የአማራ ብረታብረት ኢንዱስትሪና ማሽን ቴክኖሎጂ

ልማት ኢንተርፕራይዝ

AMEHARA METAL INDUSTRY AND MACHINE TECHNOLOGY

DEVELOPMENT ENTERPRISE

Casting Defects Cause and Remedies Guide book

Prepared by: Quality Control and Assurance Department

April, 4/29/2021

AMIMTDE
Casting Defects Cause and Remedies
Blow holes
Blowhole is a type of casting defect mostly prevalent in castings. Entrapment of air resulting due
to pouring of liquid metal takes the form of rounded contours or spherical cavities. Surface blows
or inter granular cavities appear in cope of the mould.

Fig.1.1 Blowhole defects

Cause of blowholes defects

1. Excess moisture content in molding sand.

2. Rust and moisture on chills, chaplets and inserts.
3. Cores not sufficiently baked.
4. Excessive use of organic binders.
5. Molds not adequately vented.
6. Molds rammed very hard.

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Remedies for blow holes defects

1. Control of moisture content.

2. Use of rust free chills, chaplet and clean inserts.
3. Bake cores properly.
4. Ram the molds less hard.
5. Providing adequate venting in mold and cores.

Pinhole
Pinholes result when the hydrogen present in liquid metal evolves due to less solubility during
solidification resulting in triangular appearances, prevalent mostly in thinner castings which are
revealed after machining.

Fig. 1.2 Pinhole defects

Cause of pinhole defects

1. Raw materials and return materials are not dried and contain moisture.
2. The crucible, ladle and tools for smelting are not dried, bringing in water.
3. The air humidity is high during smelting, and there is too much wind during pouring.
4. The water content of chloride and chlorine in the refining agent exceeds the standard.
5. The melting time and the melting temperature are too high, the time from refining, to
pouring is too long, and it is inhaled and oxidized twice.

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 6. The water content in flux and coating exceeds the standard, or the coating is not dried.
7. The humidity of molding sand is too high.

Remedies for pinhole defects

1. Before entering the furnace, the raw materials and return materials shall be blown with
sand, and the oxides and dirt on the surface shall be removed and preheated before
entering the furnace for melting.
2. The crucible should be preheated to about 700 ℃ (dark red) before charging and melting.
3. The furnace charge with serious pinholes shall be re melted and refined and confirmed to
be qualified before use.
4. Strictly control the water content of the refining agents such as chloride and chlorine not
to exceed the standard (0.06% ~ 0.1%).
5. When the absolute humidity of the air is high, in order to reduce pinholes, secondary
refining can be carried out or the alloy can be melted with covering agent.
6. Strictly control the water content of molding sand within the lower limit of the specified
standard.
7. Materials with high heat capacity and thermal conductivity are used as mold materials to
speed up the cooling speed of castings.

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 Shrinkage
Shrinkage is a type of casting defect resulting due to formation of shrinkage cavity as such due to
lack of design and insufficient feed metal. Shrinkage results due to formation of a closed loop at
a specific point during solidification which creates a cavity because of absence of feed of molten
metal.

Fig. 1.3 shrinkage defects

Causes of shrinkage defects

1. Unevenly dried sand with low compressive strength.

2. Mould wall shift due to high metal pressure.
3. Chills not placed properly.
4. Sudden change in thickness of sections.
5. Too many sharp internal corners causing hot-spots isolation.
6. Excessive Ferro silicate use during metal charging.

Remedial for shrinkage defects

1. Dry mould using CO2 gas for at least 60 seconds for high rigidity.
2. Use of chills at correct position to for directional solidification.
3. Feeding of sharp corners to avoidhot spots.

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 4. Riser to be properly located.
5. Use of inoculants.

Hot Tears/Cracks
Hot tears are predominant due to imbalance in temperature caused during solidification. These
appear to be sharp and broken jagged lines at the edges of casting.

Fig.1.4 Hot tear defect

Causes of hot tear defects

1. Use of coarse size sand grains.

2. Mould disturbance before complete solidification.
3. Imperfect riser location.
4. Abrupt changes to be avoided which increase internal stress
5. High binder and ramming density
6. Hydrogen content too high
7. Low amount of eutectic cells at grain boundary
8. Excess amount of sulphur/phosphorus present.

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Remedial for hot tear/cracks defects

1. Sufficient cooling of mould to be done.

2. Avoid sharp turns/corners.
3. Provision of draft during removal.
4. Deoxidize to kill sulphur/phosphorus present.
5. Use inoculants mixture of Mn/Si/Mg to reduce sulphur/phosphorus content.
6. Use of fine sand grains.
7. Add coal dust to increase eutectic cells during solidification.

Lumps
Lump is a defect occurring in pipes which are centrifugally casted. These appear as blisters on
external surface of pipe as a result of air locking between liquid metal and pipe die.

Fig.1.5 Lump defect

Causes of lumps defects

1. Present of air voids in pipe die& metal interface.

2. Low adhesion between metal and pipe during rotation.

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Remedial for lump defects

1. Increase rotation speedup to 475 to 500 rpm.

2. Proper preheat of pipe die.
3. Pouring ladle and die to be free from any foreign particles.
4. Increase number of mould coatings inside pipe die.

Slag Inclusion
Slag Inclusion is one of the most common casting defects. Tearing of sand while preparing
mould section manifests itself near casting edges to cause such defect. These inclusions are
mostly accompanied by CO bubbles and oxide particles. Slag inclusions stuck under the casting
surface and are mostly visible during the treatment.

Fig.1.6 Slag inclusion

Causes sand inclusion defect

1. Tilting of metal stream directly to cores causing erosion.

2. Use of unevenly compacted moulds.
3. Mould breakage during assembly.
4. Uneven sand mixing.
5. Improper pouring practices leading to mould disturbances.

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 Remedial for sand inclusion defects

1. Use of high bentonite content.

2. Proper ramming of sand for uniform compaction.
3. Frequent cleaning of mould boxes.
4. Use of properly dressed cores.
5. Proper mixing ratio of reclaimed sand and binder.
6. Proper pouring time.
7. Optimum pouring height.

Flashes
Flash is an excess material projecting from casting, generally visible as a thin metallic sheet,
perpendicular to the casting face. Hot metal leakage from the platen center tends the formation of
flashes saddling extra weight to material.

Fig. 1.7 Flashes defect

Causes of flashes defect

1. Excessive Clearance between top and bottom parts of mould box.

2. High pouring pressure.
3. Use of mould with poor pattern designs.
4. Patterns having cavities at the end.
5. Improper clamping of top and bottom parts.

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Remedial for flashes defect

1. Sealing of mould box near parting line.

2. Ensure end cavities to be filled to avoid metal leakage.
3. Dimensions to be controlled.
4. Carefully setting mould assembly.
5. Proper core setting.

Mold shift or Mismatch

Mismatch is a defect in which shifting of top and bottom parts of a mould above or below the
centerline takes place causing the casting to be defective. Segments dislocated above the
centerline leads to this serious defect.

Mold shift is due to misalignment of upper (cope) and lower (drag) part of the mold. Mold shift
is usually reflected as a horizontal displacement.

Fig. 1.8 Mold shift defect

Causes of mismatch defects

1. Clamping cope and drag using worn out dowels

2. Faulty pattern designs of top and bottom parts.
3. Inadequate amount of weight kept on cope part.

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Remedial for mismatch defects

1. Use of proper gating system.

2. Heavy weight to be kept on top of casting. Ensuring no dislocation of cope part.
3. Ensure top and bottom parts are aligned properly.
4. Replace worn out dowel pins with new ones.
5. Use locators to match top & bottom parts.
6. Use C-Clamps to clamp the mould box.

Porosity
Micro-porosity consists of a network of small void distributed throughout the casting caused by
localized solidification shrinkage of the final molten metal in the dendritic structure. The defects
is usually associated with alloy, because of the protracted manner in which freezer occurs in
these metals

Fig.1.9 porosity defects

Cause of porosity defects

1. High pouring temperatures.

2. Gas dissolved in metal charge.
3. Less flux used.
4. Molten metal not properly degassed.

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 5. Slow solidification of casting.
6. High moisture and low permeability.

Remedies of porosity defects

1. Regulate pouring temperature.

2. Control metal composition.
3. Increase flux proportions.
4. Ensure effective degassing.
5. Modify gating and risering.

Misrun
A misrun is caused when the section thickness of a casting is so small or the pouring temperature
so low that the entire section is not filled before the metal solidifies.

Fig. 1.10 Misrun defects

Cause of misrun defects

1. Lack of fluidity ill molten metal.

2. Faulty design.
3. Faulty gating.

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Remedies for misrun defects

1. Adjust proper pouring temperature.

2. Modify design.
3. Modify gating system

Metal penetration
Metal penetration occurs when liquid metal penetrates gaps in the molding sand. The penetration
is visible to the naked eye as a rough and uneven surface finish of the casting.

Fig. 1.11 Metal penetration defects

Cause metal penetration defects

1. Large grain size and used.

2. Soft ramming of mold.
3. Molding sand or core has low strength.

Remedies for metal penetration

1. Use sand having finer grain size.

2. Provide hard ramming.
3. Suitably adjust pouring temperature.

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 Cold shuts
Cold Shuts, which occur when two portions of the metal flow together but there is a lack of
fusion between them due to premature freezing.

Fig. 1.12 cold shuts defect

Cause of cold shuts defects

1. Lack of fluidity in molten metal.

2. Faulty design.
3. Faulty gating

Remedies for cold shuts

1. Adjust proper pouring metal.

2. Modify design.
3. Modify gating system.

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 Cuts and washes
Sand washes and cuts are an irregularity in the surface of the casting that results from erosion of
the sand mold during pouring.

Fig. 1.13 cut and washes defects

Cause of cuts and washes

1. Low strength of mold and core.

2. Lack of binders in facing and core stand.
3. Faulty gating.

Remedies for cuts and washes

1. Improve mold and core strength.

2. Add more binders to facing and core sand.
3. Improve gating.

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 Sand Fusion
Fusion occurs when sand grains fuse with molten metal. It appears as a thin crust with a brittle,
glassy appearance firmly adhered to the casting.

Fig. 1.14 sand fusion defect

Cause of fusion defects

1. Low refractoriness in molding sand.

2. Faulty gating.
3. Too high pouring temperature of the metal.
4. Pouring facing sand.

Remedies for fusion defects

1. Improve refractoriness of sand.

2. Modify gating system.
3. Use Lower pouring temperature.
4. Improve the quality of facing sand.

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 Drops
Drops occur when pieces of sand fall into metal casting when it’s still liquid. Drops appear as an
irregularly shaped projection on the cope (top) surface of a casting.

Fig. 1.15 Drop defects

Causes of drops defect

1. Low green strength in molding sand and core.

2. Too soft ramming.
3. Inadequate reinforcement of sand and core projections.

Remedies for drop defect

1. Increase green strength of sand mold.

2. Provide harder ramming.
3. Provide adequate reinforcement to sand projection and cope by using nails and gaggers.

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 Warpage
Warping is an unwanted casting deformity that can occur over time, which results in a change in
the dimensions of the final product. It can happen during or after solidification.

Fig. 1.16 War page defects

Causes of War page defects

1. Continuous large flat surfaces on castings are indicating a poor design.

2. No dimensional solidification of casting.

Remedies for warpage defects

1. Follow principle of sufficient directional solidification.

2. Make good castings design

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 Swell
Swell is an enlargement of mould cavity by metal pressure, results in localized or overall
enlargement of casting products.

Fig. 1.17 Swell defect

Causes of swell defects

1. Insufficient or soft ramming.

2. Low strength mould and core.
3. Mould not being supported properly.

Remedies for swell defects

1. Sand should be rammed evenly and properly.

2. Increase strength of mould and core.

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 Rat Tails or Buckles
Slight compression failure of a thin layer of moulding sand as rat tails and more severe
compression failure as buckling of sand.

Fig. 1.18 Rat tail defects

Causes of rat tails or buckles defects

1. Excessive mould hardness

2. Lack of combustible additives in the moulding sand.
3. Continuous large surfaces on the casting.

Remedies for rat tails or buckles defects

1. Suitable addition of combustible additives to moulding sand

2. Reduction in mould hardness
3. Modifications in casting design.

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