20A332T Manufacturing Processes Lecture Notes Min
20A332T Manufacturing Processes Lecture Notes Min
Introduction
Classification of Manufacturing Processes
Foundry
Casting
Sand Mould Casting
Preparing a Sand Mould For Casting
Different Moulding Methods
Aims/Advantages of Making a Casting
Elements of Casting Processes
Steps in Casting Making Process
Advantages, Limitations & Applications of Casting Process
Foundry
Types of Foundries
Patterns
Materials Used For Patterns
Pattern Allowances
Pattern Types
Gating System
Elements of Gating System
Gating Ratio
Defects in Castings
Solidification
Concept of solidification
Solidification of Casting
Solidification of Pure Metals
Solidification in Alloys
Risers
Functions of riser
Riser Location
Types of Risers
Casting Design Considerations
Special Casting Processes
o Centrifugal Casting Process
o Die Casting Processes
o Investment Casting Processes
The main aim behind advances in engineering and technology has been to
raise the standard of living of man and to make his life more comfortable. The major
role in this direction has been played by manufacturing science. Manufacturing is an
essential component of any industrialized economy. The word „Manufacturing‟ means
the making of goods and articles by hand or by machinery. Thus „Manufacturing
engineering‟ or “Production Engineering” can be defined as the study of the various
processes required to produce parts and to assemble them in to machines and
mechanisms. Production or Manufacturing is a critical; link in the design cycle, which
starts with a creative idea and ends with a successful product, refer below figure.
Recognition of a Need
Specifications and
Requirements
Feed Back
Feasibility Study
Feed Back
Feed Back
Prototype Building and Testing
Product Release
Design C ycle
When one thinks as to how the various components of machines are produced
components of machines are produced, many techniques come to the mind, for
example, casting, forging, rolling, machining, welding etc. The manufacturing
processes are so varied that there is no simple and universally accepted criteria of
classifying these. However, all the manufacturing processes may be grouped into the
following main categories:
Accordingly, all the manufacturing processes can be grouped into two main
categories:-
Example: all metal removal processes and the rest of the metal forming
processes, that is, drawing, spinning, swaging, coining, stretching,
bending, deep drawing, wire/rod/tube drawing, sheet metal forming and
rubber forming etc.
FOUNDRY: The solidified piece of metal, which is taken out of the mould, is called
casting. A plant where the castings are made is called a „Foundry‟. It is a collection of
necessary materials, tools and equipment to produce a casting. The casting process
is also called as “Founding”. The word Foundry is derived from Latin word “fundere”
meaning “melting and pouring”.
(i) Jobbing Foundries: These foundries are mostly independently owned. They
produce castings on contract, within their capacity.
CASTING:
These are the only processes where liquid metal is used. Casting is the one of
the oldest known processes and also first step in manufacturing of most products.
The solidified object or piece of metal, which is taken out of the mould, is
called as “Casting”.
(i) Sand casting process: In sand casting process sand is used as primary
material for making moulds. Sand casting process is used for most
commercial metals. The process is equally suitable for production of very
small batch as well as very large scale. These are used or producing large size
objects.
This process accounts for about 80% of the total output of cast products. This
sand moulds are single casting moulds and are completely destroyed for taking out
the casting, after the metal has solidified in the mould cavity. The moulding material
is sand which is mixed with small amounts of other materials like binders and
additives and water to improve the cohesive strength and moulding ability of sand.
For making the mould, the moulding material will have to be consolidated and
contained around the pattern. The metallic container is called as flask. There can be
one flask or more than one flask. The most common design is two f lask systems. In
the assembled position the upper flask is called “Cope” (Cope Box or Cope Flask) and
the bottom one is called “Drag” (Drag Box or Drag Flask). In three flask system, the
central flask is called “Cheek”. One flask design is used in „Full Mould Process‟ or in
„Pit Moulding‟, where it is used as cope, the pit acting as the drag.
Depending upon the type of pattern used, the sand mould casting process is
of two types:
1. The drag half of the pattern, that is the half dowel holes rather than dowel
pins, is placed with the flat parting plane on a flat board called “Moulding
Board”.
2. The drag is placed over the moulding board with the alignment or locating
pins downwards.
3. A parting material is dusted over the pattern and the moulding board to
facilitate both the removal of the pattern from the mould and the separation
of the two mould halves.
4. The drag is filled with moulding sand and it is packed and rammed around the
pattern. The ramming is done manually with hands and with hand rammers
made wood or iron. The sand should be properly rammed, that is neither too
hard nor too soft. If it is too soft, the mould will fall apart during handling or
during pouring and if it is too hard, gases produced on pouring will not be able
to leave it. Pneumatic ramming or mechanical ramming can be used for large
moulds.
1. Bench Moulding: Bench type moulding is used for small castings. In bench
moulding process green sand, dry sand or skin dried moulds can be made. In this
hand ramming with loose pattern is employed which is slow and laborious method.
Various bench mould methods are:
(a) Two – box moulding in which moulding box or moulding flask is made in two
parts core and drag.
2. Floor Moulding: When casting size increases and is difficult to handle the
moulding is done on the foundry floor. This type of casting is used for medium and
large castings. It is a slow and laborious method as it requires ramming with loose
patterns. Green sand, dry sand or skin dried moulds can be made by this method.
The moulding is carried out usually using moulding flask having two parts – cope and
drag.
3. Pit Moulding: This method is used for moulding extremely large casting. Here
castings are moulded in a pit instead of a flask. The pit acts as drag part of the flask
and a separate cope is used above it. This pit has sides and bottoms constructed of
reinforced concrete. At the bottom of the pit, a bed of charcoal may be placed to aid
the escape of gases. After pouring, these large castings should be allowed to cool
slowly in the mould to prevent the formation of excessive residual internal stresses.
(a) Casting is often the cheapest and most direct way of producing a shape with
certain desired mechanical properties. Desired mechanical properties can be
attained by operations like suitable control of alloy composition, grain
structure and heat treatment.
(b) Casting is best suited where components are desired in low quantities as high
cost of mechanical working processes like tolling, forging, extrusion etc…
requiring heavy equipment can be justified only when components in large
quantities are required.
(c) Certain metals and alloys such as highly creep resistant metal based alloys for
gas turbines can‟t be worked mechanically and can be cast only.
(d) Intricate shapes having internal openings and complex sectional variations
can be produced quickly and economically by casting since liquid metals can
flow into any form, whereas tooling and machine costs in mechanical working
would be too high to produce them.
(e) Heavy equipment like machine beds, ships propellers, etc… can be cast easily
in the required size rather than fabricating them by joining several smaller
pieces.
(f) Casting is best suited for composite components requiring different properties
in different sections. These are made by incorporating prefabricated inserts in
a casting, some examples are: steel screw threads in zinc die castings,
The metals most frequently cast are iron, steel, aluminium, brass, bronze,
magnesium, certain zinc alloys, and nickel based super alloys. Of this cast iron is the
dominant casting material, primarily because of its low cost, good fluidity, low
shrinkage, ease of control and wide range of properties including useful strength and
rigidity.
The important terms which are using in making moulding and casting process
are given below in brief:
(a)Moulding Flask: The box like frame without top and bottom base into which
sand is rammed is called “flask”. It holds the sand mould intact. It is made up
of wood for temporary applications and more generally of metal for long term
use. It is generally made of two or more parts.
Drag is provided with the pins and cope is provided with lugs with hole which
fit together and ensures proper alignment during the placement of cope upon drag.
(b)Parting Line or Parting Surface: It is the surface or line that separates the
cope and drags halves of the mould. In split piece pattern it is also the dividing line
between two half‟s of the pattern.
(c)Bottom Board: This is the board normally made of wood which is used at
starting of mould making. The pattern and drag is first kept on the bottom board,
sand is sprinkled and ramming is done in the drag.
Basic difference between core and pattern: Although both core and pattern
are used to give desired shape to the castings. The removable pattern never comes
in contact molten metal because its purpose is to form mould cavity and it is always
removed before pouring the molten metal. Whereas core is present in the mould
while pouring the molten metal and is always subjected to severe thermal stresses as
core is present in the mould while pouring the molten metal. The materials used for
pattern are wood, plastic and may be metal when large numbers of casting are
required. The material used for making core is core sand.
(f)Core Box: Core boxes are used for imparting the desired shape to the core
sand. Core boxes can also be defined as mould or die used to produce cores. Core
boxes are made up of wood, or metal.
(g)Core Prints: Core prints are provided to locate and support the core within
the moulds and hold them in proper position while filling the mould. Core print is a
region added to the pattern, core or mould.
(h)Chaplets: Chaplets are the metallic support kept inside the mould cavity to
support the core. These should be of same composition as that of pouring metal.
They melt and fuse with molten metal during solidification and become the integral
part of finished casting. T he use of chaplets should be minimized because they
usually cause casting defects.
(i)Chills: Chills are metallic objects of high heat capacity and are placed in mould
to provide the uniform rate of cooling or to achieve desired rate of cooling. Chills may
be external or internal chills.
Internal chills melt during the operation and ultimately become part of the casting
so internal chills must be made from the same alloy as that being cast. Thin portion
of casting would normally cool before sect ion and set up internal stress due to
uneven contraction. If a chill is placed as shown the rate of cooling is equalized and
risk of distortion of casting of minimized.
(J)Gating System: All those elements which are related to flow of molten metal
from ladle to the mould cavity are referred as elements of gating system.
The elements of gating system are pouring basin, sprue, runner, gates and
riser. We will discuss this gating system in brief after casting process.
Following are the basic steps in the making of sand castings. Any detailed
operation may be categorized as belonging to one of these fundamental steps;
1. Pattern making
2. Core making
3. Mould making (Moulding)
4. Melting and pouring
5. Solidification and mould breaking
6. Cleaning and finishing
2. Core Making: Cores are made of core sand. Basically core is a sand shape
that is kept inside the mould cavity to produce holes or hollow cavities in the
castings. With the core any complicated shape can be easily obtained which
can not be normally produced by pattern alone.
(i) Placing drag half of pattern and lower moulding flash drag in
position.
(ii) Pouring of sand and ramming up the drag.
(iii)Rolling over the drag and placing the cope half of pattern on drag half
of pattern with help of dowel pins. Also cope upper moulding flask is
placed over the drag.
(iv)Locating sprue pin, riser pin and ramming up the core.
(v) Removing sprue pin, riser pin and pattern.
(vi)Making of runner and gate.
(vii) Setting the core in mould.
(viii) Closing the mould.
4. Melting and Pouring: After the moulding, melting is the major factor which
controls the quality of casting. Melting simply means preparation of molten
metal. There are number of methods available for melting such as pit furnace,
open hearth furnace, cupola furnace etc.
Pouring means transferring the molten metal from furnace to the mould.
Some type of pouring device or ladle is required for pouring. Proper pouring
technique must be used so that adequate amount of molten metal at desired
temperature with minimum contamination should be supplied to mould. Thus
producing a high quality casting which is free from defects.
5. Solidification and Mould Breaking: After pouring the metal into the mould,
the casting is allowed to solidify and cooled in the mould itself. The sand
mould is to be broken to extract the casting. The breaking of sand mould is to
be done only when the casting is sufficiently cooled since the metal at high
temperature has very little strength. Removing the casting from mould is not
very difficult in sand casting as the mould is destroyed after each casting but
with multiple use mould, however, removal of complex shaped casting may
present a major design problem.
6. Cleaning and Finishing: After the castings are removed from the moulds
various cleaning and finishing operations are required to remove of sand,
scale and excess metal from the casting surface. Excess metal is cut off. For
removing the sand particles sticking to metal surface sand blasting is normally
used. Tumbling is also used for cleaning the casting surface.
Advantages;
1. Parts like both small and large of intricate shapes can be produced.
2. Almost all the metals and alloys and some plastics can be cast.
3. A part can be made almost to the finished shape before any machining is
done.
4. Good mechanical and service properties.
Limitations;
1. Casting imposes severe problems from the point of view of material properties
and accuracy.
2. A complicated sequence of operations is required for metal casting.
3. The dimensional accuracy and surface finish achieved by normal sand casting
processes is not adequate for final applications in many cases.
4. With some materials it is often difficult to remove defects arising out of
moisture present in sand castings.
Applications;
There is hardly any machine or equipment which does not have one or more
cast components.
The list is very long, for example,
automobile engine blocks,
cylinder blocks of automobile and airplane engines,
pistons and piston rings,
machine tool beds,
machine frames,
mill rolls,
wheel and housings of steam and hydraulic turbines,
turbine vanes,
aircraft jet engine blades,
water supply and sewer pipes,
sanitary fittings,
Agricultural parts etc…
PATTERNS:
A pattern is an element used for making cavities in the mould, into which
molten is poured to produce a casting. It is not an exact replica of the casting
desired. There are certain essential differences. It is slightly larger than the desired
casting, due to the various allowances like shrinkage allowance, machining allowance
etc. and it may have several projections or bosses called core prints. It may also
have extensions to produce runners and gates during the moulding process.
The common materials used in pattern making include “wood, metal, plastic
and quick setting compounds. Each material has its own advantages, limitations and
(a)Wood: The wood used for pattern making should be properly dried and
seasoned. It should not contain more than 10% moisture to avoid warping and
distortion during subsequent drying. It should be straight grained and free from
knots.
Advantages:
1. Light in weight.
2. Comparatively inexpensive.
3. Good workability.
4. Lends itself to gluing and joining.
5. Holds well varnishes and paints.
6. Can be repaired easily.
Limitations:
These drawbacks, however, can be remedied by drying and seasoning it and then
giving coats of water proof varnishes and paints.
The following types of wood are commonly used for pattern making;
(i) White Pine: It is the most widely used wood, because of its straight grain
and light weight and because it is soft, easy to work and unlikely to warp.
(ii)Mahogany: It is harder and more durable than white pine. Can be worked
easily if straight grained. It is less likely to wrap than some of other woods.
(iii) Maple, Birch and Cherry: These woods are harder and heavier than white
pine. They tend to warp in large sections, so should be used for small patterns
only. They should be carefully treated, because they pick up moisture readily.
The other common wood materials are Teak, Shisham, Kail and Deodar.
(b) Metal: A metal pattern can be either cast from a master wooden pattern or may
be machined by the usual methods of machining. Metal patterns are usually used in
machining. Metal patterns are usually used in machine moulding.
Advantages:
(i) Cast Iron: With this fine grain can be used as a pattern material. It has low
corrosion resistance unless protected. Heavier and difficult to work. However it is
cheaper and more durable than other metals.
(ii) Brass: May be easily worked and built up by soldering or brazing. It has a
smooth, closed pore structure. It is expensive therefore generally used foe small cast
parts.
(iii) Aluminum: It is the best pattern material, because it is easily worked, light in
weight and is corrosion resistant. It is however subject to shrinkage and wear by
abrasive action.
(iv) White Metal: It has low shrinkage, can be cast easily, has low melting point, is
light in weight and may be built up by soldering. However, it is subject to wear by
abrasive action of sand.
(c)Plastics: The use of plastics for pattern material results in following advantages;
Various plastic patterns make good materials for the production of patterns.
These are the compositions based on epoxy, phenol formaldehyde and polyester
resins; polyacrylaes, polyethylene, polyvinylchloride and others. In most wide use
are cold curing plastics based on epoxy resins and acrylates.
Gypsum patterns are capable of producing castings with intricate details and to
very close tolerances. The two main types of gypsum are soft “Plaster of Paris” and
hard metal casting plaster. However soft plasters do not have the strength of hard
plaster. Gypsum can be easily formed, has plasticity and can be easily repaired.
After the patterns are made, they should be finished by sanding so that tool
marks and other irregularities are erased. Then they should be applied with 2 to 3
coats of shellac. Shellac fills up the pores and imparts a smooth finish.
PATTERN ALLOWACES:
Pattern allowances means the dimensions of the pattern are slightly different
from the final dimensions of the casting. This difference is required because of
various reasons which are as follows:
(a) Shrinkage Allowance: All metals shrink while cooling except bismuth. To
compensate for shrinkage the pattern is slightly larger in every dimension.
Aluminium 0.0130
Brass 0.0155
Lead 0.0260
Magnesium 0.0130
(b) Draft Allowance: While withdrawing the pattern from sand mould the vertical
faces of the pattern may damage with mould cavity. To reduce the chances of this
happening vertical faces of pattern are always tapered from parting line. Thus the
pattern horizontal section is largest at the parting and becomes smaller the deeper it
goes into sand. This is called draft.
a. Draft allowance varies with the complexity of the job. For external surfaces
it is normally 1˚ and for inner surfaces, holes and pocket up to 3˚ may be
provided.
b. One thing is to be noted that draft is added to the original dimension of
casting thus making pattern slightly larger.
(c) Finish or Machining Allowance: The finish and dimensional accuracy obtained
in sand casting are generally poor, and when dimensional accurate part is to be
produced, it is achieved by subsequent machining operation.
(i) Also ferrous material would have scale on surface which is to be removed.
Hence extra metal is provided which is removed by machining or cleaning
process. The amount of extra metal depends on the dimensions, casting
material and surface finish required.
C ast Iron
C ast steel
(d) Distortion Allowance: Certain objects such as long flat plate, U – shaped
casting, V – section or complicated casting which have thin and long section are
distorted in the process of cooling because of metal shrinkage. So extra metal is
provided to reduce the distortion of such object.
(e) Shake Allowance: In all the allowances mentioned above the dimensions of
pattern are larger than the cast component. But shake allowance is negative
allowance. Before the pattern is withdrawn from sand mould, it is rapped to enlarge
mould cavity slightly which make the removal of pattern easy. In average size
casting this increase in size can be ignored but in large size casting shake allowance
is considered by making the pattern slightly smaller. One way of reducing this
allowance is to increase the draft which can be removed during subsequent
machining.
PATTERN TYPES:
There are many type of patterns used in foundry industry. Selection of pattern
is usually based on complexity of the part, number of castings required and moulding
procedure adopted.
(a) Single Piece Pattern: As the name suggest single piece pattern are the
simplest and often least expensive type to make.
(i)These are used when the shape of casting is simple and does not create problems
while with drawing the pattern from the mould. The above figure represent casting
and single piece pattern corresponding to the casting. As discussed earlier various
allowances are provided while manufacturing the pattern. Draft allowance is shown in
pattern.
(ii)These are generally used when number of casting required is rather small.
(iii)The pattern is expected to be entirely in drag box. If the shape of pattern is
complex and contains no flat surface then moulding may become complicated with
(b) Split Piece Pattern: Many patterns can not be made in single piece because
they cannot be removed from mould. To eliminate this problem some pattern are
made in two parts. Lower half of pattern rests in drag box while upper half of pattern
is in cope box i.e., upper box.
The split surface of pattern is same as the parting plane of the mould. The two
halves of pattern should be aligned properly by making use of dowel pins which are
fitted to the upper cope half pattern. These dowel pin match the precisely made hole
in the lower half drag box of the pattern.
These patterns are also used when the depth of casting is too high or when
moderate quantities are to be made.
(c) Cope and Drag Pattern: These type of patterns are generally used for moulding
medium and large castings. However, they can also be used for producing small
castings. These are similar to split pattern. Cope and drag half of the pattern along
with gating and rising system are attached separately to metal or wooden plates
along with alignment pins. Thus cope and drag mould can be produced independently
on moulding machine using these plates. Then they are assembled to from complete
mould. In this way large mould can be handled more easily in separate mould and
small moulds can be made at faster rate.
(d) Match plate patterns: When large quantity of small casting is to be produced
with higher dimensional accuracy then match plate patterns are used. It is the
extension of cope and drag patterns.
In this cope and drag halves of the split match plate along with gates and
raisers are permanently attached t the opposite sides of single match plate which is
made up of wood or metal. One side is moulded in the drag and after turning over,
the cope side is moulded. The upper and lower moulding boxes are now separated
The below figure shows the casting of 8 components at once in the match
place with pattern as shown.
(e) Loose Piece Pattern: When the shape of part is such that one piece or split
pattern could not be removed from moulding sand, loose piece pattern may be used.
During the moulding obstructing part of the pattern is held as loose piece by a wire.
After the moulding is over first the main pattern is removed then the loose pieces are
removed through the cavity generated by removal of main pattern. One advantage of
loose pattern is that some shifting is possible during mould making. Loose piece
pattern are expensive and moulding with loose piece is a highly skilled job. However
they enable the sand casting of complex shape which would other wise require other
processes. Whenever, possible design changes should be considered that would
eliminate the need for loose piece pattern.
(f) Follow Board Pattern: These types of patterns are used where some portions of
pattern are structurally weak and if not supported properly are likely to break under
the force of ramming. Hence the bottom board is modified as follow board. Fellow
board is provided with projection or cavity corresponding to the shape of pattern.
Actually fellow board acts as a seat for the patterns. During the preparation of core
no fellow board is necessary because the sand which is rammed in drag will support
the weak portion of pattern.
(h) Sweep Patterns: It is the one of the type of special pattern. These type of
patterns are used for producing large casting, particularly which are circular in cross
section and are axis symmetrical like bell shape castings or large kettles of cast iron.
The main advantage of this pattern is that it eliminates the cost of manufacturing in
a three dimensional pattern.
The equipment consists of a base suit able placed in sand, a vertical spindle
and a wooden template called sweep. The sweep consists of flat board and on the
one end has the shape corresponding to the shape of desired casting. The sweep is
rotated about the spindle to form the mould cavity like if conical cavity is desired the
shape of sweep will be fight angle triangular plane. When this plane will rotate about
the edge the conical cavity will be formed.
Sweep and spindle are then removed leaving the base in sand. The hole made
by removal of spindle is filled up by sand. Hence cavity is prepared. If shape desires
then we may place core and chaplets in the cavity.
(i) Segmental Pattern: These patterns are used for producing large circular
castings avoiding the use of solid pattern of exact size. Segmental pattern differs
from sweep pattern in the sense that sweep is given a continuous revolving motion
to generate desired shape, whereas a segmental pattern is a portion of solid pattern
itself and mould is prepared in parts by it. In the use of this pattern a vertical central
spindle is first firmly fixed near the center of drag and after preparing the part mould
in one position the segment is moved to the next position. The process is continued
until a complete circular mould cavity has been made. A large cast gear can be
moulded with a segmental pattern with only three to four teeth.
In some instances cope drag and interior core may all be formed from same
skeleton pattern, there by saving the expense of large core box.
The below figure shows the skeleton pattern for casting a large diameter
flanged pipe.
GATING SYSTEM:
The molten metal from ladle is not introduced directly into the mould cavity,
because it will strike the bottom of the mould cavity with a great velocity and can
cause considerable erosion of the bottom of the mould cavity. Due to this, the molten
metal is introduced into the mould cavity from the ladle, through a gating system.
The gating system for a casting is a series of channels which lead molten metal from
the ladle into the mould cavity. It may include any or all of the following,
1. Pouring Bain
2. Sprue
3. Sprue Base or well
4. Runner
5. Choke
6. Skim Bob
7. Gates or ingates
8. Riser
The following points should be considered while designing the gating system:
1. The metal should enter the mould cavity with as little turbulence as possible.
2. The metal should enter the mould cavity at minimum optimum flow rate. High
flow rate causes erosion of gating system and mould cavity where as low flow
rate can result in casting defects like misrun and coldshut.
3. Proper thermal gradient should be maintained so that cooling takes place
without shrinkage, cavities and distortion.
4. Molten metal flow through gating system should be properly controlled in such
a manner that absorption of gases and atmospheric air is prevented.
5. Unwanted materials like sand particles, slag and dross should not be allowed
to enter the mould cavity.
1. Pouring Basin: A pouring basin or cup is a reservoir at the top of the sprue that
receives the stream of molten metal poured from the ladle. Some times the metal is
directly poured into the top of the sprue, which is made with a funnel shaped
opening.
The pouring basin may be moulded into the cope at the top of the sprue, or it
may be made of core sand and placed on the cope above the sprue. The pouring
basin is filled quickly at the start of the pour and it should remain full of molten metal
during pouring. Thus dross c onsisting of oxides and slags which float may be kept
from entering the sprue.
To prevent the slag from flowing down the sprue, it is sometimes useful to
close the sprue entrance with a plug or tin plates and allow the molten metal to fill
the basin. The plug is then lifted off.
There can be many designs of pouring basins, but the most commonly used
one is shown in below figures. The metal must be poured into the pouring basin that
is remote from the sprue entrance. If the metals poured directly dow n the sprue
entrance, lot of vortexing and turbulence take place, resulting in unsound and
defective casting. However when the metal is poured into the far low side of the
pouring basin, a dam effect enables the operator to reach and optimum pouring
speed before any metal enters the sprue. The weir will hold back the heavier
inclusions and the skimmer or dam will bold back the dross.
Another means of preventing slags from entering the sprue and hence the
mould cavity is to use a ceramic strainer at the top of the sprue. The strainer is made
from core sand, chamotte and refractory fibre materials. The strainer is maintained in
the pouring basin for constant flow of molten liquid and also controls the slag.
2. Sprue: Sprue is the vertical portion of gating system through which molten metal
is brought into the parting plane from where it enters the runners. Sprue is gradually
tapered and having reduced cross sectional area as it moves down from top of cope
as shown in figure. This is because molten metal moving from top gains velocity
downwards and as result requires smaller cross sectional area for same volume flow
rate. If the sprue has straight cylindrical shape low pressure region will be created
and atmospheric air may be sucked into this low resume re gion and may cause
casting defects like air inclusions and blow holes.
When runner is partially full, slag is not effectively trapped and may enter
mould cavity along metal.
3. Sprue Well or base: Where a sprue joins a runner, usually an enlargement in the
runner is made. This enlargement which is called as “Sprue Base” or “Sprue Well”
serves a dual function. A molten metal pool is an excellent device for preventing
excessive sand erosion where the molten metal impinges on the runner at the sprue
base. Also, there is sudden slowing of flow which dissipates kinetic energy and helps
5. Choke: The choke is that part of the gating system which has the smallest cross
sectional area. Its function is to control the rate of metal flow to help lower the flow
velocity in the runner, to hold back slag and foreign material and float these in the
cope side of the runner and to minimize sand erosion in the runner.
Gate Ratio: It is defined as the ratio of sprue base area, followed by the total runner
area and the total ingate area. The sprue base area is taken as unity.
Depending upon its location, the gating system may be classified as;
Pressurised gating system: In this system, the ingates serve as the choke. This
system maintains a back pressure and causes the entire gating system to become
pressurized. It is usual to cut runners in the cope and gates in the cope and gates in
the drag. And since in the pressurized system the runner flows full, the slag will
remain in the runner while floating up to its upper section. The system will flow full
even if a straight sprue is used once the flow has been established. The full flow
system will minimize aspiration and oxidation in the gating system. However the
molten metal will enter the mould cavity with relatively high velocity , causing
turbulence. This will cause erosion and oxidation in the mould cavity. But in this
system the molten metal will enter the mould cavity uniformly through all the gates.
A typical gating ratio in this system can be 1: 0.75: 0.50
The gating ratio is defined as the ration between Sprue area, Runner area,
and Ingate area.
Gating Ratio = Sprue area: Runner area: Ingate area = 1: 0.75: 0.50
Unpessurised gating system: In this system, the sprue base serves as the choke.
Typical gating ratios in this system can be, 1 : 2 : 4 or 1 : 4 : 4.
This system reduces velocity and turbulence and hence minimizes erosion and
oxidation in the mould cavity. But, since the system will not flow full, it may favour
absorption of gases and oxidation of metal in the gating system. Also, the slag will
not float up and will get access to the mould cavity. This system must have tapered
sprues, sprue base wells and pouring basins. This system can deliver metal uniformly
to multiple gates only if the runner is reduced after each gate.
For casting alloys such as light metals and manganese bronze, usually the
unpressurised system is used in contrast, for casting heavy and ferrous metals,
pressurized system has been used. However, according to Briggs, for high quality
6. Skim Bob: A skim bob is an enlargement along the runner, whose function is to
trap heavier and lighter impurities such as dross or eroded sand. It thus prevents
these impurities from going into the mould cavity.
7. Gates / Ingates: Gates are channels which connect the runners to the mould
cavity and through which the incoming metal directly enters into the mould cavity.
The gates should break off easily from the casting after solidification. For this at the
junction to the cavity, the gates are much reduced in thickness. This will also choke
the flow of metal and ensure its quiet entrance into the mould cavity. From
experience, the best cross section for gates is a trapezoidal one that smoothly passes
into a rectangular section at the junction of the cavity.
Ingate: This is the end of the gate where it joins the mould cavity and through
which the molten metal will be introduced into the mould cavity.
Depending upon the applications and specific requirements there are various
types of gates. They are:
1. Parting gate
2. Bottom gate
3. Top gate
4. Step gate.
Parting Gate: Parting gate is most common gate used in sand castings. As name
suggests metal enters the mould cavity at the parting plane separating cope and
drag as shown in fig. this parting gates are very easy to make as they forms in the
parting surface.
Bottom Gate: Bottom gates are used to overcome the difficulty of mould erosion of
deep moulds. Here the metal enters of the mould cavity at the bottom of the mould.
The molten metal slowly rises in the mould cavity and it takes somewhat higher time
for filling the mould. The preparation of bottom gate requires special sprue or special
cores.
Step Gate: The step gate ensures gradual filling of mould without mould erosion and
produces good quality castings. Step gates are used for deep, heavy and large
castings. The molten metal enters the mould cavity through a number of side gates
as shown in fig. It ensures the gradual filling of mould without any mould erosion and
produces a good quality casting.
8. Risers: Risers are the added reservoirs provided in mould to feed molten metal
into mould cavity to compensate for the shrinkage. In order to make the risers
effective, following points should be kept in mind while designing them:
The metal in risers should remain molten as long as possible and should
solidify after the casting.
The riser should be located near heavy sections subjected to large shrinkage.
The volume of riser should be sufficient for compensating the shrinkage in
castings.
The risers are of various types:
1. Top risers: Top risers are located on top of castings. They are convenient to
make and occupy less space with in the mould. A top riser of open type is
shown in above fig.
2. Side risers: Side risers are located adjacent to the mould cavity. They are
placed on parting line. Side riser of blind type is shown in above fig.
3. Blind risers: Blind risers are in the cope half of the mould and are not open to
the atmosphere. It is surrounded by moulding sand and losses heat slowly, so
they are more effective.
4. Open riser: If the risers are open to atmosphere they are known as open
risers.
Casting defects are usually not accidental but due to improper control of
manufacturing. The major defects generally found in the sand castings are as
follows:
1. Gas defects
2. Shrinkage Cavities
3. Moulding material defects
4. Pouring metal defects
5. Metallurgical defects
6. Moulding and core box defects
1. Gas Defects: These are blow holes and open blows, air inclusions and pin hole
porosity. These are due to lower permeability of the mould.
(a) Blow holes and open blows: These are in the form of spherical, flattened or
elongated cavities present inside the cavity or on the surface as shown in fig. On the
surface, they are called open blow holes. These are due to the moisture left in the
mould and the core. Due to heat of the molten metal, the moisture is converted into
steam, a part of which may entrap in the casting. Apart from the moisture, they
occur due to the lower venting and lower permeability of the mould.
(b) Air Inclusions: The atmospheric and other gases absorbed by the molten metal in
the furnace, in the laddle and during the flow in the mould when not allowed to
escape, would be trapped inside the casting. The main reason for this defect is the
higher pouring temperatures which increase the amount of gas absorption.
(c) Pinhole Porosity: This is due to the hydrogen in the molten metal. The hydrogen
while leaving the solidifying metal would cause very small diameter and long
pinholes.
2. Shrinkage Cavities: These are caused by the liquid shrinkage occurring during
the solidification. To compensate this, proper feeding of the liquid metal is required.
Also proper casting design.
3. Moulding Material Defects: Scabs, swell, run out and drop. These defects occur
because of the moulding materials are not having required properties or due to
ramming.
(a) Scabs: These are projections on the casting which occur when a portion of the
mould face lifts and metal flows underneath in a thin layer. In other words, liquid
metal penetrates behind the surface layer of sand. (see below fig.)
(b) Swell: Under the influence of the metallostatic forces, the mould wall may move
back causing a swell in the casting.
It may occur due to insufficient ramming of the sand, pouring the molten metal too
rapidly.
(c) Run out: This occurs when the molten metal leaks out the mould cavity. This may
be caused either due to faulty mould making or because of the faulty moulding flask.
(d) Drop: A drop occurs when cope surface cracks and breaks, thus the pieces of
sand fall into the molten metal. This is due to either low green strength or improper
ramming of the cope flask.
4. Pouring Metal Defects: The defects in this category are misrun, cold shut,
poured short.
(a) Misrun: When the mould is not completely filled with molten metal due to some
obstruction in the form of metal, the defect is called misrun.
(b) Cold shut: Sometimes metal is poured from opposite directions in the mould. If
the two streams of metal approach each other, make physical contact, but do not
fuse together thus leaving a gap, the resulting defect is called „cold shut‟. The
reasons for cold shut or misrun may be too thin sections, improper gating system,
slow and intermittent pouring and poor fluidity of metal.
(c) Poured Short: When the mould cavity is not completely filled because of
insufficient metal, the defect is called „poured short‟.
a) Hot Tears or Hot Cracks: These are internal or external ragged discontinuous or
cracks on the casting surface, due to hindered contraction occurring immediately
after the metal had solidified. These will occur when the casting is poorly designed.
(b) Hot spots: These are caused by the chilling of the casting. For example, with gray
cast iron having small amounts of silicon, very hard white cast iron may result at the
chilled surface. This hot spot will interface with the subsequent machining of this
region. Proper metallurgical control is essential for eliminations of the hot spots.
(a) Mould Shift (Mismatch): Shifts in a mismatch of cope and drag flasks at the
parting line. The below figure shows the mismatch of the sections of a casting at the
parting line. This is due to worn or loose dowels in the pattern made in halves. This
defect can be prevented by ensuring proper alignment of the patterns or die parts.
(b) Fins: Thin projections of metal on the surface of the casting usually at the parting
of mould or core sections. Moulds and cores incorrectly assembled will cause fins.
Insufficient weight on the mould or improper clamping of the flasks may produce fin
defect.
Solidification:
Concept of solidification:
As already discussed, when the mould cavity is filled with molten metal, the metal
adjacent to the walls of the mould cools and solidifies first. This result in the shell of
solid metal, with the centre of the section remaining liquid, while there is a zone
between the liquid interior and solid exterior where in the metal is in a semi solid or
mushy state. The solidification then proceeds inwards towards the same centre of the
section. This solidification is called as “Lateral or Progressive Solidification”.
Longitudinal solidification occurs at right angles to the lateral solidification at the
center line (as shown in fig.). The gating should be designed in such a manner that it
permits solidification and cooling to progress in such a way that the accompanying
shrinkage may take place without resulting in voids, cracks, or porosity with in the
casting, so as to obtain a sound casting. This type of solidification is called
“Directional Solidification”. For this to occur, the following two conditions should be
satisfied:
(a) The longitudinal solidification must progress from the thinnest faster cooling
sections to the heavier hotter sections.
(b) The temperature gradient, in addition to being properly directed, must be
sufficiently steep so that the liquid metal can pass through the wedge shaped
channel to compensate for shrinkage as it occurs at the centre line. It implies
that the progressive solidification is controlled in such a way that no portion of
the casting is isolated from liquid metal feeding channels, during the complete
solidification cycle.
If the depth of a section is quite large as compared to its cross section, then the
progressive solidification rate will exceed the longitudinal solidification and result in
fine center line porosity or even a larger or series of large cavities. To prevent such
defects, the cross section of the casting should increase towards the hotter sections.
.
Solidification of Casting:
Sound casting is one which is free from defects like porosity, shrinkage and
cracks etc. In order to produce a casting free from such defects, it is essential to
know cast structure developed during solidification of metals and alloys.
Recrystallization:
(a) In this process, old distorted grains are replaced by new equaixed stress free,
strain free grains by a process a nucleation and growth. This is called
Recrystallization.
(b) Nucleation occurs at the points of high energy and subsequently these nuclei
grow at the expense of old grains. The probability of forming a nucleus is the
same at every place a state suitable for homogeneous is said to be in the
system.
Formation of Grains:
All the metals are crystalline and crystals are made up of several atoms. The
individual crystals or grains together form the visible mass of a solid metal.
A grain is a crystal with almost external shape, but with an internal atomic
structure based on the space lattice with which it was formed. The mechanical
property of the metal varies with the arrangement of grains. The solidification
process is shown in below fig.
The metal begins to solidify when the temperature of the liquid metal drops
below the critical temperature. When two or more atoms associated to form a small
crystal called “Nucleus‟. It happens in number of locations through out liquid metal.
They are simultaneously cooled. Slow cooling favours growth of crystals uniformly in
all directions of growth and give equaixed crystals i.e., the crystals with e qual
dimensions in all the direction. Rapid cooling always favours tree like crystals called
“dendrites” which consisting of unit cells, with straight line branches.
Crystal grows until it come in contact with the adjacent crystal of proper
geometrical form and having different orientations. They can be distorted by
interface of each crystal with its neighbours.
As the pure metal have sharply defined freezing temperature which is the
same melting point composed of the small group of atoms oriented into common
crystal pattern (See below figure). The process occurs in the overtime called a
cooling curve. During the process of solidification nuclei spring up, each nucleus grow
and able to form the crystal which is visible to the eye.
As each nucleus grows, the atoms within it are having the same orientation.
When the nucleus has grown to the point, they absorb all the liquid atoms and come
in contact with each other along their boundaries. The boundaries do not line up the
plan of atoms, change direction from one crystal to other so solid state composed of
a number of crystals of different orientation i.e., mixed crystals.
The actual freezing takes time called “Local Solidification Time” in casting
during which the metals latent heat of fusion is released into the surrounding mould.
The total solidification time is the time taken between pouring and complete
solidification. After the casting is completely solidified, cooling gradually increases by
decreasing the slope of the cooling curve as shown in below figure.
Solidification in Alloys:
Just below the solidification starts the solid phase start separating out from
the liquid. As the temperature decreases, the freezing begins from the liquids line
Metals having the higher melting points favour the formation of the dendrites
composition in the solidification of alloys.
Macroscopic level: Composition varied throughout the casting as the regions of the
casting freeze first and richer in one component than the other.
Risers:
Riser is a hole cut in the cope to permit the molten metal to rise above the
highest point in the casting. The riser is a passage of sand made in the mould during
ramming. The molten metal raises in the riser after the mould cavity is filled up.
Functions of riser:
(i) It enables the pourer to see the metal in the mould cavity. If the metal is not
seen in the riser, it indicates that either the metal is not sufficient to fill the
mould cavity or there is some obstruction to the metal flow between the sprue
and riser.
(ii) The riser gives passage to the steam, gas and air from the mould cavity while
filling the mould with the molten metal.
(iii)It serves as feeder to feed the molten metal into mould cavity to compensate
for its shrinkage.
Before the shape and size of the riser is determined, its location must be
specified. Any casting, no matter bow complex, can be subdivided into several
geometrical shapes, consisting of two heavier sections joined by a thinner section. A
riser should be located close to each heavier section. Also it should be located in such
a manner that it is the last portion of the casting to solidify.
Types of Risers:
Depending upon its location, the riser is described as „Top Riser‟ or „Side Riser‟.
Side Risers: If the riser is located between runners and casting, it is known as side
riser. It is also called a „live or hot riser‟ since it is filled last and contains the hotte st
metal. The side riser receives the molten metal directly from the runner before it
enters the mould cavity and is more effective than the top riser.
Top Risers: If a riser must be placed at the top of the casting or at the end of the
mould cavity then it is called as Top riser or „dead or cold riser‟. These types of risers
fill up with the coldest metal and are likely to solidify before casting.
Open risers: These risers are open to the atmosphere at the top surface of the
mould.
Advantages:
Limitations:
(i) They can be moulded only in the cope i.e., either at the top of the mould
cavity or on the side at the parting line.
(ii) Open risers are holes through which foreign matter may get into the mould
cavity.
Blind Risers: A riser which does not break to the top of the cope and is entirely
surrounded by moulding sand is known as „Blind Riser‟. Blind risers are setup in high
moulding boxes, where the use of open risers would entail a large consumption of
molten metal.
Advantages:
(i) Considerable latitude or flexibility is allowed for positioning the riser, either in
a cope or in a drag.
(ii) It is surrounded on all sides by moulding sand. Thus it looses heat slowly
which helps in better directional solidification of the casting.
(iii)A blind riser can be smaller than a comparable open riser, there fore more
yield is obtained.
The main drawback of the blind riser is that when the metal in it cool, metal skins
may quickly form on its walls. This will result in a vacuum in the riser and the riser
will not feed and may actually draw metal from the casting.
Shape and size of Riser: The risers are designed to solidify last so as to feed
enough metal to heavy sections of the casting to make up for the shrinkage before
and during solidification. For this they should loose heat at a slower rate. Amount of
heat content is proportional to the volume and the rate of heat dissipation depends
upon the surface area of the riser. Thus the risers should be designed with a high V/A
(Volume/Surface Area) ratio, for a given size. This will minimize the loss of heat, so
that the riser will remain hot and the metal in the molten state as long as possible.
A cast part must have such a design as to ensure a high level of its working
characteristics like strength, rigidity, stiffness, tightness, and corrosion resistance at
a given mass and shape of the part. Proper attention to design details can minimize
casting problems and lower costs. For this a close collaboration between the designer
and the foundry engineer is important.
The main feature of the casting process is that the molten metal poured into
the mould contracts as it cools and solidifies. The main consideration is that the
shape of the casting should allow for directional solidification. Some of the important
design considerations are discussed below:
d. To facilitate removal, provision should be made for draft (1/2˚ to 3˚) on the
castings vertical surfaces. The draft is greater for the inside surfaces than
for the exterior surfaces.
e. Where ever possible, avoid complex parting lines on the pattern, because
these increase the cost of moulding operations. Parting lines should be in a
single plane, if practicable. The design (b) is better not only because the
lines are simpler and the pattern is less costly but also because a plane
parting can be used in the process of moulding.
g. The position of the castings surfaces during metal pouring must be taken
into account, since gas blow holes may form on the castings upper
horizontal surfaces. Critical surfaces of castings should lie at the bottom part
of the mould.
h. Minimum Section Thickness: The thickness of the casting walls is
determined depending on the size and mass of the casting, its material and
the mass of the casting. Except for cast iron, the minimum section thickness
depends mainly upon the fluidity of the molten metal. If a casting section is
too thin, or if it is relatively thin and extends too far, a misrun or cold shut
defect will occur.
i. The casting design should provide for easy removal of core materials and
reinforcements and should make for ease of cleaning and fettling after the
shake out operation. In order to remove core material from internal cavities,
special bosses with holes should be provided on the casting. After the
cleaning, the holes are stopped with plugs. The outer contour of the casting
should be free of deep blind pockets and recesses. The cavities should have
openings of sufficient size to facilitate stripping.
j. A material that has a large solidification shrinkage will result in hot
shortness if the moulding material does not collapse sufficiently to allow
shrinkage or the moulds should be of simple shape so as not to develop
tensile stress during solidification. If possible the casting design should be
changed to allow deformation without moving large mould masses.
According to the shape of mould, the centrifugal casting method can be classified as:
1. True centrifugal casting Process
2. Semi centrifugal casting Process
3. centrifuging casting Process
1. True Centrifugal Casting Process : In this process, the axis of rotation of the
mould coincides with the axis of the casting and the molten metal is pushed outwards
because of the centrifugal force, no core is required for making the concentric hole.
The axis of rotation may be horizontal, vertical or inclined. The most commonly cast
parts are cast iron pipes, liners and cylindrical barrels. The mould may be permanent
type or sand lined mould. A normal centrifugal casting machine used for making cast
iron pipes in sand moulds is shown in below fig.
The moulding flask is rammed with sand to confirm to the outer contour of the pipe
to be made. At the end of the mould is fitted with a gear which meshes with a gear
on a motor driven shaft. The ends of the hollow mould are partially covered by
covers which can be detached when the casting is to be pushed out of the mould. At
both end covers, a central hole is provided. F rom one side, the molten metal is
poured, from a ladle and from other the hot gases escape out.
Advantages:
1. The inclusions get segregated towards the centre and can be easily removed
by machining.
2. The casting has better mechanical properties.
3. No central core is required.
4. No gates and risers are required.
5. The process is used for making pipes, hollow shafts, bushes and similar parts
with a concentric hole.
Limitations:
1. This method is limited to certain shapes with axis symmetric.
2. Equipment is costly.
Applications: Cast iron pipes, alloy steel pipes, liners of L.I.C. engine.
The moulds are made of either sand or metal. The moulds are rotated about a
central vertical axis which is concentric with axis of sprue (as shown in fig).
Rotational speed in this process is usually lower than for true centrifugal castings.
The molten metal is poured through central pouring basin. For producing large
quantity the use of stacked moulds are quite economical.
The difference between true centrifugal or semi centrifugal and centrifuging is that in
case of true centrifugal or semi centrifugal casting process is that the axis of mould
coincides with the axis of rotation where as in case of centrifuging the axis of
rotation and the axis of the mould are not same. A number of mould cavities are
arranged on the circumference of circle and are connected to a central down sprue
through radial gates. This is suitable for only small jobs of any shape.
The die casting machine consists of two halves with vertical parting. One half
is called cover die which is stationary and fixed to the machine. The other half is
called ejector die which moves for opening and closing. The die halves are having
dowel pin and dowel holes to maintain proper alignment. The die casting machine
performs the following functions:
(i) Cycle starts when both dies are apart. Lubricant is sprayed on die castings
manually or by auto lubrication system.
(ii) The two die halves are closed and clamped. Dies can be closed and clamped
by hydraulic or mechanical mechanism.
(iii)Molten metal is injected into closed dies under pressure. Pressure is
maintained during solidification.
(iv)The dies are forced opened.
(v) Casting is ejected from dies along with its attached sprue and runners.
There are basically two types of die casting machines:
The main difference between the two types is that in hot chamber, machine itself
contains furnace for liquid metal where as in cold chamber process metal is melt in
separate furnace and then poured into die casting machine with help of ladle for each
casting cycle. Let us discuss these processes in some what more details.
(i) Hot Chamber Process: This is also called sometimes known as “submerged
plunger die casting process”. In hot chamber die casting machine, there is suitable
furnace for melting and holding the metal. A plunger is submerged in reservoir of
molten metal as shown in below figure.
The cycle timings and pressure in the machines are set to suit the different
metals and castings. The added advantage of hot chamber process is that molten
metal is injected from the same chamber, in which it is melted, i.e., there is no
handling of molten metal. The limitation of process is that it cannot be used for
higher melting point metals. The process can be used for most of low melting
temperature alloys such as zinc, lead and tin.
(ii) Cold Chamber Process: The hot process is suitable for low temperature melting
alloys. As cylinders is continuously in contact with liquid metal, aluminium and other
high temperature melting alloy will attack the cylinder material. So for these me tals
cold chamber process is used. In cold chamber processes, holding furnace foe liquid
metal is not integral with die casting machine. The metal is melted in a separate
furnace and then poured into die casting machine with the help of ladle. This process
reduces the contact time between liquid metal and shot chamber.
1. The dies and machines are very costly. Therefore economy in production is
possible only when large quantities are produced.
2. Not suitable for all materials because of die materials limitations. Normally
non ferrous metals like Zn, Mg, Al or Copper alloys are die cast.
3. Maximum size of casting is limited. Normally castings weighing between 4 kg
to 15 kg are cast because of machine limitations.
4. The air may get entrapped during the process. It is a usual problem with die
castings.
The two common and widely used methods under this category are ,
(i) Lost – Wax method: The Lost – Wax method is also called simply as „Precision –
investment casting‟ has been used for many years by jewelers and dentists. Basically
the method involves the use of expandable pattern surrounded with a shell of
refractory material to form the casting mould. Castings are formed by pouring molten
metal in the mould cavities created by melting out t he pattern. Since the pattern
made of wax is melted out and gets destroyed, that is why the name “lost – wax
method”.
1. Making a master pattern of the part to be cast. The pattern is usually made of
a metal that can be easily machined, such as brass, aluminium alloy or steel,
or a fusible alloy. It is made to compensate for wax and metal shrinkage.
2. Making a composite die to the master pattern for casting the wax/plastic
patterns. The die material is a low melting point alloy like bismuth alloys or
even aluminium. It can be made directly from die blocks of steel by machining
the cavities.
4. Assembling the wax pattern to a gating system. Several small wax patterns
are assembled together to a wax gating system connected to a central sprue,
by wax welding with the aid of heated tools. In this manner, a cluster or tree
of wax patterns is formed.
5. Investing the wax patterns. The wax patterns are invested in tw o stages.
Firstly a thin coating about 1 mm of primary investment slurry is made around
the wax patterns by dipping these in the slurry. This slurry is made by mixing
extremely fine silica sand with a water/ethyl silicate or gypsum solution. After
this primary coating has dried, the final investment moulds is done.
This final investment may be either solid type or shell type. A solid
type mould is formed by placing a metal container type flask over the cluster
of patterns and then pouring a hard setting moulding material into the flask.
Shell type investment moulds are made by dipping the cluster of patterns in
ceramic slurry and the procedure is repeated until the required thickness of
mould or shell is obtained.
6. Melting out the wax patterns and baking the mould. The finished mould is
dried in air for 2 to 3 hours and then baked in an oven for 2 hours to melt out
DEPARTMENT OF MEC HANIC AL ENGINEERING 46
ANNAMAC HARYA INSTITUTE OF TEC HNOLOGY & SCIENC ES::RAJAMPET
Prepared by, G Suresh Babu, Asst. Prof., Dept. of ME
SUBJEC T: Manufacturing Processes YEAR: 2021 - 22
BRANC H: Mechanical Engineering II B.Tech - I Sem.
the wax. At a temperature of 100 to 120°C, the wax melts and the moulds are
inverted so that all or most of the wax will run out through sprue.
7. Melting the metal and pouring the mould. The mould or flask is transferred to
a drying furnace where it is first held at 150°Cand then gradually heated to
800to 900°C. This will vaporize any remaining wax in the mould. Then the
preheated mould is poured with molten metal which fills the cavity and is
allowed to cool and solidify.
8. After cooling the fragile mould material is broken away freeing the castings.
The gates and runners are removed in the normal way.
9. Cleaning and inspecting the casting.
Limitations:
1. The process is involved and thus expensive.
2. The process has the limitations in use of and location of holes.
3. The parts are limited in size to a few Kg.
The sand is first mixed with either urea or phenol formaldehyde resin in a
muller. Metal pattern is heated to 205 to 230˚C in an oven and sprayed with silicon
grease and kept on the top of the dump box. The dump box contains sand mixed
with thermo plastic resin. The box is inverted, causing the sand mix to fall on the hot
pattern. The resin melts and flow in between the grains of sand, acting as a bond.
After 30 seconds, a hard layer of sand is formed over the pattern. Then the dump
box is inverted back to its original position. The pattern with a thin shell is cured for
two minutes at 315˚C. The shell is finally removed from the pattern by ejector pins.
The two shells are clamped together to form the mould and placed in the flask with
backing sand.
Advantages:
Disadvantages:
====================XXX======================
Welding Process
Welding
Classification of Welding Processes
Types of Welds
Types of Welded Joints
Edge Preparation for Welding
Welding Techniques
Design aspects of Weld Joints
Gas Welding
Arc Welding
Forge Welding
Resistance Welding
Thermit Welding
Cutting of Metals
Oxy – Acetylene Gas Cutting
Plasma Arc Cutting
Soldering
Brazing
Heat Affected Zones in Welding
Welding Defects
Testing of Welds
Destructive and Non-destructive testing
Comparison between welding, soldering & brazing
Welding:
There are many definitions of a welding process. But the most comprehensive
is given below:
Advantages: The wide spread use of welding at the present time is due to its
following advantages:
The welding process has the plus points that it is readily adaptable to streamline
structure and the welded joints are very tight. Welded joints are strong, especially
under static loading. However they have poor fatigue resistance due to stress
concentration, residual stresses and various weld defects, such as cracks, incomplete
fusion, slag inclusions and the like. But all these drawbacks can be overcome to a
large extent.
The drawbacks of welding can be: Not all metals are satisfactorily weldable and
the weldments are less readily machinable, as compared to castings.
Some of the more common processes in this group are mentioned below:
1. Forge Welding
2. Thermit Pressure welding
3. Pressure Gas welding
4. Electric Resistance welding
(b) Fusion processes: In these processes, the material at the joint is heated to the
molten state and allowed to solidify to make the joint, without the application of
pressure. Here some joints may be made without the addition of a filler metal, but in
general, a filler metal must be added to the weld to fill the space between the parts
being welded. The filler metal deposited should ordinarily be of the same composition
as the base metal.
Some of the common welding processes in this group are listed below:
1. Gas welding
2. Electric Arc welding
3. Thermit Fusion welding
The two most widely used welding methods are: Gas welding and Arc welding.
1. Gas Welding
(a) Oxyacetylene Welding (b) Oxyhydrogen Welding
2. Arc Welding
(a) Carbon Arc Welding (b) Metal Arc Welding
(c) Submerged Arc Welding (d) Inert Gas Welding
(e) Plasma Arc Welding (i) TIG (ii) MIG
(f) Electric Slag Welding
3. Resistance Welding
(a) Spot Welding (b) Seam Welding
(c) Projection Welding (d) Butt Welding
Types of Welds:
The following are the different types of welds used in making a joint.
(i) Bead Weld: A „Bead‟ weld is one in which the filler metal is deposited at a
joint where the two surfaces adjoining the joint are in the same plane . A
„Bead‟ is defined as a single run of weld metal. The below figure shows the
type of bead weld.
(ii) Fillet Weld: A „Fillet‟ weld is one in which the filler metal is deposited at the
corner of two intersecting surfaces, such as T or Lap joint.
(iii) Groove Weld: A „Groove‟ weld is one in which the filler material is deposited
in a groove formed by edge preparation of one member or of both the
members.
(iv)Plug or Slot Weld: A „Plug‟ or „Slot‟ weld is one in which a hole is formed
through one of the pieces to be welded and the filler material is then
deposited into this hole and fused with the mating part.
The relative positions of the two pieces being welded determine the type of
joint. There are five basic types of joints which are used in fusion welding. These are,
(a) Butt Joint: The butt–joint is used to join the ends of two plates or surfaces
located approximately in the same plane.
(b) Lap Joint: The lap-joint is used to join two overlapping plates so that the
edge of each plate is welded to the surface of the other.
(c) T – Joint: The T-joint is used to weld two plates or sections whose surfaces
are at right angles to each other.
(d) Corner Joint: The corner-joint is used to join the edges of two sheets or
plates whose surfaces are at 90° to each other.
(e) Edge Joint: The edge joint is used in joining the sheet metal work.
The preparation of the edges of the pieces to be welded depends upon the
thickness of metal being welded. Edge preparation is necessary when thickness
increases so that heat would be able to penetrate the entire depth. This ensures
formation of sound welds. The edge preparation is done by beveling the edges o f the
pieces after the rust, grease, oil or paint are completely removed from their surfaces.
There are five basic types of chamfers put on the mating edges prior to
welding; they are Square, V, Bevel, U and J.
These five basic types of edge preparation are applied to the different types of
weld joints.
Butt joints: The straight square butt joints with no special edge preparation are
used when the thickness of the two joints to be welded is small so that heat of
welding penetrates the full depth of joint. These joints are suitable from 3 to 8 mm.
However, if the plate thickness is more than 4.5 mm. edge preparation is
recommended.
Other edge preparations for a butt joint are: Single bevel, Double bevel,
Single J, Double J. Butt joints are made by bead or groove welds.
Lap Joints: These joints are used to join thin sheets, usually less than 3 mm thick.
These joints do not need any special edge preparation. The joint is produced by fillet
welds.
Tee Joints: Only structures subjected to low static loads can be welded without edge
preparation. Single bevel joints are employed for critical structures in which the
members are from 10 to 20 mm thick and Double bevel designs are used for thicker
metals. Single J and Double J joints can also be used thicker metals. Tee joints are
made by using fillet or groove welds.
Edge Joints: Edge joints are used for metals upto 3 mm thick. The height of flange
should be twice the thickness of the sheet. These joints are made by Bead or Groove
welds.
Welding Techniques:
The selection of a proper technique will depend upon the metal to be welded,
its thickness and the properties of the weld.
(a) Down Hand Welds (flat): These welds are deposited in any direction on a
horizontal surface so that the flame is above the face of the weld.
(b) Vertical Welds: These welds are deposited on a vertical surface in a vertical
direction as shown in below figure.
(c) Inclined Welds: These welds are deposited on an inclined surface as shown
in below figure.
(e) Overhead Welds: These welds are deposited on a horizontal surface in any
direction so that the face of welds is above the flame as shown in fig.
(a) Leftwards (or) Forward Welding: The welder holds torch in the right hand
and filler rod in the left hand. The weld is made working from right to left as shown in
below figure. Since the flame is pointed in the direction of the welding, it preheats
the edges of the joint. This method is suitable for mild steel, cast iron, aluminium,
brass etc…
(b) Rightwards (or) Backward Welding: It is carried out from left to right as
shown in below figure. Thicker materials can be welded by this method.
(c) Vertical Welding: It starts at the bottom of the weld joint and gives an
oscillating movement to the welding torch which points slightly upwards as shown in
below figure.
Gas Welding:
Gas welding is a fusion welding process. It joins metals using the heat of
combustion of an oxygen/air and fuel gas i.e., acetylene, hydrogen, butane mixture.
The intense heat (flame) thus produced melts and fuses together the edges of the
parts to be welded, generally with the addition of a filler metal.
Oxy – acetylene is used for welding almost all metals and alloys. When
acetylene is mixed with oxygen in correct proportions in the welding torch and
ignited, the flame resulting at the tip of the torch is sufficiently hot to melt and join
the parent metal. The flame reaches a temperature of about 3000°C. A filler metal
rod is generally added to the molten metal pool to built up the seam slightly for
greater strength.
The reaction provides acetylene gas and hydrated lime as sludge. A special
hopper of dropping the calcium carbide into a tank of water at controlled rate is
referred as acetylene generator. Acetylene cylinders are also readily available.
(i) Oxygen Cylinder: Oxygen is filled in the cylinder at a pressure of 150 kg/cm2.
This cylinder is made of steel and it is in black colour.
(iii) Welding Torch: It is used to mix the gases in the right proportions to control
the volume of gases burned at the welding tip and to direct the flow. It has a
(iv) Pressure Regulator: It is located on the top of the gas cylinder. Its function is
to reduce the pressure from the cylinder and to maintain it at constant value.
The pressure regulator located on the oxygen cylinder is called oxygen pressure
regulator and the other one located on the top of the acetylene cylinder is called
the acetylene pressure regulator.
(v) Hose and Hose Fittings: The hose is a rubber tube which permits the flow of
gas. Two hoses to carry oxygen and acetylene separately are required. They
connect the regulator mounted on cylinders to the torch. Generally, green colour
is adopted for oxygen hose and red colour for acetylene. The hose should be
strong, durable, flexible and light in weight.
(vi) Goggles: Goggles fitted with coloured lenses should be provided to protect the
eyes from harmful heat and ultraviolet and infrared rays.
(vii) Gloves: These are used to protect hands from heat and the metal splashes
during welding.
(viii) Spark Lighter: It is used to provide a convenient and instant means for lighting
the welding torch.
(ix) Wire Brush: Its function is to clean the surfaces of joints before and after
welding.
Other Equipments:
Welding Rods: These are used for providing extra metal to the weld. These are also
known as filler rods. The filler rod should have the same composition and properties
as that of parent metal. The filler rods are available in 1, 1.25, 1.6, 2, 2.25, 3, 4.5,
6, 8 and 10 mm diameter. The selection of filler rod depends on the welding
technique and thickness of the base metal. Steel rods are generally employed when
welding ferrous metals. They have a higher carbon content and more manganese and
silicon than the base metal. The last two components act as deoxidizing agents and
prevent the inclusions of oxide in the weld. Rods containing chromium and vanadium
are used for welding alloy steels.
Flux: When the metal to be welded is heated by oxy – acetylene flame, the oxygen
of the atmosphere combines with the heated metal and forms metal oxides. These
metal oxides have higher melting point than the parent metal. Therefore it is
essential that these oxides are removed otherwise slag inclusions will result in poor
quality of weld. These oxides can be removed from the weld location by the use of
certain fluxes which react chemically with the oxides of most metals and from fusible
slag and floats at the top of the molten puddle and do not interfere with the
deposition of filler metal. Besides it also protects the molten puddle from atmospheric
oxygen. Fluxes are available in several forms such as dry powder, paste or in the
form of coating on the welding rod. For ferrous metal, borax, sodium carbonate and
sodium bicarbonate are used as suitable fluxes. For copper and copper alloys,
mixture of sodium and potassium borates, carbonates, chlorides and boric acid are
suitable.
Types of Flames:
(a) Neutral Flame: A neutral flame is produced when approximately equal volumes
of oxygen and acetylene are supplied to the torch. The temperature of the neutral
flame is in order of about 3260°C.
The neutral flame consists of sharp brilliant inner cone extending a short
distance from the tip of the torch and an outer cone or envelop. The first one
develops heat and second protects the molten metal from oxidation, because the
oxygen in the surrounding atmosphere is consumed by gases from flame.
The neutral flame is commonly used for welding most of the metals such as
mild steel, stainless steel, cast iron, copper, aluminium etc…
This flame has three zones (i) Inner core (ii) An intermediate of whitish colour
(iii) The bluish outer cone. The outer flame envelop is longer than the other two
flames. Being rich in carbon, this flame is suitable for welding steel. It is also used for
surface hardening.
(c) Oxidising Flame: If the volume of oxygen to the neutral flame is increased, the
result will be oxidising flame. The temperature of the oxidising flame is of the order
of 13000°C. It is hotter than neutral flame.
The oxidising flame consists of one smaller core which is more pointed than
the neutral flame. The outer envelop is shorter. Oxidising flame is used in welding
brass, copper base metals, zinc base metals and few ferrous metals such as
manganese, steels and cast irons.
1. It takes considerable longer for the metal to heat up than in arc welding.
2. Prolonged heating of the joint in gas welding results in larger heat affected
area. This often results in increased growth, more distortion.
3. These are safety problems involved in handling and storing of gases.
4. Flame temperature is less than the temperature of the arc.
5. Heavy sections cannot be joined economically.
6. Flux shielding in gas welding is not so effective as an inert gas shielding in TIG
or MIG welding.
Oxy – Hydrogen welding is used for aluminium, magnesium, lead etc. In this
process hydrogen is used in place of acetylene and the flame temperature is very low
2000°C. An advantage of this process is that no oxides are formed on the surface of
the weld.
Arc Welding:
(a) Arc Welding Power Source: The power source is required to maintain the arc
between the electrode and base metal is available in (i) DC generator (ii) AC
transformer with DC rectifier (iii) AC transformer.
(b) Electrodes for Arc Welding: Electrodes for arc welding may be broadly
classified as:
Consumable electrodes get consumed during the welding. These are made of
various metals depending upon the purpose and chemical composition of patent
metals being welded. These electrodes are further classified into, (1) Bare Electrodes
(2) coated electrodes.
Bare electrodes are used in submerged arc welding and metal inert gas welding
(MIG) welding.
Coated electrodes are again subdivided into (1) Light coated electrodes (2) Heavy
coated electrodes.
In carbon arc welding process the arc is obtained between the carbon
electrode and the work piece or between two carbon electrodes. This welding is
suitably used in welding of steel sheets, copper alloys and brass etc…
The weld metal is not shielded from contamination of oxygen and nitrogen in
the atmosphere. More ever, very little if any carbon is picked up by the weld from the
This is also called Shield Metal Arc Welding (SMAW). Heat required for the
welding is obtained from the arc struck between the coated electrode and the work
piece. The material droplets are transformed from the electrode to the work piece
through the arc and deposited along the joint to be welded. The coat ing produces a
gaseous shield and slag to protect from atmosphere.
During the process of welding, the electrode is given three movements. The
electrode is continuously fed downward along its axis to maintain the arc length. It is
progressively fed along the weld and thirdly the electrode tip is given an oscillating
movement across the weld. The side ways oscillating movement of the electrode tip
is given to:
Advantages:
Disadvantage:
Applications:
The arc is started either by striking the electrode beneath the flux on the work
or by placing the steel wool between the electrode and the work piece before
switching on the welding current. The intense heat of the arc immediately produces a
pool of molten metal in the joint and at the same time the flux adjacent to the arc
column melts and floats on top of the molten metal. This forms a blanket that
eliminates spatter losses and protects the welded joint from oxidation. The current
density is 300 to 400 amps which is 5 to 6 times than that of metal arc welding.
Submerged arc welding is done manually or automatic and semi-automatic. The
manual and the automatic submerged arc welding process are most suited to the flat
welding position, or slightly vertical, down hill welding position. Backing strip of steel,
copper or some refractory material is used under the joint to avoid loosing some of
the molten metal.
This process is used to weld low alloy, high tensile steels as well as mild steel, low
carbon steels.
Advantages:
Applications:
In conventional arc welding, the fluxes are used to shield the atmosphere
around the molten metal. In inert gas welding, inert gases such as argon, helium,
carbon dioxide are used for surrounding the electric arc and thus keeping
atmospheric air and other contaminations away from the molten metal pool.
A tungsten inert gas welding equipment is shown in below figure. This process
is also known as gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW). It uses a non-consumable
tungsten electrode mounted at the centre of the torch. The inert gas is supplied to
the welding zone through the angular path surrounding the tungsten electrode.
Welding operation is done by striking the arc between the work piece and tungsten
electrode in the atmosphere of inert gas.
Advantages:
Disadvantages:
(i) It is used for fusion welding of aluminium, magnesium alloys, stainless steel,
low alloy steel high alloy steel, brass, bronze, silver, molybdenum and a wide
range of other metals.
(ii) It can also be used to weld many dissimilar metals.
(iii) The TIG process can be used to braze and to supply the heat source for
brazes welding.
(iv) It can also be used as heat source for the hard surfacing of the metals.
MIG welding stands for Metal Inert Gas Welding. In this process, the tungsten
electrode is replaced with a consumable electrode. The electrode is continuously fed
to the arc at the rate at which it is consumed and transferred to the base metal. Arc
is shielded by an inert gas, which flows from the holder nozzle through which the
electrode also passes. It is similar to submerged arc welding in feeding the bare
electrode from a reel. It differs in the fact that the shielding is done by an inert gas
and the arc is visible during the welding process.
Advantages:
Disadvantages:
Applications:
The basic circuitry of a plasma arc welding torch is shown in below figure. The
plasma torch is constructed with an electrode centrally with in a metal cup that
guides an inert streaming gas past the electrode. The discharge end of the cup is
smaller in diameter than the upper diameter so that a discharge nozzle is created. In
addition, the inner wall of the nozzle is lined with a ceramic material. The torch ahs
passages for supplying gas and water i.e., air and water to cool in.
In the transferred plasma arc, the arc is produced between the electrode (-
ive) and the work (+ ive). In other words the arc is transformed from electrode to
the work piece. This possesses high energy density. For this reason it is used to cut
and melt the metals.
In the non-transferred arc, the arc is produced between the electrode (- ive)
and the nozzle (+ ive). Plasma arc comes out of the nozzle as a flame. This arc is
independent of the work piece and the work does not form a part of electric circuit .
This arc is used for only welding.
In this process, electrode wire is fed into a molten slag pool. An arc is drawn
initially, but is then snuffed out by the slag, and the heat of fusion is provided by
resistance heating in the slag.
The pieces to be welded are positioned vertically with necessary gap between
them. Two copper shoes (water cooled) sides on either side of the gap form a well in
which flux is deposited. An electric arc is stuck between the electrode and the joint
bottom with the help of a piece of steel wool. The arc melts the electrode and flux
and forms the molten slag. When enough slag accumulate, the arc action stops and
further requirement heat is provided by the resistance offered by the slag to the
current flowing through it. The molten metal temperature is 2000°C. This heat is
sufficient to fuse the edges of the work pieces and the welding electrode. The heated
metal collects in the pool beneath the slag slowly solidifies there by forming the weld
bead joining the two work pieces.
Advantages:
Applications:
It is used particularly for welding thickness of 30 mm over plates and structures for
turbine shafts, boiler parts and heavy presses.
Forge Welding:
This is the oldest industrial welding process. The parts to be welded are
heated in a forge or some other furnace to within the hot-working temperature range
and then forged together by hand or power hammering or pressing. During forging,
oxides slag and other contaminants are squeezed out, ensuring inter atomic bonding.
Resistance Welding:
In this welding, a heavy electric arc current is passed through the metal
pieces to be joined, over a limited area, causing them to be locally heated to plastic
state and the weld is completed by the application of pressure. In this process two
copper electrodes are used. The metal pieces to be welded are pressed between
electrodes and current is passed through the electrodes. A transformer in the welding
machine reduces the voltage from either 120 or 240 volts to4 to 12 volts and raises
the amperage sufficiently to produce a good heat.
For good resistance welding the following factors are properly controlled.
(i) Welding Current: Enough current is required to bring the work pieces to
plastic state for welding. It is properly adjusted on the current control device on
the machine.
(ii) Welding Pressure: Mechanical pressure is required to hold the work pieces
and squeeze the pieces to form the weld during plastic state.
(iii) Cycle Time: It is the combination of weld time and hold time. The duration of
current flowing through the work piece to raise the temperature is called
welding time. After this the current is switched off while the pressure is still
acting. The pressure is applied till the weld cools and regains sufficient
strength. This period is known a hold time.
This is called as Resistance Spot Welding (RSW). It is the simplest and most
commonly used method of overlap welding of strips, sheets or plates of metal at
small areas.
(i) Position the work pieces and squeeze between the electrodes.
(ii) Apply a low voltage current to the electrode.
(iii) Hold until the proper temperature is attained.
(iv) Release current, continue pressure.
(v) Release pressure and remove work.
Advantages:
(i) No edge preparation is needed
(ii) Low cost
(iii) High speed of welding
Applications:
(i) This technique is used mostly in thin sheet work like making sheet metal boxes,
containers such as receptacles.
(ii) Thicker metals up to 12.5 mm have been successfully spot welded.
(iii) It finds application in automobile and aircraft industries.
Disadvantages:
The main disadvantage is high cost of equipment, and there are limitations to
the types of joints made.
Seam welding is similar to spot welding, except that the electrodes in spot
welding are replaced by copper rollers or wheels. The work pieces to be welded are
passed between the rollers as shown in figure. A current impulse is applied through
the rollers to the material in contact with them. The heat generated makes the metal
plastic and the pressure from the rollers completes the weld.
To obtain a series of spot welds along a line by the RSW (Resistance Seam
Welding) method, an interrupt work movement will be necessary. The same result
can be achieved much more conveniently and rapidly in the resistance seam welding
where the electrodes are in the form of rotating disc electrodes, with the working
being welded moving continuously by the electrodes.
(i) Stitch Welding: Stitch weld is made by the current on the rollers off and on
quickly enough, so that continuous fusion zone made of overlapping nugget is
obtained.
Seam welding is used on many types of pressure tight or leak proof tanks for various
purposes, exhaust systems, barrels etc…
In this welding small projections are raised on one side of the sheet or plate
where it is to be welded to another. The projections serve to concentrate the welding
heat at these areas and facilitate fusion without the necessity of employing a large
current. During the welding process, the heated and softened projections collapse
under the pressure of the electrode there by forming the weld. The working principle
of projections welding is shown in below figure.
Advantages:
Disadvantages:
Applications:
Resistance Butt Welding is used to join the pieces end to end. This process is
best suited to rods, pipes and many other parts of uniform cross section.
(i) Upset Welding: In upset welding, the parts are clamped and brought in solid
contact and current is applied so that the heat is generated through the contact area
of the parts as illustrated in below figure. At this point, the two parts are pressed
together firmly. This action of pressing together is called upsetting. It is used on non-
ferrous materials for welding bars, rods, tube formed parts etc…
(ii) Flash Welding: Flash welding is similar t upset welding except that the heat is
obtained by means of an arc than the simple resistance heating. The two parts are
brought together and the power supply is switched on. As the parts moved closer,
flashing or arcing raised the temperatures of the parts to a welding temperature.
Now power is switched off and the parts are forced together to form a weld.
Thermit Welding:
A mixture of finely divided aluminium and iron oxide called „Thermit mixture‟
is kept in a crucible hanging over the mould. The Thermit mixture is ignited using a
magnesium ribbon or highly inflammable powder having barium peroxide. The
reaction takes place about 30 seconds only and heat is liberated which is twice the
temperature of melting point of steel. The following reaction takes place as per
equation:
The figure shows the method of preparing the mould. The two pieces to be
joined are cleaned and a gap is left between them. Then wax is poured on the joint
and a wax pattern is formed. Moulding sand is rammed around the wax pattern and
pouring, heating and risering gates are cut. A gas flame is used melt the wax pattern
and at the same time it preheats the parts to be welded. Then the preheating gate is
plugged with sand. When the ends of the pieces to be welded reach the welding heat,
they are forced together by means of clamps to make a pressure butt weld. The
mould is then removed and the Thermit iron and slag are knocked off from around
the weld.
Advantages:
(i) The welds are sound and free internal residual stresses.
(ii) Broken parts can be welded on the site itself.
(iii) The heat necessary for welding is obtained from a chemical reaction and thus
no costly power supply is required.
Limitations:
Applications:
It is applicable in the repair of heavy parts such as rail track, spokes of driving
wheels, broken motor castings, connecting rod etc.
Cutting of Metals:
The welding equipments are not only used for welding that is joining the work
pieces but some of the equipments are also used for cutting of the metals.
It is a chemical process in the sense that the metal, at the portion where it is
to be cut is actually made to oxidize under the action of flame with the following
reaction.
This method is suited for cutting of ferrous metals and its alloys.
1. Portable machine
2. Stationary machine
As we know, plasma is the high temperature ionized gas. The plasma arc
cutting is done with a high speed jet of high temperature plasma. The plasma jet
heats up the work piece causing a quick melting. Plasma arc cutting can be used on
all those materials which conduct electricity, including those which are resistant to
oxy-fuel cutting. The process is extensively used for profile cutting sheets upto 40
mm thick by using programmable logic controllers (PLC) or CNC.
DEPARTMENT OF MEC HANIC AL ENGINEERING 29
ANNAMAC HARYA INSTITUTE OF TEC HNOLOGY & SCIENC ES::RAJAMPET
Prepared by, G Suresh Babu, Asst. Prof., Dept. of ME
SUBJEC T: Manufacturing Processes YEAR: 2021 - 22
BRANC H: Mechanical Engineering II B.Tech - I Sem.
Plasma is generated by subjecting the flowing gas to the electron
bombardment of an arc. For this the arc is set up between the electrode and anodic
nozzle, the gas is forced through the arc. Gases used or plasma arc O2, N2 and H2 .
The method produces higher temperatures of about 9500°C.
Soldering:
A good soldering process involves: (i) Pre Cleaning (ii) Fluxing (iii) Heating
(iii) Heating: The most common source of heating is the electrical resistance
heating with soldering iron. Other methods of soldering are disoldering, wave
soldering, oven soldering, induction soldering and infra red soldering.
(ii) Dip Soldering: In dip soldering, the parts to be soldered are first cleaned
and dipped in flux bath and finally dipped in the molten solder bath and lifted
after the soldering is completed.
(iii) Wave Soldering: In this method, parts are not dipped into the solder tank,
but a wave is generated in the tank so that the solder comes up and makes
necessary joint. This is used in electronic printed circuit board, PCB.
Brazing:
Steps in Brazing:
(i) The surfaces to be joined are cleaned and subsequently rinsed and dried and
fitted closely together.
(ii) A flux is applied to all surfaces where the filler metal is to flow.
(iii) After that, the joint is heated to the proper brazing temperature. Solid filler
metal may be replaced on the metal pieces and thus melted as the metal pieces
are heated, or it may be applied to the metal pieces after the brazing
temperature is reached. Only a small amount of filler metals needed to fill the
joint completely.
Fluxes: Fluxes are used to prevent oxidation of the base metal and the filler metal
during brazing, form a fusible slag of any oxides which may be present or formed,
and promote the free flowing of the filler metal by capillary attraction.
The filler metal is applied in the form of wire, strip, performs, powder or paste
to the joint area as noted above in step (iii) under „steps in brazing‟. Alternative ly the
filler metals pre applied to the surface of one of the contacting parts as a coating or
cladding, often by rolling, electrolyte deposition or hot dipping.
Brazing Joints:
The following are the different type of Brazing joints which are regularly used
at different applications.
The selection of brazing method is based on the size and shape of the
components to be joined, the base metal and the production rate.
(a) Torch Brazing: Torch brazing is the most versatile method. It is similar to
oxy-acetylene welding. In this process, reducing flame is used to heat the
joint area. A flux is applied and as soon as it melts, the filler metal is hand
fed to the joint area. When the filler metal melts, it flows into the clearance
between the base metal components by capillary action. This method finds
applications in fabrication industry and repair work.
(d) Dip Brazing: In dip brazing, the parts to be brazed are dipped into a bath of
molten filler metal covered by a layer of molten flux. Surface not required to
be coated with the brazing alloy must be protected by molasses or by lamp
black. This process is used for small parts.
(e) Salt Bath Brazing: The source of heating in salt bath brazing is a molten
bath of fluoride and chloride salts. This salt bath removes thin oxide films
from the metals to be joined. The filler metal replaced in the joint area and
is also sometimes cladded before dipped in the salt bath.
Advantages:
(i) It gives a stronger joint than soldering
(ii) Joint is clean
(iii) Any metal can be brazed
(iv) Less distortion and residual stress
(v) The process can be done more quickly and more economically
Limitations:
(i) Limited size of parts.
(ii) Machining of the joint edges for getting the desired fit is costly.
(iii) Degree of skill required to perform the brazing operations is high.
Applications:
Brazing is used for the assembly of pipe fittings, carbide tips to tool shank,
radiators, heat exchangers and the repair of castings.
Uses of Brazing: Assembly of pipes to fittings, carbide tips to tools, radiators, heat
exchangers, electrical parts and repair of castings. Leak-tight joints for pressurized
and vacuum systems are readily joined by brazing.
Heat Affected Zone is the zone where in the base metal is metallurgically
affected by the heat of welding, but is not melted.
Heat affected zone is the zone where the base metal is affected
metallurgically due to the heat of welding. It is the region closed to the weld, where
large thermal fluctuations are encountered due to the fusion welding. This leads to
changes in mechanical properties and structure.
(a) The grain growth zone: It is immediately adjacent to the fusion zone. In
this zone, parent metal has been heated to a temperature above upper
critical temperature. This resulted in grain growth.
(b) The grain refined zone: Adjacent to the grain growth zone is the grain
refined zone. In this zone, parent metal has been heated just above the
transition temperature where grain refinement is completed.
(c) The transition zone: In this zone, base metal temperature is below the
transition temperature.
Welding Defects: Welding Defects can be defined as the irregularities formed in the
given weld metal due to wrong welding process or incorrect welding patterns, etc.
The defect may differ from the desired weld bead shape, size, and intended quality.
Welding defects may occur either outside or inside the weld metal. Some of the
defects may be allowed if the defects are under permissible limits but other defects
such as cracks are never accepted.
Welding defects can be classified into two types as external and internal defects:
1. Weld Crack
This is the most unwanted defect of all the other welding defects. Welding cracks can
be present at the surface, inside of the weld material or at the heat affected zones.
When the base of metal melts away from the weld zone, then a groove is formed in
the shape of a notch, then this type of defect is known as Undercut. It reduces the
fatigue strength of the joint.
Causes of Undercut:
1. If the arc voltage is very high then this defect may occur.
2. If we use the wrong electrode or if the angle of the electrode is wrong, then also
the defect may form.
3. Using a large electrode is also not advisable.
4. High electrode speed is also one of the reasons for this defect.
Remedies for Undercut:
1. Reduce the arc length or lower the arc voltage.
2. Keep the electrode angle from 30 to 45 degree with the standing leg.
3. The diameter of the electrode should be small.
4. Reduce the travel speed of the electrode.
3. Spatter
When some metal drops are expelled from the weld and remain stuck to the surface,
then this defect is known as Spatter.
Causes Of Spatter:
1. High Welding current can cause this defect.
2. The longer the arc the more chances of getting this defect.
3. Incorrect polarity.
4. Improper gas shielded may also cause this defect.
Remedies for Spatter:
1. Reducing the arc length and welding current
2. Using the right polarity and according to the conditions of the welding.
3. Increasing the plate angle and using proper gas shielding.
4. Porosity
Porosity in the condition in which the gas or small bubbles gets trapped in the welded
zone.
DEPARTMENT OF MEC HANIC AL ENGINEERING 36
ANNAMAC HARYA INSTITUTE OF TEC HNOLOGY & SCIENC ES::RAJAMPET
Prepared by, G Suresh Babu, Asst. Prof., Dept. of ME
SUBJEC T: Manufacturing Processes YEAR: 2021 - 22
BRANC H: Mechanical Engineering II B.Tech - I Sem.
Causes of Porosity:
1. It occurs when the electrode is not coated properly.
2. Using a longer arc may also increase its chances.
3. Increased welding currents.
4. Rust or oil on the welding surface.
Remedies for porosity:
1. Proper selection of the electrode.
2. Decreasing the welding current.
3. Using smaller arc and slowing the process to allow the gases to escape.
4. Remove rust or oil from the surface and use a proper technique.
5. Overlap
When the weld face extends beyond the weld toe, then this defect occurs. In this
condition the weld metal rolls and forms an angle less than 90 degrees.
Causes of Overlap:
1. Improper welding technique.
2. By using large electrodes this defect may occur.
3. High welding current
Remedies for Overlap:
1. Using a proper technique for welding.
2. Use small electrode.
3. Less welding current.
6. Crater
It occurs when the crater is not filled before the arc is broken, which causes the outer
edges to cool faster than the crater. This causes a stress and then crack is formed.
Causes of the crater:
1. Incorrect torch angle.
2. Use of large electrode:
3. Improper welding technique
Remedies for crater:
1. Using a proper torch angle may reduce the stress on the metal
2. Using a small electrode may also decrease the crater.
3. Use a proper technique.
1. Slag Inclusion
2. Incomplete Fusion
3. Necklace Cracking
It occurs in the use of electron beam welding where the weld does not penetrate
properly. Therefore, the molten metal does not flow into the cavity and results in a
cracking known as “Necklace Cracking”.
Causes of Necklace Cracking:
1. Improper welding technique.
2. It occurs in materials such as nickel base alloys, stainless steel, carbon steels and
Tin alloys.
3. Using high speed of electron beam welding
Remedies for Necklace Cracking:
1. Using a proper welding technique reduce the chances of necklace crac king.
2. Using proper materials for welding.
3. Using a constant speed during the welding process.
3. Improper welding technique
These defects occur only in the butt welds where the groove of the metal is not filled
completely. It is also called as incomplete penetration defect.
Causes of an Incomplete filled groove are:
1. Less deposition of the weld metal
2. Use of improper size of the electrode
3. Improper welding technique
Remedies for Incomplete filled groove are:
1. More deposition of the weld metal.
2. Use a proper size of the electrode.
3. By using a proper welding technique.
Testing and inspection of welded joints is done on the same lines as for
castings. The tests fall under two categories: Destructive testing and Non-destructive
testing.
Destructive Testing: These tests are done on a sample to improve the design of
the weld, welding technique etc. and to know the mechanical properties of the
weldment. These mechanical tests included: Tensile test, Bend test, Impact strength
test, Hardness test and relative elongation test. The shape and size of the test
specimen are selected to comply with state standards.
Non – Destructive Testing (NDT): The tests under this category include:
2. Hydraulic tests (pressure tests) are applied to weldments that are to operate
under pressure.
3. Air pressure tests are done to check the air tightness of the work.
==================XXX==================
Introduction
Classification Of Metal Forming Process
Differences Between Hot Working And Cold Working
Recrystallisation
Advantages Of Hot Working Processes
Limitations
Rolling
Terminology Associated With Rolled Products
Production Sequence in Getting Rolled Products
Hot And Cold Rolling
Classification Of Rolling Mills
Range Of Rolled Products
Lubrication In Rolling Process
Mechanism Of Rolling And Forces During Rolling
Defects In Rolled Products
Stamping (Metal Working)
Forming Processes
Cold working Processes
Cause of Strain Hardening
Residual Stresses
Advantages & Limitations of Cold Working Processes
Blanking
Punching
Piercing
o Shaving
o Trimming
o Nibbling
o Notching
Bending
Forming
o Stretch Forming
Embossing
Drawing
Tube Drawing
Coining
Spinning
During plastic deformation metal is said to flow plastically. The crystals and
grains of metals get elongated in the direction of flow of metal. So the mechanically
worked metals have better strength in specific direction. The metal is strong when
stresses are acting across the direction of grain flow line. The metal of course would
be comparatively weak along the flow lines. The wastage of material is negligible or
there may be no wastage as the metal is deformed to get desired shape and size.
(i) The crank shaft produced by castings has no grain flow so has the poorest
mechanical properties.
(ii) The crank shaft made by machining has interrupted fibre flow of metal so the
mechanical properties of this shaft will be proper than those of forging.
(iii) The third figure shows the crank shaft made by forging process. Here the fibre
of metal is not interrupted and is continous along the entire length of the
shaft. Hence it will develop superior mechanical properties.
On the basis of heat applied forming process can be classified into two broad
categories:
Recrystallisation:
Aluminium 150°C
Copper 200°C
Gold 200°C
Iron 450°C
Silver 200°C
Nickel 590°C
Zinc At room temperature
Lead Below room temperature
Tin Below room temperature
The dividing line between hot working and cold working processes is
recrystallisation temperature. Hot working does not necessarily mean high absolute
temperature. The process may be carried out with or without actual heating. For
example, lead and tin have recrystallisation temperature below room temperature.
So mechanical working of these metals at room temperature is always hot working
process. For steels recrystallisation temperature is around 1000°C and working below
this temperature is still a cold working process.
Rolling:
1. The amount of thickness that can be reduced in single pass between a given
pair of rolls depends upon the friction between the roll surface and metal.
Rougher rolls would be able to achieve greater reduction than smoother rolls,
but the roll surface gets embedded into rolled metal and produces rough
surface. The reduction that can be achieved with given pair of rolls in single
pass is known as angle of bite.
2. In the process of rolling, the speed of metal is continuously changing between
the entry and exit of roll where as roll speed remains constant. Since cross-
sectional area is decreasing metal enters the rolls with a speed less than
speed of rolls and exits from rolls traveling at a higher speed than it enters. At
a point between contacts length A and B as shown in above figure the metal
speed is same as the roll speed. This is designated as neutral plane.
3. During the rolling of ingot, the volume of the metal that enters rolling mill is
same as that leaving except in initial passes when there might be some loss
due to filling of voids and cavities.
1. Ingot: This is the raw material used in rolling. This is obtained by pouring
molten metal into ingot moulds having standard dimension. The ingot is rolled
in intermediate shapes like slabs, billets and blooms.
2. Slab: The standard dimensions of slab are 50 to 150mm thickness and 600 to
1500mm width.
3. Bloom: Blooms have square cross-section and are small than bloom. They
can have any cross-section of from (38.1 X 38.1mm) upto the size of bloom.
They are further rolled into shapes such as rounds, rods or bars.
4. Plate sheets and Strips: Plates, sheets and strips are obtained by further
rolling the slab with flat rolls.
The ingot is rolled to intermediate shapes – blooms & slabs. These blooms,
billets and slabs are further rolled into plate sheets, bar stock and structural shapes
as shown in above figure.
In hot rolling the metal is fed between rolls after being heated above the
recrystallisation temperature. This leads to grain refinement, thereby mechanical
In cold rolling, the metal is fed to the rolls when it is below its
recrystallisation temperature. This results in elongation of grain structure. The metal
shows work hardening effect after cold rolling. This increases harness and decreases
the ductility of the metal. Heavy reductions are not possible. The coefficient of
friction between the rolls and the metal is lower. The cold rolled a surface is smooth
and oxide free.
Rolling mills are classified according to the number and arrangement of rolls in a
stand. They are as follows:
It consists of two heavy horizontal rolls placed one over the other. The
space between the rolls can be adjusted by raising or lowering the upper roll. The
position of the power roll is fixed. The rolls rotate in opposite direction. The work can
be rolled by feeding from one direction only. This is called non – reversing mill.
It consists of three horizontal rolls placed one over the other. The upper and
lower rolls rotate in the same direction; where as the intermediate roll rotates in
direction opposite to the outer roll.
First of all the work piece passes through the bottom and the middle rolls
and then returning between the middle and top rolls so that the thickness is reduced
at each pass. Mechanically operated lifting tables are used which move vertically on
either side of the roll stand. It may be used ot make plates or sections.
It consist of four horizontal rolls, two of smaller diameter and two of large
diameter. The bigger rolls are called back up rolls because they reinforce the smaller
rolls to maximize roll deflection there by minimizing the tendency of producing plates
and sheets thicker at the centre than at the two outer edges. The two smaller rolls
are called work rolls. It is used for both hot and cold rolling of plates and sheets.
It consists of two working rolls of smaller diameter and one or more backup
rolls of larger diameter. The number of backup rolls may go up to 20 or more,
The whole range of rolled products can be divided into the following:
(a) Structural Shapes or Sections: This includes section like round square,
hexagonal bars channels, H and I beams and special section like rail sections. The
following figure shows some structural shapes.
(b) Plates and Sheets: Plates and sheets are produced by rolling.
(c) Special Purpose Rolled Products: These include rings, balls, wheels and ribbed
tubes.
Lubrication in rolling process protects the rolls against wear, reduces friction
and allows smooth flow of metal between rolls. It also protects the metal surface
from scratching and peeling.
The above figure shows a schematic diagram of the rolling process. The
metal contacts each of the two rolls along the arc AB, which is known as the arc of
contact. The arc corresponds to the central angle , called the “angle of contact or
bite”. The process of metal rolling is made possible by the friction that occurs
between the contact surfaces of the rolls and the part being rolled. At the moment of
bite, two forces act on the metal from the side of each roll, normal force P and the
tangential for µP, where µ is the co-efficient of friction between the metal and the roll
surfaces. The part would be dragged in if the resultant of horizontal component of
the normal force P and tangential force (frictional force) µP is directed in that
direction.
P sin α = µ P cos α
µ = tan α
α = tan -1 µ
Or
If α is greater than tan -1 µ, the metal would not enter the space between
the rolls automatically, that is, unaided.
The maximum permissible angle of bite depends upon the valve of „µ‟ which
in turn depends upon the materials of the rolls and the job being rolled, the
roughness of their surfaces, and the rolling temperatures and speed.
In hot rolling, the primary purpose is to reduce the section and hence the
maximum possible reduction is desired. So, the value of and hence of µ should be
greater. In hot rolling, lubrication is generally not necessary. On the other hand, on
primary reduction rolling mills such as blooming or rough rolling mills for structural
elements, the rolls may sometimes “ragged” to increase µ. Ragging is the process of
making certain fine grooves on the surface of the roll to increase the friction. In cold
rolling, the rolling loads are very high; hence µ should not be much. Besides, cold
rolling being a finishing operation, rough rolls will impair the surface of the cold rolled
product. Due to this, rolls for cold rolling are ground and lubricants are also used to
reduce µ.
The usual values of biting angle are:
1. Edge cracking: This defect occurs in plate or slabs because of either limited
ductility or metal or uneven deformation, especially at the edges.
2. Folds: These defects occur during plate rolling when reduction per pass is
very small.
3. Lamination: These are small cracks, which develop when reduction in
thickness is quite high.
4. Alligatoring: This defect takes place in rolling of slabs of aluminium alloys
where the work piece splits along a horizontal plane on exit.
Stamping (metalworking)
Operations
Bending
Blanking
Coining
Drawing
Piercing
Residual Stresses:
During the cold working processes internal or residual stresses are
developed. To remove these undesirable stresses, the metal is reheated slightly
below the recrystallization range temperature. In this range stresses are eliminated
without appreciable change in grain structure because heating into recrystalline
range eliminates the effects of cold working.
Blanking:
Blanking is the operation of cutting out flat shapes from sheet metal strip.
The removed portion is called blank which is required product of the operation and
metal with hole left behind discarded as waste. Blanking is usually first operation and
blank is further processed to produce desired part. Blanking is identical to the
punching except that in blanking removed portion is desired product where as in
punching sheet with the hole is desired product.
The punch and die are made of suitable hard and strong material such as
hardened high carbon steel, high chromium oil hardening steel, or tungsten
carbide.
In blanking operation die opening size equals the blank size and punch size is
obtained by subtracting clearance form die opening size.
Following are the terminologies associated with punch and die setup in
shearing:
2. Cutting land: The diameter of die at the top keeps on increasing after every
sharpening because of the provision of angular clearance. In order to maintain the
die size as per design it is a usual practice to provide straight portion along with
angular clearance. This is called die land or cutting land. The length of cutting land is
about 3 mm for sheets which are less than 3 mm thick. For greater thicknesses die
land same as the material thickness has been found to be a good practice.
3. Stripper: During shearing operation after the final breaking, the hole size of metal
strip will slightly decrease because of spring back and strip will cling tightly to the
punch. A stripper therefore is provided to remove the metal strip from sides of punch
as punch returns upward.
While discussing the shearing processes it was assumed that bottom of punch and
top of die block are flat and lie in parallel planes. This process requires very high
shearing force exerted over a very short time. It is usual practice to reduce cutting
forces and to smooth out the shock of heavy loads by providing shear on either die or
punch. The effect of providing shear is to distribute the cutting action over a period
of time depending on the amount of shear provided. The following figure shows
punching and blanking operations where shear is provided on punch and die
respectively.
It may be noted that providing the shear only reduces the maximum force
to be applied but not the total energy required in shearing the component. Shearing
energy is equal to shearing force multiplied by penetration or distance necessary to
effect the completer shearing. By providing shear on die or punch, maximum
shearing force decreases and distance necessary to affect complete shearing
increases. Thus we can say total energy required to shear provided on die and punch.
The provision of shear on the punch distorts the shape of blank and provision of
shear on die would bend the stock with hole. So, in blanking operation to obtain the
flat blank shear is provided on the die and for punching operation shear provided on
the punch to obtain sheet with hole as flat.
The punch and die are made of a suitable hard and strong material, such as
hardened high carbon steel, high chromium oil hardening steel or tungsten
carbide.
In punching operation the punch size equals the size of hole and die opening
size is obtained by adding the clearance to punch size.
Piercing:
Piercing is a shearing process where a punch and die are used to create a
hole in sheet metal or a plate. The process and machinery are usually the same as
that used in blanking, except that the piece being punched out is scrap in the
piercing process. There are many specialized types of piercing: lancing, perforating,
notching, nibbling, shaving, cutoff, and dinking.
The amount of clearance between a punch and die for piercing is governed
by the thickness and strength of the work-piece material being pierced. The punch-
die clearance determines the load or pressure experienced at the cutting edge of the
tool, commonly known as point pressure. Excessive point pressure can lead to
accelerated wear and ultimately failure.
Shaving:
In blanking or piercing, the edge of blank or the hole is not perfectly clean
because of burr generated in the shearing process. It is basically a finishing operation
in which the small amount of material is sheared away from the edge of an already
blanked or pierced part. Its primary use is to obtain greater dimensional accuracy. It
is also used to produce a smoother edge. Because of only small amount of metal is
removed the punches and dies must be made with very little clearance. Blanked
parts such as small gears can be shared to produce dimensional accuracy within
0.025 mm.
Trimming:
In operations such as forging, die casting and drawing of sheet metals the
small amount of excess metal gets spread out neat the parting line. This extra metal
is called flash. The flash is to be trimmed before forging or casting is to be used. The
dies used for this purpose are similar to blanking dies. The main difference is the
type of presses used for trimming, which should normally have a large table. The
figure shows trimming operation.
Nibbling:
In nibbling operation a specific contour is cut by producing a series of over
lapping holes or notches as shown in figure. In this manner simple punches can be
used to cut a complex shape from sheet metals. Nibbling is used when contour is
long and separate punch is impractical and uneconomical. The punches used may be
square, round or triangular depending upon the applications.
Notching:
Notching is essentially same as the piercing except that it removes small
portion of metal along the edge of the stock.
Bending:
Bending is the plastic deformation of metals about a linear axis with little or
no change in surface area. The bending of flat sheet is shown in below figure. Here
due to applied forces, metal on the outside is stretched while that on the inside is
compressed. There is a plane in between which is neither stretched nor compressed.
This plane is known as neutral plane. Neutral plane should be at the center when the
material is elastically deformed. When the material is plastically deformed the neutral
axis move downward towards compressed layer. Since materials oppose compression
much better than tension. The thickness is slightly decreased.
Different types of bending methods are shown in below figure. The first one
is edge bending which is used for simple 90° bend only. Here the work piece is held
firmly to the die with hold down and punch bends the extended portion of metallic
blank. Here the work piece behaves a cantilever beam. V-bending and U-bending is
shown is second figure. The punch and die often form a 90° internal angle between
the faces of the metal.
Forming:
Stretch Forming
Stretch forming is an attractive way of producing the large sheet metal
parts in limited or low quantities. In this process the sheet of metal is gripped by two
or more sets of jaws that stretch it and wrap it around a single form die block. This
process of simultaneously stretching and bending is called stretch bending.
As in the process deformation is carried out in plastic region there is very little
spring back and work piece closely conforms to the shape of tool.
In stretch forming we can have component either single or double curved
surfaces. The sheet should have uniform thickness other wise the thinner
portions are likely to be over stretched. Also if the sheer is having any holes
before the stretch forming they are likely to be enlarged.
Stretch forming is quite popular in the air craft industry and frequently used
to form aluminium and stainless steel into wing tips, scoops and other large
panels.
Embossing:
Embossing is the operation in which projected or raised figures are made on sheet
metals with corresponding relief on the other side. It basically involves drawing and
bending operation. There may be the negligible change in the thickness of the metal.
The die set consists of punch and die with required contours which are desired
on the final product. The clearance between punch and die at meeting is same
as the thickness of required product.
Embossing is used for providing rigidity to sheet metals and for decorative
sheet work used in houses and religious places.
Drawing:
(a) If the starting material is sheet metal than the operation is sheet metal
drawing.
(b) If the starting material is wire, rod or tube then the operation is wire drawing
rod drawing or tube drawing respectively.
Sheet metal drawing is defined as process for making cup shaped articles
from flat sheet metal blanks. Common examples of such components are dishes,
trays, brake drums, cylindrical container etc… Sheet metal drawing operation is
shown in below figure.
The set up is similar to that used in blanking except that punch and die are
provided with necessary rounding at the corner. The rounding is provided to allow
the smooth flow of metal during drawing. The blank is first placed and located above
the die. The blank holder comes down properly holds the edges of the blank. After
this punch moves downwards to force, the blank to take the shape of cup formed by
the end of the punch. The punch and blank holder then returns upward to complete
the cycle.
The punch and die radius should be equal and sufficient large (about 5 times
thickness of metal). Large punch radius prevents fracture of metal near the
end of punch where tensile forces are maximum. Large die radius prevents
tearings of metal as it flows over the edge of the die. The radius should not be
too large otherwise wrinkle may form.
Before the wire is drawn stock needs to be prepared for wire drawing. The four major
aspects of stock preparation for wire drawing are as follows:
1. Annealing: The wire should be annealed properly as the material looses its
ductility during wire drawing process and when it is to be repeatedly drawn to
bring it to the final size, intermediate annealing is required to restore the
ductility.
3. Cleaning: The wire should be cleaned properly as it flows through the die.
Cleaning is essentially done to remove any scale and rust present on the
surface which may severely affect the die. Cleaning is normally done by acid
pickling.
4. Lubrication: The pressure acting at the interface of metal and die is quire
high and, therefore lubrication of die is a serious problem. Two methods of
lubrication are widely employed. In one method wire surface is cleaned,
coated with lime and thoroughly dried. Before entering the die lubricant such
as grease or soap is applied to surface of wire or rod. Second method is used
for very thin wires. In this case electrolytic coating of copper is used to reduce
friction.
The material of wire drawing die are generally chilled cast iron,
hardened alloy steel, tungsten carbide of diamond. Tungsten carbide die
are preferred because of their long life.
Tube Drawing:
Tube drawing is also similar to the other drawing processes. There are three
basic types of tube drawing processes as shown in below three figures.
The first figure indicates the simplest form of tube drawing process. In this
process, no internal mandrel is used hence if is called sinking process. The technique
shown in second figure reduces the tube diameter and controls its thickness.
However, the imitation is length of the tube by length of the mandrel. To over come
Coining:
Coining is basically a cold forging operation. The only difference is that here
the flow of metal occurs only at top layers and not at the entire volume as in case of
cold forming.
The process is used to produce coins, meals and similar products where
exact size and fine details are required. The coining die consists of punch and dies
Spinning:
Spinning is the process used for making cup shaped parts having symmetrical
shapes. In this process a blank is rotated, fixed against the forms block and then
gradually force is applied on blank so that, blank takes the shape of form block.
The spinning process may be carried out on machine similar to a lathe machine. A
circular blank properly centered with lathe axis is held against the chuck by the
pressure of follower attached to tails stock. The form block, which has the shape of
desired part, is fixed to the head stock of lathe machine. The tool used in spinning is
simple round ended wooden or metal tool or small roller. As the blank and form block
are made to rotate, the tool is pressed and moved gradually on the blank so that
blank take the shape of form block.
Spinning Lathe
The bed supports head stock, tail stock and other accessories. The form
block is fixed in the lathe spindle and turns with it. The work piece is bent over the
form block to take its shape by applying pressure by means of tool. The follower
supports the work piece. Steps in spinning are shown in below figure.
Products of Spinning:
Extrusion
Range of Extrusion Products
Advantages
Disadvantages
Classification of Extrusion Process
Hot Extrusion Process
Cold Extrusion Process
Forging
Forge Ability of Metal And Alloys
Forgeable Materials
Forging Temperatures
Hand Forging Tools and Equipment Used In Smithy:
Basic Forging Operations
Forging Processes & Classification
Die
Open Die Forging
Impression Die Forging
Roll Forging
Rotary Forging or Swaging
Fibrous Structure of Forgings
Advantages of Forging
Limitations of Forging
Defects in Forging Parts
(i) Rods
(ii) Tubes
(iii) A variety of circular, square, rectangular, hexagonal and other shapes
both in solid or hollow form.
(iv) Channels like I and T and other sections.
Disadvantages:
Extrusion Processes
Hydrostatic Impact
Extrusion Extrusion
This is the most widely used method. A hot billet is placed in the container
and the forced through the die with the help of pressure by a hydraulic driven ram.
The extruded metal comes out of the die opening. In this process, the flow of metal
For this type of extrusion, the ram used is hollow and the die is mounted over
the bore of the ream. In this process, the billet remains stationary, while the die is
pushed into the billet by hollow ram. The metal flows in the direction opposite to the
movement of the ram. Indirect extrusion does not require as much force as direct
extrusion because no force is required to move the billet inside the chamber.
The forward cold extrusion is similar to forward hot extrusion except that
temperature is comparatively lower and extrusion pressures are higher than got
extrusion. It is usually used for simple shapes. The cold extruded products have
better surface finish and improved mechanical properties. The common applications
of cold extrusion are aluminium brackets, tubes, shock-absorber cylinders etc… Now
a day‟s cold extrusion has also been used for forming mild steel parts often in
combination with cold forging.
Hydrostatic Extrusion:
The backward cold extrusion is called impact extrusion. This process involves
striking a cold slug of soft metal (like aluminium) which is held in a shallow die cavity
with a moving punch. The metals then extruded through the gap between the punch
and die opposite to the punch movement. The height of the sidewalls is controlled by
the amount of metal in the slag. Various items of daily use such as tubes for shaving
cream, toothpaste and paints are made by impact extrusion.
(a) Reverse Impact Extrusion: The following figure indicates the process of reverse
impact extrusion. In this process, the metal flows in reverse direction of the plunger.
It is used for making hollow parts with forged bases and extruded walls. The flowing
metal is guided only initially, thereafter if goes by its own inertia.
(b) Forward Impact Extrusion: The process of forward impact extrusion is shown in
below figure. It is mainly used for making hollow or semi hollow products with heavy
flanges.
Forging is the oldest metal working process known to mankind. In this process
material is squeezed between two or more dies to deform its shape and size in such a
way that required final shape is obtained.
Forging is the operation where the metal is heated and then a force (impact
type or squeeze type) is applied to manipulate the metal in such a way that the
required final shape is obtained.
(a) Hot Twist Test: In this test, hot bar is twisted and count the number of twists
until failure. A large number of twists before failure indicate better forgeability.
(b) Upset Test: This test is widely used in the forging industry. In this test, a number
of cylindrical billets are upset-forged to various thicknesses. The limit for upset
forging without failure or cracking is considered a measure of forgeability.
(c) Hot Impact Tensile Test: A conventional impact testing machine fitted with a
tension test attachment is used. The impact tensile strength is taken as measure of
forgeability.
Forgeable Materials:
Forging Temperatures:
For forging, the metal work piece is heated to a proper temperature to attain
plastic properties before deformation which is essential for satisfactory forging.
Excessive temperature may result in burning of the metal. Insufficient temperatures
will not induce sufficient plasticity in the metal so that it is difficult to shape by
Forging Temperature °C
Metal / Alloy
Starting Finishing
Forging Temperatures
In order to carry out forging with hand, various tools are required:
The smith‟s forge or hearth is made up of cast iron or cast steel. It has four
legs as shown in figure. The hearth can also be made of masonary construction but
have a disadvantage that they are not portable.
The major parts of furnace are hearth, tuyere, hood and water tank.
(a) Hearth carries fuel (which may be either coal or coke). Hearth is provided
with fire brick lining to withstand the excessive heat produced due to
combustion of fuel.
(b) Tuyere the nozzle in the centre of hearth. It is used to direct the air for
combustion of fuel. The blower supplies the air through tuyere. A valve is
incorporated in the air pipe, before the tuyere, to control the supply of air to
furnace.
(c) Water tank may be provided in front of hearth for quenching and to prevent
fire from spreading.
It is block made of cast iron or steel on which forging work is carried out. It
supports the work piece and is capable of with standing heavy blows of hammer.
Apart from supporting work piece, its shape helps in doing other forging operations.
The thickness of Anvil is 20 to 25 mm and weights approximately 150 kg.
Chipping Block: It is the flat step provided between horn and anvil face. It may be
used for supporting metal when cutting through chisel.
Tail: The projected flat surface at the end of anvil is known as tail. It carries a
square hole and round hole to accommodate various jobs and hand tools like fullers,
swages etc…
These are made of carbon steel. These are used for reducing and finishing the
work pieces to round or hexagonal form. They are made in two halves called top and
bottom swages. The two halves may be separate or connected by a strip of spring
steel. Connected swages can be hold by single handed.
(5) Flatters:
They are used for finishing flat surfaces. The flatters may also be used after
fulling or drawing to remove fullering marks. These are made with perfectly flat face
of about 75mm square (or round).
Set hammer works like a flatter but it is a smaller tool. It does not have
enlarged bottom face (like flatter) and is used for finishing in corners and confined
spaces. The job may be supported on the anvil.
Fullers are used in necking down a work piece. They are made in two halves
namely bottom and top fuller. The bottom fuller is held in anvil where as top fuller is
held by means of handles or by tongs. The work piece is held between top and
bottom fuller and then hammered to carry out fullering operation.
(8) Tongs:
Tongs are used to hold job during forging operations. Tongs are usually
named after inside shape of jaws. Various types of tongs are:
(i) Flat Tongs: Used for gripping thin sections and small flat pieces.
(a) Open mouth
(b) Closed mouth
(iii) Tongs for square jobs: Used for holding square or hexagonal jobs.
(a) square mouth
(b) Vee mouth
(iV) Pickup Tongs: Used for picking up jobs. Jaws are designed to pickup even
small section.
(9) Chisel:
These are used for cutting metals and for making a notch before breaking.
Chisels may be classified as hot chisel and cold chisels.
Hot chisel: As name suggest, these are used for cutting hot metals. Included angle
for hot chisel is 30°. The edge of chisel is slightly rounded for better cutting action.
Hardening of these chisel is not necessary because the hot metal would re-soften it.
Cold Chisel: These are made up of carbon steel. The lip angle of cold chisel is 60°
and it is edge hardened and tampered to provide more strength.
When chisel are used in pair these are called hardie set. Pair consists of top tool
which is a chisel and bottom tool, which is known as hardie. The hardie has a square
shank which fits in the square hole of anvil face. The top tool (chisel) is held by black
smith. Chisel may be fitted with a handle of metal wire to hold.
Punch is a tool used for producing hole in red hot metal. These holes are
enlarged through a larger tapered punch called drift. Various types of punches and
drifts are shown in below figure:
(12) Hammers:
Hammers consist of a heavy iron body and wooden handle. The parts of hammer are
peen, eye, neck and face. Depending upon the shape of peen hammers may be
classified as,
(i) Hand Hammer: Usually ball peen hammer of weight 1.0 to 2 kg.
(ii) Sledge Hammer: Usually double face hammer weight of 3 to 8 kg. It is used
when heavy blows are needed.
For giving desires shape to the products the following operations are used in smithy
shop by hand on an anvil.
2. Drawing Down: Drawing down is used to reduce the thickness of the bar to
increase its length. For this purpose, the force is applied in a direction of the length
axis.
4. Cutting: Cutting off is a form of chiseling to cut a long piece of stock into several
pieces of specified lengths. For hot chiseling the work pieces must be heated in a
black smith‟s furnace. A notch is first made about one-half the thickness or diameter
of the stock. Then the work must be tuned through an angle of 180° and the chisel is
placed exactly opposite the notch and hit the chisel with hammer to cut the piece.
5. Punching: Punching operation is used for making holes in the work during
forging. A punch is forced about half way through the work by striking it slightly with
a hand or sledge hammer. The punch is removed, the work is turned over and the
punch driven into the metal by a sledge hammer ad thus hole is made.
7. Heading: When the upsetting is done in such a way that the section of the stock
is increased only on one end of the stock, the operation is called heading.
8. Fullering: It is the operation of reducing the stock between the two ends of the
stock at a central place, so as to increase its length. The inclined surface of the die
prevents material movement in the width direction because there is a pressure
component acting in the direction of material flow. Repeated strokes, with the work
piece rotated around its axis between strokes, allow substantial material
redistribution.
11. Blocking: It is a forging operation which imparts to the forging its general but
not exact or final shape. This operation is done just prior to finishing operation.
12. Piercing: Piercing is the operation done with the help of a punch to obtain blind
or through holes in the metal. The pierced billet is further processed.
13. Swaging: It is the operation of reducing or changing the cross section area of
diameters by revolving the stock under fast impact blows.
14. Coining: It is cold closed die forging operation (no flash) to obtain closer
tolerances and smoother surfaces.
It is also called as Smith forging. In open die forging which is also called
„Hammer forging‟ or „Flat die forging‟, the work piece is struck or pressed between
two flat surfaces. Open die forging is used where number of components to be forged
is too small to justify the cost of impression dies. The shapes most commonly used
by open die forging are, bars, slabs or billets with rectangular, circular, hexagonal or
octagonal cross sections, weldless rings and many other components of simple
shapes. The accuracy of the component produced by this process is less.
(a) Hand Forging: Smith forging is known as hand forging. It is used to produce
a small number of light forgings.
(b) Power Forging: Large components cannot be forged by hand. Moreover
hand forging is lengthy process and requires repeated heating of metal.
Machines which work on forgings by blow are called hammers, while those
working by pressure are called presses.
(c) Hammer Forging: In hammer forging the hammer is lifted up to a certain
distance and then it is allowed to fall by gravity. Depending upon the lifting
mechanism the hammers may be classified as:
(ii) Pneumatic Hammers: Pneumatic hammer is used for smith forging of small
parts. A pneumatic hammer has a built in compressor to provide a compressed air to
ram cylinder. The upper die is connected to the lower end of the ram. The lower die
is supported on the anvil.
When compressed air enters the ram cylinder from the top of the ram strikes
the hot metal placed between the dies. To move the ram up, the compressed air
enters from the bottom of the cylinder. Repeated blows are struck until the desired
shape is obtained. These are operated at 70 to 190 blows per minute.
Die: Dies are devices used for shaping metal. The dies used in closed die forging or
impression die forging may classified into two groups:
(i) Single Impression Die: This die contains only one cavity or impression which
is the finishing impression. The preliminary forging operations are done by
hand or on forge hammers, forging rolls etc… and only final finishing operation
is done in the die cavity.
(ii) Multi Impression Die: This die contains finishing operation and one or more
auxiliary impressions for preliminary forging operations. The final shape of a part
is progressively developed over a series of steps from one die impression to the
next. Generally multi impression dies are very expensive to make and are
employed only when the quantity to be made is sufficiently large.
It is used to make more complex shapes of products with greater accuracy. After
forging operations, the product should be trimmed to remove flash.
The ram is raised to a definite height and then it is allowed to drop or fall
freely under its own weight. The commonly used drop hammers are:
(i) Board hammer or gravity drop hammer: In these hammers, tam is fastened
to a hard board as shown if below figure. The board is lifted up by two counter
revolving rolls. When the rolls are released, the ram falls down producing a working
stroke. The height to which the board is lifted determines the striking force of this
gravity hammer.
(iii) Power drop hammer: They use air or steam. They are similar to board drop
hammers except that steam or air piston and rod are substituted for board lifting
mechanism. They are largest of forging hammers and are made from 450 to 25,000
kgs falling weight hammers.
(i) Hydraulic Press: The following figure illustrates a hydraulic press. The press is
operated by pump which increases the pressure in the oil or water. This pressure is
transmitted to main cylinder to move the piston (ram) downward to squeeze the hot
metal between the dies. The lifting cylinder raises the ram up. In a hydraulic press,
pressure can be changed as desired at any point in the stroke by adjusting the
pressure control valve. This will help in controlling the rate of deformation according
to the metal being forged. But in hydraulic press, the contact time between the work
piece and the dies is more; hence the die life is less.
(ii) Mechanical Press: Crank type mechanical press is shown in below figure. An
electric motor drives the flywheel mounted on the counter shaft by means of a belt
drive. Torque from the counter shaft is transmitted to the crankshaft by gearing.
From the crankshaft, the reciprocating motion is given to the ram with the help of
connecting rod. The bottom die is locked in position by means of wedge mechanism.
Disk clutch is used to start and stop motion of ram, which is brought to a gradual
stop by means of a brake. Mechanical press is faster than hydraulic press and
operates at about 25 to 100 strokes per minute.
The forging machine consists of a heavy cast steel body in which three main
components, stationary die, moving die and heading punch are properly secured. The
sequence of operation of machine is explained in the below figure. First the bar stock
of one end heated is placed between the fixed and movable halved of the set of dies
up to stop. Next the moving die grips the bar stock and at the same time, a recess is
formed in the closed dies for shaping the projected stock. Stop is then brought to its
initial position. Now the heading punch advances to upset the bar end and forms the
finished forging.
Roll Forging:
Roll forging being a rapid process; it can be efficiently used for the preliminary
reduction of forging stock as a preparation for subsequent die forging, as well as for
the production of certain straight and tapered forgings, for example levers, leaf
springs, axles and arrow and spear type parts.
The major limitations of rotary swaging are that the process is limited to parts of
symmetrical cross section only.
1. Forgings have a high strength and offer resistance to impact and fatigue
loads.
2. Forging improves the grain structure of metal and hence its mechanical
properties.
3. Close tolerances
4. Less machining or no machining in some cases.
5. Smooth surface
Limitations of Forging:
Various surface and body defects may be observed in forging. The kind of
defect depends upon a lot off factors such as forging process, poor quality of stock,
improper die design, uneven cooling of stock after forging etc… The most commonly
found forging defects are as follows:
1. Mismatch: This is due to the misalignment between the top and bottom
forging dies. This may be caused due to loose wedges. This results in a lateral
displacement between the portions of the forging.
2. Scale Pits: These are shallow surface depressions caused by not removing
scale from the dies. The scale is worked into a surface of the forging. When
this scale is cleaned from the forging, depression remains which are known as
scale pits.
3. Cold Shuts or Laps: Cold shuts or laps are short cracks, which usually occur
at corners and at right angles to the surface. They are caused by metal
surface folding against itself during forging. Sharp corners in dies can result in
hindered metal flow, which can produce laps.
4. Unfilled Shapes: This defect is similar to misrun in casting and occurs when
metal does not completely fill the die cavity. It is caused by using insufficient
metal or insufficient heating of the metal.
5. Dents: Dents are the result of careless work.
6. Burnt and over Heated Metal: This defect is due to improper heating
conditions and soaking the metal too long time.
7. Cracks: Cracks occur on the forging surface may be longitudinal or
transverse. These are due to bad quality of ingot, improper heating, and
forging at low temperature.
8. Fins and Rags: These are small projections or loose metal driven into forging
surface.
9. Dirt, Slag and Sand: These may be present on the surface of the forging due
to their presence in the ingot used for forging.
10. Internal Cracks: Internal cracks in forging can result from too drastic a
change in the shape of the raw stock at too fast a rate.
Introduction
Polymers
Polymerization
Plastics
Types of Plastics
Properties of Plastics
Comparison between Thermosetting plastics and
Thermoplastics
Advantages of Plastics
Disadvantages of Plastics
Applications of Plastics
Methods of Processing
Plastics belong to the family of organic materials. Organic materials are those
materials are derived directly from carbon. They consist of carbon chemically
combined with hydrogen, oxygen and other non-metallic substances, and their
structures, in most cases, are fairly complex. The large and diverse organic group
includes the natural materials: wood, coal, petroleum, natural rubber, animal fibers
and food, which have biological origins. Synthesis include the large group of solvents,
adhesives, synthetic fibers, rubbers, plastics, explosives, lubricants, dyes, soaps and
cutting oils etc. which have no biological origins. Of them plastics and synthetic
tubers termed as “Polymers”.
Polymers:
The term “polymer” is derived from the two Greek words: poly, meaning
“many”, and meros meaning “parts” or “units”. Thus polymers are composed of a
large number of repeating units (small molecules) called monomers. The monomers
are joined together end-to-end in a polymerization reaction.
The most common polymers are those made from compounds of carbon, but
polymers can also make from inorganic chemicals such as silicates and silicones. The
naturally occurring polymers include: protein, cellulose, resins, starch, shellac and
lignin. They are commonly found in leather, fur, wool, cotton, silk, rubber, wood and
many others. There are also synthetic polymers such as polyethylene, polystyrene,
nylon, Terylene, Dacron etc… termed under plastics, fibers and elastomers. Their
properties are superior to those of the naturally occurring counterparts. Our concern
here is therefore with synthetic polymers, also called plastics or resins.
Polymers can be divided into three broad divisions: plastics, fibers and elastomers.
Plastic derive their name from the fact that in a certain phase of their manufacture,
they are present in a plastic stage that is acquire plasticity, which makes it possible
to impart any desired shape to the product. Plastics fall into a category of known
chemically as high polymers.
Plastics:
The word plastics is from the Greek word Plastikos, means which are moulded
and shaped. Plastics can be easily machined, formed and joined into required shapes.
Hence, plastics find place in engineering materials and domestic applications. Plastics
are available in rods, sheets, films and tubes.
Types of Plastics:
Plastics are classified on the broad basis of whether heat causes them to set
(thermosetting) causes them to soften and melt (thermoplastic).
Properties of Plastics:
Their great variety of physico chemical and mechanical properties and the
ease with which they can be made into various articles have found plastics their wide
application in the engineering and the other industries.
Thermosetting plastics
1. Once hardened and set, they do not soften with the application of heat.
2. These are stronger and harder.
3. Objects made by these plastics can be used at comparatively high
temperatures.
4. These are supplied in monomeric or partially polymerized form in which these
are either liquids or semi solids.
5. T.V. Cabinets, Automobile parts are made by these plastics.
Thermoplastics
1. They can be repeatedly softened by heat and hardened by cooling.
2. They are comparatively softer and less strong.
3. Objects made by thermoplastics cannot be used at higher temperatures as
these lend to soften under heat.
4. These are usually supplied as granular material.
5. Insulating tapes, photographic films are made by these plastics.
Disadvantages of Plastics:
1. Low strength.
2. Low heat resistance.
3. Deteriorate in sunlight.
Applications of Plastics:
Plastics find applications in manufacturing of:
1. Photo films in film industry.
2. Insulating tapes
3. Electrical parts like plugs, switches etc…
4. Radio, T.V. cabinets
5. Furniture like chairs, tubs
6. Telephone receivers
7. Camera bodies
8. Gears and Bearings
9. Toys, bottles, bucket etc…
10. Hose pipes
11. Automobile parts
Methods of Processing:
1. Injection Moulding
2. Blow Moulding
3. Extrusion
4. Thermoforming
5. Calendering
1. Compression moulding
2. Transfer moulding
Injection moulding machines are somewhat similar to those used for die
casting. In this method, the moulding material in the form of granules or pellets is
fed through the hopper into the cold end of the injection cylinder. Then the injection
ram forces the powder into the heating section of the cylinder where its temperature
is raised to 300°C. Then the ram is moved forward by applying hydraulic pressure to
inject the soften material through die into water cooled mould. After the mould is
filled, it is allowed to cool and harden. Then the ram is retracted, the mould is
opened and the product is ejected.
The limitations of the process are: Equipment of cylinder and die should be
non-corrosive. Also reliable temperature controls are essential.
The blow moulding commences with the extrusion of heated tubular piece of
plastic known as parison which is transferred to the two piece mould. The parison is
gripped in the two-piece mould and its bottom end is sealed. Compressed air is blown
into the parison to force the plastic against the walls of water cooled mould. Air
pressure ranges from 0.7 to 10 kg/cm2. The mould is allowed to cool and then
opened to remove the article.
Blow moulding is used for making plastic bottles, toys, doll bodies and many
other items.
The moulding temperature ranges from 150 – 180°C. The moulding pressure
ranges from 150 – 500 kg/cm2. The time required to harden the product ranges from
1 to 1.5 minutes. It also depends on the thickness of the product.
The products made by this process include dishes, container caps etc…