CASTING

SIX FACTORS INVOLVED IN CASTING

1. mould cavity
2. molten metal
3. escape of air /gas
4. shrinking
5. mould removal
6. finishing

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MAJOR CASTING PROCESSES

‹ sand casting
‹ die casting
‹ investment casting
‹ shell mould casting
‹ permanent mould casting
‹ full mould casting (e.g. EPS)
‹ centrifugal casting

SAND CASTING

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 Steps involved are :

1. make a wood pattern

2. place pattern on a mould board, surround
with a box (cask), fill with sand &
consolidate
3. remove pattern and cut in :
sprue - thru which molten metal is poured
runner - connecting sprue to mould cavity
riser - to ensure complete fill of the mould

4. place cope on lower half of mould (drag)

and clamp
5. pour molten metal and allow to solidify
6. remove casting by destroying sand mould
7. cut off sprue and riser, machine if necessary

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 ALLOWANCE ON PATTERNS
1. SHRINKAGE
cast iron 0.8 - 1.0 %
steel 1.5 - 2.0 %
Al 1.0 - 1.3 %
Mg 1.0 - 1.3 %
brass 1.5 %
2. FINISH ALLOWANCE FOR
MACHINING
3. DISTORTION ALLOWANCE (FROM
EXPERIENCE)

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 DRAFT
4. DRAFT

CORES
‹ hollow / reentrant sections can be included
by inserting cores
eg engine block

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 Grain growth, shrinkage, piping

Grain size and

direction determined
by cooling rate /
direction

Columnar hole due

to shrinkage

SAND REQUIREMENTS
‹ REFRACTORINESS - withstand high
temp. without fusing; adversely affected by
impurities
‹ STRENGTH -ability to retain shape when
packed in a mould
– green strength (after pattern removed)
– dry strength (after dried or gasses)

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 SAND REQUIREMENT
‹ PERMEABILITY - allow escape of gas,
function of sand particle size, bonding agent
and moisture
‹ COLLAPSIBILITY - ability to permit metal
to shrink after solidification, obtained by
adding organic materials such as cellulose
which burn out when exposed to hot metal

FACTORS AFFECTING PROPERTIES

OF SAND
‹ grain size / shape
‹ type / amount of bonding agent
‹ moisture content
‹ impurities
‹ typical foundry sand constitutes :
– quartz 80 - 90 %
– clay substance 4 - 15 %
– moisture 3-7%
– impurities 3-6%

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 CO2 SAND
Na2SiO3 + CO2 --> Na2CO3 + SiO2

‹ ADVANTAGES ‹ DISADVANTAGES
– non toxic – when hardened, poor
– no heating required collapsibility - difficult
to shake out
– heating during pour
makes the sand even
stronger, further
reduces collapsibility

SAND TESTING
‹ moisture test
‹ green strength
‹ permeability
‹ loss on ignition (5 gm of sand placed in
oven at 920oC for 2 hours)
‹ active clay content
‹ shatter test - toughness of sand under impact
‹ sieve test - range of sand grain size

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 OTHER CASTING
PROCESSES

DIE CASTING

‹ fast
‹ used for low melting point alloys e.g. zinc,
tin, aluminium based alloys
‹ Large variety of items can be made (see
next picture)

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 DIE CASTING
‹ dies well designed to allow venting
‹ expensive dies - made from hardened tool
steel
‹ good surface finish / good dimensional
accuracy

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 INVESTMENT CASTING (LOST WAX)

INVESTMENT CASTING (LOST

WAX)
‹ produce a master pattern (wood, metal,
plastic etc.)
‹ produce a master die from master pattern
‹ produce wax patterns
‹ assemble wax patterns to form a cluster
‹ coat the cluster with a thin layer of
investment material by dipping into a slurry
of finely ground refractory until required
thickness is obtained

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 ‹ allow investment to harden
‹ melt the wax pattern & let wax run out
‹ preheat the mould prior to pouring
‹ pour
‹ remove casting by breaking the mould

INVESTMENT CASTING
(contd.)
Advantages Disadvantages
‹ complex shapes / thin ‹ complex process
sections down to 0.4 ‹ expensive
mm can be cast
‹ excellent dimensional
tolerance - 0.1 to 1 %
‹ smooth finish

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 PERMANENT MOULD
metal mould - low temp non ferrous metal
graphite - high temp. e.g. cast iron
Advantages Disadvantages
‹ reusable mould ‹ low melting pt. alloys
‹ good surface finish ‹ mould life can be short
‹ selective heating / for steel casting
chilling yield desired ‹ complexity restricted
properties ‹ not permeable

SLUSH CASTING
‹ variation of permanent mould casting
‹ metal remains in the mould until shell has
been formed, mould is then inverted and
remaining molten metal is poured out
‹ e.g. ornamental objects such as lamp base

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 LOW PRESSURE PERMANENT MOULD

PRESSURE POURING
‹ graphite mould used
‹ molten metal is forced into the mould by air
pressure
‹ when mould is filled, a plunger seals the
sprue to retain the molten metal in the
mould
‹ used extensively for railroad wheels

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 Distinct features of pressure
pouring
‹ mould protected from atmosphere
‹ mould filled in a controlled manner by
controlling air pressure
‹ gas porosity is minimised
‹ long cycle time
‹ excess metal falls back to crucible and
reused in subsequent castings

FULL MOULD CASTING expanded polystyrene - EPS

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 FULL MOULD CASTING
expanded polystyrene - EPS
Advantages Disadvantages
‹ EPS pattern stays in ‹ fragile pattern - more
the mould, so complex care
shapes can be cast ‹ normally adopted for
‹ less expensive than small volume
wood pattern for small production
quantity

SHELL MOULD CASTING

‹ mixture of sand / thermosetting resin dumped onto
a heated metal pattern - forming a layer of shell
about 3 mm thick
‹ pattern / sand mixture inverted
‹ pattern & partially cured shell placed in oven to
cure the mould
‹ hardened shell removed from pattern
‹ two shells clamped to form a mould
‹ placed in pouring jacket, backed up with extra
support

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 Shell Mould Casting
Advantages Disadvantages
‹ better surface finish ‹ metal pattern costly -
‹ better dimensional design must include
accuracy gate/runner
‹ good for mass prod. of ‹ large amount of
small castings expensive binding
‹ resin burns out during
resin required
pour - good
collapsibility

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 PIT CASTING
‹ very large mould are made in pits on the
floor
‹ e.g. large steam turbine casting

CONTINUOUS CASTING
‹ molten metal flows from a ladle, through a
tundish, to a bottomless mould
‹ mould cooling controlled such that outside
has solidified before the metal exits
‹ further cooling to ensure solidification
‹ cut to required length

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 CONTINUOUS CASTING

CENTRIFUGAL CASTING
‹ mould rotates about a horizontal or vertical
axis, at speeds from 300 - 3000 r.p.m.
‹ when rotated in a horizontal axis, inner
surface is always horizontal
‹ when rotated in a vertical axis, inner surface
becomes a parabola

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 CENTRIFUGAL CASTING

Features of centrifugal casting

‹ mould expensive, but with a long life
‹ molten metal forced against the walls and
solidifies first; impurities tend to collect at
the inner surface
‹ high yield since no gate / runner / riser
‹ possible to produce composite casting by
spinning a second alloy onto the surface of
the first material

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 DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS
‹ parting line / plane location affects :
– no. of core
– method of supporting cores
– effective gating
– casting weight
– dimensional accuracy
– ease of moulding

‹ design for adequate draft

‹ present a cooling surface
‹ bring minimum no. of sections together
‹ avoid abrupt section changes (follow guidelines)
‹ avoid sharp angles & corners
‹ proportion walls correctly
‹ design for uniform sections

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