Casting Techniques

• Casting is the process of causing liquid metal

to fill a cavity and solidify into useful shape
• Can be used directly or with little processing
• Used in non critical applications, where
predominantly compressive type of load
• Casting processes
• Casting defects
• Casting furnace
Advantage
• Near net shape
• Low scrap
• Relatively quick process
• Intricate shape
• Large hollow shapes
• No limit to size
• Reasonable to good surface finish
Disadvantage
• Shrinkage, porosity, cracks
• No strain hardening
• Can be brittle
• Tooling can be expensive
• Part shape depends on tool (mold)
• Microstructure can be difficult to control
• Non-uniform cooling
• Faster on outside produces finer grain structure
there
Casting steps
– Melt metal
– Pour / force liquid into hollow cavity
– Cool / solidify
– Remove
– Finish
– Test
Capabilities
• Dimensions
– Sand casting, as large as required
– Small-1mm or so
• Tolerances
– 0.025 to 2mm
• Surface finish
– Die casting 1-3μm
– Sand casting 10-25 μm
Parts made by Casting
• Engine block
• Machinery body
• Pipes
• Valve body
• Jewelry
Casting Processes
• Sand mold casting-60%
• Shell mold casting-6%
• Permanent mold casting-11%
• Centrifugal casting-7%
• Investment casting-7%
• Die casting-9%
Sand Mold casting
• Sand with binder, is
packed regidly about a
pattern, a cavity
corresponding to the
shape of pattern remains.
• Projections called core
prints are given to support
cores.
• Cores are used to produce
cavities that cannot be
produced by direct casting
from pattern.
• Gating and riser are
provided in the mould to
facilitate the flow of
metal.
• Molten metal poured into
this cavity gives the
replica of the pattern, the
casting.
• Green sand moulds are
most widely used of all
sand molds.
• Both ferrous and non-
ferrous are produced by
these molds.
Shell mold casting
• In this process mold is
formed from a mixture of
sand and thermosetting
resin binder, placed against
a heated metal pattern.
• The resin cures, causing
sand grains to adhere to
each other, forming a
sturdy shell that constitute
the half of the mold.
Permanent mold casting
• A metal mold of two or
more parts is used
repeatedly for casting.
• Process is also called
gravity die casting
• Suitable for high volume
of production of simple,
small casting with
uniform wall thickness,
without internal coring.
Centrifugal casting

• Centrifugal Casting: In
this casting process
the melt metal in
poured in permanent
mound and the mold is
rotated so that circular
casting is obtained.
Investment casting
• A precise metal pattern die is
used to produce a wax
pattern.
• Ceramic mixed with
thermosetting resin is used to
produce a ceramic mold by
putting the mixture on wax
pattern.
• The pattern, is then melted or
burned out leaving the mold
cavity.
• The mold is baked and metal is
poured.
Die casting
• Die castings are produced by
forcing molten metal under
pressure into metal mold
called dies.
• Die casting is closely related
to permanent mold casting in
that in both processes
reusable metal molds are
used, but metal flow at high
velocity and under pressure.
• It can produce intricate
shapes in mass production
with good surface finish
Continuous casting
• Molten metal enters
at one end of the
mold and solid metal
is drawn from the
other
• Control of mold
temperature and the
speed of drawing is
essential for good
quality product
Problems in Casting
• Shrinkage
• Porosity
• Piping
• Microstructure
Casting Defects
Any unwanted deviation from the desired
Requirements in a cast product results in a
defect.
Some defects in the cast products are
tolerable while others can be rectified by
additional processes like welding etc.
Major defects likely to occur in sand castings:
• Gas defects
• Shrinkage cavities
• Molding material defects
• Pouring metal defects
• Metallurgical defects
Gas Defects
• These defects are due to lower gas passing
tendency of the mould which is caused by
• Lower venting,
• Lower permeability of the mold
– due to use of finer size grains of sand,
– higher percentage of clay & moisture
– and excessive ramming of the mould
• Improper design of the casting.
• Blow holes and Open blows
• These are spherical, flattened or elongated
cavities present inside the casting or on the
surface.
• When present inside the casting it is called
blow hole while it is termed as open blow if it
appears on the surface of the casting.
• These defects are caused by the moisture left
in the mold and the core.
Due to heat of the molten metal the moisture
is converted into steam, part of which when
entrapped in the casting ends up as blow hole
or ends up as open blow when it reaches the
surface.
Green sand mould it is very difficult to get rid
of the blow holes, unless properly vented.
Scar: A shallow blow, usually found on a flat
casting surface, is referred to as a scar.
Blister: This is a scar covered by the thin
layers of a metal.
• Air inclusions: The atmospheric and other
gases absorbed by the molten metal in the
furnace, in the ladle and during the flow in the
mould, when not allowed to escape, would be
trapped inside the casting and weaken it.
• The main reasons for this defect are the
higher pouring temperatures which increase
the amount of gas absorbed; poor gating
design such as straight sprue in
unpressurised gating; abrupt bends and other
turbulence causing practices in the gating,
which increase the air aspiration and the low
permeability of the mould.
• Pin hole porosity: As the molten metal gets
solidified it loses the temperature which
decreases the solubility of gases and thereby
expelling the dissolved gases.
• The hydrogen which is picked up by the
molten metal either in the furnace from the
unburnt fuel or by the disassociation of water
inside the mould cavity may escape the
solidifying metal leaving behind very small
diameter and long pin holes showing the path
of escape.
• The high pouring temperature which
increases the gas pick up is the main reason
for this defect.
Shrinkage Cavities
• These are caused by the
liquid shrinkage occurring
during the solidification of
the casting. An improper
riser and gating system may
give this type of defect
which has a shape of a
funnel.
Moulding Material Defects
• These defects are originated due to some
specific characteristics of the moulding
materials like insufficient strength, improper
ramming etc. The various defects under this
category are:
• Cuts and Washes: These appear as rough
spots and areas of excess metal and are
caused by the erosion of the molding sand by
the flowing molten metal.
• This may be due to insufficient strength of
mould material or the high velocity of the
molten metal.
The proper choice of moulding sand and
appropriate moulding method together with
better design of gating system which
reduces turbulence by increasing the size of
the gates or by using multiple ingates can
eliminate these defects.
• Metal Penetration: When molten metal enters
the gaps between the sand grains, the result
would be a rough casting surface.
• This is due to the use of coarse sand grains in
mould material.
• This can also be caused by higher pouring
temperature.
• Choosing appropriate grain sizes should be
able to eliminate this defect.
• Fusion: This is caused by the fusion of sand
grains with molten metal, giving a brittle,
glassy appearance on the casting surface.
• The main reasons for this defect are the
lower refractoriness of the clay used in
moulding sand and very high pouring
temperature.
• Run out: This happens when the molten metal
leaks out of the mould due to faulty mould
making or defective moulding flask.
• Buckles: This refers to a long, fairly shallow,
broad, vee-shaped depression occurring in
the surface of a flat casting of a high
temperature metal.
• If the expansion of the moluld is obstructed
by the flask, the mould face tends to bulge
out, forming the vee shape.
• Rat tail: It is a long shallow angular
depression normally found in a thin casting.
The reason for its formation is the same as
that of buckles.
• Scab: This refers to the rough thin layer of a
metal, protruding above the casting surface,
on top of a thin layer of sand. The layer is
held onto the casting by a metal stringer
through the sand.
• A scab results when the upheaved sand is
separated from the mould surface and the
liquid metal flows into the space between the
mould and this displaced sand.
• Swell: Under the influence of metallostatic
forces, the mould wall may move back
causing a swell in the dimensions of the
casting.
• As a result of the swell, the feeding
requirements of the casting increase which
should be taken care of by the proper choice
of riser.
• The main cause of this defect is improper
ramming of the mould.
• Drop: An irregularly shaped projection on the
cope surface of a casting is called a drop.
This is caused by dropping of sand from the
cope or other overhanging projections into
the mould.
• Dross: Lighter impurities appearing on the top
of a casting are called dross.
• Dirt: Sometimes sand particles dropping out
of the cope get embedded on the top surface
of a casting. When removed, these leave
small, angular holes, known as dirts.
• Mould and Core shift: A misalignment
between two halves of a mould or of a core
may give rise to a defective casting.
Pouring Metal Defects
• Misrun: The liquid metal may, due to
insufficient superheat, start freezing before
reaching the farthest point of the mould
cavity. This defect is called Misrun.
• Cold shut: For a casting with gates at its two
sides, the cold shut may show up at the
centre of the casting due to non fusion of two
streams of metal resulting in a discontinuity
or weak spot in casting.
Casting Defects
• These defects are due to lower fluidity of the
molten metal or small thickness of the
casting.
• The fluidity of the metal can be increased by
changing the composition of molten metal or
raising the pouring temperature.
• The other causes for these defects are large
surface area to volume ratio of the casting,
high heat transfer rate of the mould material
and back pressure of the gases entrapped in
the mould cavity due to inadequate venting.
• Slag inclusions: During the melting process,
flux is added to remove the undesirable
oxides and impurities (refractory materials,
sand) present in the metal.
• At the time of tapping, the slag should be
properly removed from the ladle, before the
metal is poured into the mould. Otherwise
any slag entering the mould cavity will be
weakening the casting and also spoiling the
surface of the casting.
Metallurgical Defects
• Hot tears: Since metal has low strength at
higher temperatures, any unwanted cooling
stress may cause the rupture of the casting.
The better design of casting avoids this
defect.
• Hard spots: These are caused by the chilling
of the casting.
• With grey cast iron having small amounts of
silicon, very hard white cast iron may result
at the chilled surface.
• Proper metallurgical control and chilling
practices are essential for eliminating the
hard spots.
Hot Tears
Microstructure
• Dendrites
• Finer structure at walls
• Grains / dendrites grow at
centre
• Segregation
• Eutectic composition
• Non eutectic composition
• Post treatment may be
necessary to get desired
properties-grain structure
– Annealing
– Tempering
– Cold working
Melting Furnaces
• The volume of metal needed at one
time for casting varies from Kg to
Ton.
• Based on requirements, different
types of melting furnaces are there
• Cupola
• Cast iron is melted in a special
chimney like furnace called cupola.
• It is similar to blast furnace used
for refining ore.
• The cupola is charged through a
door above the melting zone with
layers of coke, iron and lime stone.
• It is operated continuously by
taking off melted metal as it
accumulates in the well at the
bottom
• Pot furnace
• Non ferrous metal may be melted in
pot furnace, that contain a
permanently placed crucible.
• Metal is ladled directly from the
crucible by tilting the entire furnace
• Electric Arc furnace
• The electric arc provides a high
intensity heat source that can be
used to melt any metal that is
commonly cast
• Since there are no products of
combustion and oxygen can be
largely excluded from contact with
the melt, quality of resulting cast
metal is usually high
• Induction furnace
• Induction furnaces melt
materials with the heat
dissipated from eddy current
• Coils built into furnace walls set
up a high frequency alternating
magnetic field which in turn
causes internal eddy currents
that heat the charge to its
melting point
• Rapid heating and absence of
combustion products result in
good quality and economic
production
Thank you all