Casting Alloys

Requirements of casting
alloys
I. Biologically
1. Casting alloys should not cause toxicity, allergy or
even irritation in service or during the fabrication
process (casting and finishing).

Beryllium-containing alloys could cause berylliosis if

inhaled during finishing

The metal nickel is known to be allergenic

2. The alloy should resist the degradation in oral
fluids

Requirements of casting
alloys
II. Interfacially and chemically
1.

Casting alloys should have low surface energy to reduce

the plaque attachment

2.

If the alloy is going to be covered with porcelain

should be able to form surface oxide layer

3.

The alloy should be resistant to both tarnish or

corrosion (Nobility and passivity)

4.

Alloy surface should not be affected by the oral

environment (show no pitting)

Requirements of casting
alloys
III. Mechanically
1.

High strength (P.L, Y.S. & U.S.) to resist the

permanent deformation or even fracture during
service

2.

Ductility is also required in certain situation where

burnishing and marginal closure are needed

3.

Alloys with higher hardness are difficult to be

finished (Require sandblasting or electro-polishing)
and could cause wear to the opposing natural teeth.

Requirements of casting
alloys
V. Practicability
1. Inexpensive and able to be soldered and repaired
2. Melting range
It is preferred to use alloys that fuses below 1000 oC
Alloys with higher melting range require;
1. Either phosphate or silica-bonded investment
2.Special melting equipments (oxy acetylene gas torch
or electric induction machine)

Requirements of casting
alloys
3. The Density
Dense alloys are more easier in casting under
relatively lower casting force
Lighter alloys requires more casting force and are
more liable to casting defects (incompleteness and
porosity)
4. The reactivity at the molten state
Many casting alloys (e.g. Titanium) are highly
reactive at the molten state either to the
surrounding atmosphere .or Investment materials

Requirements of casting
alloys
This fact could leads to
1. alloy oxidation,
2. Complication of the finishing procedure .or even
3. Enhancement of alloy corrosion

To avoid these adverse effects, Proper selection

of the following items is so important;
1. The alloy (Should be low-reactive ..such as gold alloys)
2. The investment (Should contain reducing agent)
and
3. The melting method (Proper usage of flame and using

gas containing no or little amount of carbon)

Requirements of casting
alloys
5. The casting shrinkage
All Metals expand on heating ( inter-atomic
distances) and shrink on cooling ( inter-atomic
distance and density)

Alloys with little solidification and cooling shrinkage

are able to produce more accurate casting

Alloys with higher shrinkage rates require special

support (Both the die and investment materials
should show higher expansion rates)

Types of Casting alloys

HIGH NOBLE CASTING ALLOYS
1. Gold alloys
2. Low gold containing alloys
A.

B. NOBLE CASTING ALLOYS

2. Pd-Ag alloys
C.
1.
2.
3.

BASE METAL CASTING ALLOYS

Co-Cr alloys
Ni-Cr alloys
Titanium alloys

Gold Alloys

Pure gold is yellow, soft (ductile & malleable)

metal that welded (cohere) together and
easily deformed under pressure.

Pure gold is used as direct filling material to

restore small tooth cavities

Alloying the metal gold with Copper, Silver,

Platinum, Palladium, Zinc and sometimes
minute amount of Indium improves its
mechanical properties to fit the requirements
of different applications

Role of elements in the gold

alloys
1. Gold

alloys melting range (its MP = 1063oC)

the golden yellow color

the resistance to tarnish and corrosion

the ductility of the alloy ( FCC structure)

2. Copper

alloys melting range (its MP = 1083oC)

the reddish color

the strength and hardness (forms solid solution with

gold heat treatment)

the resistance to tarnish and corrosion

the ductility of the alloy ( FCC structure)

Role of elements in the gold

alloys
3. Silver

alloys melting range (its MP = 960oC)

the whitish color that neutralize the red color of

copper

the resistance to tarnish and corrosion

the ductility of the alloy ( FCC structure)

4. Platinum

alloys melting range (its MP = 1773oC)

the whitish color

the strength and hardness

the resistance to tarnish and corrosion

the ductility of the alloy ( FCC structure)

Role of elements in the gold

alloys
5. Palladium

alloys melting range (its MP = 1553oC)

the whitish color

the strength and hardness

the resistance to tarnish and corrosion

the ductility of the alloy ( FCC structure)

the weight of the alloy

6. Zinc

alloys melting range (its MP = 788oC)

the oxidation of the alloy (act as scavenger)

the castability of the alloy ( flow during casting)

Role of elements in the gold

alloys
7. Indium

grain size ( the mechanical properties)

Responsible for forming the surface oxide layer in

case of metal-ceramic alloys
8. Tin and iron

Responsible for forming the surface oxide layer in

case of metal-ceramic alloys

Types of gold alloys

A. According to the gold contents

Karat system

The gold alloys are divided into 24 parts

Karat is the number of parts represent the pure gold in

the alloy

e.g. 18 K gold alloy = 18 parts of gold, 6 parts of other

metals
Fine system

The gold alloys are divided into 1000 parts

Fineness is the number of parts represent the pure gold

in the alloy

e.g. 750 F gold alloy = 750 parts of gold, 250 parts of

other metals

Types of gold alloys

K gold 18
alloy
Pure gold
contains 24
K gold

F gold ??
alloy

Pure gold
contain1000
F gold

K gold alloy = 750 F gold alloy 18

Types of gold alloys

B. According to the hardness and strength
Type I (Soft) used for small inlays
Type II (Medium) used for large inlays & onlays
Type III (Hard) used for crown and bridge
Type IV (Extra-hard) used for denture frameworks
The content of both gold and copper are the most
effective in this classification
(See the table of alloys composition)

Types of gold alloys

Alloy

Au
%

Cu
%

Ag
%

Pt%

Pd
%

Zn
%

VHN

M R

I. Soft

87

50-90

II. Medium

76

13

2.5

0.5

90120

943960 oC
924960 oC

III. Hard

70

10

15

120150

924960 oC

IV. ExtraHard

66

15

12

>150

871921 oC

?What can you discover from the table

The gold content

Type I Type IV
The copper content
Type I Type IV
The ductility& %elongation Type I Type IV
The hardness & strength Type I Type IV
The melting range
Type I Type IV
The golden yellow color
Type I Type IV

N.B.
Heat treatment could alter these announced properties

Heat treatment of gold

alloys

The mechanical properties of gold alloys could be

altered through the solid state reactions (Heat
treatment)

The ability of heat treatment presents only in

types III & IV due to the higher % of copper and
silver

2 types of heat treatment could be carried out;

Softening heat ttt
Hardening heat ttt

1.
2.

A. Softening heat treatment

(Annealing)
Indication
1.
Before hardening heat treatment
2.
To increase the workability of the alloy
3.
For structured to be cold worked (shaped or ground)
Technique
Heating the alloy at 700oC for 10 min quenching
Mechanism & outcomes
All the solid transformed into a disordered solid solution
at the high temp., with rapid cooling the structure
remains disordered, accordingly

Strength & hardness

P.L. & E

Ductility

B. Hardening heat treatment

(Age hardening)
Indication
1.
To increase the strength of cold worked alloys
2.
To decrease the workability of the alloy
Technique
Step 1. Softening heat treatment (relief all stresses
and start at disordered structure)
Step 2.

Heating the alloy at 700oC bench cooling

Heating the alloy at 450oC bench cooling to

from 450oC to 250oC quenching

Maintain the alloy between 350-450oC for 15 min

quenching

B. Hardening heat treatment

(Age hardening)
Mechanism
The solid at the start has a disordered structure,
slow cooling or even maintaining the temperature
for sometime helps the diffusion of atoms that
leads to;
1. Rearrangement of atoms ordered solid solution
2. Precipitation of super-lattices
Outcomes

Strength & hardness

P.L. & E

Ductility

Phase diagram of gold-copper alloy

system
1083 oC

1063 oC

410 oC
390 oC

0%Au------------------------------ 40------60---70---90--100% Au
100% Cu ----------------------------------------------------0% Cu

Low gold containing alloys

Composition

Alloy

Au% Cu% Ag% Pt% Pd% Other

Conventional 75

10

Low-Gold

12

36

44

Low gold containing alloys

Characters
1.
Its Gold content = 45-50%
2. The high % of silver & Palladium gives the
characteristic whitish color of the alloy
3. Its % of elongation = 2% <<< Gold alloys = 20%
4. Other properties are similar to those of type III
and IV gold alloys
5. Has good clinical performance and cast using the
same equipments required for regular gold alloys