Pattern

A Pattern is a model or the replica of the

object to be cast.
Except for the various allowances a pattern
exactly resembles the casting to be made.
Patterns may be in two or three pieces,
where as casting are in a single piece.
A pattern is required even if one object has
to be cast.
The quality of casting and the final product
will be effected to a great extent by the
planning of pattern.
 Functions of Patterns:
 A Pattern prepares a mould cavity for the
purpose of making a casting.
 A Pattern may contain projections known as
core prints if the casting requires a core and
need to be made hollow.
 Risers, runners and gates may form a part of
the pattern.
 Patterns properly made and having finished
and smooth surfaces reduce casting defects.
 Properly constructed patterns minimize
overall cost of the casting.
 Selection of Pattern Materials
The following factors assist in selecting proper pattern material
No. of castings to be produced.
Metal to be cast.
Dimensional accuracy & surface finish.
Shape, complexity and size of casting.
Casting design parameters.
Type of molding materials.
The chance of repeat orders.
Nature of molding process.
Position of core print.
The pattern material should be:
 Easily worked, shaped and joined.
 Light in weight.
 Strong, hard and durable.
 Resistant to wear and abrasion .
 Resistant to corrosion, and to chemical
reactions.
 Dimensionally stable and unaffected by
variations in temperature and humidity.
 Available at low cost.
Materials for making patterns:
a. Wood
b. Metal
c. Plastic
d. Plaster
e. Wax.
 1. Wood Patterns:
These are used where the no. of castings to be produced is small
and pattern size is large.
Advantages:
Inexpensive
Easily available in large quantities
Easy to fabricate
Light in weight
They can be repaired easily
Easy to obtain good surface finish
Limitations:
 Susceptible to shrinkage and swelling
 Possess poor wear resistance
 Abraded easily by sand action
 Absorb moisture, consequently get wrapped
 Cannot withstand rough handling
 Life is very short

Commonly used woods for making patterns:

a. Teak
b. Pine
c. Mahogany
d. Deodar etc..
 2. Metal Patterns:
These are employed where large no. of castings have to
be produced from same patterns.
Advantages:
Do not absorb moisture
More stronger
Possess much longer life
Do not wrap, retain their shape
Greater resistance to abrasion
Accurate and smooth surface finish
Good machinability
Limitations:
 Expensive
 Require a lot of machining for accuracy
 Not easily repaired
 Ferrous patterns get rusted
 Heavy weight , thus difficult to handle

Commonly used metals for making patterns:

i. Cast iron
ii. Aluminium and its alloys
iii. Steel
iv. White metal
v. Brass etc..
 3. Plastic Patterns:
Advantages:
 Durable
 Provides a smooth surface
 Moisture resistant
 Does not involve any appreciable change in size or shape
 Light weight
 Good strength
 Wear and corrosion resistance
 Easy to make
 Abrasion resistance
 Good resistance to chemical attack
Limitations:
 Plastic patterns are Fragile
 These are may not work well when subject to conditions of
severe shock as in machine molding (jolting).
 4. Plaster Patterns:
Advantages:
 It can be easily worked by using wood working tools.
 Intricate shapes can be cast without any difficulty.
 It has high compressive strength.

 Plaster may be made out of Plaster of paris or

Gypsum cement.
 Plaster mixture is poured into a mould
made by a sweep pattern or a wooden master
pattern, in order to obtain a Plaster pattern.
 5. Wax patterns:
Advantages:
 Provide very good surface finish.
 Impart high accuracy to castings.
 After being molded, the wax pattern is not taken out of the
mould like other patterns;
 rather the mould is inverted and heated; the molten wax
comes out and/or is evaporated.
 Thus there is no chance of the mould cavity getting
damaged while removing the pattern.

 Wax patterns find applications in Investment

casting process.
Types of patterns depend upon the following
factors:
i. The shape and size of casting
ii. No. of castings required
iii. Method of moulding employed
iv. Anticipated difficulty of moulding
operation
 Types of Patterns:
1. Single piece pattern.
2. Split piece pattern.
3. Loose piece pattern.
4. Match plate pattern.
5. Sweep pattern.
6. Gated pattern.
7. Skeleton pattern
8. Follow board pattern.
9. Cope and Drag pattern.
 1. Single piece (solid) pattern:
• Made from one piece and does not contain loose
pieces or joints.
• Inexpensive.
• Used for large size simple castings.
• Pattern is accommodated either in the cope or in
the drag.
Examples:
1. Bodies of regular shapes.
2. stuffing box of steam engine.
Fig: Single piece pattern
 2. Split piece pattern:
• Patterns of intricate shaped castings cannot be made in
one piece because of the inherent difficulties associated
with the molding operations (e.g. withdrawing pattern
from mould).
• The upper and the lower parts of the split piece patterns
are accommodated in the cope and drag portions of the
mold respectively.
• Parting line of the pattern forms the parting line of the
mould.
• Dowel pins are used for keeping the alignment between
the two parts of the pattern.
• Examples:
1. Hallow cylinder
2. Taps and water
stop cocks etc.,
 3.Loose piece pattern:
• Certain patterns cannot be withdrawn once
they are embedded in the molding sand. Such
patterns are usually made with one or more
loose pieces for facilitating from the molding
box and are known as loose piece patterns.
• Loose parts or pieces remain attached with
the main body of the pattern, with the help of
dowel pins.
• The main body of the pattern is drawn first
from the molding box and thereafter as soon
as the loose parts are removed, the result is
the mold cavity.
 4. Match plate pattern:
• It consists of a match plate, on either side of
which each half of split patterns is fastened.
• A no. of different sized and shaped patterns may
be mounted on one match plate.
• The match plate with the help of locator holes
can be clamped with the drag.
• After the cope and drag have been rammed with
the molding sand, the match plate pattern is
removed from in between the cope and drag.
• Match plate patterns are normally used in
machine molding.
• By using this we can eliminate mismatch of cope
and drag cavities.
Fig: Match plate pattern
 5. Sweep pattern:
• A sweep pattern is just a form made on a wooden
board which sweeps the shape of the casting into
the sand all around the circumference. The sweep
pattern rotates about the post.
• Once the mold is ready, Sweep pattern and the post
can be removed.
• Sweep pattern avoids the necessity of making a full,
large circular and costly three-dimensional pattern.
• Making a sweep pattern saves a lot of time and
labour as compared to making a full pattern.
• A sweep pattern is preferred for producing large
casting of circular sections and symmetrical shapes.
 6. Gated pattern:
• The sections connecting different patterns
serve as runner and gates.
• This facilitates filling of the mould with molten
metal in a better manner and at the same time
eliminates the time and labour otherwise
consumed in cutting runners and gates.
• A gated pattern can manufacture many casting
at one time and thus it is used in mass
production systems.
• Gated patterns are employed for producing
small castings.
 castings

Gating system
 7. Skeleton pattern:
• A skeleton pattern is the skeleton of a desired shape
which may be S-bend pipe or a chute or something
else. The skeleton frame is mounted on a metal base
• The skeleton is made from wooden strips, and is thus a
wooden work.
• The skeleton pattern is filled with sand and is rammed.
• A hard taskmaster (board) assists in giving the desired
shape to the sand and removes extra sand.
• Skeleton patterns are employed for producing a few
large castings.
• A skeleton pattern is very economical, because it
involves less material costs.
 8. Follow board pattern:
• A follow board is a wooden board and is used for
supporting a pattern which is very thin and
fragile and which may give way and collapse
under pressure when the sand above the
pattern is being rammed.
• With the follow board support under the weak
pattern, the drag is rammed, and then the fallow
board is with drawn, The rammed drag is
inverted, cope is mounted on it and rammed.
• During this operation pattern remains over the
inverted drag and get support from the rammed
sand of the drag under it.
• Follow boards are also used for casting master
patterns for many applications.
 9. Cope and Drag patterns:
• A cope and drag pattern is another form of split
pattern.
• Each half of the pattern is fixed to a separate
metal/wood plate.
• Each half of the pattern(along the plate) is molded
separately in a separate molding box by an
independent molder or moulders.
• The two moulds of each half of the pattern are finally
assembled and the mould is ready for pouring.
• Cope and drag patterns are used for producing big
castings which as a whole cannot be conveniently
handled by one moulder alone.
Fig: Cope and drag pattern
 (a)Split pattern
(b) Follow-board
(c) Match Plate
(d) Loose-piece
(e) Sweep
(f) Skeleton
pattern
 Pattern Allowances:
A pattern is larger in size as compared to
the final casting, because it carries certain
allowances due to metallurgical and
mechanical reasons for example, shrinkage
allowance is the result of metallurgical
phenomenon where as machining, draft,
distortion, shake and other allowances are
provided on the patterns because of
mechanical reasons.
 Types of Pattern Allowances:
The various pattern allowances are:
1. shrinkage or contraction allowance.
2. Machining or finish allowance.
3. Draft of tapper allowances.
4. Distortion or chamber allowance.
5. Shake or rapping allowance.
 1.Shrinkage Allowance
All most all cast metals shrink or contract
volumetrically on cooling.

The metal shrinkage is of two types:

1. Liquid Shrinkage:
it refers to the reduction in volume when the metal
changes from liquid state to solid state at the solidus
temperature. To account for this shrinkage; riser, which
feed the liquid metal to the casting, are provided in the
mold.
2. Solid Shrinkage:
it refers to the reduction in volume caused when
metal loses temperature in solid state. To account for
this, shrinkage allowance is provided on the patterns.
 Almost all cast metals shrink or contract
volumetrically after solidification and therefore the
pattern to obtain a particular sized casting is made
oversize by an amount equal to that of shrinkage or
contraction.
 Different metals shrink at different rates because
shrinkage is the property of the cast metal/alloy.
 The metal shrinkage depends upon:
1. The cast metal or alloy.
2. Pouring temp. of the metal/alloy.
3. Casted dimensions(size).
4. Casting design aspects.
5. Molding conditions(i.e., mould materials
and molding methods employed)
The contraction of metals/alloys is always volumetric, but the
contraction allowances are always expressed in linear
measures.
 2. Machining Allowance:
A Casting is given an allowance for
machining, because:
i. Castings get oxidized in the mold and during
heat treatment; scales etc., thus formed need
to be removed.
ii. It is the intended to remove surface roughness
and other imperfections from the castings.
iii. It is required to achieve exact casting
dimensions.
iv. Surface finish is required on the casting.
How much extra metal or how much
machining allowance should be provided,
depends on the factors listed below:
i. Nature of metals.
ii. Size and shape of casting.
iii. The type of machining operations to be
employed for cleaning the casting.
iv. Casting conditions.
v. Molding process employed
Machining Allowances of
Various Metals:
 3. Draft or Taper Allowance:
 It is given to all surfaces perpendicular to parting
line.
 Draft allowance is given so that the pattern can be
easily removed from the molding material tightly
packed around it with out damaging the mould
cavity.
 The amount of taper depends upon:
i. Shape and size of pattern in the depth
direction in contact with the mould cavity.
ii. Moulding methods.
iii. Mould materials.
iv. Draft allowance is imparted on internal as well
as external surfaces; of course it is more on
internal surfaces.
The taper provided by the pattern maker on all vertical
surfaces of the pattern so that it can be removed from
the sand without tearing away the sides of the sand
mold and without excessive rapping by the molder.
Figure 3 (a) shows a pattern having no draft allowance
being removed from the pattern. In this case, till the
pattern is completely lifted out, its sides will remain in
contact with the walls of the mold, thus tending to
break it.
Figure 3 (b) is an illustration of a pattern having
proper draft allowance. Here, the moment the
pattern lifting commences, all of its surfaces
are well away from the sand surface. Thus the
pattern can be removed without damaging the
mold cavity.
Fig: taper in design
 4. Distortion or cambered allowance
A casting will distort or wrap if :
i. It is of irregular shape,
ii. All it parts do not shrink uniformly i.e., some
parts shrinks while others are restricted from
during so,
iii. It is u or v-shape,
iv. The arms possess unequal thickness,
v. It has long, rangy arms as those of propeller strut
for the ship,
vi. It is a long flat casting,
vii. One portion of the casting cools at a faster rate as
compared to the other.
 5. Shake allowance:
 A patter is shaken or rapped by striking the same with
a wooden piece from side to side. This is done so that
the pattern a little is loosened in the mold cavity and
can be easily removed.
 In turn, therefore, rapping enlarges the mould cavity
which results in a bigger sized casting.
 Hence, a –ve allowance is provided on the pattern i.e.,
the pattern dimensions are kept smaller in order to
compensate the enlargement of mould cavity due to
rapping.
 The magnitude of shake allowance can be reduced by
increasing the tapper.
 Pattern Layout:
Steps involved:
 Get the working drawing of the part for which the
pattern is to be made.
 Make two views of the part drawing on a sheet, using a
shrink rule. A shrink rule is modified form of an
ordinary scale which has already taken care of
shrinkage allowance for a particular metal to be cast.
 Add machining allowances as per the requirements.
 Depending upon the method of molding, provide the
draft allowance.
 Pattern Construction:
 Study the pattern layout carefully and establish,
a. Location of parting surface.
b. No. of parts in which the pattern will be made.
 Using the various hand tools and pattern making
machines fabricate the different parts of the pattern.
 Inspect the pattern as regards the alignment of
different portions of the pattern and its dimensional
accuracy.
 Fill wax in all the fillets in order to remove sharp
corners.
 Give a shellac coatings(3 coats) to pattern.
 impart suitable colors to the pattern for
identification purposes and for other informations.
 Pattern Colors:
Patterns are imparted certain colors and
shades in order to:
i. Identify quickly the main body of pattern
and different parts of the pattern.
ii. Indicate the type of the metal to be cast.
iii. Identify core prints, loose pieces, etc.,
iv. Visualise the surfaces to be machined, etc.
the patterns are normally painted with contrasting
colors such that the mould maker would be able to
understand the functions clearly.
The color code used is,
1. Red or orange on surface not to be finished and left as
cast
2. Yellow on surfaces to be machined
3. Black on core prints for unmachined openings
4. Yellow stripes on black on core prints for machinsed
openings
5. Green on seats of and for loose pieces and loose core
prints
6. Diagonal black strips with clear varnish on to
strengthen the weak patterns or to shorten a casting.