Casting

Objectives

 Understand the history of metal casting process

 Design patterns and cores for metal casting process

 Understand the various moulding materials used in the making of moulds and cores
 Casting process - Definition

 Casting means pouring molten metal into a

refractory mould with a cavity of the shape to be
made, and allowing it to solidify. When
solidified, the desired metal object is taken out
from the refractory mould either by breaking the
mould or taking the mould apart

 The solidified object is called casting and this

process is also called founding

Typical metal cast parts

 Advantages
The suitability of the casting operation for a given material depends
- The melting temperature of the job and the mould materials
- The solubility of the chemical reaction between the job and the mould materials
- The solubility of the atmosphere in the material at different temperatures
- Thermal properties such as conductivity and coefficient of linear expansion of both the mould and job
materials

 Any intricate shapes internal or external can be made with the casting process

 It is possible to cast practically any material be it ferrous or non-ferrous

 Tools required for casting are simple and inexpensive

 Weight reduction in design can be achieved

 Castings have no directional properties

 Casting of any size and weight, even up to 200 tons can be made
 Limitations

 Dimensional accuracy and surface finish achieved by normal sand casting process would not be
adequate for final application in many cases

 Sand casting process is labour intensive to some extent and therefore many improvements are
aimed at it such as machine moulding and foundry mechanisation

 With some materials it is often difficult to remove defects arising out of the moisture present in
sand castings
 Applications

Typical applications of sand casting process are –

 cylinder blocks
 Liners
 machine tool beds
 Pistons
 piston rings
 mill rolls
 Wheels
 Housings
 Water supply pipes
 Bells
 Casting terms

 Drag: Lower moulding flask

 Cope: Upper moulding flask

 Cheek: Intermediate moulding flask used in three piece moulding

 Pattern: Pattern is a replica of the final object to be made with some

modifications. The mould cavity is made with the help of the pattern

 Parting line: This is the dividing line between the two moulding
flasks that makes up the sand mould. In split pattern it is also the
dividing line between the two halves of the pattern

 Bottom board: This is a board normally made of wood, which is

used at the start of the mould making. The pattern is first kept on the
bottom board, sand is sprinkled on it and then the ramming is done in
the drag
 Casting terms
 Facing sand: The small amount of carbonaceous material sprinkled on
the inner surface of the moulding cavity to give better surface finish to
the castings

 Moulding sand: It is the freshly prepared refractory material used for

making the mould cavity

 Backing sand: It is what constitutes most of the refractory material

found in the mould. This is made up of used and burnt sand

 Core: It is used for making hollow cavities in castings

 Pouring basin: A small funnel shaped cavity at the top of the mould into
which the molten metal is poured

 Sprue: The passage through which the molten metal from the pouring
basin reaches the mould cavity. In many cases it controls the flow of
metal into the mould
 Casting terms

 Runner: The passageways in the parting plane through which

molten metal flow is regulated before they reach the mould cavity

 Gate: The actual entry point through which molten metal enters
mould cavity

 Chaplet: Chaplets are used to support cores inside the mould cavity
to take care of its own weight and overcome the metallostatic forces

 Chill: Chills are metallic objects which are placed in the mould to
increase the cooling rate of castings to provide uniform or desired
cooling rate

 Riser: It is a reservoir of molten metal provided in the casting so

that hot metal can flow back into the mould cavity when there is a
reduction in volume of metal due to solidification
 Pattern allowances
 Shrinkage allowance is provided to take care of contractions of a casting
 Total contraction takes place in three stages
- contraction of the liquid from the pouring temperature to the freezing temperature
- contraction associated with the change of phase from liquid to solid
- contraction of the solid casting from the freezing temperature to the room temperature
 Shrinkage
- Liquid shrinkage refers to the reduction in volume when the metal changes from liquid to solid state at the solidus
temperatures (Risers)
- Solid shrinkage is the reduction in volume caused, when metal loses temperature in solid state (Shrinkage Allowance)

Shrinkage allowance for various materials

 Provision of allowances for patterns in sand castings
 Shrinkage allowance depends on linear coefficient of thermal expansion
 Directly proportional
 Pattern allowances
 Finish or machining allowance: Extra material will be provided which is to be subsequently removed by
machining or cleaning process

Machining allowance on patterns for sand castings

Pattern after providing machining allowance
 Pattern allowances
Draft: At the time of withdrawing the pattern from the sand mould, the vertical faces of the pattern are in
continual contact with the sand, which may damage the mould cavity

- To reduce the chances of this happening, the vertical faces of the pattern are always tapered from the parting
line and this provision is called draft allowance
Suggested draft values for the pattern
Example showing the applications of the draft
 Pattern allowances

Shake allowance: Before withdrawal from the sand mould, the pattern is rapped all around the vertical faces to
enlarge the mould cavity slightly, which facilitates its removal. Since it enlarges the final casting made, it is
desirable that the original pattern dimensions should be reduced to account for this increase

- This is the only negative allowance in pattern allowances

Distortion allowance: A metal when it has just solidified is very weak and therefore is likely to be distortion
prone. This is particularly so for weaker sections such as long flat portions, V, U sections or in a complicated
casting which may have thin and long sections which are connected to thick sections. The foundry practice
should be to make extra material provision for reducing the distortion
 Pattern materials

 Wood
 Plastics
 Metal
 Wax
 Frozen
mercury
Pattern materials based on expected life
 Different types of pattern

 Loose pattern: Made in one piece from wood and is used for castings less than 100

 Gated pattern: One or more than one loose pattern with attached gates and runners and provides a channel through
which the molten metal can flow from pouring sprue to mould cavity

 Match plate pattern: Pattern is made in two halves mounted on both sides of a match plate conforming to the
contour of the parting surface of the mould

 Cope and drag pattern: Cope and drag halves of a split pattern are separately mounted on two match plates
separately and brought together

 Sweep pattern: Made of wood and used to generate surfaces of revolution in large castings

 Skelton pattern: Consists of a simple wooden frame outlining the shape of the casting and used to guide the
moulder for hand-shaping the mould and for large castings having simple geometrical shapes
 Different types of pattern

Single piece pattern Split pattern

Cope and drag pattern

 Different types of pattern

Match plate pattern

Loose piece pattern

 Different types of pattern

Follow board pattern Sweep pattern

Skeleton pattern
 Pattern colour code

 Red or orange: Surfaces not to be finished and left as cast

 Yellow: Surfaces to be machined

 Black: Core prints for unmachined openings

 Yellow stripes on black: Core prints for machined openings

 Green: Loose pieces and loose core prints

 Diagonal black strips: To strengthen the weak patterns or to shorten a casting