Subject: Manufacturing Processes

Class: 3rd
Mechanical Engineering Department
Tikrit University
Prepared by: Assistant Prof.Dr.Farouk
Mansour Mahdi
Lecture No.1 Week No.1 No. of hours: 2 theoretical and 1 tutorial

Metal Casting
Metal Casting
1- Casting Furnaces ( Melting Furnaces )
Melting furnaces used in the foundry industry are of many diverse configurations.
The selection of the melting unit is one of the most important decisions foundries must
make. Several important factors must be considered for proper selection, these
includes:

1. The temperature required to melt the metal or alloy.

2. The melting rate and quantity of molten metal required.
3. The required quality of the melt and subsequent final product.
4. The economy of installation, operation and maintenance.
5. Environmental and waste disposal requirements.

Furnaces can be classified according to the type of lining:

1- Acidic lined furnaces ( e.g. SiO2 )
2- Basic lined furnaces ( e.g. MgO, MgCO3 , CaO)

Lining materials are characterized by:

1-Refractoriness.

2-High wear resistance.

3-Low coefficient of thermal expansion.

4-High resistance to thermal shock.

5-Heat insulation.
6-passive towards molten metal, furnace gases and slag ( chemically inert).

1-1- Cupola Furnaces

coke type cupola furnace

Description: A cupola or cupola furnace is a melting device used in foundries to
melt cast iron, some bronzes and even aluminum when attention is paid to keep the
temperature low. The construction of a conventional cupola consists of a vertical steel
shell which is lined with a refractory brick. The size of a cupola is expressed in diameters
and can range from 0.5 to 4.0 m while the stack height is between 6 to 11 m. The
bottom of the cylinder is fitted with doors which swing down and out. The top, where
gases escape can be opened or fitted with a cap to prevent rain from entering the
cupola.

Operation: To begin a production run, called a 'cupola campaign', the furnace is

charged with layers of coke and ignited with torches. When the coke is ignited, air is
introduced to the coke bed through ports in the sides called tuyeres.
When the coke is very hot, solid pieces of metal are charged into the furnace
through the charging door. The metal is alternated with additional layers of fresh
coke. Limestone ( CaCO3 ) is added to act as a flux. As the heat rises within the stack the
metal is melted. It drips down through the coke bed to collect in a pool at the bottom,
just above the bottom doors. Some of the carbon is picked up by the falling droplets of
molten metal which raises the carbon content of the iron. Additions to the molten iron
such as ferro-manganese, ferro-silicon, silicon carbide and other alloying agents are
used to alter the molten iron to conform the required composition.
When the metal level is sufficiently high in the well, the cupola operator opens
the "tap hole" to let the metal flow into a ladle or other container to hold the molten
metal. When slag will rise to the top of the formed iron pool. The slag hole is opened to
permit the slag flow out.

Advantages:
1. Lower initial cost on a small floor area comparing with those furnaces with the
same capacity.
2. The cupolas is the only continuous melting method.
3. High melt rates.
4. Relatively low operating costs.
5. Ease of operation.
6. From a life-cycle perspective, cupolas are more efficient and less harmful to the
environment than electric furnaces. This is because they derive energy directly
from coke rather than from electricity that first has to be generated.
 7. Adequate temperature control.
8. Adequate Chemical composition control.

9. Efficiency of cupola varies from 30 to 50%.

Disadvantages:
1- Since molten iron, coke and oxygen are in contact with each other, certain
elements like Si and Mn are lost and others like S and C are picked up. This
changes the final analysis of molten metal.
2- Close temperature control is difficult to maintain.
3- Accurate control of chemical composition is not possible.

1-2 Reverberatory Furnaces

reverberatory furnace ( Pb remelting)

Reverberatory furnaces which are also called "air furnaces" are used for smelting
(refining) or melting processes, in which the fuel is not in direct contact with the
contents but heats it by a flame and hot combustion gases blown over it from another
chamber. Such furnaces are used in copper, tin, nickel production, and in aluminum
recycling. In steelmaking, this process is called the open-hearth process ( which will be
explained later ). The basic idea of a reverberatory furnace is to use the heat reflecting
off a surface, usually brick, to heat the metal.

Operation: The material to be heated is placed on the hearth and is heated by the hot
gases or flame produced by the burning of fuel. The waste gases escape out of the
chimney. This way, the metal does not come into direct contact with the fuel or the
flame. By placing the metal in a shallow depression and then directing an intense flame
over that depression and to the wall, the heat rebounds (radiates back or reverberates)
to melt the metal. Many casters will adjust the length of the flame since a longer path
will mean that the heat will be more intense.
Reverberatory furnaces are available with capacities of up to 150 tons of molten
aluminum.

Advantages:
1-Low operating and maintenance costs.

2-High volume processing rate.

3-Adequate temperature control.

4-Adequate Chemical composition control.

Disadvantages:
1-High initial cost.

2-The reverberatory process is a batch type.

3-Large floor space requirements.

4-Precious control of melt temperature cannot be made (Wide Metal Temperature

Variations +/- 50º F).
5-Accurate control of chemical composition cannot be satisfied.

6-Limited control of furnace atmosphere.

7- Typical aluminum reverberatory furnaces have melting efficiencies of 15 - 39%.

8- Greater hydrogen gas pick up in aluminum melting.

1-3 Open hearth furnace

Description: It is an alternative steelmaking process in which natural gas, oil, atomized

heavy oils, tar, or pulverized coal are used as fuel. Both air and fuel are preheated to
about 800o C before combustion. A flame temperature of about 2,000° C could be
obtained, and this is sufficient to melt the charge. Initially, charges of 10 tons were
made, but furnace capacity gradually increased to 100, 300 and eventually to 600 tons.
Operation: In case of re-melting of steel scrap, the furnace is charged with light scrap,
such as sheet metal, shredded vehicles or waste metal. When light scrap has melted,
heavy scrap, such as building, construction or steel milling scrap is added, together with
pig iron from blast furnaces. After all steel has been melted, slag forming agents, such as
limestone, are added. The oxygen in iron oxide and other impurities decarburize the pig
iron by burning the carbon away, forming steel. To increase the oxygen content of the
hearth, iron ore can be added. Preparing a hearth usually takes 8 h to 8 h and 30
minutes. Additions can be made to the steel to produce the desired composition. After a
period of time, the direction of air and fuel flow is reversed. The chambers heated from
the previous cycle, in turn, heat the incoming fuel and air. Most open hearth furnaces
are chemically basic. The basic furnaces can remove phosphorous, sulfur, silicon,
carbon, and manganese from the charge metal.

The furnace is tapped through a tap hole located at the side of the hearth and
liquid steel is let to flow out. Once all the steel has been tapped, the slag is skimmed
away. The tapped steel may be cast into ingots or it may be used in continuous casting
for the rolling mill.

Advantages:

1-The great advantage of the open hearth was its flexibility: the charge could be all
molten pig iron, all cold scrap, or any combination of pig iron and scrap.
2-Basic open hearth furnaces are capable of processing iron of almost any chemical
composition.

3-The process is suited to handle any amount of low cost steel scrap.

4-Open hearth furnaces can operate on any kind of fuel.

5-The quality of open hearth furnace is the highest among commercial steel making
processes ( Bessemer, Thomas and oxygen converter techniques ).

6-Adequate temperature control.

7-Adequate Chemical composition control.

Disadvantages:
1-High initial cost.

2-Large floor space requirements.

3- The open hearth process is a batch type.

4-Low productivity as compared with oxygen converter process.

5-The necessity of providing fluxes and regenerators ( such as alloying elements) raises
the costs of construction and running of open hearth furnaces.

6-Precious control of melt temperature cannot be made.

7-Accurate control of chemical composition cannot be satisfied.

8-Limited control of furnace atmosphere.

1-4 Electric Arc Furnaces

Electric arc furnaces may be categorized as direct arc and indirect arc. Both types
of units are suited for the melting of high melting point alloys such as steels. They may
be lined with acid or basic refractories. The main advantage of the Electric Arc Furnaces
over the Basic Oxygen Furnaces (BOF) is their capability to treat charges containing up
to 100% of scrap. About 33% of the crude steel in the world is made in the Electric Arc
Furnaces

Direct arc furnaces are very popular for the melting of alloy steels and range in size
from a few kilograms, for laboratory units, to about 400 tons per batch. Typical units
found in foundries are in the range of 1 to 10 tons. The furnace generally consists of
steel shell lined with acid or basic refractories. The roof which can normally swing away
to facilitate charging, generally contains three carbon electrodes operate on a high
tension three-phase power supply. These electrodes protrude vertically through the
roof and an electric current passes directly through them into the metal bath. The entire
unit is capable of being tilted for discharge of the melt through the pouring spout.
Indirect arc furnaces: generally consist of a horizontal barrel shape steel shell lined
with refractories. Melting is effected by the arcing between two horizontally opposed
carbon electrodes. Heating is via radiation from the arc to the charge. The barrel shaped
shell is designed to rotate and reverse through approximately 180° in order to avoid
excessive heating of the refractories above the melt level and to increase the melting
efficiency of the unit.

Indirect arc furnaces are suitable for melting a wide range of alloys but are
particularly popular for the production of copper base alloys. The units operate on a
single-phase power supply and hence the size is usually limited to relatively small units.

Direct Arc Furnace

 indirect arc furnace
Advantages

1- High melt rates.

2- High pouring temperatures.
3- Excellent control of melt chemistry.
4- Accurate control of melt temperature.
5- Furnace atmosphere can be controlled.
6- Flexibility i.e. can be rapidly started and stopped, allowing the steel mill to vary
production according to demand.

Disadvantages
1- High initial cost.
2- High operation and maintenance costs.
3- The process is a batch type.

1-5 Electric Induction Furnaces

 The principle of induction melting is that a high voltage electrical source from
a primary coil induces a low voltage, high current in the metal, or secondary coil.

Coreless induction furnaces

The heart of the coreless induction furnace is the coil, which consists of a
hollow section of heavy duty, high conductivity copper tubing which is wound into a
helical coil. Coil shape is contained within a steel shell and magnetic shielding is
used to prevent heating of the supporting shell. To protect it from overheating, the
coil is water-cooled, the water being re-circulated and cooled in a cooling tower. The
shell is supported on trunnions on which the furnace tilts to facilitate pouring.

The crucible is formed by ramming a granular refractory between the coil and
a hollow internal former which is melted away with the first heat leaving a sintered
lining.

When the charge material is molten, the interaction of the magnetic field and
the electrical currents flowing in the induction coil produce a stirring action within
the molten metal. This stirring action forces the molten metal to rise upwards in the
center causing the characteristic meniscus on the surface of the metal. The stirring
action within the bath is important as it helps in thorough mixing of alloying
elements and homogenizing of temperature throughout the melt. Excessive
stirring can increase gas pick up, lining wear and oxidation of alloys.

The heating system in an induction furnace includes:

1- Induction heating power supply.

2- Induction heating coil.
3- Water-cooling source, which cools the coil and several internal components
inside the power supply.
 schematic representation of coreless induction furnace

Advantages
1- Induction heating is a clean form of heating. No by-products of combustion means
a cleaner melting environment and no associated products of combustion
pollution control systems.
2- High melt rate or high melting efficiency. Cold charge-to-tap time of one to two
hours are common.
3- Alloyed steels can be melted without any loss of alloying elements.
4- Controllable and localized heating.
5- Thorough mixingunit
Induction of melt constituents by electromagnetic stirring action.
6- Compact Installation. High melting rates can be obtained from small furnaces.
7- Better Working Environment. Induction furnaces are much quieter than gas
furnaces, arc furnaces, or cupolas.
8- Energy Conservation. Overall energy efficiency in induction melting ranges from
55 to 75%, and is significantly better than combustion processes.
9- Reduced Refractory. The compact size in relation to melting rate means induction
furnaces require much less refractory than fuel-fired units.
 10-Furnace atmosphere can be controlled.

Disadvantages
1- High capital cost of the equipment.
2- High operating cost.
3- Refining in induction furnace is not as effective as in Electric Arc Furnace.
4- Life of Refractory lining is low as compared to Electric Arc Furnace.
5- Removal of S & P is limited, so selection of charges with less impurity is required.

1-6 Crucible Furnaces

Crucible furnaces are one of the oldest and simplest types of melting units used in
the foundry. The furnaces uses a refractory crucible which contains the metal charge.
The charge is heated via conduction of heat through the walls of the crucible. The
heating fuel is typically coke, oil, gas or electricity. Crucible melting is commonly used
where small batches of low melting point alloy are required. The capital outlay of these
furnaces makes them attractive to small non-ferrous foundries. Its capacity may range
from 30 to 150 kg.
Tilting crucible furnaces
Advantages of crucible furnaces
1- Low investment (initial) and maintenance costs.
 2- Crucibles have the unique ability to melt, hold and transfer metal using a single
vessel.
3- The melt can be treated directly in the crucible.
4- Allowing incompatible alloy changes to be made simply by switching vessels.
5- Even when fixed within the furnace structure, crucibles offer significant
advantages when compared to directly-heated fuel–fired furnaces. These
important benefits include:
i- Lower Metal Loss.
ii- Cleaner Metal.

iii- Alloy Flexibility.

iv- Quick Replacement.

Disadvantages of crucible furnaces

1- Low efficiency (7 to 19%).
2- Low melt rate.
3- High emissions.
4- Size limitations.
5- Manual charging causes very high operational costs.

Only completely dry metal must be used for subsequent charging, since
wet charge material causes ejection of metal resulting in great risks for personnel
Lecture No.2 Week No.2 No. of hours: 2 theoretical and 1 tutorial

1-2 CASTING PROCESSES

1-2-1 Expandable Mold Casting
In expendable mold casting, the mold is destroyed to remove the casting and a new mold is required
for each new casting. Expendable mold casting include the following processes:

1-Sand Casting

Sand casting, also known as sand molded casting, is a metal casting process
characterized by using sand as the mold material. The term "sand casting" can also refer
to an object produced via the sand casting process. Sand castings are produced in
specialized factories called foundries. Over 70% of all metal castings are produced via a
sand casting process. Sand casting is relatively cheap and sufficiently refractory even for
steel foundry use. The next figure illustrates the basic production steps in sand casting:

Patterns

Patterns in sand casting are used to form the mold cavity. One major requirement
is that patterns (and therefore the mold cavity) must be oversized (i) to account for
shrinkage in cooling and solidification, and (ii) to provide enough metal for the
subsequence machining operation(s).

Fig.(1-12): Split pattern showing the two sections together and separated.

Fig.(1-13): Solid pattern for a pinion gear

Cores

Cores serve to produce internal surfaces in castings In some cases, they have to
be supported by chaplets for more stable positioning:

(a) (b) (c)

Fig.(1-14): (a) Core held in place in the mold cavity by chaplets, (b) chaplet design, (c) casting with
internal cavity.

Cores are made of foundry sand with addition of some resin for strength by means of
core boxes:

Fig.(1-15): Core box, two core halves ready for baking, and the complete core made by gluing the two
halves together

Foundry sands

In addition to the sand, a suitable bonding agent (usually clay) is mixed or occurs
with the sand. The mixture is moistened, typically with water, but sometimes with other
substances, to develop strength and plasticity of the clay and to make the aggregate
suitable for molding. The sand is typically contained in a system of frames or mold
boxes known as a flask. The mold cavities and gate system are created by compacting
the sand around models, or patterns, or carved directly into the sand.The typical
foundry sand is a mixture of fresh and recycled sand, which contains 90% silica (SiO2 ),
23% water, and 7% clay.
The grain size and grain shape are very important as they define the surface
quality of casting and the major mold parameters such as strength and permeability:

results Bigger grain size in a worse surface finish Irregular grain shapes produce stronger mold
Larger grain size ensures better permeability

Fig.(1-16): effect of grain size and shape on mold properties

Casting Sand Properties

Refractoriness — This refers to the sand's ability to withstand the temperature of the
liquid metal being cast without breaking down. For example some sands only need to
withstand 650 °C(1,202 °F) if casting aluminum alloys, whereas steel needs a sand that
will withstand 1,500 °C (2,730 °F). Sand with too low a refractoriness will melt and fuse
to the casting.
Chemical inertness — The sand must not react with the metal being cast. This is
especially important with highly reactive metals, such as magnesium and titanium.
Permeability — This refers to the sand's ability to exhaust gases. This is important
because during the pouring process many gases are produced, such
as hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, and steam, which must leave the mold
otherwise casting defects, such as blow holes and gas holes, occur in the casting. Note
that for each cubic centimeter (cc) of water added to the mold 16,000 cc of steam is
produced.
Surface finish — The size and shape of the sand particles defines the best surface finish
achievable, with finer particles producing a better finish. However, as the particles
become finer (and surface finish improves) the permeability becomes worse.
Cohesiveness (or bond) — This is the ability of the sand to retain a given shape after the
pattern is removed.
Flowability – The ability for the sand to flow into intricate details and tight corners
without special processes or equipment.
Collapsibility — This is the ability of the sand to be easily stripped off the casting after it
has solidified. Sands with poor collapsibility will adhere strongly to the casting. When
casting metals that contract a lot during cooling or with long freezing temperature
ranges a sand with poor collapsibility will cause cracking and hot tears in the casting.
Special additives can be used to improve collapsibility.
Availability/cost — The availability and cost of the sand is very important because for
every ton of metal poured, three to six tons of sand is required. Although sand can be
screened and reused, the particles eventually become too fine and require periodic
replacement with fresh sand.
In large castings it is economical to use two different sands, because the majority of the
sand will not be in contact with the casting, so it does not need any special properties.
The sand that is in contact with the casting is called facing sand, and is designed for the
casting on hand. This sand will be built up around the pattern to a thickness of
30 to 100 mm (1.2 to 3.9 in). The sand that fills in around the facing sand is
called backing sand. This sand is simply silica sand with only a small amount of binder
and no special additives.

Types of Base Sand

Silica sand
Silica (SiO2) sand is the sand found on a beach and is also the most commonly
used sand. It is made by either crushing sandstone or taken from natural occurring
locations, such as beaches and river beds. The fusion point of pure silica is 1,760
°C (3,200 °F), however the sands used have a lower melting point due to impurities. For
high melting point casting, such as steels, a minimum of 98% pure silica sand must be
used; however for lower melting point metals, such as cast iron and non-ferrous metals,
a lower purity sand can be used (between 94 and 98% pure).
Silica sand is the most commonly used sand because of its great abundance, and,
thus, low cost (therein being its greatest advantage). Its disadvantages are high thermal
expansion, which can cause casting defects with high melting point metals, and
low thermal conductivity, which can lead to unsound casting. It also cannot be used with
certain basic metal because it will chemically interact with the metal forming surface
defect. Finally, it causes silicosis in foundry workers.

Olivine sand
Olivine is a mixture of orthosilicates of iron and magnesium from the
mineral dunite. Its main advantage is that it is free from silica, therefore it can be used
with basic metals, such as manganese steels. Other advantages include a low thermal
expansion, high thermal conductivity, and high fusion point. Finally, it is safer to use
than silica, therefore it is popular in Europe.
Chromite sand
Chromite sand is a solid solution of spinels. Its advantages are a low percentage of
silica, a very high fusion point (1,850 °C (3,360 °F)), and a very high thermal conductivity.
Its disadvantage is its costliness, therefore its only used with expensive alloy
steel casting and to make cores.

Zircon
Zircon sand is a compound of approximately two-thirds zircon oxide (Zr2O) and
one-third silica. It has the highest fusion point of all the base sands at 2,600
°C (4,710 °F), a very low thermal expansion, and a high thermal conductivity. Because of
these good properties it is commonly used when casting alloy steels and other
expensive alloys. It is also used as a mold wash (a coating applied to the molding cavity)
to improve surface finish. However, it is expensive and not readily available.
Chamotte sand
Chamotte is made by calcining fire clay (Al2O3-SiO2) above 1,100 °C (2,010 °F). Its
fusion point is 1,750 °C (3,180 °F) and has low thermal expansion. It is the second
cheapest sand, however it is still twice as expensive as silica. Its disadvantages are very
coarse grains, which result in a poor surface finish, and it is limited to dry sand molding.
Mold washes are used to overcome the surface finish problem. This sand is usually used
when casting large steel workpieces.

Binders

Binders are added to a base sand to bond the sand particles together (i.e. it is the glue
that holds the mold together).

Clay and water

A mixture of clay and water is the most commonly used binder. There are two types of
clay commonly used: bentonite and kaolinite, with the former being the most common.

Oil
Oils, such as linseed oil, other vegetable oils and marine oils, used to be used as a
binder, however due to their increasing cost, they have been mostly phased out. The oil
also required careful baking at 100 to 200 °C (212 to 392 °F) to cure (if overheated the
oil becomes brittle, wasting the mold).
Resin
Resin binders are natural or synthetic high melting point gums. The two common types
used are urea formaldehyde (UF) and phenol formaldehyde (PF) resins. PF resins have a
higher heat resistance than UF resins and cost less. There are also cold-set resins, which
use a catalyst instead of a heat to cure the binder. Resin binders are quite popular
because different properties can be achieved by mixing with various additives. Other
advantages include good collapsibility, low gassing, and they leave a good surface finish
on the casting.

MDI (methylene diphenyl diisocyanate) is also a commonly used binder resin in the
foundry core process.

Sodium silicate
Sodium silicate [Na2SiO3 or (Na2O)(SiO2)] is a high strength binder used with silica
molding sand. To cure the binder carbon dioxide gas is used, which creates the following
reaction:

The advantage to this binder is that it can be used at room temperature and it's fast.
The disadvantage is that its high strength leads to shakeout difficulties and possibly hot
tears in the casting.

Additives
Additives are added to the molding components to improve: surface finish, dry strength,
refractoriness, and "cushioning properties".
Up to 5% of reducing agents, such as coal powder, pitch, creosote, and fuel oil, may be
added to the molding material to prevent wetting (prevention of liquid metal sticking to
sand particles, thus leaving them on the casting surface), improve surface finish,
decrease metal penetration, and burn-on defects. These additives achieve this by
creating gases at the surface of the mold cavity, which prevent the liquid metal from
adhering to the sand. Reducing agents are not used with steel casting, because they
can carburize the metal during casting.
Up to 3% of "cushioning material", such as wood flour, saw dust, powdered husks, peat,
and straw, can be added to reduce scabbing, hot tear, and hot crack casting defects
when casting high temperature metals. These materials are beneficial because burn-off
when the metal is poured creating voids in the mold, which allow it to expand. They also
increase collapsibility and reduce shakeout time.
Up to 2% of cereal binders, such as dextrin, starch, sulphite lye, and molasses, can be
used to increase dry strength (the strength of the mold after curing) and improve
surface finish. Cereal binders also improve collapsibility and reduce shakeout time
because they burn-off when the metal is poured. The disadvantage to cereal binders is
that they are expensive.
Up to 2% of iron oxide powder can be used to prevent mold cracking and metal
penetration, essentially improving refractoriness. Silica flour (fine silica) and zircon flour
also improve refractoriness, especially in ferrous castings. The disadvantages to these
additives is that they greatly reduce permeability.

Parting compounds
To get the pattern out of the mold, prior to casting, a parting compound is applied to
the pattern to ease removal. They can be a liquid or a fine powder (particle diameters
between 75 and 150 micrometres (0.0030 and 0.0059 in)). Common powders
include talc, graphite, and dry silica; common liquids include mineral oil and water-
based silicon solutions. The latter are more commonly used with metal and large
wooden patterns.

Mixing of foundry sands

Mixing of foundry sand is an essential step in sand preparation to satisfy

homogeneous distribution of its constituents.