Chill

• Chills provide a highly effective means of

promoting directional solidification
• Strong influence in extending the feeding
range of feeder heads
• General influence of surface chilling is to
steepen the temperature gradients within the
casting
• Solidification by skin formation rather than in
the pasty manner
• Promoting the soundness of the long freezing
range alloys
• Close spacing of chills and feeder heads is also
used to achieve
– a high standard of soundness,
– fine microstructures
– Production of premium quality castings
– very high levels of mechanical properties
• Encourage selective freezing of thicker
members of a casting by accelerated heat
extraction
• The increased rate of cooling enables to draw
feed metal still liquid
• Metal chills may be used either externally or
internally to the casting.
• Internal chills are less commonly used :
– the lack of structural homogeneity
– possibility of discontinuities from lack of fusion
detract from the metallurgical quality of the casting.
• Internal chills are, less objectionable in lightly
stressed locations
• Used in situations where the chill itself is
machined out at a later stage, for example in
bosses intended for drilling.
• External chills are widely employed.
• They are commonly made of steel or cast iron
• Positioned against the pattern during
moulding,
• Provided where necessary with hooks or wires
for firm anchorage in the moulding material.
• Aluminium alloy chills are sometimes
employed in light alloy
• The effect of a chill in increasing the freezing rate
of a casting is a function of its heat diffusivity,

where k is the thermal conductivity,

c the specific heat and
p the density of the material

• The freezing time of a wholly or partially chilled

casting is the same as would be associated with a
casting of smaller volume in the absence of
chilling.
• By Chorinov relation freezing time and
cooling modulus.

• It can be seen that a factor of ¼ applicable to

freezing time is equivalent to a factor of ½
when applied to the modulus
• Effect of chill in reducing the modulus as
apparent increase in the total surface area of
the casting.
• Effective modulus value for purposes of
feeding calculations
• Aapparent is derived by the addition of the area of
sand surface to the area of chill multiplied by the
appropriate factor

• The use of external chills of various designs for the

elimination of shrinkage cavities at L, T, X and Y
sections.
• Small face chills are also invaluable for local
application to isolated bosses and projections
where individual feeder heads would be
uneconomical.
• Creating an earlier demand for feed metal
• The freezing time needed in the feeder head is
shortened.
• Reduction in the effective modulus of a wholly
or partially chilled casting occurs.
• Feeder head dimensions to be reduced
• The level at which volume feed capacity
governs the size of head required.
• Chills are of metal, non-metallic substances of
high heat diffusivity,
• Non metallic such as graphite, carborundum
and magnesite
• For metal chills, steel and cast iron are the
most frequently used materials,
• both cheap and readily machinable from bar or
plate stock
• Shaped chills to fit irregular casting contours
may be moulded and cast
• A chill must be of adequate mass in relation to
the section
• The thermal capacity is insufficient, the
temperature of the chill will rise rapidly
• Chills must be positioned only where heat can be
extracted to useful effect
• Chills must be dry and free from contamination by
oxide scale or grease to prevent blowing defects .
• cracked or heavily oxidised chills are to be
discarded
• Defect in surface tearing near the edges of a chill
can be avoided by using small chills rather than
big( due to differential contraction of the casting
skin)