Metal Casting Notes
Metal Casting Notes
Metal Casting Notes
Casting methods
Metal casting process begins by creating a mold, which is the reverse shape of the part we need. The mold is
made from a refractory material, for example, sand. The metal is heated in an oven until it melts, and the molten
metal is poured into the mould cavity. The liquid takes the shape of cavity, which is the shape of the part. It is
cooled until it solidifies. Finally, the solidified metal part is removed from the mould.
A large number of metal components in designs we use every day are made by casting. The reasons for this
include:
(a) Casting can produce very complex geometry parts with internal cavities and hollow sections.
(b) It can be used to make small (few hundred grams) to very large size parts (thousands of kilograms)
(c) It is economical, with very little wastage: the extra metal in each casting is re-melted and re-used
(d) Cast metal is isotropic it has the same physical/mechanical properties along any direction.
Common examples: door handles, locks, the outer casing or housing for motors, pumps, etc., wheels
of many cars. Casting is also heavily used in the toy industry to make parts, e.g. toy cars, planes, and
so on.
Table 1 summarizes different types of castings, their advantages, disadvantages and examples
Sand casting
Sand casting uses natural or synthetic sand (lake sand) which is mostly a refractory material called
silica (SiO2). The sand grains must be small enough so that it can be packed densely; however, the
grains must be large enough to allow gasses formed during the metal pouring to escape through the
pores. Larger sized molds use green sand (mixture of sand, clay and some water). Sand can be reused, and excess metal poured is cut-off and re-used also.
Typical sand molds have the following parts (see Figure 2)
The mold is made of two parts, the top half is called the cope, and bottom part is the drag.
The liquid flows into the gap between the two parts, called the mold cavity. The geometry of the
cavity is created by the use of a wooden shape, called the pattern. The shape of the patterns is
(almost) identical to the shape of the part we need to make.
A funnel shaped cavity; the top of the funnel is the pouring cup; the pipe-shaped neck of the funnel
is the sprue the liquid metal is poured into the pouring cup, and flows down the sprue.
The runners are the horizontal hollow channels that connect the bottom of the sprue to the mould
cavity. The region where any runner joins with the cavity is called the gate.
Some extra cavities are made connecting to the top surface of the mold. Excess metal poured into the
mould flows into these cavities, called risers. They act as reservoirs; as the metal solidifies inside the
cavity, it shrinks, and the extra metal from the risers flows back down to avoid holes in the cast part.
Vents are narrow holes connecting the cavity to the atmosphere to allow gasses and the air in the
cavity to escape.
Cores: Many cast parts have interior holes (hollow parts), or other cavities in their shape that are not
directly accessible from either piece of the mold. Such interior surfaces are generated by inserts called
cores. Cores are made by baking sand with some binder so that they can retain their shape when
handled. The mold is assembled by placing the core into the cavity of the drag, and then placing the
cope on top, and locking the mold. After the casting is done, the sand is shaken off, and the core is
pulled away and usually broken off.
Important considerations for casting:
(a) How do we make the pattern?
Usually craftsmen will carve the part shape by hand and machines to the exact size.
(b) Why is the pattern not exactly identical to the part shape?
- you only need to make the outer surfaces with the pattern; the inner surfaces are made by the core
- you need to allow for the shrinkage of the casting after the metal solidifies
(c) If you intersect the plane formed by the mating surfaces of the drag and cope with the cast part,
you will get a cross-section of the part. The outer part of the outline of this cross section is called the
parting line. The design of the mold is done by first determining the parting line (why ?)
(d) In order to avoid damaging the surface of the mould when removing the pattern and the woodpieces for the vents, pouring cup and sprue, risers etc., it is important to incline the vertical surfaces of
the part geometry. This (slight) inclination is called a taper. If you know that your part will be made
by casting, you should taper the surfaces in the original part design.
(e) The core is held in position by supporting geometry called core prints (see figure below). If the
design is such that there is insufficient support to hold the core in position, then metal supports called
chaplets are used. The chaplets will be embedded inside the final part.
(f) After the casting is obtained, it must be cleaned using air-jet or sand blasting
(g) Finally, the extra metal near the gate, risers and vents must be cut off, and critical surfaces are
machined to achieve proper surface finish and tolerance.
Investment casting requires the use of a metal die, wax, ceramic slurry, furnace, molten
metal, and any machines needed for sandblasting, cutting, or grinding. The process steps
include the following:
1. Pattern creation - The wax patterns are typically injection molded into a metal die
and are formed as one piece. Cores may be used to form any internal features on the
pattern. Several of these patterns are attached to a central wax gating system (sprue,
runners, and risers), to form a tree-like assembly. The gating system forms the
channels through which the molten metal will flow to the mold cavity.
2. Mold creation - This "pattern tree" is dipped into a slurry of fine ceramic particles,
coated with more coarse particles, and then dried to form a ceramic shell around the
patterns and gating system. This process is repeated until the shell is thick enough to
withstand the molten metal it will encounter. The shell is then placed into an oven and
the wax is melted out leaving a hollow ceramic shell that acts as a one-piece mold,
hence the name "lost wax" casting.
3. Pouring - The mold is preheated in a furnace to approximately 1000C (1832F) and
the molten metal is poured from a ladle into the gating system of the mold, filling the
mold cavity. Pouring is typically achieved manually under the force of gravity, but
other methods such as vacuum or pressure are sometimes used.
4. Cooling - After the mold has been filled, the molten metal is allowed to cool and
solidify into the shape of the final casting. Cooling time depends on the thickness of
the part, thickness of the mold, and the material used.
5. Casting removal - After the molten metal has cooled, the mold can be broken and the
casting removed. The ceramic mold is typically broken using water jets, but several
other methods exist. Once removed, the parts are separated from the gating system by
either sawing or cold breaking (using liquid nitrogen).
6. Finishing - Often times, finishing operations such as grinding or sandblasting are used
to smooth the part at the gates. Heat treatment is also sometimes used to harden the
final part.
Investment Casting
Advantages:
Can form complex shapes and fine details
Many material options
High strength parts
Very good surface finish and accuracy
Little need for secondary machining
Disadvantages:
Time-consuming process
High labour cost
High tooling cost
Long lead time possible
Applications: Turbine blades, armament parts, pipe fittings, lock parts, hand-tools, jewellery
6. Trimming - During cooling, the metal in the runner system and sprue solidify attached
to the casting. This excess material is now cut away.
Advantages:
Can form complex shapes
Good mechanical properties
Many material options
Low porosity
Low labour cost
Scrap can be recycled
Disadvantages:
High tooling cost
Long lead time possible
Applications: Gears, wheels, housings, engine components
All die casting processes follow a similar production cycle. Following figure is an illustration
of the cycle using the cold-chamber die casting process as a model. Initially, liquid metal is
metered into an injection system (a), which is then immediately pushed (b) through a runner
system (c) into a die cavity (d) under high pressure. High pressures are maintained on the
alloy during solidification. After complete solidification, the die opens (e) and the component
is ejected ().
Advantages:
Can produce large parts
Can form complex shapes
High strength parts
Very good surface finish and accuracy
High production rate
Low labour cost
Scrap can be recycled
Disadvantages:
Trimming is required.
High tooling and equipment cost.
Limited die life.
Long lead time.
Applications: Engine components, pump components, appliance housing
Casting Defects
Various defects can develop in manufacturing process depending on factors such as
materials, part design and processing techniques. While some defects may affect only the
appearance of parts, others can have major adverse effects on the structural integrity of the
parts made. The international committee for foundry technical associations has developed a
standardised nomenclature consisting of seven basic categories of casting defects.
1. Metallic projections: consisting of fins, flash or massive projections such as swells
and rough surfaces.
2. Cavities: consisting of rounded or rough internal or exposed cavities, including
blowholes, pinholes and shrinkage cavities.
3. Discontinuities: such as cracks, cold or hot tearing and cold shuts. If solidifying
metal is constrained from shrinking freely, cracking and tearing can occur. Cold shut
is an interface in casting that lacks complete fusion because of meeting of two streams
of liquid metal from different gates.
4. Defective surfaces: such as surface folds, laps scars, adhering sand layers and oxide
scale.