UNIT I

METAL CASTING PROCESSES

⚫ Sand Casting: Sand Mould – Type of patterns - Pattern

Materials – Pattern allowances –Moulding sand Properties
and testing – Cores –Types and applications – Moulding
machines– Types and applications; Melting furnaces:
Blast and Cupola Furnaces; Principle of special casting
processes: Shell - investment – Ceramic mould – Pressure
die casting - Centrifugal Casting - CO2 process – Stir
casting; Defects in Sand casting
 CASTING: Introduction
⚫ Virtually nothing moves, turns, rolls, or fl ies without the
benefit of cast metal products.

⚫ The metal casting industry plays a key role in all the

major sectors of our economy. There are castings in
locomotives, cars trucks, aircraft, office buildings,
factories, schools, and homes.

⚫ Casting means pouring molten metal into a mould with

a cavity of the shape to be made, and allowing it to
solidify. When solidified, the desired metal object is
taken out from the mould either by breaking the mould
or taking the mould apart.
CASTING: Introduction
CASTING: Applications
CASTING: Terminology
 CASTING: Advantages
⚫ Casting can be used to create complex part
geometries, including both external and internal
shapes.

⚫ Some casting processes are capable of producing parts to net

shape. (No further manufacturing operations are required
to achieve the required geometry and dimensions of the
parts.)

⚫ {Molten material can fl ow into very small sections so that

intricate shapes can be made by this process. As a result,
many other operations, such as machining, forging, and
welding, can be minimized or eliminated.}

⚫ Other casting processes are near net shape, for which

some additional shape processing is required (usually
machining) in order to achieve accurate dimensions and
details.
 CASTING: Advantages
⚫ Casting can be used to produce very large parts.
Castings weighing more than 100 tons have been made.
Size and weight of the product is not a limitation for the
casting process.

⚫ The casting process can be performed on any metal that

can be heated to the liquid state.

⚫ Some casting methods are quite suited to mass production.

⚫ It is possible to cast practically any material that is ferrous

or non-ferrous.
 CASTING: Advantages
⚫ As the metal can be placed exactly where it is
required, large saving in weight can be achieved.

⚫ The necessary tools required for casting molds are

very simple and inexpensive. As a result, for
production of a small lot, it is the ideal process.

⚫ There are certain parts made from metals and alloys

that can only be processed this way.

⚫ Size and weight of the product is not a limitation for

the casting process.
 CASTING: Disadvantages
⚫ limitations on mechanical properties

⚫ porosity

⚫ poor dimensional accuracy and surface finish for

some casting processes,

⚫ safety hazards to humans when processing hot

molten metals,

⚫ Environmental problems.
CASTING: Terminology
 Metals processed by Casting
⚫ Sand casting – 60%
⚫ Investment casting – 7%
⚫ Die casting – 9%
⚫ Permanent mold casting – 11%
⚫ Centrifugal casting – 7%
⚫ Shell mould casting – 6%
 SAND CASTING STEPS
⚫Patternmaking

⚫Core making

⚫Moulding

⚫Melting and
pouring

⚫Cleaning
SAND CASTING STEPS
Single Piece Mould
Two parts molding
 Pattern and Mould
 Pattern is one of the important tool used for
making mould into which molten metal is poured
to produce casting

 It is the model of the part to be produced

 It is slightly larger than the actual size of the

casting, due to various allowances
Factors considered for selection of
Pattern
⚫Number of Castings to be produced.

⚫Size and complexity of the shape and size of

casting

⚫Type of moulding and castings method to be used.

⚫Machining operation

⚫Characteristics of Castings
 TYPES OF PATTERN
⚫ Solid/Single piece pattern
⚫ Split/Two piece pattern
⚫ Three/Multi piece pattern
⚫ Match plate pattern
⚫ Loose piece pattern
⚫ Cope and Drag pattern
⚫ Follow board pattern
⚫ Gated pattern
⚫ Sweep pattern
⚫ Skeleton pattern
⚫ Segmental/Split pattern
 Single piece (solid)
⚫ Made from one piece and does not contain loose pieces or joints.
Pattern
⚫ In-expensive.

⚫ Used for large size simple castings.

⚫ Pattern is accommodated either in the cope or in the drag.

Examples:

1. Bodies of regular shapes.

2. Stuffing box of steam engine.

Single piece (solid)
Pattern
 Split piece pattern:
⚫ Patterns of intricate shaped castings cannot be made in one piece

because of the inherent difficulties associated with the molding

operations (e.g. withdrawing pattern from mould).

⚫ The upper and the lower parts of the split piece patterns are

accommodated in the cope and drag portions of the mold

respectively.

⚫ Parting line of the pattern forms the parting line of the mould.

⚫ Dowel pins are used for keeping the alignment between the two parts of

the pattern.
Split piece pattern:
Split piece pattern:
 Loose piece pattern
⚫ Certain patterns cannot be withdrawn once they are
embedded in the molding sand. Such patterns are usually
made with one or more loose pieces for facilitating from the
molding box and are known as loose piece patterns.

⚫ Loose parts or pieces remain attached with the main body of

the pattern, with the help of dowel pins.

⚫ The main body of the pattern is drawn first from the molding
box and thereafter as soon as the loose parts are removed,
the result is the mold cavity.
Loose piece pattern
Loose piece pattern
 Match plate pattern
⚫ It consists of a match plate, on either side of which each
half of split patterns is fastened.
⚫ A no. of different sized and shaped patterns may be
mounted on one match plate.
⚫ The match plate with the help of locator holes can be
clamped with the drag.
⚫ After the cope and drag have been rammed with the
molding sand, the match plate pattern is removed from in
between the cope and drag.
 Match plate pattern
•Match plate patterns are normally used in
machine molding.

•By using this we can eliminate mismatch of cope

and drag cavities.
 Sweep
Pattern
⚫A sweep pattern is just a form made on a wooden board
which sweeps the shape of the casting into the sand all
around the circumference. The sweep pattern rotates
about the post.
⚫Once the mould is ready, Sweep pattern and the post can
be removed.
⚫Sweep pattern avoids the necessity of making a full,
large circular and costly three-dimensional pattern.This
type of Pattern can be only used in Symmetrical
Shape all through the product,
 Gated pattern
⚫ The sections connecting different patterns serve as runner

and gates.

⚫ This facilitates filling of the mould with molten metal in a

better manner and at the same time eliminates the time and
labour otherwise consumed in cutting runners and gates.

⚫ A gated pattern can manufacture many casting at one time

and thus it is used in mass production systems.

⚫ Gated patterns are employed for producing small castings.

 Skeleton pattern
A skeleton pattern is the skeleton of a desired shape
which may be S-bend pipe or a chute or something
else. The skeleton frame is mounted on a metal
base
The skeleton is made from wooden strips, and is
thus a wooden work.
The skeleton pattern is filled with sand and is
rammed.
 Skeleton pattern
•A strickle (board) assists in giving the desired shape to the sand
and removes extra sand.
•Skeleton patterns are employed for producing a few
large castings.
•A skeleton pattern is very economical, because it involves
less material costs.
Skeleton Pattern
 Follow Board Pattern

⚫ A follow board is a wooden board and is used for supporting a

pattern which is very thin and fragile and which may give way and
collapse under pressure when the sand above the pattern is being
rammed.

⚫ With the follow board support under the weak pattern, the drag is
rammed, and then the follow board is with drawn, The rammed drag
is inverted, cope is mounted on it and rammed.
 Follow Board Pattern

⚫ During this operation pattern remains over the inverted drag

and get support from the rammed sand of the drag under it.

⚫ Follow boards are also used for casting master patterns

for many applications.
Follow Board Pattern
 Cope and Drag Pattern

•A cope and drag pattern is another form of split pattern.

•Each half of the pattern is fixed to a separate metal/wood

plate.

•Each half of the pattern(along the plate) is moulded

separately in a separate molding box by an independent
moulder or moulders.
Cope and Drag Pattern
Chaplets in Core Support
 Segmental Pattern
•Segmental Patterns are used for circular castings,
(for example wheel rim, gear blank etc) avoiding the
use of solid pattern of exact size.

•In principle they work like a sweep, but the

difference is that a sweep is given a continuous
revolving motion to generate the desired shape,
where as segmental pattern is a portion of the solid
pattern itself and the mould is prepared in parts by it.
 Segmental Pattern
•The movement of segmental pattern is guided by
the use of a central pivot.

•Segmental pattern is mounted on a central pivot and

after preparing the part mould in one position, the
segment is moved to the next position.

•The operation is repeated till the complete mould is

ready.
 Pattern Material

•Easily worked, shaped and joined

•Light in weight
•Strong, hard and durable
•Resistant to wear and abrasion to chemical
•Resistant to corrosion, and reactions

•Dimensionally stable and unaffected by

variations in temperature and humidity
•Available at low cost
 Pattern materials
A. Wood – (teak, mahogany, white pine
etc)
B. Metal – (cast iron, brass, aluminium
white metal etc)
C. Plaster

D. Plastics

E. Wax
WOOD

•It is the commonly used material for pattern

•Laminated wooded sheets are also used for

getting accuracy , surface finish and long life

•Woods should not contain more than 10%

moisture

•Metal spray coating may be given over the

wooden pattern up to the thickness of 0.25 mm

•Zinc and aluminium are normally used as

metal coating over the wood for good surface
 Advantages and Limitations
 It is light in weight, cheap and easily available
 It is easy to cut, work and fabricate
 It can be easily repaired
 It can be easily smoothened by varnishes and
paints
 LIMITATIONS:
 It absorbs water from sand and changes its shape
 It has non uniform structure
 It has high wear and tear by sand
 It can not be used for mass production
 It cannot be used in machine moulding
 Meta
⚫Metal pattern is lused when large number
of castings are to be produced.
⚫ It can be either cast from master piece or
may be machined by the usual method of
machining.
⚫Metal pattern can be used in machine
moulding
 Advantages and Disadvantages
⚫ Advantages
 It has long life and accurate in size
 It has smooth surface
 Mass production is possible
 It does not absorb moisture and deform in size
 It can be used for rough handling
 It is resistance to wear , tear, abrasion and
corrosion
⚫ Disadvantages
 It is costlier and heavier than wood
 It can not be easily repaired
 It is difficult to make the required shape
 Other commonly used materials
⚫ CAST IRON
⚫Cast iron having fine grain can be used for pattern
material. It has high resistance to sand abrasion and
smooth surface.
⚫It is heavier and difficult to work. Cost less and
is brittle material can be easily broken.
⚫ BRASS
⚫Can be easily built up by soldering or brazing.
⚫Cost is high so this can be used for small size
objects
⚫Good surface finish is obtained
⚫With stands wear and tear
 Aluminium
⚫It is light in weight, strong and easily machined
⚫Can be made with high accuracy and surface
finish. It will not be affected by moisture and rust.
⚫It has low melting point.
⚫Very soft and easily damaged by rough surface

⚫PLASTER
⚫It has high compressive strength can be made
easily into difficult shapes.
⚫Can be used for small patterns. It is affected
by moisture
 Plaster of Paris
⚫Plaster of paris can be casted very easily to any
shape.

⚫It has a very high compressive strength and can be

used to make patterns of smaller sizes with close
dimension control.

⚫It has the property that it expands on

solidification.

⚫In case proper plaster is selected the effect of

shrinkage is automatically neutralized.
 Plastics
⚫It can be cast from wooden pattern called master
pattern.
⚫It has many advantages over other pattern materials.
⚫It is light in weight but very strong. It is not affected
by moisture. Following plastics are widely used for
making patterns with the composition based on
epoxy, phenol formaldehyde and polyester resins
⚫Poly acrylates
⚫Poly ethylene
⚫Poly vinyle chloride etc
 Wa
⚫Wax x
pattern is primarily used in
investment castings.
⚫Commonly used waxes are paraffin
wax, shelloc wax and microcrystalline wax.
⚫It has good surface finish and
high dimensional accuracy
⚫It will not absorb moisture. Easy to work.
Cost is less. Used for small pattern
 Pattern allowances
⚫Patterns are not made into the exact size of the
castings. It is made slightly larger than the actual
size. The extra size given to the pattern is called
pattern allowances. It is given for the purpose of
 compensating the metal shrinkage,
to provide extra metal which is to be
removed while machining, to avoid metal
distortion,
for easy removal of pattern from mould and
for rapping
 Various pattern allowance
⚫Shrinkage allowance
⚫Machining or finish allowance

⚫Draft or taper allowance

⚫Distortion or camber
allowance

⚫Rapping or shake allowance

 Shrinkage Allowances
⚫Liquid Shrinkage: it refers to the reduction in
volume when the metal changes from liquid state
to solid state at the solidus temperature. To
account for this shrinkage; riser, which feed the
liquid metal to the casting, are provided in the
mold.

⚫Solid Shrinkage: it refers to the reduction in

volume caused when metal loses temperature in
solid state. To account for this, shrinkage
allowance is provided on the patterns.
 Shrinkage allowance
⚫Metal shrinks on solidification and contracts
further on cooling to room temperature.
⚫To compensate this, the pattern is made slightly larger
than the actual size of the casting
⚫This extra size provided on the pattern for
metal shrinkage is called shrinkage allowance.
⚫If it is not given, the casting will become smaller.
Material Shrinkage allowance
CI 10.4 mm/m
Al 17 mm/m
Brass 15.3 mm/m
Steel 20.8 mm/m
Zinc, Lead 25 mm/m
Shrinkage Allowances
 Chills

In order to minimize the damaging effects of shrinkage, it is desirable

for the regions of the casting most distant from the liquid metal supply to
freeze first and for solidification to progress from these remote regions
toward the riser(s).

Directional solidification is to use chills -internal or external heat sinks

that cause rapid freezing in certain regions of the casting.
 Machining allowance
⚫ The finish and accuracy achieved in sand casting are
generally poor and therefore when the casting is
functionally required to be of good surface finish or
dimensionally accurate, it is generally achieved by
subsequent machining.

⚫ Machining or finish allowances are therefore added in the

pattern dimension.

⚫ The amount of machining allowance to be provided for is

affected by the method of molding and casting used viz.
hand molding or machine molding, sand casting or metal
mold casting.
 Machining allowance
⚫ The amount of allowance depends upon the
various factors. They are
⚫ Material of the casting

⚫ Size of the casting

⚫ Volume of production

⚫ Method of machining degree of accuracy etc

⚫ Machining allowance various for hand

moulding and machine
moulding
 Comparision of machining allowance for hand
moulding and machine moulding
Material Machining allowance

Machine Hand
moulding moulding
CI 2.5 mm 4.0 mm

Al 1.6 mm 3.2 mm

Bronze 1.6 mm 3.2 mm

Brass 1.6 mm 3.2 mm

Cast steel 3 mm 4.5 mm

 Draft or taper allowance
⚫ By draft is meant the taper provided by the pattern
maker on all vertical surfaces of the pattern so that it
can be removed from the sand without tearing away
the sides of the sand mold and without excessive
rapping by the molder.
 Draft or taper allowance
⚫ Pattern Having No Draft on Vertical Edges
 Draft or taper allowance
⚫ Pattern Having Draft on Vertical Edges
 Draft or taper allowance
⚫ Pattern Having Draft on Vertical Edges
 Draft or taper allowance
⚫ Pattern Having Draft on Vertical Edges
 Distortion or camber allowance
⚫This is provided on patterns whose castings tend
to distort on cooling.
⚫The pattern itself is distorted suitably to yield
a proper shaped casting.
⚫Required for fl at, long, ‘U’ and ‘V’ shaped
castings.
 Rapping or shake allowance
⚫To remove the pattern from mould sand it
is necessary to rapped or shacked to
detach it from the mould cavity.

⚫This will make the mould cavity slightly

bigger than the actual size.

⚫To avoid this pattern is made slightly

smaller than the actual size
Special sand is used for making mould. It
contains the follwing three constituents
1. Refractory sand
2. Binder
3. Additive
Special moulding sand is used for the
following reasons
4.Maintains shape at very high temperature
5.Makes a mould porous
3.Can be used again and
again 4.It is inexpensive
Silica sand is used as moulding sand. Silica has 80 to 90 % of
silicon dioxide. Silica gives refractoriness to the sand.
ADVANTAGES
1. It is cheap and easily available
2.It can be easily moulded and
reusable 3.It has high thermal stability
Silica sand is the main constituent of the moulding
sand. According to the clay content, the moulding sand
can be classified as
3. Silica sand – 2 % clay
4. Learn or weak sand – 2 to 10 % clay
5. Moderately strong sand – 10 to 20% clay
6. Strong sand –up to 30% clay
7. Loam sand – up to 50% clay
It is available from natural deposits. It needs only
5 to 8% water.
These sands are available at river beds and it
contains 80 to 90 % silica, 5 to 10% Alumina or
clay and small percentage of lime and
magnesia
It is also prepared by crushing and milling the
soft yellow sand stone.
This sand has less refractoriness as compared to
synthetic sand
It is used for making light castings in ferrous
and non- ferrous metal.
 ADVANTAGE
S

1.Cheap and easily

available 2.Easy to repair
3.Wide range of grain sizes
and shapes are avilable
It has less refractoriness
It has high expansion ratio
It may be fused with
metals
Synthetic
sand
It is prepared artificially by mixing clay free
sand having specified grain type with
specified type of clay binder as well as
water and other additives.
It is used in machine moulding and high
1. It has more uniform grain
size
2. Required properties can be
obtained
3. It has higher refractoriness
4. It can be easily mouldable
LIMITATIONS
It is more expensive
It is prepared for obtaining specific properties
such as refractoriness, high heat conductivity
and low expansion ratio.
It is also prepared for applying particular place
of mould
By using this sand good quality mould with
good surface finish can be produced.
TYPES OF SPECIAL SAND
Zircon sand :Used for making cores of brass and
bronze castings. Used as facing sand. It does not
react with the moulding sand. It is fine sand
having good refractoriness and high density
It is used for making
chilled castings.
It is used as facing sand in
steel casting
It has good refractoriness
High heat conductivity
Low expansion ratio
It is used to bring the property of cohesiveness to the sand.
They bind the sand grains together and give strength to the
moulding sand

TYPES OF BINDERS
Organic binder
Used for core making. They are cereal, drying oil,
molasses, resins etc
Inorganic binder
Clay binder is most common type of inorganic
binder. It is formed by weathering and
decomposition of rocks. some of them are fire
clay, kaolinite, Bentonite
It is added to the mouldind sand to improve the
properties like strength, refractoriness and
permeability.
It is used to give good surface finish to the
casting or to eliminate casting defects
Additives are not used for binding purpose
Common Additives
1. Sea coal
2. Saw dust
3. Pitch
4. Cereals
5. Silica fl our
6. Special additive
 SEA COAL
 It is finely powdered bituminous coal.
It is used to obtain smoother and cleaner surfaces of
castings and also reduces the adherence of sand
particles to the casting
It is mainly used to make ferrous castings. When the
molten metal is poured in to the mould, coal dust
burns and gives off CO2 and CO which form a gas
spacing between the mould wall and metals. This
improves permeability of the sand.
Coal from inside the sea: mineral coal that washes up from the
sea onto beaches, from which it can be collected and sold. Such
coal used in foundry practice, intermixed with foundry sand or
applied in a layer on its face, to modify the behavior of the
molten metal
It improves the permeability and
deformability of the moulds
It should be dry otherwise we can use peat that
contains about 70 to 73% of volatile matter.
Sawdust (or wood dust) is a by-product or waste
product of woodworking operations
PITCH
oIt is distilled from soft coal
oIt improves hot strength
oIt gives fine surface finish
It is finely ground Corn fl our or Corn
starch
It increases the green and dry strength of
sand.
 Generally it is use about 1 %
SILICA FLOUR
It is very fine powdered silica
It is generally mixed twice that of moulding
sand to prepare facing sand
It improves the surface finish of the casting
Fuel oil – improves the mouldability -Furnace oil,
fuel consisting mainly of residues from crude-oil
distillation.
Dextrin – increases the collapsibility and
setting strength(a soluble gummy substance
obtained by hydrolysis of starch, used as a
thickening agent and in adhesives and dietary
supplements).
Molasses – improves dry strength and
collapsibility
Iron oxide – improves the hot strength of the
sand
 Types of Moulding sand
Green sand
Dry sand
Facing sand
Loam sand
Backing sand
Parting sand
 Green sand
⚫The sand which is in moist state is called green
sand
⚫It contains 5 to 8 % of water and 16 to 30% of
clay
⚫It has good damping capacity
⚫It is soft light and porous
⚫It is used for simple small and medium
size casting
⚫Mould made out of this sand is called green
sand mould
 Dry sand
⚫Moulding sand is prepared in dry
stage
⚫It is used for making large castings
⚫Mould prepared by using this sand
is called dry sand moulding
⚫It has greater strength and rigidity
⚫Does not cause defects by moisture
 Facing sand
 It is used mainly to cover the face of the pattern
and comes to contact with molten metal
 It contains silica, clay, talc, graphite, molasses etc
 It has high refractoriness and strength

Loam sand
a) It contains fine silica sand, fine refractories,
clay graphite, fibre and water
b) It contains clay about 50%
c) Used for melting large castings like bell,
roller, pulleys etc
 Backing sand
⚫It is used to backup the facing sand and to
fill the whole volume of the mould box.
Parting sand
 It is used when the casting is made up of two
halves with cope and drag boxes
 It is used to avoid the sticking of cope and drag.
 It is the mixture of silica sand and brick powder
 It is also used to sprinkle over the pattern to avoid
sticking of green sand
 Properties of moulding sand
 Porosity or permeability
 Plasticity or flowability
 Adhesiveness
 Strength or
cohesiveness
 Refractoriness
 Collapsibility
 Porosity or permeability
It is a measure of moulding sand by which the
sand allows the steam and gases to pass through
it.
When the molten metal is poured in to the
mould it reacts with additives, moisture, binder
and produce hot gases and steam. This has to be
removed from the mould otherwise it will form
blowholes in the mould which is one of the
defect in casting.
To avoid this sand should have good
permeability
 Contd-----
⚫ Permeability of the moulding sand depend upon the
following factors
⚫ 1.Quality and quantity of clays and quartz
⚫ 2.Moisture content and degree of compactness
⚫ These are some other parameters which affect
the permeability they are
 If the clay content is less –permeability is more
and viceversa
 If the grain size is large- Permeability is more and
vice versa
 Soft ramming – improves permeabilioty
 Higher the silica content on sand –lower
the permeability
 Plasticity or flowability
⚫ It is a property of moulding sand by which the sand
flows aall over the pattern and uniformly fills the
moulding box.
⚫ Thus it gives the shape of the pattern and retains
the sahpe after removing the pattern.
⚫ This property can be improved by adding clay and
water to silica sand.
Adhesiveness
⚫ This is the property of moulding sand by which it sticks to the
boxes
⚫ Moulding sand should not fall from the box when it is turned
over
⚫ This property depends upon the type and binder used in
the sand mix.
 Strength and cohesiveness
 It is the property of the moulding sand by which it
sticks together
 It should have sufficient strength so that the nmould
does not collapse or partially damaged during shifting
or turning or pouring the molten metal.

⚫Strength of the sand depends upon

 The grain size and shape
 Moisture content and density
 Refractoriness
This property is to the
resist temperature of molten high
metal
It depends upon the purity of the
sand particles and their size
Rough and large grain increase
the refractoriness
Poor refractoriness will produce
rough surface in casting
 Collapsibility
⚫After solidification of the molten metal, the
casting is required to be removed from the mould.

⚫If the moulding sand is easily collapsible, free

contraction of the metal as well as easy removal of
the casting is possible.

⚫If the sand is not collapsible, it will strongly adhere

to the casting, becoming very hard to separate after
the metal is solidified and resulting in high cost of
fettling and finishing.
 Mouldind sand preparation
⚫ Following steps are involved in preparation of moulding sand
1. Mixing of sand
2. Tempering of sand
3. Conditioning of sand
⚫ Mixing of sand
⚫ Mixing the sand with binders, additives and moisture
⚫ If small quantity is required mixing is done with
manually using shovels. If large quantity is required
mixing is done by machine called muller.
⚫ Initially remove foreign particles present in the sand by
magnetic separators and screens.
⚫ Then sand clay additives are mixed in the muller
continued till uniform distribution of all ingredients takes
place
 Tempering of sand
⚫ The process of sparying and mixing adequate amount
of water with the sand in the muller is called
tempering.
⚫ It should be ensured that water is evenly
distributed throughout the sand.

Conditioning of sand
⚫ Following steps to be adopted
⚫ 1.Removing foreign materials
⚫ 2.Distributing the binder uniformly
⚫ 3.Controlling the moisture
⚫ 4.Aerating the sand and
⚫ 5. Delivering at proper temperature
 Moulding hand tools

⚫Shovel:
 It is a long steel pan with wooden handle.
 It is used for mixing sand clay and moisture
 It is also used for carrying sand from sand pit
to moulding box
 Moulding hand tools
⚫Riddle
 Steel wire fitted into the circular or square frame
is called riddle.
 Used to remove foreign particles
⚫such as nail, stones etc.
 Used for separating various sizes of sand grains.
 Rammer
 It is used to ram or pack the sand in the box
 It is made up of wood or metal
It has two ends one is in the shape of wedge called
peen end other is in the shape of cylindrical
known as butt end.
 Trowe
l with short wooden handle
⚫It has a metal pan
⚫Pan may be in different shapes
⚫It is used to smoothen the surface of the
mould and repair the damaged portions of
the mould.
 Slick
It is a spoon shaped double ended
trowel.
It is used for repairing small curved or
straight surfaces and round corners of
the mould.
 Strike – off - bar
 It is made up of wood or metal
 It has a straight edge
It is used to remove excess sand from
the mould after ramming
 Lifter
 It is a bend and twisted blade as shown in
fig
Itis used to lift or loose sand from
deep mould
It is also used for repairing and finishing the
cavity and gates.
 Vent wire
 It is a thin steel wire with handle
It is used to make small holes on the
mould after ramming
These holes permit the gases to pass out
when molten metal is poured.
 Sprue pin
 It is a tapered cylindrical wooden pin
 It is used to make a sprue hold in the cope.
The size of the sprue pin depends upon the
size of the mould.
Molten metal passes through this sprue hole
to the cavity.
 Riser pin
 It is also a tapered wooden rod
 Its size is smaller than the sprue pin
 It is used to make a riser in the cope
box
 Gate cutter
It is a bend type sheet of
metal which is used to cut
gates.
Gate is a passage between
the cavity and runner
 Draw spike
It is a pointed or threaded steel
rod with a ring at one end.
It is used to remove the
pattern from the mould
 Swa
 It is a small brushb
 It is used to apply water around the
pattern
It is used to sweep away the dust from the
pattern or excessive sand from mould joint
or used to give coating over the pattern.
 Bellows
 Used to blow off loose sand
particles from mould and
pattern
 Mallet
 It is a wooden hammer.
It is used to drive the draw spike in
to the pattern then lifts the pattern
from mould
 Moulding
⚫It is a
boxes
frame or box of wood or
metal which is used to hold the
moulding sand
⚫Moulding box may be in two or
three parts.
⚫Top part is called – cope box
⚫Middle box is called - cheek
⚫Bottom box is called - drag
Types of Moulding Boxes
 Core and Core making

Core is a body made of sand which is

used to make a cavity or a hole in a casting.
The shape of the core is similar to that of
the cavity in the casting to be made.
Itis also used to make recess,
projections, undercuts and internal cavities.
 Essential qualities of a core
 Permeability:
 This quality allows the steam and gases to pass
through it when the molten metal is poured.
 This property is given by uniform rounded grain of the
sand.
 It depends up on the type and content of the binder
 Refractoriness:
 Withstanding in high temperature is called refractoriness
 This property may be increased by giving a thin coating
of graphite or similar metal to the surface of the core
 Strength
 This property depends upon the sand and binder
 This property can be increased by using sand with
sharper grains together
 Essential quality of the core
 Collapsibility
 Lacks of this property leads to formation of
cracks in the casting when the molten metal
cools.
 It can be increased by using oil binders in
core sand.
 Stability
⚫Core should not expand or contract much due
to heat.
⚫Then only it will give true shape of the cavity.
 Types of Cores
 According to the state of core
1. Green sand core
2. Dry sand core
 According to the position of core in the
mould
 Horizontal core
 Vertical core
 Balanced core
 Hanging core
 Drop core
 Horizontal core

 Core is placed horizontally in the mould.

 It is very commonly used in foundries
 It is in cylindrical shapes
 It is supported in core seats at both ends
 Vertical core

These cores are positioned vertically in

the mould.
Two ends of the core rest on core seats in
cope and drag
 Major portion of the core rests in the drag
box.
 Balancing core

 This type of core is supported and balanced from

its end only.
 It requires long core seat so that the core does not
fall into the mould.
 It is used to produce blind holes along the
horizontal axis
 Hanging Core

These cores are supported at the top and hung

into the mould.
 It has no support from bottom.
It is used when a cored casting is to be
completely moulded in the drag with the help
of single piece pattern.
 Drop core

 This is used when a hole is not in line with

the parting surface is to be produced.
 Hole may be above or below the parting line of
the mould
 Depending upon the use, it may be called as
tail core, chair core or saddle core.
 Various methods of testing of moulding sand
 Moisture content test
 Clay content test
 Grain finess test
 Permeability test
 Strength test
 Deformation and toughness test
 Hot strength test
 Refractoriness test
 Mould hardness test.
 Moisture content test
ure
nt
 Moisture content test
The natural water content also called the natural moisture content is the ratio of the weight of
water to the weight of the solids in a given mass of soil. This ratio is usually expressed as
percentage.

APPARATUS REQUIRED
1. Non-corrodible air-tight container.
2. Electric oven, maintain the temperature between 1050 C to 1100 C.
3. Desiccators.
4. Balance of sufficient sensitivity.

PROCEDURE
1. Clean the container with lid dry it and weigh it (W1).
2. Take a specimen of the sample in the container and weigh with lid (W2).
3. Keep the container in the oven with lid removed. Dry the specimen to constant weight
maintaining the temperature between 1050 C to 1100 C for a period varying with the type of soil
but usually 16 to 24 hours.
4. Record the final constant weight (W3) of the container with dried soil sample. Peat and other
organic soils are to be dried at lower temperature (say 600 ) possibly for a longer period.
Clay content test
 Determination of Clay Content of Moulding Sand

Objective: To determine the moisture and clay contents of prepared moulding sand.

Materials and Equipment

1. Weighing balance 2. Oven 3. Prepared moulding sand 4. Water 5. Desiccator
6. Pan 7. Sand stirrer 8. Wash bottle 9. Distilled water 10. 3% NaOH

Procedure
1. Place a small quantity of moulding sand in an oven at 105 °C. Allow it to stay in the oven till all
the water content has evaporated.
2. Separate 50 g of the dried moulding sand and transfer the same to a washed bottle
3. Add 475 cm3 of distilled water and 25 cm3 of 3 % NaOH solution
4. Using a rapid sand stirrer, agitate the whole mixture for about 10 minutes on an agitator.
5. Top up the washed bottle with water up to the mark indicated on it and stir the constituents
thoroughly.
6. Allow about 10 minutes for the sand to settle; siphon out the water from the wash bottle. The
clay content dissolves in the water (due to stirring action) and gets removed along with the water.
7. Repeat steps 5 and 6 till the water over the settled sand is clean. This assures that the whole of
the clay content has been removed from the sand
8. Dry the settled sand and weigh it.
9. The clay content can be determined from the difference in weights of the initial and final sand
samples.
Grain fineness test
 Grain fineness test
 Test is carried out on completely dry and clay free sand
 Apparatus has a set of known values of graded sieves placed one
over other in the order of decreasing sieve sizes from top to
bottom.
 Top is the coarsest one and the bottom is the finest one.
 Pan is placed at the bottom sieve
 Now the entire sieve is vibrated continuously for 15 minutes.
 Now the amount of sand in each sieve is weighed.
 The percentage distribution is found and it is multiplied by
factor called multiplication factor
 Each product is added and divided by the total percentage of
sand retained on the pan and each sieve to obtain AFS FINENESS
NUMBER.
⚫ AFS grain fineness number = total product /
total percentage of sand retained on pan and each
sieve.
Sieve No 6 1 20 30 40 50 70 100 140 200 270
2
Multiplic 3 5 10 20 30 40 50 70 100 140 200
ation
factor
 Permeability test
Permeability is defined as the
tendency of sand Which
allows the escape of gases
or air through it when the
molten metal is poured in
to the mould.

⚫ Procedure to test

First sand clay and water

Mixed thoroughly to
ensure Uniform
distribution.
 Permeability test

⚫ Using the apparatus , standard sand specimen of size 50.8 X

50.8 mm is prepared.

⚫ This specimen is placed under the specimen pusher

⚫ Pressure is appliedby the weight through the specimen

pusher over the moulding sand.

⚫ The applied pressure is measured by the dial gauge.

⚫ After applying sudden impact with a particular pressure the

moulding sand gets compressed to a standard height and
diameter of 50.8 X 50.8mm in a cylindrical form
 Standard test method for determining
permeability
 2000 cc air is filled in the bell jar. This air is allowed
to pass through the sand specimen
 Level of mercury in the manometer changes to
this pressure
 At some time the air entering through the specimen
is equal to the air escaped through the specimen.
 This time there is no change in the mercury level in
the manometer
 Time is taken simultaneously for this period of
2000cc sending through the specimen using stop
watch.
⚫ This specimen to be tested for permeability by using the given
formula
⚫ Permeability number = VH/APT
⚫ Where V – volume of air passed through the specimen = 2000cc
⚫ H – height of the specimen = 50.8 mm
⚫ A –Area of the specimen = 3.14/4 X 50.82
⚫ T = time taken by 2000 cc of air
⚫ P = pressure measured by gauge
 Strength test
⚫ Compressive strength test
⚫ Shear strength test
⚫ Tensile strength test
 Universal Sand Strength Machine.

Universal Sand Strength Machine determines the strength properties of clay and/or chemically
bonded foundry sand specimens.
This strength machine applies pressure on a sand specimen until failure to calculate the maximum
force needed to break the specimen and then digitally displays the test results.
It is used to test the tensile strength and compressive strength of materials.
 Deformation and toughness test

⚫ Deformation is defined as the plasticity of sand that can be

tested by reducing the length of the specimen applying
compressive force on it.
⚫ Higher deformation indirectly indicates the better capacity of
the mould which means it can with stand hydrostatic pressure
as well as volumetric contraction of the moulding sand.
⚫ The deformation of green compressive strength provides the
quality of sand mix termed as toughness
⚫ Therefore toughness number can be determines as
⚫ Toughness number = deformation X green compressive
strength
⚫ Toughness refers to the ability of sand to withstand rough
handling and strain when the pattern is with drawn.
 Refractoriness Test
 Cylindrical specimen of standard dimension is made on
a sand specimen tester.
 This specimen is placed under the fire for nearly
about 2hrs at 1550 o C continuously.
 Note down the change in dimension and
appearance
 If the change in dimension is less than or equal to 7% it
will indicate a good refractory sand specimen
shape.
 A less refractory sand specimen is indicated by more
shrinkage and distortion of the specimen.
 Mould hardness test
⚫ Surface hardness indicates the ramming density of the actual
sand mould.

⚫ The hardness of the moulding sand is tested in an

indentation hardness tester.

⚫ The specimen is taken out and the dimension of the

indentation is measured.

⚫ It can be determined as follows

P
⚫ Mould hardness number = ----------------

D – D2 –

d2
Moulding Methods
 Moulding machines
Types of moulding
machines

⚫ Jolting machine

⚫ Squeezing machine

⚫ Sand slinger
 SQUEEZING MACHINE

Sand is compressed through the application of compressed air or other suitable force
transmitted through a piston-table arrangement which squeezes the sand against a platen.

The principle of operation of a top squeezer machine is illustrated in the above figure.
The pattern 2 is placed on a mould board which is clamped on the table 1.
The flask 3 is then placed on the mould board and the sand frame 4 on the flask.
The flask and frame are filled with moulding sand and leveled off.
Next the table is raised by the table lift mechanism against the platen 5 on the stationary
squeezer head 6.
The platen enters the sand frame upto the dotted line and compacts the moulding sand.
After the squeeze, the table returns to its initial position.
 JOLTING MACHINE

In the jolt machine moulding, the flask is first filled with the moulding sand and
then the table supporting the flask is mechanically raised and dropped in
succession.
Due to the sudden change in inertia at the end of each fall, the sands get packed
and rammed.
The action of raising and sudden dropping the table is called “jolting”.
 Sand slinger

Sand slinger :- In the slinging operation, the consolidation and

ramming are obtained by the impact of sand which falls at a very
high velocity.

The principle of a sand slinger is illustrated in the above figure.

The overhead impeller head consists of the housing 1 in which
the blade 2 rotates at a very high speed. The sand is delivered to
the impeller through the opening 3 by means of conveyor
buckets. The impeller head by the rotation of the blade throws
the sand through the outlet 4 down into the flask over the
pattern at a rate ranging from 500 to 2,000 kg per min. The
density of the sand can be controlled by the speed of the blade.
Special Casting Processes
⚫ Shell Moulding
⚫ Lost Wax Process
⚫ Ceramic Moulding
⚫ Permanent Mould
Casting
⚫ Centrifugal Casting
⚫ Sodium Silicate Moulding
⚫ Stir Casting
Shell Moulding
 Shell Mould Casting Process
•A two-piece metal pattern is created in the shape of the desired part, typically from iron or steel.
•Other materials are sometimes used, such as aluminum for low volume production or graphite for
casting reactive materials.

•Mould creation: Each pattern half is heated to 175-370 °C (350-700 °F) and coated with a
lubricant to facilitate removal. The heated pattern is clamped to a dump box, which contains a
mixture of fine silica sand and a thermosetting phenolic resin binder. The dump box is inverted,
allowing this sand-resin mixture to coat the pattern. The heated pattern partially cures the mixture,
which forms a shell around the pattern. Depending on the time and temperature of the pattern,
the thickness of the shell is 10 to 20 mm. Each pattern half and surrounding shell is cured to
completion in an oven giving it a tensile strength of 350 to 450 psi (2.4 to 3.1 MPa), and
then the shell is ejected from the pattern.

Shell Mould
•Mould assembly: The two shell halves are joined together and securely clamped to
form the complete shell mould. If any cores are required, they are inserted prior to
closing the mould.
•The shell mould is then placed into a flask and supported by a backing material.

•Pouring: The mould is securely clamped together while molten metal is poured from a ladle
into the gating system to fill the mould cavity.

•Cooling: After the mould has been filled, the molten metal is allowed to cool and solidify
into the shape of the final casting.

•Casting removal: After the molten metal has cooled, the mould can be broken and the
casting removed.

Trimming and cleaning processes are required to remove any excess metal
from the feed system and any sand remaining from the mould.
 Shell Moulding

⚫ Advantages

1. The amount of sand used is only one-twentieth of the sand used in

sand casting.

2. Can be easily adapted to mass production using automatic

equipments that will require minimum of skilled labour.

3. Shell moulds can be kept for a long time because cured resins do not
absorb moisture.

4. Shell moulds have relatively smooth walls, offering low resistance

to fl ow of molten metal and producing castings with sharper corners,
thinner sections, and smaller projections that are impossible to
achieve in green-sand moulding.
 Shell Moulding

5. Shell moulds have relatively smooth walls and, therefore, castings

with a very smooth surface can be obtained. (In the order of 3 to 5
microns is common.)
6. Use of cores is eliminated by forming internal cavities in the shell
mould itself.
7. Almost all metals can be cast by this process.

8. Complex shapes can be produced by employing relatively less

labour.
9. Castings are more accurate and have closer tolerances. In most cases,
tolerance values range between ± 0.20 to.± 0.35 mm.
10.High quality of casting produced leads to saving on cleaning,
machining and other finishing operation costs.
 Shell Moulding

Disadvantages

1. Shell sand has lower permeability than the sand used in green-
sand moulding as much finer sand is used in shell moulding.
Further, the decomposition of the shell-sand binder produces a
high volume of gas; trapped gas can cause serious problems in
ferrous castings.

2. The size of casting is generally a limitation. However, castings up

to 500 kg have been shell moulded nowadays.

3. Cost of pattern, resin, and other equipment is high. Generally,

this process is economical only if more than 15,000 castings are to
be produced.
 Shell Moulding

⚫ Applications
Small mechanical parts requiring high precision such as
⚫ gear blanks,

⚫ chain seat brackets,

⚫ crank shafts (small),

⚫ automobile transmission parts,

⚫ cylinder and cylinder head for air cooled IC engines,

etc.
Investment Casting(or) Precision casting
(or) Lost-wax casting
⚫ Steps Involved
1. Pattern making:

2. Pattern investment: refractory ceramic material

3. Pattern melting and removal:

4. Investment hardening:

5. Metal pouring and fettling of castings:

Investment Casting
A. Creating the Pattern
It utilizes a pattern with the same details as the finished part, except that there is an allowance for
thermal contraction (i.e. shrinking).
Patterns are typically made of wax using a metal injection die.

B. Mounting the Wax Patterns and Creating the Tree

Once a wax pattern is produced, it is assembled with other wax components to form the gate and
runner metal delivery system.
Depending on the size and configuration of the desired finish component, multiple wax patterns may
be processed using a single tree.

C. Creating the Mold Shell

The entire wax pattern assembly is dipped in a ceramic slurry, covered with sand stucco, and allowed
to dry.
Cycles of wet dipping and subsequent stuccoing are repeated until a shell of the desired thickness is
created. That thickness is partly dictated by product size and configuration.
Once the ceramic shell has dried, it becomes sufficiently strong to retain the molten metal during
casting.
D. Wax Removal
The entire assembly is placed in a steam autoclave to melt away most of the wax.
Any remaining wax soaked into the ceramic shell is burned out in a furnace. At this point, the residual
wax pattern and gating material have been completely removed and the ceramic mold remains with a
cavity in the shape of the desired cast part.
This high-temperature operation also increases the strength and stability of the ceramic material.
In addition, it helps to minimize the reaction of the shell and metal during pouring.

E. Melt and Cast

The mold is preheated to a specific temperature and filled with molten metal, creating the metal casting.
Nearly any alloy can be produced using this process. Either air melting or vacuum melting may be
employed as dictated by the alloy chemistry. Vacuum melting is utilized mainly when reactive elements are
present in the alloy.

F. Final Operations
Once the casting has cooled sufficiently, the mold shell is broken away from the casting in a knockout
operation.
The gates and runners are cut from the casting, and if necessary, final post-processing sandblasting,
grinding, and machining is performed to finish the casting dimensionally.
Non-destructive testing may include fluorescent penetrant, magnetic particle, radiographic, or other
inspections. Final dimensional inspections, alloy test results, and NDT are verified prior to shipment.
 Investment Casting
Advantages
1. Most ferrous and non-ferrous metals can be cast.

This process is particularly suitable for casting of

alloys that are expensive, hard, difficult-to-machine,
and have high melting point and high strength.

2. It is possible to produce intricate shaped

parts weighing from 1g to 10 kg.

3. It is possible to produce parts as big as 1.5 m

in diameter with as thin walls as 1 mm.
 Investment Casting
Advantages
4.The parts produced have good surface finish with
matte appearance and close dimensional tolerances of
the order of ±5microns.

5. The parts produced do not normally need any

further machining or finishing operations.

6.This process is adaptable to automated mass

production.
 Investment Casting
Disadvantages
1. The moulds can only be used once.

2. The process is comparatively slow.

3. The costs incurred due to the investment material

and needed skill of labour are high.

4.The process is generally limited to small size and light

weight castings.
 Investment Casting
Applications

1. The process is particularly advantageous for making

small precision parts of intricate shapes.

2. Typical parts made from this process are mechanical

components such as gears, cams, valves, turbine
blades, turbo-supercharge buckets and vanes of jet
propelled engines.
Centrifugal Casting
Semi Centrifugal Casting
Centrifuging
 Centrifugal Casting
Advantages

1. Relatively very light impurities move inwards towards center. So they can
be removed easily thus helping in producing sound castings.

2. Gates and risers are not needed.

3. This technique is best suited for the mass production of symmetrical objects and
Castings yield is very high in some cases it is even equal to 100%.

4. Castings acquire high density, high mechanical strength and fine grained structure.

5. Inclusions and impurities are lighter.

6. These castings have a directional solidification starting from outside to inside.

 Centrifugal Casting
⚫ Drawbacks

1. Skilled labors are to be employed for this process.

2. An inaccurate diameter of the inner surface of the casting.

3. Only some shapes can be generated by this casting

process.

4. Not all alloys can be cast in this way.

5. Centrifugal castings require very high investments.

 Continuous Casting
⚫ Continuous casting, also called strand casting, is the

process whereby molten metal is solidified into a

"semifinished" billet, bloom, or slab for subsequent

rolling in the finishing mills. ... This process is used most

frequently to cast steel (in terms of tonnage cast).

 Continuous Casting
⚫ Used in general for the production of rods, pipes, sheet
metal and other articles known as semifinished
products in an uninterrupted process

⚫ Main feature of the process is the pouring of molten

steel through a tower nearly 300 m high; this replaces
the casting of ingots, the removal of moulds from
ingots, the reheating of ingots and their primary rolling
 Continuous Casting
⚫ Molten steel coming out from the furnace is accumulated in

a ladle.

⚫ After undergoing requisite ladle treatments, such as alloying

and degassing, and arriving at the correct temperature, the

ladle is transported to the top of the continuous casting set-
up.

⚫ From the ladle, the hot metal is transferred via a refractory

shroud (pipe) to a holding bath called a tundish.

 Continuous Casting
⚫ The tundish holds enough metal to provide a
continuous fl ow to the mold, even while exchanging
ladles.

⚫ The tundish can also serve as a refining vessel to fl oat

detrimental inclusions (foreign solid particles composed
of brittle oxides) to the top surface.
 Continuous Casting
⚫ Metal is then allowed to pass through a open base
copper mold. The mold is water-cooled to solidify the
hot metal directly in contact with it and removed from
the other side of the mold.

⚫ The continuous casting process is used for casting metal

directly into billets or other similar shapes that can be
used for rolling.
 Continuous Casting
⚫ The molten metal is then tapped from the tundish and travels
downward through Water-cooled copper molds, and begins to
solidify; it is drawn through the molds at a constant velocity
by rollers (called pinch rolls).

⚫ Before starting the casting process, a solid starter bar (dummy

bar) is inserted into the bottom of the mold.

⚫ When the molten metal is first poured, it freezes onto the

dummy bar. The bar is withdrawn at the same rate at which
the metal is poured.
 Continuous Casting
⚫ The cooling rate is such that the metal develops a solidified skin
(shell), so as to support itself during its travel downward, typically at
speeds of about 25 mm/s.

⚫ The shell thickness at the exit end of the mold is about 12 to 18 mm.

⚫ Additional cooling is provided by water sprays along the travel path

of the solidifying metal. The molds generally are coated with
graphite or similar solid lubricants in order to reduce both friction
and adhesion at the mold-metal interfaces.

⚫ Also, the moulds are vibrated in order to reduce friction and

sticking.
 Continuous Casting

⚫ The continuously cast metal may be cut into desired

lengths by shearing or computer-controlled torch cutting,

or it may be fed directly into a rolling mill for further
reduction in thickness and for the shaping of products such
as channels and I-beams.

⚫ In addition to costing less, continuously cast metals have

more uniform compositions and properties than those

obtained by ingot casting.
Continuous Casting - Advantages
⚫ considerable energy savings

⚫ less scrap produced,

⚫ improved yield

⚫ improved labor productivity

⚫ improved quality of steel reduced pollution

⚫ reduced capital costs

⚫ increased use of purchased scrap when output is

maximized
Continuous Casting – Disadvantages
⚫ Continuous and capable cooling of moulds is
required, else centerline shrinkage devlops

⚫ Just simple shapes can cast, which should have a

stable cross section

⚫ Large capital investment is necessary to set up process

⚫ Not proper for small amount of production

⚫ Requires large ground space