ISSN (1897-3310)

ARCHIVES Volume 11
Issue 1/2011
of
21 26
FOUNDRY ENGINEERING
4/1
Published quarterly as the organ of the Foundry Commission of the Polish Academy of Sciences

Study of pinholes genesis in iron castings

T. Elbel*, J. Hampl, M. Senkypl
Department of Foundry Engineering, Technical University of Ostrava,
Tr. 17. listopadu, 708 33 Ostrava Poruba, Czech Republic
*Corresponding author. E-mail address: [email protected] unbroken line

Received 18.02.2011; accepted in revised form 07.03.2011

Abstract
Purpose: The study concerns the formation of pinholes in castings formed by reaction between a green foundry mould and lamell ar
graphite cast iron. Great numbers of works have been aimed at clarifying the causes of pinholes formation in iron castings. In spite of this
there exists no united opinion on the pinholes formation (genesis) and the authors of this contribution having studied this phenomenon in
compacted graphite and spheroidal graphite iron castings were also aimed at lamellar graphite cast iron and they applied for it their
knowledge gained in study of reoxidation processes during casting of ferrous alloys.
Methodology: Experiments were done on castings of stepped bars moulded in green bentonite mixtures with s graduated moisture and with
use of two types of carbonaceous matters. Metal was melted in a 100 kg induction furnace from the same charge. Inoculation wa s done in
a ladle after pouring out from the furnace. Aluminium was dosed in the ladle in some cases and the inoculator kind was changed too.
Results: Pinholes were present on castings as small flat pits; on horizontal surfaces sooner singly, on casting edges in clusters. The
formation of pinholes wasnt caused by high moisture of moulds but the defect was sensitive to aluminium content in metal. In castings
with high aluminium content > 0.01 % the pinholes were present in great numbers, and namely both under low, and also high moistures of
moulding mixtures. In melts with low content of Al < 0.01 % the pinholes occurred less extensively only.
Practical implications: Conclusions from literature about influence of Al on pinholes occurrence were confirmed in such a way. Study of
the defect morphology has shown that the question is a oxidation reaction type of pinholes caused by oxidation of the residual melt
between dendrites with formation of CO.

Keywords: Casting Defect; Pinholes; Cast iron

the term surface pinholes is used. In addition there exists another

1. Introduction defect type having many common symptoms with pinholes that is
known in German literature as Kommafehler [4] and that
In steel castings the pinholes are known as small elongated
represents shrinkage subsurface cavities leading also into the
cavities with smooth surface formed close under the casting casting surface.
surface that lead into the surface with small outlets of diameter 1
The authors of the contribution were aimed in the past at
up to 2 mm (reminiscent of holes after pin/needle-prick) [1, 2].
forming the pinholes in iron castings treated with magnesium to
Under the surface the cavity widens to about double and the
compacted graphite cast iron and spheroidal graphite cast iron [5,
defect length is several times higher than its diameter. The
6]. The presented contribution is aimed at extension these
International atlas of casting defects has used for this type the knowledge with results of study of pinholes formation in lamellar
term subsurface pinholes [3]. Such defect appearance need not
graphite cast iron and study of the oxygen action in iron castings
have been met in iron castings. Pinholes are considered here also [7].
shallow surface pits (cavities) with smooth surface or the surface
For a long time the formation of pinholes in iron castings was
can be filled with a graphite inlay or a layer of oxides for those
imputed to the action of nitrogen dissolved in metal or originating

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from organic binders in a mould or a core. The fact that the pinholes formation without adjoining them to different cast iron
pinholes formation hasnt so unambiguous cause has been stated kinds. They are as follows:
in 3 publications by Hecht and Castelhano [8] that were engaged a) Physical type
in pinholes formation in castings from lamellar graphite cast iron b) Oxidation reaction type
made in green moulds. These authors have declared the pinholes c) Dissolution type
as a defect well and (at the same time) little known. They have d) Slag formation type
found out that the pinholes formation depends on three parameters e) Others
related to chemical composition of metal and the mould (Al and Recently R. Foret [10] applied the process by Kurokawa for
Mn contents in cast iron and the content of carbonaceous matters analysis of pinholes in a cover casting from GJS. He succeeded in
in the moulding mixture) and on two technological factors (the determination that in the given case it was a defect of the physical
casting thickness and temperature of metal poured in the mould). type but he hasnt determined its particular technological cause.
Pinholes occurrence in castings considerably increased with Notwithstanding he supposes that it could be high moisture of the
increasing the Al content in cast iron to 0.08 up to 0.1 %, i.e. moulding mixture.
considerably above the critical limit of 0.010 up to 0.015 % Al.
For raising the pinholes epidemic it was necessary from the point
of view of moulding mixture to eliminate from it the
carbonaceous matters and to increase the moisture content of the
2. Proper experimental works
mixture above 3.5 %. In addition to it the pinholes occurrence was
A comparative experiment was used for the research during
supported by low casting temperature and smaller thickness of the
which under otherwise the same conditions (the same composition
casting wall. With increasing the nitrogen content in cast iron
of the charge, inoculator, the same casting temperature) the
from 60 80 ppm to 100 ppm with Mn content of 1 %, with Al
moulding mixture moisture, Al content in cast iron, and the
content lower than 0.01 %, under otherwise the same conditions
method of mould filling were changed. A stepped bar casting of
the pinholes occurrence wasnt increased. The C content in the
the length of 520 mm, width of 40 mm, with stepped thickness of
moulding mixture (called by the authors as active carbon) was
30, 20, and 10 mm was used for the research. Moulds were made
on the upper limit of 3.0 % at that.
from green bentonite mixture. The binder was activated soda
It is not the aim of this contribution to summarize all
bentonite, the base sand was quartz sand ajdkovy Humence of
knowledge about pinholes, notwithstanding let us to mention one
medium grain of d50 = 0.27 mm. Mixtures differed with water
more work of crucial import by a team of Japan researchers [9]
content and the addition of carbonaceous additives. In most cases
that has stated that the pinholes formation hasnt quite
3.5 weight parts of the addition Ekosimix and in several cases 0.5
unambiguous causes and it will depend on particular conditions of
weight parts of dextrin were used. The mixture with Ekosimix had
casting production which mechanism will be a dominating one.
the loss by ignition of 3.8 %, whereas for mixtures with dextrin it
Kurokawa [9] presupposes that pinholes are induced by dissolved
was 2.2 %.
gases, oxidation of liquid metal, and by formation of inclusions in
Metal for test castings was melted in an electric medium-
the macroscopic zone. For observing the defect interior they used
frequency furnace of 100 kg volume. Molten metal was cast in a
a scanning electron microscope SEM and energy dispersion
hand casting ladle. For all melts the inoculation with FeSi75 was
spectrometric microanalysis EDS that are considered by them
used. Checking of an inoculator containing barium Ba (SB5) was
very effective methods for determining the defect causes but the
interesting. Tapping temperature of cast iron was 1420 oC. Tab. 1.
evaluating person must be perfect acquainted with these testing
gives a survey of chemical composition from 9 melts of castings.
processes. A knowledge database of 500 pinholes formed during
Influence of aluminium content in cast iron, of moulding
green casting in bentonite mixtures has been created in the study
mixture moisture, casting design, and a degree of through flow of
by them. This database has been formed from observing the
metal were tested on a set of 24 bars. Number of pinholes (NP)
defects and classing the examples according to the defect origin.
was studied as a dependent variable.
Defects caused by gases are classifiable according to the
The composition of metal charge in the induction furnace,
shape whether the questions are gas blowholes, pinholes and basic composition of moulding mixture, the inoculator amount,
microporosity. The difference between those defects can be and casting temperature were kept the same for all castings. The
defined with difficulty and therefore in the study by Kurokawa the Al content in cast iron (from 0.005 up to 0.141 %), moulding
pinholes were considered the gas holes of the size 1 up to 5 mm. mixture moisture (from 3 up to 4.4 %), casting thickness and a
Blowholes are cavities exceeding 5 mm and their internal relative degree of metal flow rate in the mould cavity were the
appearance is identical with the casting surface. If the defect independent variable factors.
interior is of metal appearance differing from the casting surface Different degree of flow rate in castings was ensured in such a
or it contains inclusions of graphite, carbides or slags then the way that from one slag trap the ingates led alternately into the
defect was identified as pinhole one. Microporosity defined as a thicker (the B casting) and the thinner bar cross-section (the A
cluster of small cavities almost invisible to the naked eye has been casting).
left out from this study as the mechanism of its origin is different Number of pinholes was evaluated visually on cast surface, in
from pinholes. Based on study of the defect morphology the three casting sections (with different casting thickness and with
mentioned authors have determined five mechanisms of the different degree of flow rate), and namely on lower and upper
casting surface.

22 ARC HI VE S of F OUN DR Y EN GI NE ER ING V ol ume 11, Iss ue 1/ 2011, 21 - 26

Table 1.
Chemical composition of experimental melts
Contents of elements Numbers of melts and castings
S1 S21 S22 S23 S24 S31 S32 S41 S42
%
1,2,3,4 5,6 7,8 9,10 11,12 13 up to 16 17 up to 20 21,22 23,24
C 3.21 3.67 3.65 3.63 3.61 3.33 3.3 3.37 3.37

Si 2.3 2.44 2.46 2.37 2.42 2.63 2.46 2.63 2.63

Mn 0.374 0.463 0.445 0.453 0.453 0.394 0.406 0.378 0.391

P 0.0502 0.0808 0.0868 0.0804 0.0862 0.0942 0.0978 0.103 0.102

S 0.018 0.017 0.017 0.018 0.018 0.018 0.018 0.03 0.03

Al 0.005 0.0104 0.0278 0.0353 0.141 0.0106 0.0074 0.0276 0.0585

Ti 0.0141 0.076 0.0743 0.0766 0.0714 0.0483 0.0504 0.228 0.237

Sc 0.917 1.06 1.06 1.05 1.05 0.983 0.996 0.996 0.996

Pinholes appearance was of shallow depression (pits) on influence of the length (doubling) of the metal route was checked
casting surface of diameter 2 up to 3 mm getting in the depth up in such a way. It is evident from tab. III. that there is no important
to 4 mm. Tab. 2. gives numbers (quantity) of pinholes in difference for them. It was shown that the greatest number of
individual casting sections with no regard to ingate leading pinholes (125 defects) was found out in the thickest cross-section
including joint casting A+B. Total quantity of pinholes in of 30 mm, in the cross-section of 20 mm there were 96 defects
individual sections is given here from both casting surfaces. and in the thinnest cross-section of 10 mm 65 defects were found
Pinholes occurred largely on the upper casting surface 286 out. Total number of pinholes on upper surfaces of castings from
defects, whereas 74 defects were identified only on the lower individual melts in dependence on aluminium content is given in
surface. It wasnt able to unambiguously prove the influence of tab. 3. together with mould characteristics, i.e. moisture of the
the flow rate degree in individual sections from the done moulding mixture and the used addition of carbonaceous
experiments. Notwithstanding as is shown in tab. 2. the higher additives. As regards the aluminium content in cast iron no
occurrence of defects was found out in the A casting, i.e. with the unambiguous dependence was determined. In the melt with the
ingate leading into the thinnest cross-section. Pinholes were found lowest Al content of 50 ppm with moulding mixture moisture of
out in great amounts on casting edges. 3.3 % no pinholes occurred. Graphical presentation of results of
From 286 defects 173 of them were in the A casting (60.6 %) Al content influence [ppm] on number of pinholes (NP) is given
in comparison with 113 defects in the B one (39.4 %). Castings 21 on fig. 1.
up to 24 fit in this trend in spite of the fact that they were Results of the first 16 castings with use of the FeSi inoculator are
interconnected on the opposed end from the ingate and the represented with the regression line (unbroken line).

Table 2.
Number of pinholes in individual cross-sections of the casting
Cross-section [mm] 30 20 10 Sum A bar B bar
Total number of
pinholes on the upper 125 96 65 286 173 113
surface
Total number of
pinholes on the lower 74 32 42
surface

ARC HI VE S of F OUN DR Y EN GI NE ER ING V ol ume 11, Iss ue 1/ 2011, 21 - 26 23

Table 3.
Summary of basic results of experimental castings
No Al w Number Casting Carbonaceous
of
ppm % type additive
pinholes
1 50 3.33 0 A dextrin
2 60 3.33 0 B dextrin
3 50 3.27 0 A Ekosimix
4 50 3.27 0 B Ekosimix
5 104 3.03 6 A Ekosimix
6 104 3.03 4 B Ekosimix
7 278 3.03 37 A Ekosimix
8 278 3.03 33 B Ekosimix
9 353 3.03 4 A Ekosimix
10 353 3.03 8 B Ekosimix
11 1410 3.03 2 A Ekosimix Fig. 1. Dependence of pinholes number (NP) on Al content in
12 1410 3.03 2 B Ekosimix cast iron

13 106 2.3 28 A Dextrin In another melt from the same base metal with Al content of
14 106 3.5 2 A Dextrin 106 ppm, where the moisture of moulding mixture was changed
from 2.3 % up to 4.4 %, the number of defects pinholes
15 106 3.8 25 A Dextrin fluctuated.
16 106 4.3 4 A Dextrin
17 74 3.5 25 A* Ekosimix
18 74 3.5 14 B* Ekosimix
19 74 3.5 16 A* Dextrin
20 74 3.5 13 B* Dextrin
21 276 3.2 16 A+B Dextrin
22 276 3.2 11 A+B Dextrin
23 585 3.2 14 A+B Ekosimix
24 585 3.2 22 A+B Ekosimix
Al = aluminium content in cast iron; Fig. 2. A view on a cut-out of the casting No 7 with pinholes
w = moisture of moulding mixture
Number of pinholes is a sum of defects for all 3 casting sections
* An inoculator with Ba (SB5) was used for inoculation.

Results of melts treated with the SB 5 inoculator are represented

with the point above this line and it indicates the increase of
pinholes number. Results of the melt on doubled bars and with
higher Ti content are situated under the basic line. It seems that
with those Al concentrations a maximum became and henceforth
the pinholes number will be decreasing (see the point with 1410
ppm Al where 2 defects only were found out).

Fig. 3. A defect detail under the electron microscope

24 ARC HI VE S of F OUN DR Y EN GI NE ER ING V ol ume 11, Iss ue 1/ 2011, 21 - 26

 Surprisingly the highest number of 28 defects was with the Kurokawa also found in castings with this type defect the
lowest moisture and with moisture of 3.8 % (25 defects). With the increased Al content and he has concluded that the pinhole
highest moisture 4 defects only were found on the casting surface. formation could be supported by the reaction of Al with water
vapour from the green bentonite mixture. It could be the case of
the casting No 7 in which the Al content was determined to 353
ppm, i.e. by 70 ppm higher then in the melt sample.
When observing the defect on casting No 7 at magnification
140 x (see fig. 4)in the bottom of the cavity the sharp-edged
aggregates of aluminium oxide we could find. The composition of
this layer confirms results of analyser EDS (30 atomic % of
aluminium, 69 atomic % of oxygen). In a sample from casting No
19 results were similar. A defect detail is on fig.5 with the same
magnification 40x as in fig. 3. Aluminium oxides were observed
in periphery of unmaschined casting surface too as dark layer in
right corner of the picture. On the bottom of another pinhole from
the same casting sample calcium oxisulphides were determined .
From analyser EDS we found out the contents (in atomic %) of
Fig. 4. A view on a bottom of defect - of a casting No 7 -
Ca= 9,5 %, S= 10,7 %, O=78,8 %. The provenance of calcium
magnification 140x
can be referable to inoculator with Ba SB5, but the barium in
defect cavities was not discovered.

3. Discussion of results
If we compare the results of this work with our results for
GJV [5] then primarily the number of pinholes was different: in
GJL ca. 0.1 defect per cm2, in GJV it was from 0.5 up to 1.5 and
in one case even 10 defects per cm2. In GJV the defects occurred
in extended colonies. It has been stated that the questions were
hydrogen pinholes and as a main cause of these defects formation
the higher aluminium content in metal has been indicated [5].
With linear regression analysis between the number of pinholes
Fig. 5. A defect detail from the casting No 19 magnification 40x and moulding mixture moisture a slight dependence was
determined only.
Thus it could be concluded that both the used carbonaceous For the relation between the Al content and the number of
additive and the mixture moisture have no considerable relation to pinholes the closer relations were determined with regression
the number of pinholes. It can be concluded from the done analysis. A set of castings made from cast iron modified in a
experiments that for the cause of this defect formation must be ladle had unambiguously higher number of pinholes and the
searched in chemical composition of metal. For checking this
limit region of Al seems to be 100 ppm. Regression equation:
hypothesis the defect appearance was analyzed on the scanning
electron microscope. The defect appearance on the raw casting
NP = 0.81+ 0.149. (Al) 1/2 (1)
surface is on fig. 2. where 3 shallow pits can be seen that were
further on studied on the SEM.
When studying the surface of the defect cavity on the SEM in which: NP number of pinholes per cm2, Al aluminium
according to fig. 3. neither slag nor a graphite layer were found. content [ppm].
The defect surface was oxidized and if the defect appearance is In a set of 32 castings cast with modification of cast iron in the
compared with the description by Kurokawa [9], it can be mould the occurrence of pinholes was lower. Lower limit of Al
excluded that the question is a pinhole of the hydrogen type as it content was 100 up to 150 ppm and with high content of Al >
was met in castings from GJV [5] and GJS [6]. 1900 ppm the pinholes didnt occur at all or in a smaller extent.
According to Kurokawa the question may be on the contrary a This set was processed with multiple regression analysis when the
defect of oxidation reaction type from residual melt of cast iron. independent variables were the Al content and moulding mixture
Primary crystals are formed as dendrites and in the residual melt moisture. Regression equation:
between the dendrites the reaction of FeO + C with formation of
the CO pinhole is running. NP = - 0.606 + 0.23 W + 0.0191 . (Al) 1/2 (2)
Further on Kurokawa specifies that such pinholes can be
formed individually or in clusters. It was also our case when on in which the NP number of pinholes per cm2, Al aluminium
horizontal surfaces the defects occurred individually and on the content [ppm]; W moisture of moulding mixture [%].
casting edges, where the dendrites grow more quickly, the defect In the case of the work results no close relation between the
occurred in clusters. pinholes number and Al content was found but the trend

ARC HI VE S of F OUN DR Y EN GI NE ER ING V ol ume 11, Iss ue 1/ 2011, 21 - 26 25

from fig. 1. shows that also here the upper limit of Al content is castings, the maximum was at about 300 ppm Al and the greatest
100 ppm above which the occurrence of pinholes grows and amount of pinholes was found out in the bar part of the greatest
with high Al content above 1000 ppm it decreases again because thickness. From analysis of pinholes on the SEM and with the use
on the surface of flowing metal a thick layer of Al 203 oxidic of the study by Kurokawa it has been stated that the question isnt
films is formed which can suppress the pinholes formation. The the physical type of hydrogen pinhole but as defect of the
effect of increased Ti content in GJL in castings No 21 up to 24 oxidation reaction type.
with Ti content of ca. 2300 ppm is also interesting. According to
Katz [12] the Ti content in amount of 300 ppm can eliminate the
negative effect of Al on formation of endogenous gas holes. In Acknowledgement
the case of castings from GJV [5] it has been shown that the
melts with Ti addition incline to reoxidation and in this The paper has been worked out with a financial support from
connection the Ti with higher content could support the pinholes The Grant Agency of the Czech Republic in the framework of the
formation also in cast irons. According to the trend on fig. 1. the project Graphite nucleation and possibilities of control its
higher Ti content rather suppressed the negative effect of morphology in ferrous alloys registration No. 106/08/0789.
growing Al content. The inclusion of the inoculator with Ba
content in this experiment was motivated by the fact that in one
Czech foundry with its use for manufacture of castings
from GJL the endogenous gas holes appeared. The result of this References
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