A

SEMINAR
ON
SPECIAL
CASTING
S
Shell molding
and investment
casting

K N KRISHNAN
NAMBEESAN
ROLL NO: 7

MTECH ,SOE CUSAT

INTRODUCTION
All metals may be cast in sand moulds and
there is no limitation about the size of the
casting which can be made.
Sand casting is having wide applications
(because of low cost)\ however, sand moulds
are single purpose moulds as they are
completely destroyed after the casting has
been removed from the moulding box.
The use of a permanent mould casting would
do a considerable saving in labor cost of
mould making.
Special casting methods are not commonly
employed because of their high initial cost
however special casting methods have
following advantages over conventional sand
casting.
• High production rates.
• Lower production cost.
• Better surface finish.
• Denser and fine grain structure.
• Greater dimensional accuracy.
• More ductile.
• Good quality (less defects).

Classification of special casting

Metal Mould Casting-
(a) Gravity die or permanent mould casting.
(b) Die casting: Hot chamber process, cold
chamber process. (c), Slush casting. ,.
(d) Pressed or corthias casting.
2. Non-Metallic, Mould- Casting
(a) Centrifugal casting
• True centrifugal casting.
• Semi centrifugal casting.
• Centrifuge casting.
(b) Carbon dioxide moulding
(c) Investment mould casting or lost wax
process or precision casting
(d) Shell moulding
(e) Plaster moulding.
3 Continuous Casting
(a) Reciprocating moulds
(b) Stationary moulds
(c) Direct sheet casting.

INVESTMENT CASTING OR LOST WAX

PROCESS OR PRECISION CASTING
This process uses wax pattern which is
subsequently melted from the mould, leaving
a cavity having all the details of the original
pattern (required casting).
1. Pattern wax is injected into metal die to
form a dispensable pattern.
2. Gating Patterns are gated to a sprue to
form a tree or cluster, and base of the
pattern material is attached to the tree.
3. (a) Solid Pattern : A metal flask is put over
the cluster of pattern and sealed to a base
plate to form a container. A hard setting
moulding material is then poured into the
flask, completing the pattern cluster
completely.
(b) Shell Pattern: The ceramic shell is formed
by dipped the clustered patterns in ceramic
slurry and then sprinkling them with a
refractory grain. This procedure is repeated
until the required thickness of the shell is
achieved.
4. Pattern Removal : The flask and shells are
then placed in ovens to bake at a moderate
temperature in order to slowly melt the
embedded patterns. The cavity left in the
mould will receive the poured molten metal.
5. Casting : The flask or shell is inverted and
the metal is poured into the hot mould.
Investment Casting Process.
Procedure
1. Producing a die for making wax pattern
• Dies may be made either by machining
cavities in two or more matching blocks of
steels
or by casting a low melting point alloy around
a (metal) master pattern.
• Dies halves are then sent for necessary
machining and drilling the gate through
which
wax is to be injected for preparing
expendable patterns (wax, plastic, tin, frozen
mercury
in merest process but wax is more commonly
used).
2. Making wax patterns
• The die halves are closed and properly
clamped.
• Molten wax is then forced into die, under
pressure, by means of a wax injection
machine. • Allow cooling and
solidification.
• The die is then opened and the pattern is
removed.
• A lubricant is then sprayed on to the die
surfaces and the same is closed for
casting the next wax pattern (therefore
one wax pattern is used for one piece
only).
3. Assembling the wax patterns
Assemble a number of small wax patterns to
a common wax gating system so that they
can be placed together in one mould (to
increase the. production).
4. Precoating the pattern assembly
• The wax pattern assembly is dipped into a
slurry of a refractory coating material.
A typical slurry consists of 325-mesh silica
flour suspended in a ethyl silicate solution.
• Wax pattern assembly is next, sprinkled
with 40 to 50 AFS (American Foundry
Society) silica sand and is permitted to
dry.
Investing the, wax pattern assembly for
the production of moulds
• This is done by inverting the wax assembly
on the bottom board, surrounding it with a
Paper lined steel flask and pouring the
investment moulding mixture around the
pattern.
The mould material settles by gravity and
completely surround,/the pattern as the work
table is vibrated.
• The moulds are then allowed to dry in air
for 2 to 3 hours.
Removal of wax pattern
 • The wax pattern can be removed from
the mould by two methods
• Place the mould in a furnace in an
inverted position i.e. the sprue
downwards. The wax is melted out due to
heat and collected for reuse."
• In other method, mould is placed in-a
bath of trichloromethylene vapours which
also enable the recovery of wax for reuse.
Pouring and casting
• The mould is again heated at the rate of
40 00 to 70 °C per hour from about 150
°C to 1000 °C for ferrous alloys and 650
°C aluminum alloys.
• Preheating is done
— To remove the wax if any.
— It helps the metal to flout easily and fill up
properly.
— It causes expansion of the mould.
After preheating, the metal is poured into the
investment mould under simple gravitational
force or under the force of applied air
pressure or by centrifugal force.
Cleaning, finishing and inspection
• Each casting is separated from the
assembly and the gates, runner etc. are
removed. • Finishing and inspection of
casting is done.
Advantages of Investment Casting
• High dimensional accuracy of the order of
± 0.08 mm can be attained. ^ A very
smooth surface without parting line.
• Machining can be eliminated.
• Very thin sections can be cast easily (0.76
mm).
• Complex contours and intricate shapes
can be easily cast.
• Die castings can be replaced when short
runs are involved.
• Castings are sound and have large grains
as the rate of cooling is slow. • Complex
 shapes are possible because pattern is
withdrawn by melting it.
Disadvantages of Investment Casting
• The process is suitable for small size
parts.
• This is a more expensive process.
• Process is relatively slow.
• Pattern is expendable, one wax pattern is
required to make one investment casting.
• The use of cores make the process more
difficult.
Application of Investment Casting
• Parts for sewing machines, locks, rifles,
burner nozzles, milling cutters and of
tools, jewellery and art casting.
• in dentistry and surgical implants:
• Parts of gas turbines.
• Corrosion resistant and wear resistant
alloy parts used in diesel engines, picture
and chemical industry equipments.
 SHELL MOULDING .
Introduction
It is a process in which, the sand mixed with
a thermosetting resin is allowed to contact
with a heated metallic pattern plate, so that
a thin and strong shell of mould around the
pattern. Then the shell is removed from the
pattern and the cope and removed together
and kept in a flask with the necessary back
up material. After that metal is poured into
this mould.
Procedure
 A metal pattern, heated to about 175°C
to 350°C, is clamped over a box .Molding
sand mixed with thermosetting resin such
* as phenol formaldehyde, urea formal
polyesters., is partially filled .
 The box and pattern are inverted for a
short time. The mixture when comes with
hot pattern, it causes an initial set and
builds up a coherent sand shell pattern.
The thickness of this shell is about 6 mm
to -18 mm and,. is depends on pattern
 temperature and the sand mixture. This
takes 5 to 20 seconds only.

• The box and pattern are brought in its

original position. The shell of resin
bonded sand is retained on the pattern
surface, while the unaffected sand falls
into box. The shell, still on the pattern is
cured by heating it in an oven from 250°C
to 350°C for 1 to 3 minutes.
• The assembly is removed from the oven
and the shell is stripped from the pattern
 by ejector pins. In order to obtain clean
stripping, a silicon parting agent may be
sprayed on the pattern.
• The shell halves are assembled with
clamps and supported in a flask with
backing material. The shell mould is now
ready for pouring.
Advantages of Shell Moulding
Suitable for thin sections.
Surface finish obtained is excellent.
Good dimensional accuracy (Tolerance =
0.002 to 0.003 mm per mm). Less floor
space.
 It can be easily machined and machining
and cleaning cost is negligible.
The total sand used is only 5 to 10% that
of green sand mould. The moulds can be
stored until required.
 Less skilled labor is required.
Cooling rate of cast metal is slow so
larger gain size.
Disadvantages of Shell Moulding
 Initial cost of pattern and sand is high.
 Special equipments are to be used.
 Reuse of sand is difficult.
 Maximum size of casting is limited.
 Minimum thickness of the section that
can be cast is 4 mm.
 Certain casting shapes are unsuitable
when proper parting and gating are not
available.
Applications of Shell Moulding
o It is well suited to ferrous and non ferrous
alloys castings in the range of 0.1 to 10
kg.
o Alloys that can be cast by shell moulding
are aluminum alloys, copper alloys, cast
irons, stainless steels etc.
o Components cast by shell moulding are
small pipes, cam shafts, bushings
Reference
• Manufacturing process – S K Garg
• Manufacturing Engg Technology –
Serope Kalpakjian & Steven R Schimid
• http://www.deangroup-int.co.uk/