Principle of Metal casting

• In this part of the unit, we consider those manufacturing processes in which the starting work

material is either a liquid or is in a highly plastic condition, and a part is created through

solidification of the material.

• Casting is a process in which molten metal flows by gravity or other force into a mold where it

solidifies in the shape of the mold cavity.

Principle of Metal casting

Figure 1, the solidification processes can be classified according to the engineering material that is processed: (1)
metals, (2) ceramics, specifically glasses,1 and (3) polymers and polymer matrix composites (PMCs).

Fig.1 Classification of casting

 Principle of Metal casting

• Casting can be used to create complex part geometries, including both external and internal shapes.

• Some casting processes are capable of producing parts to net shape.

• No further manufacturing operations are required to achieve the required geometry and dimensions of the parts.

• Other casting processes are near net shape, for which some additional shape processing is required (usually machining) in order to achieve

accurate dimensions and details.

• Casting can be used to produce very large parts. Castings weighing more than 100 tons have been made.

• The casting process can be performed on any metal that can be heated to a liquid state.

• Some casting methods are quite suited to mass production.

 Principle of Metal casting

• There are also disadvantages associated with casting—different disadvantages for different casting methods.

• These include limitations on mechanical properties, porosity, poor dimensional accuracy and surface finish for some casting

processes, safety hazards to humans when processing hot molten metals, and environmental problems.

• Parts made by casting processes range in size from small components weighing only a few ounces up to very large products

weighing tons.

• The list of parts includes dental crowns, jewelry, statues, wood-burning stoves, engine blocks and heads for automotive
vehicles, machine frames, railway wheels, frying pans, pipes, and pump housings.

• All varieties of metals can be cast, ferrous and nonferrous.

 Sand casting

• Casting processes divide into two broad categories, according to type of mold used: expendable-mold casting and

permanent-mold casting.

• An expendable mold means that the mold in which the molten metal solidifies must be destroyed in order to remove the

casting.

• These molds are made out of sand, plaster, or similar materials, whose form is maintained by using binders of various

kinds.
• Sand casting is the most prominent example of the expendable-mold processes.
 Sand casting

• In sand casting, the liquid metal is poured into a mold liquid metal is poured into a mold made of sand. After the metal

hardens, the mold must be sacrificed in order to recover the casting.

• A permanent mold is one that can be used over and over to produce many castings. It is made of metal (or, less commonly, a

ceramic refractory material) that can withstand the high temperatures of the casting operation.

Fig.2 Schematic of casting

 Sand casting

• In permanent-mold casting, the mold consists of two (or more) sections that can be opened to permit removal of the

finished part. Die casting is the most familiar process in this group.

• More intricate casting geometries are generally possible with the expendable-mold processes.

• Part shapes in the permanent-mold processes are limited by the need to open the mold.

• On the other hand, some of the permanent mold processes have certain economic advantages in high production operations.
 Sand casting

• Sand casting is by far the most important casting process. A sand-casting mold will be used to describe the basic features of a mold.

• Many of these features and terms are common to the molds used in other casting processes.

• The mold consists of two halves: cope and drag.

• The cope is the upper half of the mold, and the drag is the bottom half.

• These two mold parts are contained in a box, called a flask, which is also divided into two halves, one for the cope and the other for

the drag.

• The two halves of the mold separate at the parting line.

 Sand casting

• In sand casting (and other expendable-mold processes) the mold cavity is formed by means of a pattern, which is made of wood, metal,

plastic, or other material and has the shape of the part to be cast.

• The cavity is formed by packing sand around the pattern, about half each in the cope and drag so that when the pattern is removed, the

remaining void has the desired shape of the cast part.

• The pattern is usually made oversized to allow for shrinkage of the metal as it solidifies and cools.

• The sand for the mold is moist and contains a binder to maintain its shape.

• The cavity in the mold provides the external surfaces of the cast part.

• In addition, a casting may have internal surfaces.

• These surfaces are determined by means of a core, a form placed inside the mold cavity to define the interior geometry of the part.
 Sand casting

• In sand casting, cores are generally made of sand, although other materials can be used, such as metals, plaster, and ceramics.

• The gating system in a casting mold is the channel, or network of channels, by which molten metal flows into the cavity from outside the

mold.

• As shown in the figure, the gating system typically consists of a down sprue (also called simply the sprue), through which the

metal enters a runner that leads into the main cavity.

• At the top of the down sprue, a pouring cup is often used to minimize splash and turbulence as the metal flows into the down sprue.

• It is shown in our diagram as a simple cone-shaped funnel.

• Some pouring cups are designed in the shape of a bowl, with an open channel leading to the down sprue.
 Sand molds

• The cavity in the sand mold is formed by packing sand around a pattern (an approximate duplicate of the part to be cast),

and then removing the pattern by separating the mold into two halves.

• The mold also contains the gating and riser system.

• In addition, if the casting is to have internal surfaces (e.g., hollow parts or parts with holes), a core must be included in the

mold.

• Since the mold is sacrificed to remove the casting, a new sand mold must be made for each part that is produced.
 Sand molds

• From this brief description, sand casting is seen to include not only the casting operation itself, but also the fabrication of the

pattern and the making of the mold.

Fig.3 Steps in casting

 Sand molds

• Foundry sands are silica (SiO2) or silica mixed with other minerals.

• The sand should possess good refractory properties—capacity to stand up under high temperatures without

melting or otherwise degrading.

• Other important features of the sand include grain size, distribution of grain size in the mixture, and shape of the

individual grains.

• Small grain size provides a better surface finish on the cast part, but large grain size is more

permeable (to allow escape of gases during pouring).

• Molds made from grains of irregular shape tend to be stronger than molds of round grains because of interlocking,

yet interlocking tends to restrict permeability.

 Sand molds

• In making the mold, the grains of sand are held together by a mixture of water and bonding clay.

• A typical mixture (by volume) is 90% sand, 3% water, and 7% clay.

• Other bonding agents can be used in place of clay, including organic resins (e.g., phenolic resins) and inorganic

binders (e.g., sodium silicate and phosphate).

• Besides sand and binder, additives are sometimes combined with the mixture to enhance properties such as

strength and/or permeability of the mold.

• To form the mold cavity, the traditional method is to compact the molding sand around the pattern for both cope

and drag in a container called a flask.

• The packing process is performed by various methods.

 Pattern

• Pattern is the replica of the part to be cast.

• Sand casting requires a pattern—a full-sized model of the part, enlarged to account for shrinkage and machining
allowances in the final casting.

• Materials used to make patterns include wood, plastics, and metals

• Wood is a common pattern material because it is easily shaped.

• Its disadvantages are that it tends to warp, and it is abraded by the sand being compacted around it, thus limiting the

number of times it can be reused.

• Metal patterns are more expensive to make, but they last much longer.

• Plastics represent a compromise between wood and metal.

• Selection of the appropriate pattern material depends to a large extent on the total quantity of castings to be made.
 TYPES OF PATTERN

• Selection of a pattern depends upon the number of castings required and their geometrical structure.

• A solid pattern is a wooden pattern, also called one piece pattern because of its constructional feature. It is
used when the shape of castings to be produced is not complex and also their numbers are small. Although it
is the easiest pattern to fabricate, it is not the easiest to use in making the sand mold. Consequently, solid
patterns are generally limited to very low production quantities.
 Split patterns

• Split patterns are appropriate for complex part geometries and moderate production quantities.

• The parting line of the mold is predetermined by the two pattern halves, rather than by operator judgment.

• A split pattern is used for complex castings not obtainable from solid patterns.

• The pattern is split along the parting line into two parts, one for cope and another for drag.
 Match plate pattern

• A match plate pattern uses a match plate which has cope and drag impressions on its two sides
and it is useful for large scale production.
• For higher production quantities, match-plate patterns or cope-and-drag patterns are used.
In match-plate patterns, the two pieces of the split pattern are attached to opposite sides of a wood or metal
plate.

• After preparing the cope and drag cavities, the match plate is removed to get the complete pattern.

• This type of pattern is good for small castings since several pattern can be mounted on the match plate.
 Cope and drag pattern

• A cope and drag pattern is a variation of match plate pattern. It uses two match plates in place of one as in the case of match plate

pattern, one for cope part and another for drag part of the casting.

• Cope-and-drag patterns are similar to match-plate patterns except that split pattern halves are attached to separate plates, so that the

cope and drag sections of the mold can be fabricated independently, instead of using the same tooling for both.
 Pattern

Loose piece pattern

It is used when withdrawal of pattern after molding is not possible.

• Loose piece are therefore used for molding the obstructing parts of the contour.

• Theses loose pieces are attached to the remainder of the mold by pins and the designs of the pattern is such that the entire

pattern, except the loose pieces can be withdrawn first from the mold and loose pieces, then recovered through the cavity

created by main pattern. Such patterns are not only expensive but they also slow down the molding process.

Fig.5
 Pattern

Sweep patterns:

• It is used to sweep the desired shape of the mold cavity. For example, a large asymmetrical mold cavity can be generated by

rotating an appropriate section about an axis.

• This eliminates the need for a large three-dimensional pattern .

Fig.6
 Pattern

Skeleton pattern:

When the size of the casting is very large and only a few numbers are to be made, it is uneconomical to make a solid pattern of

that size.

In such cases, a pattern consisting of a wooden frame and strips is made, called a skeleton pattern. It is made of wooden strips

outlining the desired shape of the casting

Fig.7
 Pattern

Follow board pattern: It is used for structurally weak pattern which are likely to break in the casting.

• Here the bottom board is modified to follow the contour of the weaker section once the drag is rammed the follow board

is removed, drag inverted and cope part is rammed.

Fig.7
 Core

• Patterns define the external shape of the cast part. If the casting is to have internal surfaces, a core is required.

• A core is a full-scale model of the interior surfaces of the part.

• It is inserted into the mold cavity prior to pouring, so that the molten metal will flow and solidify between the mold cavity

and the core to form the casting’s external and internal surfaces.

• The core is usually made of sand, compacted into the desired shape.

• As with the pattern, the actual size of the core must include allowances for shrinkage and machining.

• Depending on the geometry of the part, the core may or may not require supports to hold it in position in the mold cavity

during pouring.
• These supports, called chaplets, are made of a metal with a higher melting temperature
than the casting metal.
Chaplets

Fig.6
 Pattern Material

PATTERN MATERIAL

Selection of pattern material depends upon following factors:

1.Piece and short run production:

Example-wood pattern made of mango wood peak etc..

2.Large and vast production:

Example-metal pattern made of cast iron, aluminium, brass etc..

3.Batch production:

Example-plastic pattern made of PVC, phenol formaldehyde etc..

 Pattern Material

PATTERN MATERIAL

Wood: It is the most widely used material for making the pattern. It has low cost, light in weight and can be easily

shaped. However, it has got certain disadvantages also. It wears out easily, susceptible to moisture, leads warpage, life

is less. The main patterns are made from wood of deodar, teak kail and shisham.

Metal : Pattern may be made of different metals. The metallic patterns may have following advantages.
Advantages:-
 These can be used for large no of castings.
 The casting obtained has good surface finish and dimensional accuracy.
 It has long life.
Limitations:-
The metal patterns are costly and these are having high weight and easily get rusted.
 Pattern Material

1) Cast iron: PATTERN MATERIAL

 It has good machinability, high resistance to corrosion, good strength, good surface finish but it is brittle so can get
damaged easily.
1) Stainless steel:
 It has high strength, resistance to corrosion, rusting and sand abrasion, good machinability and good surface finish.
However, it has high cost and heavy weight.
1) Aluminium and its alloys:
 It has low weight, high resistance to corrosion and good surface finish. However, it has more cost and low strength.
1) White metal:
 It is an alloy of Sb, Pb and Cu. It has low melting point, can be easily casted and it has low shrinkage.
a) Plaster of Paris:
It has high compressive strength and low shrinkage. Close dimensional tolerances and intricate shapes can be made by
this material. It is also not affected by the action of the metal.
a) Plastic:
It is light in weight, wear resistant and has high strength. It does not corrode and its solidification shrinkage is also low.
Very good surface finish can be obtained by this.
 Pattern Material

a) Wax: PATTERN MATERIAL

It is used n investment casting. It produces very good surface finish and gives good dimensional accuracy. There are no
chances of the erosion of the mould cavity.
PATTERN ALLOWANCE

Fig.8. Pattern Allowance

 Pattern Material

PATTERN ALLOWANCE
Pattern material is made of somewhat larger than the required size, the excess in the pattern dimensions is
known as pattern allowances.

Types of Pattern Allowance

1. Liquid shrinkage allowance

2. Solidification shrinkage allowance

3. Solid shrinkage allowance

4. Ramming and shape allowances

5. Distortion allowances

6. Machine allowance
Fig.8. Pattern Allowance
 Pattern Material

LIQUID SHRINKAGE ALLOWANCE

 It occurs from a pouring temperature upto a temperature where freezing starts.

 It consists of contraction of liquid from pouring temperature to freezing temperature.

SOLIDIFICATION SHRINKAGE ALLOWANCE

 It occurs between start of freezing to the completion of freezing.

 It consist of contraction associated with change of phase from liquid to solid.

 Also known as latent heat of fusion.

Fig.8. Pattern Allowance

 Pattern Material

SOLID SHRINKAGE

It occurs during end of solidification upto room temperature.

It consist of contraction of solid casting from freezing to room temperature.

This can be minimized by over sizing of the pattern.

RAMMING AND SHAKE ALLOWANCES

The pattern for easy withdrawal from the mould cavity, certain gap is provided between pattern and mould

cavity.

This gap is known as shake allowances.

 Pattern Material

SOLID SHRINKAGE

It occurs during end of solidification upto room temperature.

It consist of contraction of solid casting from freezing to room temperature.

This can be minimized by over sizing of the pattern.

RAMMING AND SHAKE ALLOWANCES

The pattern for easy withdrawal from the mould cavity, certain gap is provided between pattern and mould

cavity.

This gap is known as shake allowances.

 Pattern Material

Ramming and Shake Allowance

The pattern for easy withdrawal from the mould cavity, certain gap is provided between pattern and mould cavity.

This gap is known as shake allowances.

It is also known as negative shrinkage allowance allowance

 Draft Allowance

Draft allowance facilitates the withdrawal of a pattern from a mould. It may happen that the edges of the mould in contact with the pattern may get

damaged during pattern-mould detachment. To reduce this possibility, surfaces of the pattern in the direction of its withdrawal from the mould are slightly

tapered and this provision is called draft allowance. Draft depends upon the shape and size of the casting and usually varies between 0.5 degrees and 2

degrees. Inner surfaces require more drafts.

DISTORTION ALLOWANCES

• This type of allowance is needed in case of complex geometry.

• The distortion in casting may occur due to internal stresses (residual stresses) setup during casting.

• Residual stresses develops due to uneven cooling of casted part.

Fig.9 Distortion Allowance

 MACHINE ALLOWANCE

Extra material is added to a certain part of casting to enable their machining, surface finishing.

The excess in dimension of casting (consequently in dimensions of pattern) over those of the final job to take care

of machining is called machine allowance.

It depends on the following factors:

1.Way of machining

2.Property of material

3.Size and shape of casting

4.Casting manner
 Types of Molding sand
1 Classification of mouldind sand:

The moulding sand may be classified on two basis. One is according to the availability of sand and secondly

according to the use of sand. According to availability of sand it may be of three types.

(a) Natural sand:- This is also called as green sand .It is taken from river beds or dug from the earth. It may contain

clay as a binder. However, it contains a large amount of moisture.

(b) Synthetic sand:- This sand contains silica grains and binder is added from outside.

Special sand: These are having improved properties which are not possessed by ordinary or natural sand. Zircon,

olivine are often used as special sand.

 Types of Molding sand
Moulding sand again may be classified according to its use, into a number of varieties. These are described below.

(a) Green sand: It is also called natural sand. It contains a large quantity of moisture. Moulds prepared with this

sand are called green sand moulds. It is fine soft and porous. This is not suitable for big-size castings.
Green Sand contains:
•75-80% sand
•10-20% clay
•3-6% water
•1-6% additives

Sand has the refractory ability, clay has binding property and additives enhances the existing properties of the

moulding material.

(b) Dry sand: If some moisture from the green sand is evaporated, the sand becomes dry. This is suitable for large-

size castings.
 Types of Molding sand

( c) Loam sand: This sand contains as much as 50% clay. While other sands may have only 15-20% clay. This is

particularly used for large size castings as they have high heat content.

Facing sand: It is nothing but the fresh prepared sand. In making mass production for reducing the handling of large

quantity of sand, it is desired that the fresh sand should be filled all around the pattern while the used sand may be

filled to support the fresh sand. This reduces the cost of making the mould. The layer of facing sand usually ranges

from 20-30 mm.

 Types of Molding sand
( d) Backing sand: Backing sand or floor sand is used to back up the facing sand. Old used sand is mainly employed

for this purpose. This is also called as black sand as its colour becomes black after burning or mixing with coal.

( e) System sand: In mechanical foundries where machine moulding is employed system sand is used to fill the

whole flask. This is the used sand which has been activated by addition of water or binder. In this the sand is tested

for its properties and accordingly, the binder, additives or water is added. This is used for mass production.

( f) Parting sand: This is the dry sand which is used to keep the green sand from sticking to the patter. it is also used

at the parting line of cope and drag. This is dry silica powder sand.

( g) Core sand: The sand which is used for making a core is known as core sand. In this molasses is used as a binder

and it has enough strength to bear the hydraulic pressure of the liquid in contact.