GATING SYSTEM

ELEMENTS OF GATING SYSTEM

The gating systems refer to all those elements,
which are connected with the flow of molten
metal from the ladle to the mould cavity.
The elements of gating systems are

1. Pouring Basin

2. Sprue

3. Sprue Base Well

4. Runner

5. Runner Extension

6. Ingate

7. Riser
 A gating system for castings can be broadly
divided into: -

1) The entry section consisting of the pouring

basin,sprue and sprue base.

2) The distribution section consisting of the

runners and ingates.
THE ENTRY SECTION OF A GATING HAS TWO FUNCTIONS

1) To supply liquid metal free of entrapped gases,

slag and eroded sand.

2) To establish a hydraulic pressure head, which

will force the metal through the rest of the
gating system and into the casting.
THE DISTRIBUTION SECTION HAS FIVE
FUNCTIONS

1) To decrease the velocity of the metal stream

2) To minimize turbulence, both in the gating

system as well as in the mold cavity.

3) To avoid mold and core erosion.

4) To establish the best possible thermal gradient

in the casting.

5) To regulate the rate of flow of metal into the

mold cavity
REQUIREMENTS OF GATING SYSTEM
Any gating system designed should aim at providing a
defect free casting. This can be achieved by considering
following requirements.

The mould should be completely filled in the smallest

possible time without having to raise neither metal
temperature nor use of higher metal heads

The metal should flow smoothly into the mould without any
turbulence.

Unwanted materials such as slag, dross and other mould

materials should not be allowed to enter the mould cavity.
 The metal entry into the mould cavity should be
properly controlled in such a way that
aspiration of the atmospheric air is prevented.

A proper thermal gradient should be maintained

so that the casting is cooled without any
shrinkage cavities or distortions.

Metal flow should be maintained in such a way

that no gating or mould erosion takes place.
 The gating system should ensure that enough
molten metal reaches the mould cavity.

It should be economical and easy to implement

and remove after casting solidification.

The casting yield should be maximized

POURING BASIN

The main function of a pouring basin is to reduce

the momentum of the liquid flowing into the
mould by settling first into it. In order that the
metal enters into the sprue without any
turbulence

it is necessary that the pouring basin be deep

enough.

The pouring basin depth of 2.5 times the sprue

entrance diameter is enough for smooth metal
flow and to prevent vortex formation.
POURING BASIN
In order that vortex is not formed during pouring,
it is necessary that the pouring basin be kept full
and constant conditions of flow are established

This can be achieved by using a delay screen or a

strainer core . A delay screen is a small piece of
perforated thin tin sheet placed in the pouring
basin at the top of the down sprue.

Pouring basins are most desirable for alloys

,which form troublesome oxide skins
(aluminium, aluminium bronze, etc.)
SPRUE
Sprue is a vertical channel though which the
molten metal flows downward in the mould

The sprues should be tapered down to take into

account the gain in velocity of the metal as it
flows down reducing the air aspiration.

The exact tapering can be obtained by equation of

continuity.
SPRUE
Denoting the top and the choke sections of the
sprue by the subscripts t and c respectively, we
get
At Vt = Ac Vc

At = Ac ( Vc / Vt)
SPRUE BASE WELL
The provision of a sprue base well at the bottom
of the sprue helps in reducing the velocity of the
incoming metal and also the mould erosion.

The sprue base well area should be five times

that of the sprue choke area and the well depth
should be approximately equal to that of the
runner.

As it leaves the sprue, the molten metal travels

at its highest velocity.
SPRUE BASE WELL
At the sprue base, the direction of flow abruptly
change, which causes severe turbulence.

Therefore, by increasing the area of sprue base,

both the velocity and the turbulence of metal can
be effectively reduced

In addition, as the sprue base is filled, the molten

metal acts as a cushion to absorb the impact of
the falling stream.

In order for the sprue base to function properly,

its bottom surface must be flat.
SPRUE BASE WELL
This because curved bottom surface of a sprue
base will not absorb the kinetic energy of the
falling stream and will deflect the molten metal
up the sides of the bowl, thus causing
severe turbulence
RUNNER
It is generally located in the horizontal plane,
which connects the sprue to its
ingates, thus allowing the metal enter the mould
cavity.

The runners are made trapezoidal in cross-

section. It is a general practice for ferrous metals
to cut the runners in the cope and the in gates in
the drag.

The main reason for this is to trap the slag,

which are lighter and thus trapped in the upper
portion of the runners.
INGATE
The in-gate can be considered as a weir with no
reduction in cross section of the stream at the
gate.

Then the rate of flow of molten metal through the

gates depend son the free height of the metal in
the runner and the gate area & the velocity with
which metal is flowing in the runner.
RUNNER EXTENSION
Normally the metal which moves first into the
gating system is likely to contain slag which
should not be allowed to get into the mould
cavity.

This could be achieved by extending the runner

beyond the ingates so that the momentum of the
metal will carry it past the gates and to a blind
alley called runner extension.

A runner extension having a minimum of twice

the runner width is desirable
RISER
The function of a riser (also called reservoir,
feeders, or headers) is to feed the
casting during solidification so that no shrink
age cavities are formed.

The requirement of risers depends to a great

extent upon the type of metal poured and the
complexity of the casting.
FUNCTIONS OF RISER
Provide extra metal to compensate for the
volumetric shrinkage

Allow mold gases to escape

Provide extra metal pressure on the solidifying

metal to reproduce mold details more exactly.

To compensate mould expansion during pouring

of hot liquid metal because of soft mould
CLASSIFICATIONS OF GATING SYSTEMS
According to the hydrodynamics of flow of metal
Gating system are divided into
open and

closed.

Closed or pressurized gating system

Closed or pressurized gating system are

characterized by gradually decreasing cross-
sectional areas of the sprue, slag traps and
runners
 Open or non-pressurized gating system
are characterized by gradually increasing cross-
sectional areas of the sprue, slag traps and
runners

Open gating systems are used in casting of steels,

aluminum, magnesium and other easily oxidable
alloys and are coming into use in iron casting
Mechanism of Solidification

Pure metals solidifies at a constant temp. equal to

its freezing point, which same as its melting point.

The change form liquid to solid does not occur all at

once.

The process of solidification starts with nucleation,

the formation of stable tiny solid particles within
the liquid metal.
Mechanism of Solidification
Nuclei of solid phase, generally a few hundred atom in
size, start appearing at a temperature below the
freezing temperature.

Super cooling or under cooling(cooling below the

freezing point) is required before the liquid start to
solidify

In pure metals super cooling is around 20% of the

freezing temp.

A nuclease, more than a certain critical size grows, and

causes solidification. And the process of increase in the
sizes of these particles is called grain growth
Mechanism of Solidification
Mechanism of Solidification
By adding, certain foreign materials (nucleating
agents) the under cooling temp. is reduced which
causes enhanced nucleation.

In case of pure metals fine equi-axed grains are

formed near the wall of the mold and columnar
grain growth takes place upto the centre of the ingot.
Mechanism of Solidification
The crystals start to grow from the mould walls and
the process continues as more heat is lost ,with
crystals growing inwards until the whole of the metal
has solidified

The crystals near the mould walls are small and

equiaxed (ie, their axes randomly oriented).

On further solidification, crystals grow with their axes

perpendicular to the mould and theses are columnar
in shape
Schematic illustration of three cast structures of metals solidified in a square
mold: (a) pure metals; (b) solid-solution alloys; and (c) structure obtained by
using nucleating agents.
Mechanism of Solidification
Pure metals have single freezing point

Pure metals solidify at a constant temperature;

alloys solidify within a temperature range

Solidification in alloys begins when the temperature

drops below the liquidus temperature and is
complete when it reaches the solidus temperature.
Mechanism of Solidification
Within this temperature range, the alloy is in a
mushy or pasty state with columnar dendrites.

The mushy zone is described in terms of a

temperature difference, known as the freezing
range, as follows:

Freezing Range = TL TS
Mechanism of Solidification
In alloys start of freezing implies that grain
formation while progressing towards the center does
not solidify the metal completely

But leaves behind the islands of liquid metals in

between grains which freeze later and there is
multidirectional tree like growth.

Tree-like structures that form during the

solidification of alloys are called Dendrites
Mechanism of Solidification
Mechanism of Solidification
During the early stage, the mushy alloy is quite
fluid, and there is no problem.

Then the solid dendrites gradually become thicker,

surrounded by only a small amount of liquid metal.

Later near the end of solidification, the mushy

alloy becomes rigid
Cast Structure Cooling Zones
Three distinct regions or zones
Chill zone
Rapid nucleation that occurs when the molten metal comes into contact
with the cold walls of the mold
Forms a narrow band of randomly oriented crystals on the surface of a
casting
Columnar zone
Rapid growth perpendicular to the casting surface
Long and thin
Highly directional
Equiaxed zone
Crystals in the interior of the casting
Spherical, randomly oriented crystals
Solidification Time
The solidification time is total time required
for the liquid metal to solidify.

Solidification time has been found to be

directly proportional to volume and inversely
proportional to surface area.
Solidification Time