Chapter 9 Leakers CAUSES Leakers are castings thot leak gas or liquid through what should be a leok tight par! of a solid casting This is another form of shrinkage, and a manifestation ofthe solidification process. Tho section of the casting that leaks may not have any lorge voids, in fact there may not be any visible poretly inthe location ofthe bots. The problem is he loose dendieskuctre thal accu lowe lo the las Poin ta sly. Ath ls pin fo solid thro may be some vibe drink porosty, bul nol necessary. Howevar, surrounding this point is an aroo of dendrilie structure that has enough space between the dendrites to allow gas or liquid to werk through it. This is shown in Figures 9.1 and 9.2, The lower picture shows o close up of the same leaker site as in he upper picture, showing the as cast surface on the leftis connected to the shtink porosity through the loose structure surrounding the shrink 500x (Courtesy OSU) But the shrinkage phenomenon is sill at the bottom of the problem, so the same factors thet cause shrinkage porosity also cause leakers. In faci, if there is visible shrinkage porosity present, then itis Certcin that the area around it will be porous. How far the porous section extends will depend on the shape of the casting, and the temperatures and pressures during solidification. In one tril, a dried hole wat present in an areo with visble shrink porosity. Filing Re hole wih die penetran! ond pressurizing the hole caused the panetrant to move from .5 in, (12.7 mm) to | in, (25.4 mm) into the rea around the visible porosty. It is not the same if the visible porosty is gas porosity. Random gas bubbles are independent, their presence does not necessarily mean thai the surrounding area is porous. However, as noted in Figure 9.2, there is cften some gas porosity present in the same location as the shrink porosity; and somelimes ivsl being ot the scene of the crime causes the gas porosity to get the blame. Correcting the gas, t porotity is probably « good hing to do, but it may no! have much effect on the leaker problem, Figure 9.3 shows the concept in graphic torms The cenier ofthe casting is usualy the las! pont to solidify, and this point will same amount ofthis loose dendritic siructure we have been tclking about. The amoun! of space belween dendrites depends on the temperature differences atthe lime of freezing and the abilly to feed new metal in during freezing ithe static and intensified pressures and the shape of the casting are the most importa things) Most thin caslings freeze quickly without much time for the dendritic structure to grow; also there will not be alo! of space for developing a leak path between the skins. Thicker castings will have « lorger porous section along the neutral thermal axis, The skin is not porous, and will block the passage of gasses - thus thicker castings would allow at least c litle gas to pass the center if i were not for the dense and non-porous ski. Coperight 2001, AM rights respreed No part of ths wide mu: sepredtn by any sani peter pe "1 ination fron the publisherakers cuarren 9) eee8e Fig. 9.1 Ths shows the shrink porosy unc he ore ofthe leckage se. Te lok paths hraugh he area between the vsible shrtkond he sulac. hese stow the loose derdricsucture nthe carter of «nuns the sa pieces are pleces of casting skn thet wos formed the shot sleeve Fig. 9.2 fal shows he generalarea ofa leaker, with general porasity reser. Thereis bothsome gosand some shrinkage porosity bt the shrinkage phenamenon is ofthe moa! concern for leakers (50, (bj shows a close up of the same leaker ste asin (ae showing the a cos srfoce onthe bits connected athe shvink poros}y through the loose sructre surrounding the shrink (SOOx, {Courtesy OSU) Fig, 9.3 Drawing of the shope of porosiy, showing how shrink porosty differs from gas porosty as far os leakers ore 05, MMI rights revered, Invanis tun ceive porous fram tue publish e n WhyLeskors Consequently it takes « break in the skin (ond usuclly a break in the skin on both sides of the casting) to generate a leak through the casting A typical situation is shown below Figure 9.4 Schematic showing the a possible leok path caused by machining deeply on both sides of the casting The break in the skin that starts the leak can come from a crack or @ drag, or ¢ machined ares, or itcan bbe because the last point to solidify is quite close to the surface - the same as with the sink condition. fie aneemTTIT] AENEN Tueancrmse \ am] Fig. 9.4 Schematic showing o possible leak path caused by machining deeply on both sides ofthe costing When this happens the surface generclly gets the frosty appearance where the skin gels very thin and the dendritic siructure storts to show through, This is visual clue of where o leak may be located. A leak path often exists between @ machined surface on one side and c hot spot (or frosty spot) on the other (Fig. 9.5). The casting shape heavily influences the location of the hot spot, which often is on @.die hal that is much hotter fhan the other. Moving the ho! spo! away from the surface can help to reduce the leak by strengthening the skin in tho? aara, This means trying to move the hot spot more into the cantor of the casting, One part of the effort would be to bring the two die halves closer to each olher in temperature (it possible). This is something that should be checked when leakers are the issue, The temperature difference between die halves should be kept <50°F (27°C), but should not be over 100°F (55°C). CORRECTIONS 5 Tho fir eovtoction ff should be fo ty to minimize he lempeaturedflernces in the casing, and particularly to find @ way to develop a good skin on the casting, Ifa solid skin can be developed, then the leak path is stopped, Increasing pressure can be important. The roubleshooter should check factors that would allow an increase in slatic pressure fist - try lo get it up to 5000 psi or more. Perhaps this can be done with a change in machine shot pressure or a smaller plunger size. Adjusting the intensifier pressure and rise time 03 also important, Changing the tomperature differences inside the casting may well spread out any visible porosily but the leak path may sill be there; thus, correcting leakers tekes more effort than just eliminating cisible porosity. Still itis worth adjusting the temperature blance te move any visible porosity, especialy when {1 moved away from the skin ino the centor of th casting © Cupyriat 2005, M iglrs reserved. No pes of thie xuide niny-be oppendurod beans means teithoat wvtien peruisaion frome the pudlisker, 7curren 9 [HOT SPOTS DUE TO SHAPE OF THE, [CASTING LEAK PATH (GRoove MACHINED HERE Fig. 9.5 A leakpath generoted by a ho! spot just under the surface on one side ond-@ machined groove onthe other. This moving can be done (sometimes) by cooling the hot spot with spray, by changing or adding a water ling, or chnging to one of he high heat transfer steels in that area, Slowing the job down is generally not a good idea, Besides being very expensive, it may nothelp as much 3 anticipated. It does cool the whole casting, and this may help generate a stronger skin, but it does not correc the temperature imbalance that is the real problem. Adding radius where possible around the leaker area is a good idea, but can only help so much - ‘adding more than about a 0.18 to 0,32 inch (4.2 to 8 mm) radivs does not help much. Solder or drags ore another factor for leckers, they will break the skin in a hot location, providing a dieting poitt for @ leak pall, Keeping the die n good condifon fo minimize drugs inthe lwakar area is @ good idea + 9.8 Leok path throug a thin wall casting caused by oxide skin in the casting, When considering prossure options, iqueeze pine can work wall ifthe procost is stablo and they con be controlled accurately, Moving 0 feeder gote near the leaker area can help ifthe gate and runner design is done correctly, but watch for a change in temperature balance Also chack the metal temperature at injection - a lower injection temperature can make a significant difference because it will reduce the amount of shrink porosity, and may reduce it enough to make a difference in the leaker problem, Iedton poraission few de pier ecees eunren However, this can cause problems (such as cold flow or flow porosity), and should be done carefull Also, whan operating a! the low end of ihe metal temperature operating window, previously acceptoble lemperature variations may cause the metal temperature to be too low on occasion. It is likely that the metal temperature variations will have to be kept in the 5°F [3°C] ronge land the other process variables will have a similarly reduced operating window) for @ low metal temperature operation to be really successful foxin LAvER i awnEN SIR IAL FLOWS JcAUsinG a LEAR] Fig. 97 Oxide loyer, apparently betweer metal lows, tha! cauied leak in o break system. Other factors that can cause leak paths include oxide skins or cold flakes, These can float around and land nex! to orin the skin where they will provide a path for the gases to flow. The alloy does not bond with the oxide material, so there is a small leak path next to surface of the oxide material. These types of leakers may be random in location instead of being located consistently next 19.0 hot area in the casting, They will also not appear consistently from shot to shot as those caused by shrinkage. Ifthe leak path seems to be randomly located and does not occur on every casting, then checking for oxides'is @ good idea. Fig. 9.6 and 9.7 show leak paths from oxides. When checking for this cause, iis a good idea to saw to both sides ofthe leaker location, then fracture the casting through the leak path, Sawing or machining will destroy the evidence. Examining the surface with 5 to 30 peser magnification can provide a lo! of good information about the presence of oxide films or cold flakes. Doing this lo more than one casting is « good idea. This will make the shrink pores, or whatever else may be causing the problem more visible, Ifit on oxide skin, then the metal handling procedures should be reviewed, in particular the methods of cleaning dross from the ladle well. ll other mefcl handling procedures should be checked to see # there is some improvement possible. A good practice is to have a filer as close fo the ladle point os possible. © Copyright 2008, AN eights reserved. Vo pt of this guide muny-be rprnhuted bans mens vtthont written pewuinsn fram He publishes 75