What is Counter Gravity Casting

Casting is the process of melting metal into liquid meeting certain requirements and
pouring it into the casting mold. After cooling, solidification, and cleaning, castings
with a designed shape and size can be obtained. Counter gravity casting is an
irreplaceable production method in the production of complex thin-walled cast
components.

What is Counter Gravity Casting?

Counter gravity casting refers to the driving force of liquid metal filling mold that is opposite
to gravity, and the metal liquid flows in the opposite direction of gravity. In counter-gravity
casting, molten metal is actually filled under the combined action of gravity and external
driving force. The external driving force is the dominant force in the filling process of the
molten metal, which enables the molten metal to overcome its own gravity, resistance in the
mold cavity, and other external forces to complete the filling mold. Due to the existence of an
external driving force, counter-gravity casting has become a controllable process. During the
filling process of molten metal, different filling speeds can be achieved by controlling the
size of the external driving force to meet the requirements of different processes; At the same
time, the casting can be solidified under a relatively strong effect to improve the feeding
capacity of molten metal and reduce casting defects such as shrinkage cavity, air hole, and
pinhole. Its characteristic is that the driving force of filling the mold with alloy liquid is
opposite to the gravity direction. The alloy liquid flows in the opposite direction to gravity.
Advantages of Counter Gravity Casting
1) Controllable filling speed: counter gravity casting is generally used to produce non-ferrous
alloy castings. The forming ability and internal quality of castings, especially the size and
wall thickness, have strict requirements on the filling speed. The filling speed can be
accurately controlled by a computer.
2) Good formability and smooth surface: during counter-gravity casting, the molten metal is
filled and formed under pressure. With reasonable process parameters, the obtained casting
contour is clear, especially for the production of thin-walled parts; During counter gravity
casting, the pressurized gas fills the sand mold gap and forms a gas phase protective layer
between the metal liquid and the sand mold to separate them, which can reduce the thermal
and chemical effects of the metal liquid on the mold and reduce the surface roughness of the
casting.
3) The casting has fine grains, dense structure, and high mechanical properties: the molten
metal crystallizes and solidifies under pressure, and the primary dendrites will deform and
break under pressure, and the cooling speed is fast, so the grains are small; At the same time,
the pressure can improve the feeding ability and inhibit the gas precipitation in the molten
metal, so that the porosity and microporosity are greatly reduced. Therefore, the mechanical
properties of the castings have been significantly improved.
4) Pouring under a controllable atmosphere can be realized: during counter gravity casting,
the atmosphere of the upper chamber, lower chamber or upper and lower chambers can be
controlled. When using counter gravity casting to cast aluminum alloy castings, it is OK to
use degreased and dry compressed air. However, for magnesium alloys, attention must be
paid to the ambient atmosphere of molten metal and mold, because magnesium alloys will
burn in the air. The use of a controllable atmosphere shall be determined according to the
requirements of casting quality, the contour dimensions of castings, and other factors.
5) The utilization rate of metal is improved: during counter gravity casting, the solidification
shrinkage of the casting can be continuously fed by the molten metal from the inner gate; In
addition, the effect of pressure squeezing and plastic deformation has strengthened the
feeding effect of the riser, and the riser size can be reduced accordingly or even not required.
6) The casting can be heat treated: compared with the die casting when using the counter
gravity casting method to produce the casting, the mold filling speed is slow, the liquid level
is stable, and the gas in the mold can be discharged smoothly. Therefore, there are few or no
air holes in the casting, so the heat treatment can be carried out like the casting formed by
gravity casting.

In low-pressure casting, when the mold is under normal pressure, the lower chamber
enters the air to form a pressure difference. Under the effect of the pressure
difference, the liquid raising, mold filling, and pressure maintaining processes are
completed. The required equipment is simple, the operation is easy, and the filling
process control is simple. In general, as long as the pressurization during pressure
holding meets the requirements, the castings can also be well-fed. Compared with
other counter gravity casting methods, low-pressure casting has a wider application
range. Since the mold is under normal pressure, it is easy to open and close the mold
and eject the casting when using the metal mold to cast. Therefore, metal mold low-
pressure casting is widely used to produce castings with high-quality requirements,
such as automobile wheel hubs, cylinder blocks, and other castings. In sand mold low-
pressure casting, high-quality castings with large contours can be formed.