Chapter 2 – Conventional Foundry Processes

Topics:

1.Types of patterns used in sand casting and moulding

procedures
2.Patterns and cores, gates, risers and solidification
characteristics

–1
Solidification Processes

• Starting work material is either a liquid or semi liquid

condition
• Solidification processes can be classified according to
engineering material processed:
 Metals
 Ceramics, specifically glasses
 Polymers and polymer matrix composites (PMCs)

–2
Classification of solidification processes

–3
Casting

• Process in which molten metal flows by gravity or other

force into a mold where it solidifies in the shape of the mold
cavity
• The term casting also applies to the part made in the
process.
• Steps in casting:
 Melt
 Pour
 Freeze

–4
Capabilities and Advantages of Casting
• Create complex part geometries
• Create both external and internal shapes
• Create net shape; others are near net shape
• Produce very large parts
• Suited to mass production

Disadvantages of Casting
• Limitations on mechanical properties
• Poor dimensional accuracy and surface finish
• Safety hazards to workers
• Environmental problems

–5
Parts Made by Casting

• Big parts: engine blocks and heads for automotive vehicles,

wood burning stoves, machine frames, railway wheels, pipes,
church bells, big statues, and pump housings
• Small parts: dental crowns, jewelry, small statues, and frying
pans
• All varieties of metals can be cast, ferrous and nonferrous

–6
Overview of Casting Technology

• Casting is usually performed in a foundry

• Foundry = factory equipped for making molds, melting and
handling molten metal, performing the casting process, and
cleaning the finished casting
• Workers who perform casting are called foundrymen

–7
The Mold in Casting

• Contains cavity whose geometry determines part shape

 Actual size and shape of cavity must be slightly oversized
to allow for shrinkage of metal during solidification and
cooling
 Molds are made of a variety of materials, including sand,
plaster, ceramic, and metal

–8
Two forms of mold: (a) open mold, simply a container in the shape of the desired part; and (b) closed mold,
in which the mold geometry is more complex and requires a gating system (passageway) leading into
the cavity

–9
Metal casting processes
 Metal casting processes can be divided into two
categories:
 Expendable mould
 Permanent mould

• Expendable mold processes – mold must be destroyed to remove

casting
• Permanent mold processes – mold can be used many times to produce
many castings
Advantages and Disadvantages
• intricate geometries are possible
• Part shapes in permanent mold processes are limited
• Permanent mold processes are more economic in high production
operations

–10
Sand Cast

• Is the most widely used in casting process.

• Nearly all casting alloys can be sand casted,
• Permits casting of parts size from small to very large size.
(tons)
• Formed by packing sand around a pattern before separating
the mould into two halves.
• Mold consists of two halves:
 Cope = upper half of mold
 Drag = bottom half
• Mold halves are contained in a box, called a flask
• The two halves separate at the parting line

–11
Sand casting mold

–12
Step in the Production Sequence in Sand Casting:

Core making (if Pattern

needed)
making

Sand Preparation of Mould making Removal of sand Cleaning and

sand mould Inspection

Raw
metal
Melting Pouring Solidification and Finished casting
cooling

–13
Patterns and Cores

• Sand casting requires a pattern, enlarge to account for

shrinkage and machining allowances in the final casting.
• Material to make patterns include wood, plastics and metals.
• Wood is common pattern material
• Disadvantages:
 Tend to warp
 Its abraded (grind) by the sand being compacted around it
– limiting the usage.

–14
–15
Forming the Mold Cavity (stop)

• Mold cavity is formed by packing sand around a pattern,

which has the shape of the part
• When the pattern is removed, the remaining cavity has
desired shape of cast part. The pattern is usually oversized.
• Sand for the mold is moist and contains a binder to maintain
shape

Types of Patterns:

1. Solid pattern
2. Split pattern
3. Match-plate pattern
4. Cope and drag pattern

–16
Solid Pattern

–17
Split Pattern

–18
Match-plate Pattern

–19
Cope and Drag Pattern

–20
Core

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

• A core is requires if the casting is to have internal surface.
• It is inserted into the mould cavity
• Usually made of sand.
• Actual size of the core should include the allowances for shrinkage and
machining.
• The core does not require support to hold its position during poring of the
casting metal.
• The support, known as chaplets are made from metal with high melting
temperature than the casting metal.
• The portion of the chaplet protruding from the casting is subsequently cut
off.

–21
(a) Core held in place in the mould cavity by chaplets.
(b) Possible chaplet design
(c) Casting with internal cavity.

–22
Gates and riser

The gating system

• Refer to all those elements which are connected with the flow of molten
metals from the ladle to the mould cavity.
• Various elements which connected to the gating system are:
 Pouring basin
 Sprue
 Sprue base well
 Runner
 (Gate) Ingate
 Riser

–23
Typical gating system
–24
• The design of the gating system should aim at provision a
defect free casting product.
• Gating system design requirements:
 filled in the smallest time
 flow smoothly
 not allow any foreign particles
 Proper controlled on the metal entry.
 Metal flow should be maintained.
 Enable the molten metal to reach the mould cavity.
 It should be design economically and easy to implement
and remove after casting.

–25
Element of a Gating System

Pouring basin

 Design to ensure that the molten metal is poured directly into the
mould cavity.
 It acts as a reservoir.
 Designed to stop the slag.
 It hold back the slag and dirt
 The design of the pouring basin can be segregated into two:
 Green sand
 Dry sand
 Cut into cope portion directly or a separate dry sand.
 The molten metal pored full during the pouring operation
 The walls of the pouring basin is made inclined at about 45° to the
horizontal
 The partition can be design to trap the slag and maintain constant
metal height in the basin.

–26
Pouring Basin

–27
Sprue
Is the channel through
The molten metal move from top to bottom
If the sprue were to be design in a straight
cylindrical manner, the metal flow would not be
full at the bottom.
To eliminate the problem, the sprue is designed
tapered to gradually reduce the cross section as it
moves away from the top of the cope.

–28
–29
Sprue base wall
 Is a reservoir for metal at the bottom of the sprue to
reduce momentum of the molten metal.

Runner
 Located in the horizontal plane (parting plane) that
connects the sprue to its ingates.
 When molten metal coming down from the sprue more
than the amount flowing through the ingates, the runner
would always be full and trapping the slag. For effective
trapping of slag, the runner should flow full.
 But when metal from ingates is more than the flow through
the runner than the runner would be filled only partially
and the slag would enter the mould cavity.

–30
–31
Gates
 Also known as ingates – ‘the opening’
 The shape and cross section of ingate should fulfill these
requirements:
 Readily broken off after casting solidification
 Allow the metal to enter quietly into the mould cavity.
 The design of gates are depend on the application. Various types of
gates are:
 Top gate
 Bottom gate
 Parting gate
 Step gate

–32
• Top gate

–33
• Bottom gate

–34
• Parting gate

–35
• Step gate

–36
Riser

• Are added reservoirs.

• The riser should be designed with condition that:
 The metal in the riser should solidify in the end.
 The riser volume should be sufficient for compensating
the shrinkage in the casting.

• Types of risers:
 Top risers
 Blind risers
 Internal risers

–37
Heating and pouring

• Heating furnaces are used to heat the metal to molten temperature

sufficient for casting
• The heat required is the sum of:
 Heat to raise temperature to melting point
 Heat of fusion to convert from solid to liquid
 Heat to raise molten metal to desired temperature for pouring
• Metal must flow into all regions of the mold, most importantly the main
cavity, before solidifying
• Factors that determine success:
 Pouring temperature
 Pouring rate
 Turbulence

–38
Solidification and cooling characteristic

• Casting is a solidification process

• Structural features that control the product properties are set
during solidification.
• Porosity and solidification shrinkage are the phenomenon
that occurs due to solidification.
• Solidification occurs in two steps:
Nucleation
Growth

–39
 The small particle of solid
(impurities) provides uniform and
wide-spread nucleation and
Nucleation
promote a uniform, fine-grain size
in the product.
Occurs when a stable
solid particle forms The practice or event
from within the of intentionally introduce
Molten liquid impurities is known as
inoculation
or grain refining.
Material changes Nucleation generally
state the interface occurs at a temp.
surfaces are created below equilibrium
melting point
To achieve the nucleation
solidification –
an impurities should be
introduce into
the liquid metal
Nucleation solidification
event produces a fine crystal
or grain in the final
casting possess
The difference between
melting point and nucleation
is known as the amount
of under-cooling.
–40
 Nucleation
• Occurs when a stable solid particle forms from within the molten liquid.
• As the material changes state, its internal energy reduced, since at lower
temperatures, the solid phase is more stable than the liquid.
• At the same time, the interface surfaces are created between the newly
solidified metal and parent liquid.

Growth
• Occurs as the heat of fusion is continually extracted from the liquid
material.
• Heat can be controlled to control the direction, rate and type of growth
known as directional solidification. (D.S)
• D.S ensure that the production of a good casting.
• Faster rate of cooling produces a finer grain size products and superior
mechanical properties.

–41
 Pouring temperature is the temperature of the liquid metal entering the mould
cavity.

Δ Pouring temp
Superheat 
Δ Freezing temp

The higher the superheat, the more time allowed for material to flow into the
mould cavity before freeze.
Pouring
temp
The cooling rate is the rate at which the liquid or solid is cooling, can be
viewed as a slope of cooling curve.
Thermal arrest is the plateau in the cooling curve, occurs during solidification
of material.
Time from the start of pouring to the end of solidification is known as TST.
Temperature (T)

Time from the start solidification to the end of solidification is known as LST.
Thermal arrest
Equilibrium freezing temp

T
 cooling rate
t Local solidification time (LST)

Total solidification time (TST)

Time (t)

–42
Prediction of Solidification Time: Chvorinov’s Rule

• Chvorinov’s rules determine:

 The amount of heat that must be removed from a casting

to cause solidify is directly proportional to the amount of
superheat and the amount of metal in the casting.
 The ability to remove heat from casting is related to the
amount of exposed surface area.
 Total solidification time is calculate by:

t s  B(V / A) n where n  1.5 to 2.0

–43
 t s  B(V / A) where n  1.5 to 2.0 n

• V = volume of casting
• A = is the surface area
• B = is the mould constant depend on the characteristics of metal being
cast (e.g density, heat capacity and heat of fusion) the mould material (e.g density, thermal conductivity, heat capacity) the mould thickness and
amount of superheat.

• Some cases test specimen can be used to determine B.

–44
Safety equipment

• Appropriate safety equipments must be worn.

• Aprons, gloves and leggings.
• Normal textile material burns through very quickly and should
not be used for the casting process.
• Leather shoes should be worn at all times in the workshop.
• In industry shoes with steel toe caps are a basic requirement.

–45
END OF CHAPTER 2
ANY QUESTION?

–46