Casting Processes

ver. 1

ME 4210: Manufacturing Processes and Engineering 1

Prof. J.S. Colton
 Types of Parts Made

• Engine blocks
• Pipes
• Jewelry
• Fire hydrants

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Prof. J.S. Colton
 Casting Steps
quick route from raw material to finished
product

• Melt metals
• Pour / force liquid into hollow cavity
(mold)
• Cool / Solidify
• Remove
• Finish

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Prof. J.S. Colton
 Melting Furnace
Heat Atmosphere
• Raw material (charge)
– scrap, alloying materials
• Atmosphere Raw materials

– Air (oxygen), vacuum, inert gas (argon)

• Heating
– External - electric, gas, oil
– Internal - induction, mix fuel with charge
• steel making in blast furnace -mix coke with iron
• Furnace material
– refractory ceramics
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 Furnaces

Blast furnace Basic Oxygen Furnace

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 Furnaces

Oxygen-Fuel,
Electric Arc Furnace Oxygen Lance Furnace

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 Furnaces

Induction Furnace Electric Furnace

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 Breakdown of Castings

• Ingots for bulk deformation processing -

85%
• Cast to near net shape - 15%

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Prof. J.S. Colton
 Complex, 3-D shapes
• Near net shape
• Low scrap
• Relatively quick process
• Intricate shapes
• Large hollow shapes
• No limit to size
• Reasonable to good surface finish

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Prof. J.S. Colton
 Capabilities
• Dimensions
– sand casting - as large as you like
– small - 1 mm or so
• Tolerances
– 0.005 in to 0.1 in
• Surface finish
– die casting 8-16 micro-inches (1-3 μm)
– sand casting - 500 micro-inches (10-25 μm)

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Prof. J.S. Colton
 Processes
• Sand • Die
• Shell • Centrifugal
• Plaster • Squeeze
• Ceramic • Semi-solid
• Investment • Single crystal
• Lost foam • Directional
• Pressure solidification
• Vacuum • Slush
• Continuous
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 Metals processed by casting

• Sand casting – 60%

• Investment casting – 7%
• Die casting – 9%
• Permanent mold casting – 11%
• Centrifugal casting – 7%
• Shell mold casting – 6%

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Sand Casting

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Sand Casting

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Sand Casting

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Sand Casting Steps

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Sand Cast Parts

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Permanent Mold Casting

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Low Pressure Casting

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Die Casting (high pressure)

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Die Casting Machine

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 Die Casting

Cold chamber

Hot chamber

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Die Casting Part Example

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Continuous Casting

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Investment
Casting

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Investment (top) and Conventional
Castings

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Lost Foam Casting

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Lost Foam Castings

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 Centrifugal Casting

horizontal sand-lined mold

casting vertical

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Centrifugal Casting

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 Pipe Casting
Process

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Squeeze Casting

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Directional Solidification

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Vacuum Casting

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 Casting Characteristics
Table 5.6
Typical Section
Typical Weig ht (kg) surface thickness (mm)
finish Shape
materials (micron, complexity Dimensional
Process cast Minimum Maximum Ra) Porosity* * accuracy* Minimum Maximum
Sand All 0.05 No limit 5-25 4 1-2 3 3 No limit
Shell All 0.05 100+ 1-3 4 2-3 2 2 --

Expendable
mold
pattern All 0.05 No limit 5-20 4 1 2 2 No limit
Nonferrou
Plaster s (Al, Mg,
mold Zn, Cu) 0.05 50+ 1-2 3 1-2 2 1 --
All
(High melting
Investment pt.) 0.005 100+ 1-3 3 1 1 1 75
Permanent
mold All 0.5 300 2-3 2-3 3-4 1 2 50
Nonferrou
s (Al, Mg,
Die Zn, Cu) <0.05 50 1-2 1-2 3-4 1 0.5 12
Centrifugal All -- 5000+ 2-10 1-2 3-4 3 2 100
*Relative rating: 1 best, 5 worst.
Note : These ratings are only general; significant variations can occur, depending on the methods used.

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Microstructure

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 Microstructure - Dendrites

• Finer structure at
walls
• Grains / dendrites
grow to center
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Grains on Willie B’s head

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Microstructure - Dendrites

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 Fluidity

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Casting Defects - Porosity

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Casting Defects

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 Shrinkage

TABLE 5.1
Volumetric Volumetric
solidification solidification
Metal or alloy contraction (%) Metal or alloy contraction (%)
Aluminum 6.6 70%Cu–30%Zn 4.5
Al–4.5%Cu 6.3 90%Cu–10%Al 4
Al–12%Si 3.8 Gray iron Expansion to 2.5
Carbon steel 2.5–3 Magnesium 4.2
1% carbon steel 4 White iron 4–5.5
Copper 4.9 Zinc 6.5
Source: After R. A. Flinn.

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 Differential Cooling

• Transition between thicker and thinner

sections can lead to porosity

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 Pipe Defect

• Due to shrinkage giving rise to

a funnel-like cavity
• Solutions
– insulate top (glass wool)
– heat top (exothermic mixture -
thermit)

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Defects - Hot Tears

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 Chills

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 Design Rules Summary
• Uniform wall thickness
• Flat parting lines
• Gradual thickness
transitions
• Draft for removal
– tapers: 0.5 to 2 degrees
• Surface of mold gives
surface of part
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Sand Casting Rules

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 Casting costs
TABLE 5.10
Cost*
Production
Process Die Equipment Labor rate (Pc/hr)
Sand L L L–M <20
Shell-mold L–M M-H L–M <50
Plaster L–M M M–H <10
Investment M–H L-M H <1000
Permanent mold M M L–M <60
Die H H L–M <200
Centrifugal M H L–M <50
* L, low; M, medium; H, high.

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Process economics

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