.

© 2015 Automotive Industry Action Group 8

PROCESS TABLE D - Aluminum Semi-Permanent Mold

All requirements given below are subordinate to customer specific requirements.

Describe the scope of the audit: