Metal Casting Processes and

Equipment
Introduction
• So for, Fundamentals of solidification, fluid flow, and heat transfer of casting have been covered.
Major classification of Casting Processes:
• Expendable molds,
• After the casting has solidified, the mold is broken up to remove the casting.
• The mold is produced from a pattern; in some processes, and although the mold is expendable, the
pattern is reused to produce several molds. Such processes are referred to as expendable-mold,
permanent-pattern casting processes.
• On the other hand, investment casting requires a pattern for each mold produced, and is an
example of an expendable-mold, expendable-pattern process.
• Permanent molds, made of metals that maintain their strength at high temperatures. As the name
implies, the molds are used repeatedly, and are designed in such a way that the casting can be
removed easily and the mold used for the next casting.
Expendable-Mold, Permanent
Pattern casting processes
Sand Casting
 Sand

• Most sand-casting operations use silica sand (SiO2) as the mold material.
• Sand is inexpensive and is suitable as a mold material because of its high-temperature
characteristics and high melting point.
• Sand having fine, round grains can be packed closely and thus forms a smooth mold
surface. Although fine-grained sand enhances mold strength, the fine grains also lower
mold permeability.
• The mold should have good collapsibility
• The most common mold material is green molding sand, a mixture of sand, clay, and
water.
• In the cold-box mold process, various organic and inorganic binders are blended into
the sand to bond the grains chemically for greater strength. These molds are more
dimensionally accurate than green-sand molds
 Pattern
Patterns are used to mold the sand mixture into the shape of the casting, and may be
made of wood, plastic, or metal. The selection of a pattern material depends on the
size and shape of the casting, the dimensional accuracy and the quantity of castings
required, and the molding process.
Draft Pattern
 Cores
For castings with internal cavities or passages, such as those found in
automotive engine blocks or valve bodies, cores are utilized.
Sand Casting
Operation
 Expendable-Mold,
Expendable Pattern casting
processes
Evaporative-pattern Casting (Lost-foam
Process)
The evaporative-pattern casting
(EPC) process uses a polystyrene
pattern, which evaporates upon
contact with molten metal to
form a cavity for the casting; this
process is also known as lost-
foam casting, or full-mold
casting (FMC) process. It has
become one of the more
important casting processes for
ferrous and nonferrous metals,
particularly for the automotive
industry.
 • The evaporative-pattern process has several
advantages over other casting methods:
• The process is relatively simple, because
there are no parting lines, cores, or riser
systems.
Advantages • Inexpensive flasks are used for the process.
• Polystyrene is inexpensive, and can be
processed easily into patterns having complex
shapes, various sizes, and fine surface detail.
• The casting requires minimal finishing and
cleaning operations.
Investment Casting
Permanent-Mold casting
Permanent-Mold casting
• In permanent-mold casting (also called hard-mold casting), two halves of a mold are
made from materials with high resistance to erosion and thermal fatigue, such as cast iron,
steel, bronze, graphite, or refractory metal alloys.
• Typical parts made are automobile pistons, cylinder heads, connecting rods, gear blanks
for appliances, and kitchenware.
• Parts that can be made economically generally weigh less than 25 kg, although special
castings, weighing a few hundred kilograms, have been made using this process.
• The mold cavity and gating system are machined into the mold and thus become an
integral part of it.
• In order to increase the life of permanent molds, the surfaces of the mold cavity are
usually coated with a refractory slurry, such as sodium silicate and clay, or are sprayed
with graphite every few castings.
Vacuum
Casting
Pressure Casting

• In the two permanent-mold processes, the molten metal flows into the
mold cavity by gravity.
• In pressure casting (also called pressure pouring or low-pressure
casting), the molten metal is forced upward by gas pressure into a
graphite or metal mold.
• The pressure is maintained until the metal has solidified completely in
the mold. The molten metal also may be forced upward by a vacuum,
which also removes dissolved gases and produces a casting with lower
porosity.
 Die Casting
In the die-casting process, molten metal is forced into the die cavity at pressures
ranging from 0.7 to 700 MPa. There are two basic types of die-casting machines:
hot and cold-chamber
The metal is held under pressure
until it solidifies in the die. Low-
melting-point alloys (such as zinc,
magnesium, tin, and lead)
commonly are cast using this
process. Cycle times usually range
from 200 to 300 shots (individual
injections) per hour, for zinc,
although very small components,
such as zipper teeth, can be cast at
rates of 18,000
shots per hour.
 cold-chamber process Die Casting

• In the cold-chamber
process (, molten metal is
poured into the injection
cylinder (shot chamber).
• The chamber is not
heated, hence the term
cold chamber. The metal
is forced into the die
cavity at pressures
usually ranging from 20
to 70MPa although they
may be as high as 150
MPa.
 Die casting has the capability for rapid production of high-quality
parts with complex shapes, especially with aluminum, brass,
magnesium, and zinc .

It also produces good dimensional accuracy and surface details, so

that parts require little or no subsequent machining or finishing
operations (net-shape forming).

Process Because of the high pressures involved, walls as thin as 0.38 mm are
produced, which are thinner than those obtained by other casting
methods.

capabilities However, ejector marks remain on part surfaces, as may small

amounts of flash (thin material squeezed out between the dies) at
the die parting line.

In addition, because the molten metal chills rapidly at the die walls,
the casting has a fine-grained, hard skin with high strength.

Consequently, the strength-to-weight ratio of die-cast parts increases

with decreasing
 Centrifugal
Casting
• Centrifugal-casting process utilizes
inertia (caused by rotation) to force
the molten metal into the mold
cavities.
• In this process, molten metal is poured
into a rotating mold; the axis of
rotation is usually horizontal.
• The inner surface of the casting
remains cylindrical, because the
molten metal is distributed uniformly
by the centrifugal forces.
• However, because of density
differences, lighter elements tend to
collect on the inner surface of the
casting.
Squeeze Casting
 Several methods can be used to inspect castings to determine
their quality and the presence and types of any defects.

Castings can be inspected visually, or optically, for surface

Inspection
defects. Subsurface and internal defects are investigated using
various nondestructive techniques.

of Castings In destructive testing , specimens are removed from various

sections of a casting, and tested for strength, ductility, and other
mechanical properties, and to determine the presence, location,
and distribution of porosity and any other defects.

Pressure tightness of cast components (such as valves, pumps,

and pipes) is usually determined by sealing the openings in the
casting, then pressurizing it with water, oil, or air.
Foundries and Automation

• Casting operations are usually carried out in foundries (from the Latin fundere, meaning
“melting and pouring”).
• Although these operations traditionally have involved much manual labor, modern foundries
have incorporated automation and computer integration of all aspects of their operations.
• A variety of automated machinery is used to minimize labor costs, which can be significant in
the production of castings.
• Operations such as pouring into molds (some carried along conveyors), shakeout, cleaning, heat
treatment, and inspection, also are automated.
• Automation minimizes labor, reduces the possibility of human error, increases the production
rate, and attains higher quality levels
 Melting Practice and Furnaces

• Melting practice is an important aspect of casting operations, because it has

a direct bearing on the quality of castings.
• Furnaces are charged with melting stock, consisting of metal, alloying
elements, and various other materials such as flux and slag-forming
constituents.
• Fluxes are inorganic compounds that refine the molten metal by removing
dissolved gases and various impurities; they may be added manually or can
be injected automatically into the molten metal.
• Furnaces: Electric Arc, Induction, Crucible, Cupolas etc.