ROSE-HULMAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

ME 317 MINIPROECT 3:
MANUFACTURING
SCAVENGER HUNT
Alex Fitts, Brandon Hennessey, Jacob Carducci, Chengjun Liang

Investment Casting:
Example part: Aftermarket aluminum coolant elbow that allows coolant to pass
through the intake manifold and belt tensioner in a GM 3800 engine. Its purpose is
to replace the weak plastic elbows that GM installed and had a reputation for
blowing out at the bend.

Evidence that this part was made via investment casting is the smooth surface
finish, lack of machining marks as well as a lack of interior parting line. Although
there is a very thin parting line around the exterior we believe this is an articat of
the wax molding process to create a hollow shape out of two separate half tubes. It
is also possible that the wax version of this part was created with some sort of die,
creating the exterior parting line and some form of insert creating the interior
without a parting line. The lack or ejector pin artifacts may be due to a slower or
more manual form of creating the wax version in the die. The thicker area on this
line appears to be cut with a saw and is most likely the location at which the metal
flowed through to the rest of the part in both the wax molding process and the
actual investment cast part. and connected it to a tree consisting of many more of
the same part.

This part could be die cast but would require secondary actions in the die to create
the interior cavity and would leave marks from ejector pins which would be unsighly
on this aftermarket piece. As mentioned before the Wax version may have been
created via some form of die casting but these parts are not in such high demand
that they must be produced constantly at a high enough rate to justify die casting.

Injection Molding:
Example part: A Contigo water bottle, made with a thicker set plastic to
handle the wear and tear of everyday activities
The profile of the water bottle is shown below:

Fig. 1: Profile of bottle

Evidence of the bottle being an injection molded part can be seen on the
bottom of the bottle:

Fig. 2: Close-up of bottom of bottle showing injection molding point

The center point shows that the bottle is injected from the bottom of the
bottle. The parting line can be seen along the edge of the bottle running
down the side, however, it has been machined down so the feel of the line is
not prominent and it is harder to see. It is clear that the die halves come
together vertically with the bottle. This is a quick and simple process ideal for
this type of situation as the bottle can be made cheap and easy and plentiful.
Another possible process that this can be made with could be using injection
blow molding. If this were the case, the plastic may be thinner than what we
have with the current bottle and process. This may lead to a lack of
durability, but may speed up the processing of the bottles, making them
cheaper.

Sand Casting:
C-clamp: A common type of clamp device typically
used to hold a wood or metal work piece. At the top of the
C is usually a small flat edge. At the bottom is a threaded
hole through which a large threaded screw protrudes. When
the clamp is completely closed, the flat end of the screw is in
contact with the flat end on the frame. Objects will be
contained between the top and bottom flat edges.

We can see the parting line on sand casting (as shown below). It is much thinner
than the parting line of a typical forged part. The rough surface of the C-clamp is
another feature of sand casting.

Parting
line

Sand casting can form complex geometries. Intricate shapes with undercuts,
reentrants angles of this C-clamp can be manufactured by sand casting.
Additionally, sand casing has low tooling and equipment costs.
One alternative manufacturing method for this C-clamp could be forging with
the hole made by secondary operation. This should provide the clamp with
additional directional strength along its length with a relatively smooth finish;
however, the tooling and processing costs would be incredibly expensive compared
to sand casting.

Forging:

Example part: A Crosby eye hoist hook, most likely used by a crane or hoist
as an attachment point for a load intended to be lifted or lowered by the
device.
The overall form of the hook is shown below:

Fig. 1: Front side of hook

Evidence of this being a forged piece is due to its unusually large parting line
as shown:

Fig. 2: Close-up of parting line feature on left side of hook

Though secondary machining is apparent, the parting line is still noticeable
as shown on Figure 2. Since the parting line exists around the outline of the
part if looking from the perspective of Figure 1, the direction of the die
pressing must be into and out of the page. As a result, the grain of the metal
follows the direction of the hook along its length. This is important for a load-

bearing piece like this since the mechanical properties (i.e. strength) of the
metal will end up performing the best in the direction of loading as opposed
to the weaker direction-independent mechanical properties of a cast part. As
a result, the forged part will be stronger and better suited to carry the
intended load.
If the load is not significantly large, a hook like this could actually be made
from sand casting. The hook would still have some high strength
characteristics and could allow for greater design freedom. However, the
hook will end up being weaker in the loading direction than a forged hook
and will have a much grainer surface finish that may require secondary
machining to remove if needed.
Stamping:
Example part: Side panel of a desktop computer case intended as a
protective cover for the electronic components inside. This panel can also be
easily removed for quick access to said components.
The overall shape of the stamped piece is shown below.

Fig. 1: Back view of the desktop case side panel

Evidence of this panel being a stamped part is the numerous instances of
three-dimensional features like the hooks shown in Figure 2 being bent into
place without the need for fasteners.

Fig. 2: Close-up of folded and bent features (i.e. hooks) at the bottom left
corner of side panel
In fact, the entire panel appears to be fabricated from a single sheet of metal
with a uniform thickness, which is a major characteristic of most stamped
parts discussed in class. This part is also most likely not forged or cast since
there is no parting line on this piece whatsoever and has no need for
additional strength. Additional, the part cant be extruded since the crosssection in any given direction is not consistent to indicate that the part was
pushed through a die. The most likely reason for the use of stamping for a
side panel would be to reduce the amount of costly secondary processes like
joining or parts needed to fabricate this panel. Since the only functions are to
protect and remove easily, bending the sheet metal into hooks around its
edge would fulfill these functions in a cost-effective way.
Alternatively, this panel, especially hooks, could have been made by bolting
or welding several blanked pieces of sheet metal together. This may
eliminate the need to bend the metal panel and still fulfill the desired
functions, but it will be much harder to disassemble and require way more
parts.
Die Casting:
Example part: Out-the-front pocket knife casing. Its purpose is to house the blade,
slider, movable button and springs to allow blade to spring out and be retracted
without falling apart or causing inguries.

Evidence that this part was made via Die casting are the numerous marks left from
ejector pins. Due to the somewhat complex interior shape shown in the bottom
picture, we believe a slider was used to create the undercut forming the rail that
holds the slider in place. Evidence of this can be seen in the form of a faint line just
below the top right hole.

An alternative method for producing this part could be investment casting. By

producing this part via investment casting, the ejector pin marks would be
eliminated, possibly allowing the two halves of the casing to fit together better. The
reason this method was not used is most likely due to the fact that this piece is
mass produced very cheaply and the manufacturer does not care about the interior
appearance since it is not meant to be opened by the customer.