Islamic University

Department of Mechanical Engineering

ME 334
Manufacturing Technology

Manufacturing
Technology
Chapter 1: Casting

Dr. Abdulrahman Aljabri

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 Casting
Process in which molten metal flows by gravity or other
force into a mold where it solidifies in the shape of
the mold cavity
• The term casting also applied to the part that made
in this process
• Steps in casting seem simple:
1. Melt the metal
2. Pour it into a mold
3. Let it cool and solidify

EMU - Manufacturing Technology

 Casting
Advantages: Disadvantages:
•Complex shapes •Poor accuracy
•Net-shape ability •Poor surface
•Very large parts •Internal defects
•Variety of metals •Poor mechanical properties
•Mass production •Environmental impact
 Applications of Casting
• Transportation vehicles
• Turbine vanes
• Power generators
• Railway crossings
• Agricultural parts
• Aircraft jet engine parts
• Sanitary fittings
• Communication, Construction and
• Atomic Energy applications, etc..
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Metals processed by casting
• Sand casting – 60%

• Investment casting – 7%

• Die casting – 9%

• Permanent mold casting – 11%

• Centrifugal casting – 7%

• Shell mold casting – 6%

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 1.1.1 SAND CASTING
• Sand casting is the most widely used casting process,
accounting for a significant majority of the total
tonnage cast. Nearly all casting alloys can be sand cast;
indeed, it is one of the few processes that can be used
for metals with high melting temperatures, such as
steels, nickels, and titaniums.
• Sand casting, also known as sand-mold casting, consists
of pouring molten metal into a sand mold, allowing the
metal to solidify, and then breaking up the mold to
remove the casting.
 Desirable Mold Properties

• Strength - to maintain shape and resist erosion

• Permeability - to allow hot air and gases to pass through voids in sand
• Thermal stability - to resist cracking on contact with molten metal
• Collapsibility - ability to give way and allow casting to shrink without
cracking the casting
• Reusability - can sand from broken mold be reused to make other molds?

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 Foundry Sands
• Silica (SiO2) or silica mixed with other minerals
• Good refractory properties - capacity to endure high temperatures

Small grain size yields better surface finish on the cast part

Large grain size is more permeable, allowing gases to escape during pouring

Irregular grain shapes strengthen molds due to interlocking, compared to round grains
Disadvantage: interlocking tends to reduce permeability

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Binders Used with Foundry Sands
• Sand is held together by a mixture of water and bonding clay
• Typical mix: 90% sand, 3% water, and 7% clay
• Other bonding agents also used in sand molds:
• Organic resins (eg , phenolic resins)
• Inorganic binders (eg , sodium silicate and phosphate)
• Additives are sometimes combined with the mixture to increase strength
and/or permeability

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Steps in Sand Casting in detail
16. Withdraw sprue pin.
17. Create a funnel opening.
18. Separate cope from drag.
19. Moisten drag mold edges with swab.
20. Use draw spike to loosen pattern.
21. Remove the pattern.
22. Cut gate from sprue to pattern cavity.
23. Cut riser in cope to channel hot metal.
24. Spray, swab, or dust the mold surfaces with coating material.
25. Re-assemble cope and drag to prepare for pouring.
26. Weight cope to prevent seepage at parting line.
27. Pour the metal.
28. Allow to cool.
29. Separate and clean casting.
30. Reclaim the sand & clean the flask.

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Patterns
• Patterns in sand casting are used to form the mold cavity or
a model or the replica of the object to be cast.
• One major requirement is that patterns (and therefore the
mold cavity) must be oversized :-
(i) to account for shrinkage in cooling and solidification, and
(ii) to provide enough metal for the subsequence machining
operation(s) to remove oxidized scales, surface roughness
and other imperfections.
Pattern materials:
• Wood-common material because it is easy to work, but it
warps
• Metal-more expensive to make, but lasts much longer
• Plastic-compromise between wood and metal
Selection of the appropriate pattern depends to large extent
on the total quantity of casting to be made
 Use of a Core in the Mold Cavity
• Cavity provides the external features of the
cast part
• Core provides internal features of the part.
It is placed inside the mold cavity with
some support.
• In sand casting, cores are generally made of
sand
 Types of Sand Mold
• Green-sand molds - mixture of sand, clay, and water;
“Green" means mold contains moisture at time of pouring
• Dry-sand mold - organic binders rather than clay and mold is baked to improve
strength
• Skin-dried mold - drying mold cavity surface of a green-sand mold to a depth of
10 to 25 mm, using torches or heating lamps
Riser and gating systems
• Riser
1. Reservoir in the mold which is a source of liquid metal for the casting
to compensate for shrinkage during solidification
2. The riser must be designed to freeze after the main casting in order to
satisfy its function
• Gating system
1. Channel through which molten metal flows into cavity from outside
of the mold
2. Consists of a downsprue, through which metal enters a runner leading
to the main cavity
3. At top of downsprue, a pouring cup is often used to minimize splash
and turbulence as the metal flows into downsprue
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Furnaces for Casting Processes
• Furnaces most commonly used in foundries:
• Cupolas
• Direct fuel-fired furnaces
• Crucible furnaces
• Electric-arc furnaces
• Induction furnaces
Cupolas
Vertical cylindrical furnace equipped with tapping spout near base
• Used only for cast irons
• Although other furnaces are also used, the largest tonnage of cast iron is
melted in cupolas
• The "charge," consisting of iron, coke, flux, and possible alloying
elements, is loaded through a charging door located less than halfway
up height of cupola
• The heat generated from chemical reaction between coke (Carbon)
and the oxygen. The unreacted coke can be used as alloying element
of cast iron.
Cupolas
 Working of Cupolas
• The charge, consisting of metal, alloying ingredients, limestone, and coal
coke.
• Air enters the bottom through tuyeres. The air inflow often contains
enhanced oxygen levels.
• Coke is consumed.
• The charge drops and is melted.
• Air is fed into the furnace,
• As the material is consumed, additional charges can be added to the
furnace
• A continuous flow of iron emerges from the bottom of the furnace.
• A hole higher than the tap allows slag to be drawn off.
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 Advantages of Cupolas
• It is simple and economical to operate.
• Capable of accepting a wide range of materials without reducing melt quality. Dirty, oily
scrap steel and iron.
• Play an important role in the metal recycling industry
• Cupolas can refine the metal charge, removing impurities out of the slag.
• The continuous rather than batch process suits the demands of a repetition foundry.
• High melt rates
• Ease of operation
• Adequate temperature control
• Chemical composition control
• Less floor space requirements comparing with those furnaces with same capacity.

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 Limitations of Cupolas

• Since molten iron and coke are in contact with each other, certain
elements like Si, Mn are lost and others like S are picked up. This
changes the final analysis of molten metal.

• Close temperature control is difficult to maintain

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 Cupola Furnace: Principal
• The cupola furnace works on a simple principal that combustion of coke
generates carbon dioxide and heat and this causes the iron to melt. The iron
drains downward when get melted.
• Afterwards, the carbon dioxide is reduced partly, reduced again by consuming
energy and coke with carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and supplied coke is
present in the reaction equilibrium so it is possible to show a defined
combustion ratio for the utilization of thermal energy for the coke combustion.
• Finally, high concentration of carbon monoxide is present in the exhaust gas
and it can be extracted from the furnace.
 Direct Fuel-Fired Furnaces

This type of furnace contains a small open-hearth

in which charge is heated by natural gas fuel
burners located on side of furnace
• Furnace roof assists heating action by reflecting
flame down against charge
• At bottom of hearth is a tap hole to release
molten metal
• Generally used for nonferrous metals such as
copper-base alloys and aluminum
Crucible Furnaces
Metal is melted without direct contact with burning fuel mixture
• Sometimes called indirect fuel-fired furnaces
• Container (crucible) is made of refractory material or
high-temperature steel alloy
• Used for nonferrous metals such as bronze, brass, and alloys of zinc
and aluminum
• Three types used in foundries: (a) lift-out type, (b) stationary, (c)
tilting
Crucible Furnaces
Figure : Three types of crucible furnaces: (a) lift-out crucible, (b) stationary pot, from which molten
metal must be ladled, and (c) tilting-pot furnace.
Electric-Arc Furnaces
Charge is melted by heat generated from an electric arc
• High power consumption, but electric-arc furnaces can be designed for
high melting capacity (25-50 tons/hr)
• Used primarily for melting steel
• A current is passed from separate electrodes creating arcs of ionized gas
• Heat is transferred from the arc into the charge material
• Can be either DC or AC
• Stages of electric arc furnace:
• Melting stage
• Oxidizing stage to remove impurities except sulfur
• Reducing stage to remove sulfur
Figure : Electric arc furnace for steelmaking
 Induction Furnaces
Uses alternating current passing through a coil to develop magnetic
field in metal
• Induced current causes rapid heating and melting
• Electromagnetic force field also causes mixing action in liquid
metal
• Since metal does not contact heating elements, environment can
be closely controlled to produce molten metals of high quality
and purity
• Melting steel, cast iron, and aluminum alloys are common
applications in foundry work
Induction Furnace

Figure : Induction furnace

Ladles
• Moving molten metal from melting furnace to mold is
sometimes done using crucibles
• More often, transfer is accomplished by ladles

Figure : Two common types of ladles: (a) crane ladle, and (b) two-man ladle.
 Melting Furnaces

Furnaces

Electric arc Induction Crucible Cupola

Electric Arc Induction Crucible Cupola

Materials Steel Steel, C I, Al Non ferrous CI
Size Medium Small Small Large
Heat source Electricity Electricity Fuel / electricity Coke
contact Direct Indirect Indirect Direct

Melting rate High Medium Medium Low

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ENGINEERING ANALYSIS OF POURING
Example 1

1560 cm3 at
 SOLIDIFICATION OF METALS

Solidification involves the transformation of the molten metal back into

the solid state. The solidification process differs depending on whether
the metal is a pure element or an alloy.

• Pure Metal
• Most Alloys
Solidification of Pure metals
Solidification of Pure Metals
Pure metals generally posses:-
✓ Excellent thermal and electrical conductivity(e.g. Cu and Al).
✓ Higher ductility, higher melting point, lower yield point and tensile strength, and
✓ Better corrosion resistance, as compared to alloys.

As metals posses high melting points, they exhibit certain difficulties in casting:-
✓ Difficulties during pouring
✓ Occurrence of several metal-mold reactions
✓ Greater tendency toward cracking
✓ Their mode of solidification, which may produce defective castings.
Above freezing point the metal is liquid and below freezing point, it is in solid.
Solidification of Alloys
Solidification of Alloys
Alloyed metals possess:
✓ Higher tensile strengths
✓ Better high temperature strengths
✓ Better corrosion resistance
✓ Improved machinability and workability
✓ Lower melting points
✓ Improved castability

Main types of alloys:

✓ Solid solution alloys
✓ Eutectic alloys
✓ Peritectic alloys
Solidification Time
• Solidification takes time
• Total solidification time TTS = time required for casting to solidify after
pouring
• TTS depends on size and shape of casting by relationship known as
Chvorinov's Rule
n
 
V
TST = Cm  
 A

• where TST = total solidification time;

• V = volume of the casting;
• A = surface area of casting;
• n = exponent with typical value = 2; and
• Cm is mold constant.
Example :-
• In casting experiments performed using a titanium alloy and a zircon sand mold, it took 155 s for a cube-shaped
casting to solidify. The cube was 50 mm on a side.
• If the same alloy and mold type were used, find the total solidification time for a cylindrical casting in which the
diameter = 30 mm and length = 50 mm.
Solution:- For cylindrical shape
For Cubic shape
◼ Cube Volume V ⚫ Cylinder Volume V
= Length × Width × Height = pD2L/4 = p(30)2(50)/4
=(50)3 = 125,000 mm3 = 35,343 mm3
◼ Cube Area A ⚫ Cylinder Area A
= 6 x (50)2 = 2pD2/4 + pDL
= 15,000 mm2 = p(30)2/2 + p(30)(50)
◼ Cube (V/A) = 6126 mm2
⚫ Cylinder (V/A)
= 125,000/15,000
= 35,343/6126
= 8.33 mm
= 5.77 mm
◼ Cm = TST/(V/A)2 ⚫ TST = Cm(V/A)2
= 155/(8.33)2 = 2.23 (5.77)2 = 74.3 s
= 2.23 s/mm2
What Chvorinov's Rule Tells Us

▪ A casting with a higher volume-to-surface area ratio cools and solidifies more
slowly than one with a lower ratio
• To feed molten metal to main cavity, TST for riser must greater than TST for main casting
▪ Since riser and casting mold constants will be equal, design the riser to have a
larger volume-to-area ratio so that the main casting solidifies first
• This minimizes the effects of shrinkage
 RISER DESIGN

Riser is used in a sand-casting mold to feed liquid metal to the casting during
freezing in order to compensate for solidification shrinkage. To function, the
riser must remain molten until after the casting solidifies. Chvorinov’s rule can
be used to compute the size of a riser that will satisfy this requirement. The
following example illustrates the calculation.
• The riser represents waste metal that will be separated from the cast
part and remelted to make subsequent castings. It is desirable for the
volume of metal in the riser to be a minimum.
• Since the geometry of the riser is normally selected to maximize the
V/A ratio, this tends to reduce the riser volume as much as possible.
• Note that the volume of the rise r in our example problem is

• only 44% of the volume of the plate (casting), even though its total
solidification time is 25% longer.
• Risers can be designed in different forms. The design shown in Figure (b) is a
side riser. It is attached to the side of the casting by means of a small
channel. A top riser is one that is connected to the top surface of the
casting. Risers can be open or blind. An open riser is exposed to the outside
at the top surface of the cope as in Figure (a). This has the disadvantage of
allowing more heat to escape, promoting faster solidification. A blind riser is
entirely enclosed within the mold, as in Figure (b).
Casting Quality
◼ There are numerous opportunities for things to go wrong in a casting
operation, resulting in quality defects in the product
◼ The defects can be classified as follows:
❑ General defects common to all casting processes
❑ Defects related to sand casting process
 General Defects: Misrun
• Misruns: Casting solidifies before completely fill the mold. Reasons are low
pouring temperature, slow pouring or thin cross section of casting.

Figure : Some common defects in castings: (a) misrun

 General Defects: Cold Shut
• Cold shut: Two portions flow together but without fusion between them .
Causes are similar to those of a misrun.

Figure : Some common defects in castings: (b) cold shut

 General Defects: Cold Shot
• Cold shots:. When splattering occurs during pouring, solid globules of metal are
entrapped in the casting. Proper gating system designs could avoid this defect

Figure: Some common defects in castings: (c) cold shot

 General Defects: Shrinkage Cavity
• Shrinkage cavity: Voids resulting from shrinkage. The problem can often be
solved by proper riser design but may require some changes in the part design
as well.

Figure : Some common defects in castings: (d) shrinkage cavity

 Sand Casting Defects: Sand Blow
Sand blow: Balloon-shaped gas cavity caused by release of
mold gases during pouring

Figure : Common defects in sand castings: (a) sand blow

 Sand Casting Defects: Pin Holes
Formation of many small gas cavities at or slightly below
surface of casting

Figure : Common defects in sand castings: (b) pin holes

 Sand Casting Defects: Penetration
When fluidity of liquid metal is high, it may penetrate into sand
mold or core, causing casting surface to consist of a mixture of
sand grains and metal

Figure : Common defects in sand castings: (e) penetration

 Sand Casting Defects: Mold Shift

• Mold shift: refers to a defect caused by a sidewise displacement

of the mold cope relative to the drag

Figure : Common defects in sand castings: (f) mold shift

 Foundry Inspection Methods
1. Visual inspection to detect obvious defects such as misruns, cold
shuts, and severe surface defects
2. Dimensional measurements to insure that tolerances have been
met
3. Metallurgical, chemical, physical, and other tests concerned with
quality of cast metal
4. Radiographic test (RT) and Ultrasonic test (UT) to detect the
internal defects of casting
 Die Casting
A Basic Overview
Die casting is a metal casting process in which molten metal is forced into a steel mold under high
pressure into a mold cavity. The steel molds, known as dies, are fabricated to produce castings with
intricate shapes in a manner that insures both accuracy and repeatability.

The die casting process consists of 5 basic steps

Clamping
The first step in die casting is clamping. The dies are cleaned and lubricated to aid in step
two, injection. Once the dies have been properly cleaned and lubricated, the die halves are 60
closed and clamped together with high pressure.
Injection
The molten metal is transferred from a furnace into a ladle. The ladle then pours the molten metal into
shot chamber where it is ready to be injected into the clamped die. The molten metal is then forced into
the die using extremely high pressure. The high pressure then holds the metal in the die until it has time
to solidify.

Cooling
The third step in the process is cooling. After the molten metal is injected into the die, it must have time
to solidify and cool. During this time the die cannot be unclamped. Once the metal has completely
cooled it takes on its final shape of the casting.

Ejection
Once the cooling process has finished, the die halves can be unclamped and an ejection mechanism
pushes the solidified casting out of the die.
Trimming
The final step in the die casting process is trimming. While the metal is cooling, the excess metal in the
sprue and runner must be removed along with any flash that has transpired. This extra material is then
trimmed away from the final casting. The trimmed sprue, runners, and flash can then be recycled and
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reused in the die casting process.
 DIE CASTING
• In die casting, the liquid metal is forced into a mold
under pressure and at a relatively high velocity, and
allowed to solidify with the pressure maintained.
• A two-piece permanent steel mold or die is
employed; when clamped together, the two pieces
form the desired shape.
• In permanent mold casting, the mold is reused many
times.
• When complete solidification has been achieved, the
die pieces are opened and the cast piece is ejected.
Rapid casting rates are possible, making this an
inexpensive method; furthermore, a single set of dies
may be used for thousands of castings. However, this
technique lends itself only to relatively small pieces
and to alloys of zinc, aluminum, and magnesium,
which have low melting temperatures.
 DIE CASTING
Advantages:
• High productivity (up to 500 parts per hour)
• Close tolerances
• Good surface finish
• Thin sections are possible.
• Rapid solidification.

Disadvantages:
• Only used for low melting point metals.
• More intricate shapes are not achieved (Only simple shapes)
• Mold is expensive.

• Area of application:
• Mass production of small parts of non-ferrous alloys with low melting point (Aluminum,
magnesium, bras zinc, tin, and lead)
 1.1.3 INVESTMENT CASTING
• For investment (sometimes called lost-wax) casting, the pattern
is made from a wax or plastic that has a low melting
temperature. Around the pattern is poured a fluid slurry, which
sets up to form a solid mold or investment; plaster of pairs is
usually used.
• The mold is then heated, such that the pattern melts and is
burned out, leaving behind a mold cavity having the desired
shape. This technique is employed when high dimensional
accuracy, reproduction of fine detail, and an excellent finish are
required—for example, in jewelry and dental crowns and inlays.
Also, blades for gas turbines and jet engine impellers are
investment cast.
Investment Casting (Lost Wax Process)

◼ A pattern made of wax is coated with a refractory material to make mold,

after which wax is melted away prior to pouring molten metal
◼ "Investment" comes from a less familiar definition of "invest" - "to cover
completely," which refers to coating of refractory material around wax
pattern
◼ It is a precision casting process - capable of producing castings of high
accuracy and intricate detail

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 Investment Casting

◼ Figure 11.8 Steps in investment casting: (1) wax patterns are produced, (2) several
patterns are attached to a sprue to form a pattern tree

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 Investment Casting

◼ Figure 11.8 Steps in investment casting: (3) the pattern tree is coated with a thin layer of
refractory material, (4) the full mold is formed by covering the coated tree with sufficient
refractory material to make it rigid

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Investment Casting

◼ Figure 11.8 Steps in investment casting: (5) the mold is held in an inverted
position and heated to melt the wax and permit it to drip out of the cavity,
(6) the mold is preheated to a high temperature, the molten metal is
poured, and it solidifies
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Investment Casting

◼ Figure 11.8 Steps in investment casting: (7) the mold is broken away
from the finished casting and the parts are separated from the sprue

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Investment Casting

◼ Figure 11 9 A one-piece compressor stator with 108 separate airfoils

made by investment casting (photo courtesy of Howmet Corp.).
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Advantages and Disadvantages
◼ Advantages of investment casting:
◼ Parts of great complexity and intricacy can be cast
◼ Close dimensional control and good surface finish
◼ Wax can usually be recovered for reuse
◼ Additional machining is not normally required - this is a net shape
process
◼ Disadvantages
◼ Many processing steps are required
◼ Relatively expensive process

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Investment casting (lost wax casting)

(b) Multiple patterns

(a) Wax pattern
assembled to wax
(injection molding)
sprue

(c) Shell built →

(d) dry ceramic immerse into ceramic slurry
melt out the wax → immerse into fine sand
fire ceramic (burn wax) (few layers)

(e) Pour molten metal (gravity)

→ cool, solidify (f) Break ceramic shell
[Hollow casting: (vibration or water blasting)
pouring excess metal before solidification

(g) Cut off parts

(high-speed friction saw)
→ finishing (polish)
INVESTMENT CASTING
Advantages:
• Arbitrary complexity of castings
• Good dimensional accuracy
• Good surface finish
• No or little additional machining (net, or near-net process)
• Wax can be reused

Disadvantages:
• Very expensive process
• Requires skilled labor
• Time consuming process

Area of application:
• Small in size, complex parts such as art pieces, jewelry, dental fixtures from all types of metals.
• Used to produce machine elements such as gas turbine blades, pinion gears, etc. which do not require or require only
little subsequent machining.
Overview of Continuous Casting
• Continuous cast shapes are produced by introducing molten metal
into a vertical or horizontal mold that has the ability for rapidly
chilling the metal to the point of solidification. The rapid chilling in
the mold ensures a fine, uniform grain structure in the solidified
metal with higher physical properties than sand castings. Once
solidified, the cast shaped bar is cut to a desired length.
• The most common shapes produced are tubes and solids, but
square, rectangular, hexagonal, and many other irregular shapes
can also be produced to match a desired finished part profile.
 Continuous Casting Process Details
1. Molten metal from in duction furnace is fed directly into a mold with
the required the shape.
2. The molten metal enters the die through a series of holes in the
upper portion of the mold. Heat is extracted by the water-cooled
jacket surrounding the mold, and the metal solidifies. The molten
metal above the die acts as a riser keeping the die filled and
preventing the formation of shrinkage cavities in the required
finished form: bar, tube or special shape
3. Solidification occurs in the die and then the solidified metal casting
exits through the bottom of the die by means of a continuous
process of short intermittent extractions performed by a mechanical
device .
4. The product is withdrawn at controlled increments and speed until
the production length is met.
5. Lengths are cut off by a traveling saw which moves with the cast
shape. The standard length for continuous cast material is 144 inches
 Cont’ CONTINUOUS CASTING
• At the conclusion of extraction processes, many molten metals are
solidified by casting into large ingot molds. The ingots are normally
subjected to a primary hot rolling operation, the product of which is a flat
sheet or slab; these are more convenient shapes as starting points for
subsequent secondary metal-forming operations (i.e., forging, extrusion,
drawing).
• These casting and rolling steps may be combined by a continuous casting
(sometimes also termed ‘‘strand casting’’) process. Using this technique,
the refined and molten metal is cast directly into a continuous strand which
may have either a rectangular or circular cross section; solidification
occurs in a water-cooled die having the desired cross-sectional geometry.
• The chemical composition and mechanical properties are more uniform
throughout the cross sections for continuous castings than for ingot-cast
products. Furthermore, continuous casting is highly automated and more
efficient.
 Advantages of Continuous Casting
•Ability to cast regular shapes and certain irregular configurations in long tubular form, which
is difficult for other casting methods.
•Continuous cast bars require significantly less machining stock.
•Continuous cast material is consistently dense and homogeneous in structure, and therefore
well-suited for pressure applications.
•Many suppliers maintain stock sizes for ready availability to distributors and others requiring
full lengths.
•Continuous castings have an inherent advantage in mechanical properties over other methods
because of the chilling and the excellent feeding of molten metal during solidification.
 ❑ Limitations or Things to Consider

• Due to the considerable mold cost and casting machine set-up, it is uneconomical
to consider the continuous cast method for special shapes or special alloys in small
quantities.