NED UNIVERSITY OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY

DEPARTMENT: Materials Engineering

COURSE TITLE: MM-203: Melting and Casting of Materials
FALL SEMESTER: 2012
TEACHER: Engr. Humair Ahmed / Engr. Faaz Butt.
Text Book;
1) P L Jain, PRINCIPLES OF FOUNDRY TECHNOLOGY 2009; English: 5th ed.
References;
1. C. W. Ammen, METALCASTING, 1999.
2. ASM HandBook - Vol 15 - Casting (2002s).
2. Peter, Beeley FOUNDRY TECHNOLOGY, Butterworth-Heinemann; 2nd ed., 2006
3. Chakrabarti, A K, CASTING TECHNOLOGY AND CAST ALLOYS, 2005.
5. Heine, R.W., et.al., PRINCIPLES OF METAL CASTING, 3rd. ed., Tata McGraw-Hill
Publ., 1979.
Evaluation;
1. Popup Quizzes (approx. 5): 5%.
2. Test: 10%.
3. Assignment: 10%.
4. Attendance: 5%
4. Final examination: 70%
SYNOPSIS OF COURSE:
x This course is one of the most important and interesting subject for Materials
Engineering students.
x It is advancement from the previously taught subject, the manufacturing processes for
materials (MM-206).
x The subject comprises a more emphasis on the manufacturing techniques by casting
process.
x It covers bigger spectrum for manufacture products by the casting techniques with
require attributes specify for certain purpose such as intricacy, features detail,
soundness and others.
REMEMBER!!!!
The true art of memory is the art of attention
Samuel Johnson
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CASTING OF MATERIALS
The metal casting industry plays a key role in all the majorsectors of our economy.
There are castings in locomotives, cars trucks, aircraft, office buildings, factories,
schools, and homes.
Metal Casting is one of the oldest materials shaping methods known.
Casting means pouring molten metal into a mold 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 mold either by breaking
the mold or taking the mold apart. The solidified object is called the casting.
By this process, intricate parts can be given strength and rigidity frequently not
obtainable by any other manufacturing process.
The mold, into which the metal is poured, is made of some heat resisting material.
Sand is most often used as it resists the high temperature of the molten metal.
Permanent molds of metal can also be used to cast products.
Advantages
The metal casting process is extensively used in manufacturing because of its many
advantages.
1. Molten material can flow 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.
2. It is possible to cast practically any material that is ferrous or non-ferrous.
3. As the metal can be placed exactly where it is required, large saving in weight can be
achieved.
4. 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.
5. There are certain parts made from metals and alloys that can only be processed this way.
6. Size and weight of the product is not a limitation for the casting process.
Limitations
1. Dimensional accuracy and surface finish of the castings made by sand casting processes
are a limitation to this technique. Many new casting processes have been developed which
can take into consideration the aspects of dimensional accuracy and surface finish. Some of
these processes are die casting process, investment casting process, vacuum-sealed molding
process, and shell molding process.
2. The metal casting process is a labor intensive process
METAL CASTINGS
Metal castings form integral components of devices that perform useful functions for human
beings:





The cast component has a shape, size, chemical composition and metallurgical
microstructure which is determined by engineering decisions arrived at by:
A. Design Engineers (Mechanical Engineers)
B. Pattern Makers (Skilled craftsman, CAD)
C. Casting Engineers (Materials/Metallurgical Engineers)
D. Manufacturing Engineers (Mechanical, Materials/Metallurgical Engineers)
It should be noted that the casting may only be a small part of the useful device
(usually in more sophisticated devices like an automobile where there may be
hundreds of components), or it may be the entire device (simple device like a frying
pan).
Metal Casting Process
The metal casting process is the simplest, most direct route to a near net shape
product, and often the least expensive.
This process in its fundamental form requires a mold cavity of the desired shape and
molten metal to pour into the mold cavity.
Humans beings have been producing castings for thousands of years, most often
pouring molten metal into molds made of sand.
This is schematically shown below, a figure defining the basic components of a mold
cavity (cope, drag, parting line, riser, sprue, pouring basin, etc)

Engineering skills are used to help design a system which will allow the metal caster
to produce a sound (pore free) casting, free from defects (sand inclusions, slag,
cracks, etc.), with the correct dimensions and combination of mechanical properties to
satisfy the designers requirements for the intended application.
Producing a good casting requires a design effort to:
1. Create a gating system (pouring basin, sprue, runner) to bring molten metal into the
mold cavity free from entrapped slag, sand or gases.
2. Provide a riser which feeds liquid metal into the casting cavity as the liquid is cooling and
solidifying (all liquid metals will shrink as they cool and most liquid metals will shrink as
they solidify). The riser may have to provide up to 5 - 7% by volume for the casting as it
solidifies.
3. Control heat flow, out of the casting so that the last liquid to solidify is in the riser.
4. Control the rate of heat flow so as to control the nature of the solidified product.
Modern industrial castings are produced by a wide variety of processes, processes which are
broadly defined in terms of:
I. The type of mold material (sand, permanent, etc.);
II. The manner in which the molten metal is introduced into the cavity (gravity,
pressure, vacuum);
III. The state of the metal (percent which is liquid);
IV. The state of the mold cavity itself (air, vacuum, solid, gas).












EXPENDABLE MOLD CASTING
Expendable mold casting is a process that refers to temporary, non-reusable molds that have
to be broken to remove the materials cast. Expendable casting uses a variety of materials for
the mold - plaster, concrete, resins, and wax.
1) Sand casting
Sand casting is one of the most popular and simplest types of casting that has been used for
centuries. Sand casting allows for smaller batches to be made compared to permanent mold
casting and at a very reasonable cost. Not only does this method allow manufacturers to
create products at a low cost, but there are other benefits to sand casting, such as very small
size operations. From castings that fit in the palm of your hand to train beds (one casting can
create the entire bed for one rail car), it can all be done with sand casting. Sand casting also
allows most metals to be cast depending on the type of sand used for the molds.
The sand is bonded together using clays, chemical binders, or polymerized oils (such as
motor oil). Sand can be recycled many times in most operations and requires little
maintenance.
2) Shell molding
Shell molding is similar to sand casting, but the molding
cavity is formed by a hardened "shell" of sand instead of
flask filled with sand. The sand is finer than sand casting
sand and is mixed with a resin so that it can be heated by
the pattern and harden into a shell around the pattern.
Because of the resin it gives a much finer surface finish.
The process is easily automated and more precise than
sand casting. This process is ideal for complex items
that are small to medium sized.


3) Investment casting
Investment casting (known as lost-wax casting in art) is a process that has been practiced for
thousands of years, with the lost-wax process being one of the oldest known metal forming
techniques. From 5000 years ago, when beeswax formed the pattern, to todays high
technology waxes, refractory materials and specialist alloys, the castings ensure high-quality
components are produced with the key benefits of accuracy, repeatability, versatility and
integrity.
Investment casting derives its name
from the fact that the pattern is
invested, or surrounded, with a
refractory material. The wax patterns
require extreme care for they are not
strong enough to withstand forces
encountered during the mold making.
One advantage of investment casting is
that the wax can be reused.
The process is suitable for repeatable
production of net shape components
from a variety of different metals and
high performance alloys. Compared to
other casting processes such as die casting or sand casting, it can be an expensive process,
however the components that can be produced using investment casting can incorporate
intricate contours, and in most cases the components are cast near net shape, so requiring
little or no rework once cast.
4) Evaporative-pattern casting
This is a class of casting processes that use pattern materials that evaporate during the pour,
which means there is no need to remove the pattern material from the mold before casting.
The two main processes are lost-foam casting and full-mold casting.
i. Lost-foam casting
Lost-foam casting is a type of evaporative-pattern casting process that is similar to
investment casting except foam is used for the pattern instead of wax. This process takes
advantage of the low boiling point of foam to simplify the investment casting process by
removing the need to melt the wax out of the mold.
ii. Full-mold casting
Full-mold casting is an evaporative-pattern casting process which is a combination of sand
casting and lost-foam casting. It uses a expanded polystyrene foam pattern which is then
surrounded by sand, much like sand casting. The metal is then poured directly into the mold,
which vaporizes the foam upon contact.

NON-EXPENDABLE CASTING TECHNIQUES
Non-expendable casting involves the use of permanent or long-lasting molds which do not
need to be broken in order to remove the cast material once it has set or cooled.
1) Permanent mold casting
Permanent mold casting uses metal as a mold and requires a set-up time of weeks.
Typically, cast iron or Meehanite (a dense cast iron) is used as the mold material and
the cores are made from metal or sand.
Cavity surfaces are coated with a thin layer of
heat resistant material such as clay or sodium
silicate.
The molds are pre-heated up to 200C before
the metal is poured into the cavity.
When cooling the mold, care has to be taken to
ensure proper thermal balance, by using
external water cooling or appropriate radiation
techniques
The process is highly automated, as the only
necessary input is the coating applied regularly.
Typically, permanent mold casting is used in forming iron, aluminum, magnesium,
and copper based alloys.
Typical parts include gears, splines, wheels, gear housings, pipefittings, fuel injection
housings, and automotive engine pistons.

2) Die Casting
Die-casting is similar to permanent mold
casting except that the metal is injected into
the mold under high pressures. This results in
a more uniform part, generally good surface
finish and good dimensional accuracy.
For many parts, post-machining can be totally
eliminated, or very light machining may be
required to bring dimensions to size.
Die casting molds, called dies, tend to be
expensive as they are made from hardened
steel-also the cycle time for building these
tend to be long.
The die casting method is especially suited for
applications where many small to medium sized parts are needed with good detail, a
fine surface quality and dimensional consistency.
Most die castings are made from nonferrous metals, specifically zinc, copper, and
aluminum based alloys. Stronger and harder metals such as iron and steel cannot be
die-cast.


3) Centrifugal casting
Centrifugal casting is both gravity- and
pressure-independent.
A permanent mold is rotated about its axis at
high speeds (300 to 3000rpm) as the molten
metal is poured.
The molten metal is centrifugally thrown
towards the inside mold wall, where it solidifies
after cooling.
The casting is usually a fine grain casting with
a very fine-grained outer diameter, which is
resistant to atmospheric corrosion, a typical
situation with pipes.
The inside diameter has more impurities and inclusions, which can be machined away.
Typical materials that can be cast with this process are iron, steel, stainless steels, and
alloys of aluminum, copper and nickel.
Continuous casting
In continuous casting, molten metal is poured
into an open-ended, water-cooled copper
mold, which allows a 'skin' of solid metal to
form over the still-liquid centre.
The strand, as it is now called, is withdrawn
from the mold and passed into a chamber of
rollers and water sprays; the rollers support
the thin skin of the strand while the sprays
remove heat from the strand, gradually
solidifying the strand from the outside in.
After solidification, predetermined lengths of
the strand are cut off by either mechanical
shears or travelling oxyacetylene torches and
transferred to further forming processes, or to
a stockpile.
Cast sizes are referred to as strips (which are a few
millimeters thick by about five meter wide), billets
(which can from 90 to 160mm square), and slabs
(which are 1.25m wide by 230mm thick).
Continuous casting represents vast savings in time,
labor, energy, and capital. By casting the steel
directly into semifinished shapes, the following
steps are eliminated: ingot teeming, stripping, and
transfer; soaking pits; and primary rolling.
Continuous casting also increases yield and product quality. Metals such as steel,
copper and aluminium are continuously cast, with steel being the metal with the
greatest tonnages cast using this method.