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Avoiding Penetration Defects Through

This technical study discusses penetration defects that can occur in metal castings produced via sand molding. There are several types of penetration defects that range from rough surfaces to full metal penetration of sand grains. These defects are influenced by properties of the sand, metal alloy, and casting design. Using sands with high refractoriness, fine grain sizes, and controlled compositions can help minimize defects. The document introduces CASTBALL ceramic sand, which aims to eliminate penetration flaws through its high sintering point, customized grain size distribution, and stable chemical profile.

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Oscar Sotomayor
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74 views3 pages

Avoiding Penetration Defects Through

This technical study discusses penetration defects that can occur in metal castings produced via sand molding. There are several types of penetration defects that range from rough surfaces to full metal penetration of sand grains. These defects are influenced by properties of the sand, metal alloy, and casting design. Using sands with high refractoriness, fine grain sizes, and controlled compositions can help minimize defects. The document introduces CASTBALL ceramic sand, which aims to eliminate penetration flaws through its high sintering point, customized grain size distribution, and stable chemical profile.

Uploaded by

Oscar Sotomayor
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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TECHNICAL STUDY - METALCASTING INDUSTRY

AVOIDING PENETRATION DEFECTS THROUGH


CERAMIC SAND AGGREGATES USE
Metal penetration, burn-on and burn-in defects are quite common in the metal casting industry by sand
molding process. These are found on castings where hot spots are present, such as delicate areas of
water jackets or galleries, thick-walled and heavy castings. As a result of those defects, foundrymen are
being driven to a significant amount of rework with long processing times, and additionally,
considerable amounts of casting scraps are generated in foundry.

There are many researches about penetration defects, mainly for steel and iron casting. These studies
have adopted a standard terminology as a common basis for identifying metal penetration defects
which is classified in order of severity from the least to the most critical, respectively: rough surface,
burn-on, burn-in and metal penetration.

These defects cannot always be clearly distinguished and often occur simultaneously in one casting.
Rough surface defect is the condition in which the liquid metal penetrates the mold surface up to but no
further than the midpoint of the first sand layer. The surface of the casting takes the shape of the sand
grains but the sand grains are easily removed. In the case of a burn-on, the molten metal penetrates
onto the midpoint of the first layer of the sand grains, but does not completely incorporate the sand
grains into the solidified casting surface, whereas burn-in presents a similar condition as burn-on, but
there is an oxidation of the casting surface and phases formation of wetting products, e.g. fayalite in
ferrous metal casting using silica sand molds, which increases the adherence or a inclusion of the
sand grains. With regard to the metal penetration defect, there are two metal penetration types:
chemical penetration, and mechanical penetration. In both cases, the liquid metal penetrates beyond
the first layer of sand grains that ends up completely surrounded by solidified metal. In some cases, the
agglomerate is so large or covers a wide area of the casting that it ends up being scrapped. Whereas,
the difference between mechanical and chemical penetration is that in a chemical penetration,
similarly as a burn-in, there is a chemical reaction at the mold-metal interface and fayalite phase
appears in the case of iron and steel castings. Figure 1 shows a schematic illustration of three types of
penetration defects.

A. Rough Surface B. Burn-On C. Metal Penetration

Sand Grains

Binder Agent

Liquid Metal

Figure 1 – A schematic illustration of three types of penetration defects (adapted from AFS
Transactions 2017. S.R. Giese. Review of Cast iron Metal Penetration Defect. Paper 17-126 v125).

www.sintexminerals.com . +1 281 239 2799 . [email protected]


TECHNICAL STUDY - METALCASTING INDUSTRY

AVOIDING PENETRATION DEFECTS THROUGH


CERAMIC SAND AGGREGATES USE
Figure 2 shows photomicrographs of the mechanical and the chemical penetration. As described
above, the only difference between the chemical and the mechanical penetration is the presence of
fayalite between the sand grains and the metal when chemical penetration occurs (Figure 2). The iron
oxide formation during pouring is one of the causes for chemical penetration. However, when there is
the formation of iron oxide alone between the sand grains and the metal the type of metal penetration is

Silica
Grey cast iron

Coating

a) Mechanical penetration b) Chemical penetration


Figure 2 – Photomicrographs showing examples of grey iron cast (a) and steel (b) penetration in silica
sand molds.
Examples of burn-on and metal penetration are presented in figure 3.

a) Burn-on defect b) Metal penetration defect


Figure 3 – Examples of penetration defects on casting.

These defects may be related to a wide range of factors. Historically, the most critical factors are the
sand, the metal, and the casting design.
The sand type and its grain size distribution have a major influence on the final quality. Fine sand
typically presents no penetration, whereas coarse sand can create defects terribly severe. Sand
impurity is another issue. Impure sands and reclaimed sands containing iron oxides, clays, feldspars
and sodium silicate residues present poor refractory properties with low melting point. Additionally, its
morphology and grain-size distribution influence compaction and the number of voids in the molded
sand substrate. The greater the amount and size of the voids between grains, the more likely the metal
will penetrate into the sand. Apart from that, round sands are preferred to angular sands.

Metal molten conditions are similarly important. Lower pouring temperatures improve results. For

www.sintexminerals.com . +1 281 239 2799 . [email protected]


TECHNICAL STUDY - METALCASTING INDUSTRY

AVOIDING PENETRATION DEFECTS THROUGH


CERAMIC SAND AGGREGATES USE
instance, in the case of gray iron, every 5 to 10°C increase in the pouring temperature can make
penetration more severe. Another factor is that higher amounts of sulphur or phosphorus in the melt,
provoke more penetration defects as a result of a viscosity reduction.
Lastly, the design of the casting influences the defect formation. Some casting designs create hot
spots on the core or mold and are prone to generate metal penetration. In addition, a too high
metallostatic pressure will increase the severity of the penetration defects, mainly in large and heavy
piece.
In order to minimize the defects herein described, different types of ceramic sands have been
developed and are being supplied to the foundry market. Among those, CASTBALL is a solution
designed by Mineração Curimbaba and is characterized as a special corundum ceramic sand with
unique properties that allows outstanding benefits for the core and sand molds processes. CASTBALL
is a great solution to eliminate or reduce penetration defects of the casting parts due to its proper grain
size distribution, grain shape, high sintering temperature and controlled and stable chemical
composition. Table 1 presents the benefits of using CASTBALL.

Table 1. Penetration defects solutions and the Castball application advantages.


Common causes for
Common solution for
penetration defects Using CASTBALL
penetration defects
focusing on foundry sands

CASTBALL presents high sintering point.


CastBall
Using foundry sands with high Chromite Silica
Poor sand refractoriness. Premium
sintering point.
1,445 °C 1,368 °C 1,350 - 1,450 °C

Impure (even unwashed) or


unclassified sands.

For instance, chromite with Using foundry sands with higher CASTBALL is a ceramic sand with controlled
high iron oxide and/or quality. and stable chemical composition.
serpentine contents,
and silica sand with high
feldspar contents.

CASTBALL presents customized size


Coarse sands and/or Using finer sands and/or high distribution in order to avoid penetration flaws.
broad size distribution. coating thickness. CASTBALL can be customized according to
the need of the customer.

Increasing the pressure or vibration


of the machines.

Low compaction molds Reducing the clay, water, coal dust CASTBALL is a ceramic sand with controlled
and cores. and/or resin content (in these cases, and stable chemical composition.
mold and cores lose properties and
consequently the casting quality)
ands with higher quality.

Selecting CASTBALL grants the foundries an improvement of the casting quality, productivity
increase, cost reduction, apart from occupational health and safety.

www.sintexminerals.com . +1 281 239 2799 . [email protected]

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