MANUFACTURING PROCESSES

LABORATORY

MSE 352: Laboratory Manual

Dr. Shobit Omar

Instructor In charge, MSE-352

Department of Materials Science and Engineering

Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur
Kanpur 208016

2024-25 SEM I
 List of Experiments

S No. Title of the experiments

Rolling: To study the property change of ferrous and non-ferrous metals

1
during cold rolling (elastic curve, plastic curve).

2 Molding: Molding properties of sodium silicate bonded sand

3 Welding: Microstructural evaluation of MMAW & MAG welded joints.

Powder Metallurgy (P/M): Study various characteristics of copper

4 powders and evaluate green density as well as strength characteristics
(hardness) of cold-compacted and conventional sintered compact.

5 Casting: Shrinkage behavior during permanent mold casting.

6 Casting: Fluidity of Aluminum Alloys.

S No. Title of the experiments

Part-I Staff involved

Rolling: To study the property change of ferrous and nonferrous RK

1
metals during cold rolling (elastic curve, plastic curve).

2 Molding: Molding properties of sodium silicate bonded sand. IPS

Welding: Micro structural evaluations of MMAW & MAG welded BRS

3
joints.

Powder Metallurgy (P/M): Study various characteristics of copper GM

4 powders and evaluate green density as well as strength characteristics
(hardness) of cold-compacted and conventional sintered compact.

5 Casting: Shrinkage behavior during permanent mold casting. AKV, RS

6 Casting: Fluidity of Aluminum Alloys. AKV, RS

List of TAs
S. No. Roll No Name Email Day

1 PDF-345 Deepti Gangwar [Ph.d.] [email protected]

2 231060605 Neelesh Singh [Ph.d.] [email protected] Tuesday
3 20106269 Manish Ranjan [Phd.] [email protected]
4 231060607 Raj Hans Kumar [Phd.] [email protected]
5 231060021 Selvanila Arichelvam [M Tech.] [email protected] Thursday
6 231060027 Vamsi Kishore Geesala [M Tech.] [email protected]
 MSE-352: Introduction of Manufacturing Processes
Engineering Metallurgy Lab DJAC-101H
2024-2025, Semester-I, Laboratory Schedule

Time: 14:00 pm to 17:00 pm

Experiment MSE-352 MSE-351

Turns GROUP Lab Exam
Day 1
st
2
nd
3
rd th
4 5
th
6
th
CHANGE 7
th
8
th
9
th
10
th

11
th
12h
E1 E2 E3 E4 E5 E6 E1 E2 E3 E4 E5 E6

Tuesday (G-1) 6/8 13/8 20/8 27/8 3/9 10/9 Tuesday (G-2) 24/9 1/10 15/10 22/10 29/10 5/11 12/11
Thursday(G-3) 1/8 8/8 22/8 29/8 5/9 12/9 Thursday(G-4) 26/9 3/10 17/10 24/10 26/10 7/11 14/11

Holiday/ Mid & End Sem Examination Date Make-up Lab (Saturday) 9 Nov. 2024
Time: 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM
Independence Day Aug 15, 2024(Thu)
Mid Semester Examination Sep 17 – 22, 2024 (Tue-Sun)
Mid Semester Recess (Dussehra) Oct 5 – 13, 2024 (Sat – Sun)
Diwali Oct 31, 2024 (Thu)
End Semester Examination Nov 17-26, 2024 (Sun-Tue)

Lab In-Charge: Course Instructor:

Mr. Anil Kumar Verma
Contact:7978/akumarv@ Prof. Shobit Omar

Contact:7427/somar@
 GENERAL INFORMATION

GRADING SCHEME:

Weekly lab report: 50 %

Interaction including viva: 20 %
End Sem: 30 %

IMPORTANT NOTES:

1. Attendance in each turn is compulsory. Missing 2 or more experiments will result in Fail
grade or de-registration. Makeup lab will be allowed only on SUGC approved leave.
2. Adhere to the lab timing strictly. Students who are late by more than 5 minutes will not be
allowed entry.
3. At the end of each experiment, students must clear off all tools and materials from the work
area.
4. Laboratory report must be submitted in standard lab-report sheets, available at the shopping
Center. Reports on ordinary sheets and computer papers will not be accepted.
5. Each student will submit individual report.
6. The lab report should contain: (i) Title of the experiment, (ii) Three to four lines stating the
objectives, (iii) Name of all equipment/tools used along with one line description of its use
and (iv) Neatly labelled sketch of the observed microstructures, if any (microstructures can
be printed), with few lines of description (v) Results and discussion.
7. Every student should obtain a copy of the MSE 352 laboratory manual.
8. Student can collect their laboratory reports after correction.

SAFETY FIRST: To avoid injury, the student must obtain the permission of the laboratory staff
before handling any machine. Careless handling of machines may result in serious injury. A
leather apron and leather hand gloves will be issued to each student during Welding experiment.
Students must come to the laboratory wearing (i) Trousers, (ii) Full sleeve shirt/t-shirt and (iii)
Closed shoes.
 Experiment-1
To study the property change of ferrous and non-ferrous metals during cold (elastic curve,
plastic curve)

Objectives:
i. Determination of elastic curve during cold rolling (Aluminum, Copper, Brass, Mild steel )
ii. Determination of plastic curve during rolling (Aluminum)
iii. Hardness changes with increasing deformation

INTRODUCTION:

Rolling is the process involving plastic deformation of metals by squeezing action as it passes between a pair
of rotating rolls. To control the relative positioning of rolls, a roll positioning system is employed on the mill
stand, generally through hydraulic pressure. The most common rolling mill is the 2-high rolling mill, which
consists of two rolls usually mounted horizontally in bearings at their ends and vertically above each other
rotating in opposite direction. Few pictures of high mills are given in the figure 1.1 the rolls may be driven
through couplings at their ends by spindles, which are coupled, to pinions (or gears), which transmit the power
from the electric motor. Cross sectional view of arrangement is given in the figure 1.2. The rolling mills could
be either reversing or non-reversing type. In the reversing type, which is the most common one, the direction
of motion of the rolls can be reversed, and therefore the work can be fed into the mill from both sides by
reversing the direction of rotation of rolls. The process may be carried out either at room temperature or at
higher temperature. Depending on temperature condition process called cold rolling, warm rolling and hot
rolling. Deformation below recrystallization temperature generally 0.3 Tamp (in Kelvin) is called cold working
and deformation above 0.6 Tamp (in Kelvin) is hot working in between 0.3 to 0.6 will be in warm working
category.

• Deformation below recrystallization temperature requires greater force than hot working.
• Above recrystallization temperature plastic deformation causes the deformation of grains and grain
boundaries, a general increase in strength, and a decrease in ductility.
• Properties can be brought back to their original levels by heating the piece in a specific temperature
range for a specific time at lower temperature known as recovery.

Manufacturing Processes Laboratory (MSE352)

Materials Science and Engineering, IIT Kanpur
Figure 1.1 Different configuration of rotating mills Figure 1.2 Detailed configuration of 4 high mill

Figure 1.3: Origin of spring back and elastic curve during Rolling

Manufacturing Processes Laboratory (MSE352)

Materials Science and Engineering, IIT Kanpur
 PROCEDURE:

A. Determination of elastic curve in cold rolling:

(1) Given metals: Aluminum, copper, brass and mild steel
(2) Set rolling mill to a constant roll gap.
(3) Roll different pieces of a metal with varying initial thickness without using any lubricant.
(4) Measure and tabulate the rolling load in each case. Also measure the final thickness in each
case (ha). Tabulate the results.
(5) Plot a graph between the final thickness after rolling (X - axis) vs. rolling load (Y - axis).

B. Determination of plastic curve in cold rolling:

(1) Given metals: Aluminum
(2) Take 25 -25 mm long various pieces of the given metal strip of the same thickness (~ 6 mm).
(3) Roll the strips to 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 and 70% thickness reduction is single pass without
using any lubricant, and measure the rolling load in each case. Also measure the final thickness
in each case (ha). Tabulate the results.
(4) Plot a graph between the final thickness after rolling (X - axis) vs. rolling load (Y - axis).

C. Repeat the steps 2-4, using oil as lubricant.

OBSERVATION:

Note: Take at least 5 readings in each case of the following cases.

(1) Data set No.(A) for elastic curve Rolling condition: No lubricant used
S. No. Roll gap, mm Metal Initial thickness of strip, Final thickness of Rolling load, Ton
mm strip, mm

(2) Data set No.(B) for plastic curve Rolling condition: No lubricant used
S. No. Metal Roll gap, mm Initial thickness of strip, Final thickness of Rolling load, Ton
mm strip, mm

(3) Data set No.(C) for plastic curve Rolling condition: Lubricant used
S. No. Metal Roll gap, mm Initial thickness of strip, Final thickness of Rolling load, Ton
mm strip, mm

Manufacturing Processes Laboratory (MSE352)

Materials Science and Engineering, IIT Kanpur
CALCULATION:

(i) The final thickness of the metal strip (X-axis) vs. rolling load (Y-axis) for both the non
lubricated and lubricated cases i.e. elastic curve, , on the same graph [use the data set
(A)].
(ii) The final thickness of the metal strip (X-axis) vs. rolling load (Y-axis) for both the non
lubricated and lubricated cases i.e. plastic curve, , on the same graph [use the data set
(B)and (C)].
(iii) Superimpose the curves obtained from the both data on the same graph.
(iv) Report the hardness changes.

QUESTIONS (Not required for the Report):

(1) Differentiate the hot and cold rolling and what are the effects on metals during both rolling
processes?
(2) Explain the phenomena of spring back in rolling?

Plate-1: Rolling Mill at Engineering Metallurgy Lab

Manufacturing Processes Laboratory (MSE352)

Materials Science and Engineering, IIT Kanpur
 Experiment- 2
Molding: Molding properties of sodium silicate bonded sand

Parts:
A. Measure compressive and shear strengths
B. Measure permeability
C. Measure green mould hardness
D. Determine moisture % in the molding sand

INTRODUCTION:

Though green and dry molding sands containing clay as the binder are commonly used in the foundry
practice, binders other than clay such as sodium silicate, molasses, linseed oil etc. are also frequently used
as binders. Mold and core making processes based upon the sodium silicate represent a high proporation
of the total chemically hardened sands used in the foundry industry. Advantages of using sodium silicate
are that (i) it is cheap and easily available, (ii) it is inorganic and does not evolve gases upon heating when
the hot liquid metal is poured, and (iii) it does not collapse and burns out after casting and hence gives
thermally stable sand. However, in order to generate a proper bond it is necessary to treat the sand mixture
with CO2 gas (hence the process is also known as the CO2 process). The chemical reactions between sodium
silicate and CO2 are:

Na2O.2SiO2 + CO2 = Na2CO2 + 2SiO2

Na2O.2SiO2 + 2CO2 + H2O = 2NaHCO3 + 2SiO2
In the reactions SiO2 separates as the silica, which causes an increase in the viscosity of the binder and
hence an increase in the strength of the bond. In addition to these chemical reactions, some loss of water
from the silicate occurs when the CO2 is passed, which also causes an increase in the viscosity of the bond
and increase in its strength. Thus if a proper bonding has to be achieved, the gassing time and the pressure
are to be controlled properly.

Part (A): COMPRESSIVE AND SHEAR STRENGTH MEASUREMENT

OBJECTIVE: To determine the Compression strength, Shear strength of a molding sand.

EQUIPMENT USED: Universal strength machine, high dry strength attachment (oven), sand rammer,
compressive & shear pads.

PROCEDURE:
1. Make a 6 standard sand sample of dia 50mm X 50mm height by sand rammer.
2. Make 3 samples first and then heated in the oven maintained at 150oC for drying for 40 minutes.
3. After achieving drying samples in this way take them out from the oven and cool them in air for 15
minutes.

Manufacturing Processes Laboratory (MSE352)

Materials Science and Engineering, IIT Kanpur
 4. For compression strength both dry and without dry samples insert the compression pads and place
the specimen on lower compression pads.
5. Press the mode key on indicator till ‘Co 0.00’ appears on control box. If required set “0” by rotating
the trim-pot on control box.
6. Press ‘START’ key so that loading will start; & the maximum reading in kg/cm2 can be measured
with peak hold facility and automatic unloading will be started.
7. Note down the readings.
8. Press ‘RST’ key to come out the cycle.
9. Now the machine is ready for next test.
10. Take 3 readings and average will give the result.

11. Make a 6 standard sand sample of dia 50mm X 50mm height by sand rammed.
12. Make 3 samples first and them in the oven maintained at 150oC for drying for 40 minutes.
13. After achieving drying samples in this way take them out from the oven and cool them in air for 15
minutes.
14. For Shear strength both dry and without dry samples insert the shear pads and places the specimen
on lower shear pads.
15. Press the mode key on indicator till ‘SH 0.00’ appears on control box. If required set “0” by
rotating the trim-pot on control box.
16. Press ‘START’ key so that loading will start; & the maximum reading in kg/cm2 can be measured
with peak hold facility and automatic unloading will be started.
17. Note down the readings.
18. Press ‘RST’ key to come out the cycle.
19. Now the machine is ready for next test.
20. Take 3 readings and average will give the result.

REPORT QUESTION:

1. Tabulated results of Compressive and shear strength of variously treated samples

Part (B):PERMEABILITY TEST

OBJECTIVE: To determine the permeability of molding sand.

EQUIPMENT USED: Permeability meter, Orifice of diameter 1.5 mm, specimen tube, sand rammer.

PROCEDURE:
1. Make a sand sample by ramming it three times.
2. Lift the air tank drum slowly up keeping the valve at (D) position to avoid any water
entering in the air tube.
3. Now put the valve on (O) position to hold the drum.

Manufacturing Processes Laboratory (MSE352)

Materials Science and Engineering, IIT Kanpur
 4. Place the specimen tube over the rubber sealing boss.
5. Put the valve on (P) position.
6. Find the Permeability number from the Pressure Gauge.
7. Compare it with chart fixed on the instrument.

REPORT QUESTION:
1. Tabulated results of permeability of variously treated samples.

Part (C): GREEN MOULD HARDNESS TEST

OBJECTIVE: To determine the green mould hardness of the sand mould

EQUIPMENT USED: Mould hardness tester.

PROCEDURE:

1. Apply the mould hardness tester vertically; placing the tip on the mould surface whose hardness is
to be measured.
2. Gently press on the surface until the surface of the bottom ring contacts the mould surface
throughout the periphery.
3. Depth of penetration of the tip into the mould indicates the green hardness which is indicated on the
dial directly.

REPORT QUESTION:

1. Tabulated results of green mould hardness of variously treated mould samples.

Part (D): MOISTURE TEST

OBJECTIVE: To determine the moisture % in the molding sand.

EQUIPMENT USED: Moisture tester, weighing M/C.

PROCEDURE:

1. Take few Gms of molding sand in a cup and place it in the moisture testing device.
2. Now take one spoon of calcium carbide and put it in the cap of moisture testing device.
3. Now place the cap back on moisture testing device, tighten the screw and shake it properly, this
ensures the immediate mixing a of sand sample and CaC2.
4. Watch the dial on the device.
5. Keep the instrument in vertical position.
6. Observe the reading when pointer stops further movements.
7. This will give direct reading of moisture % in the sand.

REPORT QUESTION:
1. Tabulated results of moisture % in the sand.

Manufacturing Processes Laboratory (MSE352)

Materials Science and Engineering, IIT Kanpur
 Experiment- 3
Welding: Micro structural evaluations of MMAW, MAG welded steel

OBJECTIVES:
i. Study the effect of heat affected zone (HAZ) on the microstructure and properties of steel
weldment. (Plot hardness vs. distance for various processes)
ii. Study of the size of HAZ for various welding processes

INTRODUCTION:

Fusion welding methods are the most effective ways for joining metals and alloys. These methods play a very
important role in the manufacturing industries. They are employed in manufacturing of products such as ships,
railways, earth moving equipments, automobiles, space vehicles, buildings, bridges, farm equipments mining
equipments, furnaces, boilers, home appliances and many other products of common use. These processes
include oxy-fuel gas welding, arc welding, Thermit welding, electro-slag welding, electron beam welding,
laser welding etc. Arc welding is the most common fusion welding methods for joining ferrous as well as
non-ferrous metals and their alloys. Shielded metal arc welding, gas tungsten arc welding, gas metal arc
welding, flux core arc welding, submerged arc welding, plasma arc welding and electron gas welding are the
fusion welding processes belonging to the family of the arc welding processes. Fusion welding processes,
however, are among some of the most complex metallurgical processes since large variety of metallurgical
phenomena occur in a brief time interval when the weld bead is being made. The engineer, when specifying
the welding operation, is concerned with gas-metal reactions, slag-metals reactions, solidification and heat-
flow considerations, solid-state reactions and transformations, and of course reliability and cost. Thus the
engineer is not just concerned with the area of coalescence produced by the fusion welding, but with the entire
welded joint which includes the region around the coalesced zone as well as the zone itself.

The manual metal arc welding (MMAW) is the most basic form of arc welding. It uses high current
and low voltage electricity to form an electrical arc. It has a consumable electrode, which conducts the arc
onto the work metal, melts in the process and forms filler metal. The arc must be manually started; i.e, by
striking the work piece with the electrode like lighting a match. All metals react with oxygen in the air, and
react much quicker when temperatures are elevated. MMAW overcomes this by including a coating on the
electrode that vaporizes along with the metal and forms a cloud of slag that keeps the oxygen out. This slag
solidifies on the weld and is chipped away to see the weld. The metal active gas welding (MAG) is a
sophisticated form of welding. It works on the same principle as MMAW with the different ways of dealing
with shielding and electrodes. It uses a continuous wire as an electrode. The wire is continuously fed, at
the rate at which it is used up into filler metal. It uses CO2 to shield the working area and prevent oxidation
of welded metal part. This means that one can weld more reactive metals, such as aluminum. There is no
slag to be chipped away in MAG welding.

Manufacturing Processes Laboratory (MSE352)

Materials Science and Engineering, IIT Kanpur
 A designer must anticipate two problems inherent in the fusion welding process: (1) the effect of
localized heating and cooling on the microstructure and properties of the base metal and (2) The effect of
the residual stresses that are locked in the weldment as a result of the uneven cooling of the weld deposit.
The heat affected zone (HAZ) is the region of the base metal, adjacent to the weld bead, where the
temperature has caused the microstructure of the base metal to change. In carbon and alloy steels HAZ is
particularly important because of the phase changes that occur in them when they are subjected to heating
and cooling from high temperature. The depth of penetration in fusion welding is affected by the welding
velocity, welding current, and the degree of preheat. It influences the preparation of the joint and the
number of phases required to complete the weld. For ferrous materials peak temperature and cooling rate
are important factors from the point of view of predicting whether rates are important for predicting
whether the martensitic transformation will occur or not.

PROCEDURE:

1. Take pieces of 5 mm thick, 25 mm wide and 80 mm long steel plates and remove dust/rust/oil from
the surfaces them using a sand paper or cloth. Weld the two pieces of steel plates by MMAW process,
MAG Process as described below.

2. Heat input to the job is related to the welding current. Welding current is changed by varying the
open circuit voltage of the welding machine and the slope of the volt-ampere curve. Set the desired
welding current.
3. Lay a weld bead at the centre of the plate at an average speed of about 10 mm/min by striking the
arc and moving the electrode manually till about 20 mm long bead is formed.
4. When the welded plate is cooled to a temperature < 500°C, remove the plate from the table and cool
it to room temperature in running water.
5. Remove the slag if deposit from the welded plate by wire brushing. A clean bead will be visible.
6. Cut all the welded plates vertically so that the bead cross-section can be examined and polish the
sectioned surface for its visual and micro structural examination.
10. Measure the size of the pool and the depth of penetration.
11. Measure the hardness of the welded joint as a function from the distance from weld axis.
12. Etch the polished surface and observe the microstructures of various weld zones. Estimate the width
of the heat affected zone (HAZ) in each case.

REPORT:

1. Objective of the experiment.

2. Appearance, pool size and depth of penetration as a function of different processes.
3. Hardness vs. distance plots for various processes.
4. Size of the heat affected zone (HAZ) as a function of welding processes.
5. Microstructures and associated differences with respect to different welding processes.
6. Hardness profile of weld joint as a function of distance from the weld axis.

Manufacturing Processes Laboratory (MSE352)

Materials Science and Engineering, IIT Kanpur
 Plate-4: Various Welding facilities at Engineering Metallurgy Lab

Manufacturing Processes Laboratory (MSE352)

Materials Science and Engineering, IIT Kanpur
 Experiment- 4
Powder Metallurgy (P/M): Study various characteristics of copper powders and
evaluate green density as well as strength characteristics (hardness) of cold-compacted
and conventional sintered compact.

OBJECTIVES:
1. Study particle characteristics of the given metal powders.
2. Study the die compaction behavior of the given metal powder and to determine tap
3. Density, green density and green strength of the compacts.

INTRODUCTION:

Powder metallurgical (P/M) processing of the metals and alloys plays an important role in
manufacturing various engineering components for several applications. The conventional P/M
technology for making components starts with metal powders as the raw material, which is pressed in dies
of suitable shape to produce green compacts. These green compacts are subsequently, sintered at high
temperature under protective atmosphere with following objective: (i) to develop proper bonds between
higher to mechanically pressed powder particles comprising the green compacts and (ii) to reduce the
porosity level in the sintered compact so that it has still higher relative density. However, parts produced
by the conventional P/M approach always contain some residual porosity. Non- conventional P/M
technologies have been developed with the objective of completely eliminating the porosity from the
manufactured part.

Metal powders are produced by various methods, such as (a) atomization, (b) solid-state reduction
of metal oxides or other compounds, (c) chemical precipitation from organic or inorganic solutions, (d)
electrolysis, (e) mechanical alloying etc. Each of these generic processes may have several specific
variants for metal powder preparation. The shape, size and their distribution of as- synthesized metal
powders depend on the specific method of production, variables associated with the process and their
control. The tapping of a powder stock in the die and its behavior during compaction and sintering is
substantially influenced by its size and shape characteristics. It can be mentioned here that the spherical
powder particles with uniform size distribution is usually preferred from the point of view of good flow
ability during compaction as well as far good sinter ability.

Metal powders have different shapes such as spherical, rebounded, dendrite, acicular, rod-like
flaky, irregular etc. An analysis of size and its distribution of a given batch of powder, coarser than 44 μm,
are generally carried out by sieves. There are specialized methods for

Determining the size and its distribution for powders, finer than 44 μm, i.e. the powder of sub-sieve size.

The density of loose powder is known as the apparent density. It is measured by allowing the
loose powder to flow through the Hall flow meter. Very often, the loose powder is mechanically vibrated
and/or tapped so that the particles in the loose mass further settle and occupy a smaller volume. The density
of the powder mass obtained after it’s mechanical

Manufacturing Processes Laboratory (MSE352)

Materials Science and Engineering, IIT Kanpur
 Vibration or tapping is known as the tap density. The apparent density and tap density are useful indices
for understanding the behavior of the powder during its compaction.

It has already been discussed in class lectures that for most of the conventional powder metallurgy
applications for manufacturing various engineering components, the metal powder has to be compacted in
dies of the appropriate shape. Compressibility of a given metal powder depends on various physical
properties of the metal or alloy and also on the (a) size and shape of the powder and (b) friction
characteristics and the die/powder interface. Thus the compressibility of a metal powder is an index of its
densification behavior under the application of an external pressure. The compressibility of a powder
compact is often measured in terms of the green density, achieved at a given applied pressure. Typical
illustration of the cold compaction process to obtain a green powder compact is shown in Fig. 6.2.
Alternatively, it is defined in terms of a densification parameter, which is given as,

Densification parameter = Green Density - Apparent Density

Theoretical Density - Apparent Density

From the above definition of the densification parameter, it is clear that it represents the fractional
densification achieved with respect to the theoretically maximum attainable densification. Green strength
of a compact is expressed as Transverse Rupture Strength. The schematic illustration of the three point
flexural set up is shown in Fig. 6.3. In the transverse rupture strength test, specimens are broken in a special
testing fixture. The specimen in the testing fixture is supported by two hardened steel rods. Another rod
presses the specimen at the centre till it breaks. The green strength of the powder compact is calculated
from the following relationship.

S = 3PL / 2t2W

Where,
2
S = Transverse rupture strength,kg/m
P = Breaking load, Kg.
L = Distance between the supporting rods, mm
t = Thickness of the green specimen, mm
W = Width of the green specimen, mm

Manufacturing Processes Laboratory (MSE352)

Materials Science and Engineering, IIT Kanpur
 Figure 6.1: Scanning electron microscope image revealing typical size and shape of Nickel-based super
alloy powder particles synthesized by the rotating electrode process.

Figure 6.2: Conventional method of compaction: (1) Filling dies cavity with powder by automatic
Feeding system m, (2) initial and (3) final positions of upper/lower punches and (4) ejection of sample.
P

L/2 L/2

P/2 P/2
Figure 6 .3: Schematic illustration of three point flexural strength measurement of rectangular cross
Section bar.

Manufacturing Processes Laboratory (MSE352)

Materials Science and Engineering, IIT Kanpur
PROCEDURES:

A. Powder Size and Characteristic

1. Weigh about 100 g of metal powder given to you.
2. Sieve the weight powder in the set of sieves for about 20 minutes
3. Weight the powder on each sieve and tabulate the weights as weight percentages of the whole
mass.
4. Observe different batches of powders under the stereo-microscope.
5. Neatly sketch the powder particle morphology of powders given to you for the observation of their
shapes.

B. Powder Density
1. Taking about 150 – 200 g of the given powders and gradually pass them separately in the
graduated measuring cylinder of the Tap Density Meter.
2. Gradually make the upper powder level horizontal and measure the volume. Calculate the tap
density of both the batches of given metal powders.
3. Introduce vibrations in the powder by taping (5 at a time) and observe the decrease in powder
volume. Calculate the density of the powder. Repeat this procedure till the density approaches a
stable value.

C. Green Density
1. Weigh pre-determined mass of the powder for preparing the rectangular green compact.
2. Compact these powder at three different loads. Calculate the applied pressure at the three different
loads.
3. Eject the green compact from the die carefully and weigh each green compact.
4. Measure the dimensions of green compacts and calculate the densities of the compacts followed
by volume.

D. Green Strength
1. Measure the width and thickness of the green compact in mm.
2. Carefully place the rectangular green compact over the fixture. Take care that the specimen
projects equally on both the sides of the fixtures.
3. Switch on the loading device (it automatically stops once the specimen breaks). Read the breaking
load.
4. Calculate the green strength of the entire three specimens.

COMPACTION EFFECTS ON SINTERING:

The higher compaction pressures contribute to an increase in density and neck contact size in
green compact, while reducing the rate of neck growth during sintering. Further, the higher compaction
pressures lead to larger net neck sizes. Also, the shrinkage decreases with an increasing compaction
pressure. It is the sintered neck size which dominates the properties such as strength and ductility, thus,
higher compaction pressures are generally beneficial. Increasing the compaction pressure gives better
dimensional control, less sintering shrinkage, and better final properties.

OBJECTIVES:
a) To study the sintering behavior of a powder compact prepared from copper powder.
b) To measure the density and properties of the sintered powder compact.

Manufacturing Processes Laboratory (MSE352)

Materials Science and Engineering, IIT Kanpur
 PROCEDURE:
1. Blend copper powder and 0.5 wt. % zinc stearate lubricant.
2. Prepare cylindrical compacts from the blended powder mixture at three different pressures using
the given die and punch. Also, apply the lubricant on the walls of die and punch. Select the
pressure in such a way that there is no problem in handling the compacts.
3. Weigh the compacts and measure their dimensions, i.e. diameter and thickness, and calculate the
green density of the pellets.
4. Place the green compacts over a Nimonic tray and insert the assembly in the hot zone of the
tubular furnace, kept at the selected temperature of 850oC for 30 minutes. Close the furnace ends
and introduce a protective gas inside the furnace.
5. Allow a sintering time of 30 minutes for all the compacts. Switch-off the furnace and take out
the Nimonic tray gradually from the hot zone. Cool it in the cold zone for sufficient period of
time.
6. Measure the dimensions of the sintered compacts and weigh them again. Calculate the density
of the sintered compacts.
7. Measure the hardness values of each sintered compacts.

REPORT:

1. Objective of the experiment.

2. Particle size distribution of the given powder in terms of the particle size (in sieve size as well as
in microns) distribution histogram.
3. Cumulative particle size distribution of the given powder.
4. Morphologies of the given powders indicating the presence of features such as, powder shape,
size, distribution etc.
5. Apparent density of powders.
6. Tap density of the powders as a function of tapping vibrations and the effect of powder shape and
morphology on the apparent density and the tap density of the powder.

7. Observations i.e. dimensions before and after sintering in a tabular form.

Sr. No. Compaction Pressure, Green Compacts Sintered Compacts

MPa Wt, g Dia, mm Thickness, mm Wt, g Dia. Thickness, mm
mm
1
2
3

Calculation: Calculate green compact density, sintered compact density, sintered compact
porosity and the densification parameter. Use the following formula for calculating the
densification parameter.

(Sintered Density - Green Density)

Densification parameter =
(Theoretical Density - Green Density)

Manufacturing Processes Laboratory (MSE352)

Materials Science and Engineering, IIT Kanpur
 8. The basic features of the powder compaction press.
9. The basic features of the green strength testing device.
10. Plot the green density values with compaction pressure.
11. Plot the green strength of powder compacts with compaction pressure.

QUESTIONS:

1. What are the limitations of your sieve shaker? What improvements can be made?
2. What will be the effect of various particle shapes and morphologies on the results obtained from the
sieve analysis? Why is it difficult to sieve metal powder particles finer than 325 mesh size?
3. How would be the accuracy of the tap density data affected by the volume of the metal powder
taken for the sampling?
4. What was the production methods of the given metal powder used in your experiments? If you were
given a powder produced by a different method how do you expect your results to be different from
what you have got.
5. How is particle size expected to affect green strength and density variations with pressure? How
does the compaction pressure affect the density of the powder compact prepared from a (i) soft and
(ii) hard powder of the same material?

Plate-5: Powder compaction and sintering facility at Engineering Metallurgy

Lab

Manufacturing Processes Laboratory (MSE352)

Materials Science and Engineering, IIT Kanpur
 Experiment- 5
Shrinkage behavior during permanent mold casting

OBJECTIVES:
Study the pipe formation in a cast metal ingot in 4 different conditions

INTRODUCTION:

When a liquid metal is poured in a stationary metal mould, and allowed to solidify, pipe formation
inside the solidified ingot occurs. Pipe is the shrinkage cavity formed in the ingot. Pipe is of two
types – Primary and Secondary. Primary pipe is located in the upper central portion of the ingot.
The Secondary Pipe is located inside the ingot. The ingot mould is usually tapered from the top to
the bottom of the mold, primarily to facilitate stripping of the ingot after solidification. The taper
shape gives rise to the two principal types of moulds – big – end up and big – end down. The rate
at which heat is extracted from an ingot solidifying in a mould, and hence to rate of solidification,
is affected by many factors, some of which are the thickness, shape, and temperature of the mould,
the superheat of the liquid metal, and the cross-section of the ingot. The nature of pipe formed in
ingots greatly depends on the type of mould used. In the present experiment, the effect of big – end
up and big – end down type moulds on the pipe formation will be studied.

PROCEDURE:

1. Melt the given metal/alloy.

2. Pour the liquid metal/alloy in ingot shape mould made from steel. Use two casting conditions –
Big- end up and Big-end down. Allow it to solidify.
3. Measure the volume of the primary pipe formed in the upper portion of the ingot.
4. Cut the solidified ingot in the longitudinal direction.
5. Measure the volume of secondary pipe formed inside the ingot.
6. Calculate the yield of the sound metal in the ingot.

REPORT:

1. Objective of the experiment

2. Materials used
3. Procedure in your words, including the melting of metal/alloy.
4. The volume of primary and secondary pipe.
5. Yield of sound metal in %.
6. Schematic diagram of the moulds

Manufacturing Processes Laboratory (MSE352)

Materials Science and Engineering, IIT Kanpur
 7. Schematic diagram of the cross – section of the ingot showing the pipes
8. Draw a typical ingot structure showing the casting defect for killed steel in the following four
cases –
a) Big – end up, hot topped
b) Big – end down, hot topped
c) Big – end up, without hot topped
d) Big – end down, without hot topped.

Figure 4.1: Solidification of liquid metal showing various zones.

Figure 4.2: Shrinkage defects in casting

Manufacturing Processes Laboratory (MSE352)

Materials Science and Engineering, IIT Kanpur
 Plate-2: Casting Defect

Manufacturing Processes Laboratory (MSE352)

Materials Science and Engineering, IIT Kanpur
 Experiment- 6
Fluidity of Aluminum Alloys

OBJECTIVE:
To assess the finger casting fluidity of short arid long freezing range aluminum alloys.

INTRODUCTION:
Fluidity is a term which is commonly used to designate two different properties of liquid metals
and alloys. The physicists define fluidity as a reciprocal of the coefficient of the viscosity and give the
term of fluidity an absolute meaning. The metallurgists consider fluidity in a broader aspect, defining it
as the ability of metal and alloys to flow freely, and thus to feed a mould and reproduce the desired
contour before such freezing occurs as would offer an abstraction to its further flow. The term "Fluidity"
is used a general sense to describe the ability of metal both to flow and fill the mould.
Both metal and mould characteristics are involved in determining fluidity. The following
metallurgical factors exhibit greater or less influence on fluidity:
a) Metal composition and freezing process
b) Superheat
c) Metal viscosity
d) Surface tension
e) Surface oxide films
f) Adsorbed gas films
g) Suspended inclusions and
h) Inclusions precipitating during freezing
Of these factors, first two are important. With regard to superheat, it stands to reason that is
heated to a higher temperature will have a longer period in the mould in which it is liquid, and hence it
will flow farther than metal not so highly heated. It has been amply demonstrated that changes in metal
composition can markedly affect fluidity. Best fluidity is obtained for pure components, eutectics or
phases that freeze congruently, whereas poorest fluidity is for the long freezing range (LFR) alloys.
Fluidity testing can be broadly divided into two groups:
a) Test with constant section channels and
b) With variable section.
The commonly used test methods in shop floor are spiral fluidity and finger casting fluidity.
Spiral fluidity is used for both ferrous and non-ferrous base alloys. In the spiral fluidity test, melt is
poured into the mould of spiral shape with a fixed cross-section. The fluidity index is the length of the
solidified metal in the spiral passage. The greater the length of the solidified metal, the greater is its
fluidity. Figure 3.1 shows the spiral fluidity test mould. Advantages of the spiral mould are that standard
mounding boxes can be used and the mould is small enough to be handled with ease. The practical
limitation is that this test requires a laboratory standard of control to obtain reproducible results, and
cannot be readily used in the shop floor. In the finger casting fluidity test, instead of pouring the melt
into a spiral of fixed cross section, melt feeds into five fingers of varied cross section. The fluidity
reported from this experiment is the sum of the lengths in the five fingers. This procedure conflates the
cavity parameters with the fluidity of the metal. Figure 3.2 shows the finger fluidity test mould.

Manufacturing Processes Laboratory (MSE352)

Materials Science and Engineering, IIT Kanpur
 Figure 3.1 Spiral fluidity test. Figure 3.2 Finger Casting fluidity test.

OBJECTIVE:
To assess the finger casting fluidity of short arid long freezing range aluminum alloys.
PROCEDURE:
1. Prepare sand moulds using given finger casting fluidity test patterns.
2. Melts given are of Al alloys. They are of short freezing and long freezing range.
3. Measure the temperature before pouring into moulds (in both cases pouring temperature should
be same).
4. Obtain the fluidity castings and assess the fluidity of the alloys.

REPORTS:
1. Objective of the experiment.
2. The methods of melting, preparation of moulds, temperature measurement etc.
3. Fluidity assessment of two different alloys and consequences in routine casting method.

QUESTIONS
1. What are the other methods for measuring fluidity? What are their advantages and drawbacks?
Which of them is the more commonly used?
2. How does the composition affect the fluidity?
3. Is it possible to relate chemical composition and fluidity in steels and cast irons?
If so, give the relations.
4. For a given casting, the fluidity is less. There no choice given in selecting the alloy.
Apart from superheating the liquid what are the other possibilities? Discuss.

Manufacturing Processes Laboratory (MSE352)

Materials Science and Engineering, IIT Kanpur