MME345 Foundry Engineering

Lecture 20

Casting Design Considerations 2

Mould Features and Geometric Features Issues

MME

materials & metallurgical engineering

Prof. A. K. M. Bazlur Rashid

Department of MME, BUET, Dhaka

Introduction
Successful casting practice requires proper control of a large number of
variables

characteristics of the metals (or alloys) casts

method of casting
mould/die materials
mould/die design, and
various process parameters

Flow of the molten metal in the mould cavities, the gating systems, the
rate of cooling, and the gases evolved would influence the quality of a
casting
All casting operations share the characteristics of phase change and
thermal shrinkage during the casting cycle
But each process will have its own design considerations

Design Considerations in Casting

The general design considerations in casting include:
1. Design the part so that the shape is cast easily.
2. Select a casting process and material suitable for the part, size,
mechanical properties, etc.
3. Locate the parting line of the mould in the part.
4. Locate and design the gates to allow uniform feeding of the mould
cavity with molten metal.
5. Select appropriate feeder geometry for the system.
6. Locate mould features, such as sprue and feeders, as appropriate.
7. Make sure proper controls and good practices are in place.
Two types of design issues in casting:
1. Geometric features and tolerances incorporated into the part
2. Mould features that are needed to produce the desired casting

Design Issue: Mould Features

1. Parting line
2. Directional solidification
3. Pattern withdrawal (Draft/taper allowances)
4. Dimensional tolerance (machining, shrinkage allowances)
5. Surface finish
6. Core design (core elimination)

Parting Line
A part should be oriented in a
mould so that the large portion of
the casting is relatively low and
the height of the casting is
minimized.
In general, the parting line should
be along a flat plane rather than
be contoured.
The parting line should be placed
as low as possible relative to the
casting for less dense metal
(such as aluminum alloys) and
located at around mid-height for
denser metals (such as steels).

Figure 20.1 Redesign of a casting by making the

parting line straight to avoid defects.

Figure 20.2 (Top left) Design where the location of the parting plane is
specified by the draft. (Top right) Part with draft unspecified. (Bottom)
Various options to produce the top-right part, including a no-draft design.

Internal Soundness Directional Solidification

Core Elimination

Design Issue: Geometric Features

1. Jointed sections (Eliminating hot spots)
2. Surface integrity
3. Design for functionality and reduced weight

Joined Sections

Figure 11-23 Using staggered ribs to prevent cracking during cooling.

Ribs

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Surface Integrity
Rules for changing section size
Rule A:

Sharp re-entrant angles or small fillets are not recommended (Fig. 29A and B)

Rule B:

A fair design results if both sections have a common centre line provided they
are joined by a 15 deg taper or by a radius of 1 inch or more (Fig. 29 C and D)

Rule C:

The best design is one in which the change in section takes place entirely on
one side of the thinner section (Fig. 29E and F), and in which the junction is
designed according to Fig. 30.

Rules for joining cylindrical sections of different diameter

Rule A:

If d = 25 mm and D = 41 mm then join with a 15 deg taper

Rule B:

If d = 25 mm and D = 51 mm, then join with a fillet having 12.5 to 28 mm radius

Rule C:

If d = 13 mm and D = 41 mm, then do not join

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Figure 30 Typical guidelines for section change transitions in castings.

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Design for Functionality and Reduced Weight

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MME345 Foundry Engineering

Lecture 21

Casting Design Considerations 3

Gating and Feeding Design Issues

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