Metal Casting Process

Introduction:
Metal casting processes have been known
for thousands of years, and have been
widely used for creating sculptures, jewelry,
transportation, weapons, and tools.

Casting is most often used for making

complex shapes that would be otherwise
dif ficult or uneconomical to make by other
methods. Heavy equipment like machine
tool beds, ships’ propellers, etc. can be cast
easily in the required size, rather than
fabricating by joining several small pieces.
 Definition: Casting
Casting is a manufacturing process in
which a liquid material is usually
poured into a mold, which contains a
hollow cavity of the desired shape, and
then allowed to solidify. The solidif ied
part is also known as a casting, which
is ejected or broken out of the mold to
complete the process.
 Types of Casting Processes
• Sand casting
• Pressure-Die casting
• Shell casting
• Centrifugal casting
• Investment casting
• Gravity die casting
• Vacuum die casting
• Squeezing die casting etc.
 Sand Casting
• Sand casting is one of the most popular
and easiest types of casting and has been
used for centuries. Sand casting enables
smaller batches than permanent mold
casting and at a very reasonable cost.
• Sand casting can also cast most metals,
depending on the type of sand used to
make the molds.
• Sand casting is typically based on silica-
based materials, such as synthetic or
naturally bound sand. Cast sand generally
consists of f inely ground, spherical grains
that can be tightly packed together to form
a smooth mold surface.
Gating System
 What is Pattern?
• In casting, a pattern is a replica or
duplicate of the object to be cast with
some modifications.
• It is used to prepare the mold into
which molten material will be poured
during the casting process.
• Patterns used in sand casting may be
made of wood, metal, plastics or other
materials.
 What is Mold?
• In s an d cas tin g a mold is a cav ity
produced in a compact sand mass due to
withdrawal of pattern, which when f il led
with liquid metal produces a casting.
• The process of producing the cavity is
known as moulding.
 Steps in Sand-Casting Process
Step 1: Create The Pattern
Before you make your mold, you must
create a pattern to determine the mold’s
shape. The pattern can be a 3-dimensional
model of your f inal cast. It may be shaped
in wax, sand, plastic, or even wood.
Step 2: Make The Mold
After you have created a pattern, it is time
to make your mold. As we mentioned above,
you may choose to make a reusable mold,
which is typically made from metal, or a
single-use mold, which may be made from
sand, plaster, or ceramic shell.
Step 3: Choose The Metallic Alloy
All metal castings are produced from
either ferrous or non-ferrous alloys. Alloys
are a mixture of elements that provide the
best mechanical properties for the f in al
cast’s use. Ferrous alloys include steels,
Cast-iron.

Non-Ferrous alloys that are most

commonly used in casting are aluminum,
bronze, and copper. If you are working with
precious metals in a jewelry studio, you
may work with silver, copper, gold, and
platinum.
Step 4: Melt The Alloy
Melting processes vary between alloys
because each alloy will have a different
melting temperature. Essentially, melting
consists of placing the solid alloy in a
crucible and heating it over an open flame or
inside of a furnace. Cupola furnace is used
for cast-iron.
Step 5: Pour Into The Mold
Pour the molten metal into the mold cavity.
(If it is a small casting, you may simply pour
from the crucible where the metal was
heated directly into the mold.)
Step 6: Remove The Casting From The
Mold
When the metal has cooled and solidif ie d,
castings will be removed from the mold.

Step 7: Finishing
File and polish your solid metal cast! This
may involve cleaning your cast metal object,
like scrubbing away excess mold material in
water, breaking off the casting gates with
clippers for small objects, or even an angle
grinder for large pieces.
Types of Pattern
1. Single piece or solid pattern
This pattern made without joints, partings, or
any loose pieces in its construction is called a
single-piece or solid patter. These patterns are
cheaper.
2 . S p l i t P a t t e r n
For casting unusual shape split patterns are
used to form a mould. These types of pattern
is usually made in two parts. One part will
produce the lower half of the mould and the
o t h e r u p p e r h a l f .

The two parts may or may not be of the same

size and shape. These are held in their proper
relative positions by means of dowel-pins.
3. Match Plate Pattern
These types of pattern is made in two pieces.
One-piece mounted on one side of the plate
and the other piece on the other side of the
plate called the match plate pattern. The plate
can only carry a pattern or a group of patterns
on its two sides in the same way.
4.Cope or Drag Pattern
When quite large castings are to be made, the
entire pattern becomes too heavy to be handled
by anyone operator. Such types of pattern is
made in two parts which are individually molded
into separate moulding boxes.
After completion of the moulds, the two boxes are
assembled to form the complete cavity.
5. Gated Pattern
Gated patterns are used in the mass
production of small castings. For such
castings, multi-cavity moulds are prepared
i.e. a single sand mould carries a number of
cavities as shown.

This saves moulding time also there is uniform

feeding of molten metal.
6. Sweep Pattern
Sweep pattern uses a wooden board with
proper size to rotate along one edge to shape
the cavity. This kind of casting pattern
creates a cavity in the vertical direction and
the base of it is attached with sand. It also
creates casting in a very short time.
7. Loose Piece Pattern
In these types of pattern, some single piece patterns are
made to have loose pieces in order to enable their easy
withdrawal from the mould. These pieces make an
integral part of the pattern while moulding.
After the mould is finished, the pattern is withdrawn,
leaving the pieces in the sand. These pieces are later
withdrawn separately through the cavity formed by the
pattern as shown in the diagram.
 Pattern Allowances
• To compensate for any dimensional
changes which will happen during the (solid)
cooling process, allowances are usually
made in the pattern.

Why pattern allowances are provided?

To ensure :
(i) To ensure Dimensionally correct product.
(ii) For Easy withdrawal of pattern from mold.
 Types of Pattern Allowances
• Shrinkage allowance
• Draft or taper allowance
• Finishing or Machining allowance
• Distortion allowance
• Finishing or machining allowance
Shrinkage allowance: All most all cast metals
shrink or contract volumetrically on cooling.
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.
Draft Allowance: When the pattern is removed
from mou l d, th e paral l el s u r fac e to th e
direction at which pattern is withdrawn,
damaged slightly and convert into slightly
tapered surfaces. To compensate these
changes, these parallel surfaces on patterns
are made slightly tapered (1-2 degree). This
allow easy removal of pattern from mold and
does not affect the actual dimension of
casting. These are known as draft allowance.
Finishing or Machining Allowance:
As we known the casting gives poor surface
f inish and rough surfaces. Also, the Pattern is
made manually which does not f ixed accurate
angles and dimensions of mating parts. But we
need a proper f in ished and dimensionally
a c c u r a t e c a s t i n g .

To avoid these problems, casting made slightly

larger and after solidif ic ation machining is
don e on i t for better s u r fac e f in i s h an d
accurate dimensions. This change in
dimension of casting is known as machining
allowance.
Shake or Wrapping Allowance:
• The pattern is removed from the mold
cavity, sometimes wrapping the pattern
for easy removal from the cavity. In
this case, the f in al mold cavities are
enlarged.
• So to compensate for the enlargement,
the amplitude of the pattern must be
reduced. This is called a shake or
wrapping allowance.
D i s t o r t i o n
or Camber Allowance:
When the mold is in a cooling
process, tension is developed
into a solid metal due to uneven
metal thickness or over-cooling
to allo w fo r c asting. The se
stresses can induce
d e fo rmatio n o r be nd in the
castings. This can be avoided
by initially distorting patterns in
the opposite direction.
The thickness of the casting
part is uneven. Therefore, the
solidif ic ation process section
d o e s no t have unifo rm and
thermal stresses. Therefore
those castings are deformed.
Avoid that, chamber provided in
 Moulding Sand
• Molding sand, also known as foundry
sand, is a sand that when moistened and
compressed or oiled or heated tends to
pack well and hold its shape.
• It is used in the process of sand casting
for preparing the mould cavity.
Types of Moulding Sand:
According to the use, moulding sand may be
classified as below:
1. Green Sand:
The green sand is the natural sand containing
suf ficient moisture in it. It is mixture of silica and
15 to 30% clay with about 8% water. Clay and water
act as a bonding material to give strength. Molds
made from this sand are known as green sand
mould.
The green sand is used only for simple and rough
casting products. It is used for both ferrous and
non-ferrous metals.
2. Dry Sand:
When the moisture is removed from green
sand, it is known as dry sand. The mould
produced by dry sand has greater strength,
rigidity and thermal stability. This sand is
used for large and heavy castings.

3. Loam Sand:
Loam sand is a mixture of 50 percent sand
and 50 percent clay. Water is added in
suf ficient amount. It is used for large and
heavy moulds e.g., turbine parts, hoppers
etc.
4. Facing Sand: A sand used for facing of the
mould is known as facing sand. It consists of
silica sand and clay, without addition of used
sand. It is used directly next to the surface of
the pattern. Facing sand comes in direct
contact with the hot molten metal; therefore
it must have high refractoriness and strength.
It has very fine grains.
5. Parting Sand: A pure silica sand employed
on the faces of the pattern before moulding
is known as parting sand. When the pattern
is withdrawn from the mould, the moulding
sand sticks to it.
To avoid sticking, parting sand is sprinkled on
the pattern before it is embedded in the
moulding sand. Par ting sand is also
6. Backing or Floor Sand: The backing sand is
old and repeatedly used sand of black color.
It is used to back up the facing sand and to
f ill the whole volume of the box. This sand
is accumulated on the f lo or after casting
and hence also known as floor sand.
7. Core Sand: A sand used for making cores
is known as core sand. It is silica sand
mixed with core oil (linseed oil, resin,
mineral oil) and other binding materials
(dextrine, corn f lour, sodium silicate). It has
remarkable compressive strength.
 Properties of Molding Sand
1. Porosity: Porosity also known as permeability is
the most important property of the moulding sand.
It is the ability of the moulding sand to allow
gasses to pass through. Gasses and steam are
generated during the pouring of molten metal into
the sand cavity. This property depends on the
shape and size of the particles of the sand,
amount of the clay, binding material, and moisture
contents.
2. Cohesiveness: Cohesiveness is the property of
sand to hold its particles together. It may be
defined as the strength of the moulding sand. This
property plays a vital role in retaining intricate
shapes of the mould. Insuf fic ient strength may
lead to a collapse in the mould particles during
handling, turning over, or closing.
3. Adhesiveness:
Adhesiveness is the property of sand due
to which the sand particles sticks to the
sides of the moulding box. Adhesiveness
of sand enables the proper lifting of cope
along with the sand.
4. Plasticity:
Plasticity is the property of the moulding
sand by virtue of which it f lo ws to all
corners around the mould when rammed,
thus not providing any possibility of left
out spaces, and acquires a predetermined
shape under ramming pressure.
5. Flow-Ability: Flow-ability is the ability of moulding
sand to free f low and f il l the recesses and the f ine
details in the pattern. It varies with moisture content.
6. Collapsibility: Collapsibility is the property of sand
due to which the sand mould collapse automatically
after the solidif ic ation of the casting. The mould
should disintegrate into small particles of moulding
sand with minimum force after the casting is
removed from it.
7. Refractoriness: Refractoriness is the property of
sand to withstand high temperature of molten metal
without fusion or soften.
Moulding sands with poor refractoriness may burn
when the molten metal is poured into the mould.
Usually, sand moulds should be able to withstand up
to 1650°C.
 Core, Core Print & Chaplets
• A core is a sand shape inserted into the mold to
shape the casting interior, including features such as
holes or passages. Cores are usually made out of
molding sand so they can be shaken out of the
casting.
• A core print is a region added to the pattern, core, or
mold to locate and support the core within the mold.

• Further core support is provided by chaplets – small

metal pieces that are fastened between the core
and the cavity surface. In order to maintain that
support, the chaplets must be composed of a metal
with a same or higher melting temperature than that
of the metal being cast. After solidif ic ation, the
chaplets will have been encased inside the casting.