Casting:

Metal casting is a process whereby molten metal is poured into a mold containing a hollow cavity
whose geometrical shape is a replica of the desired finished product. The casting process basically
involves (a) pouring molten metal into a mold patterned after the part to be manufactured, (b)
allowing it to solidify, and (c) removing the part from the mold.
Some of the items manufactured by casting include the engine block, alternator housing,
differential housing etc.
The cast metal remains in the mold until it has solidified, and it is then ejected or revealed to show
the fabricated part or casting.
The casting process can be classified as shown below

Advantages of casting process

 Intricate shapes internal or external can be produces in one step
 Objects can be cast in single piece
 High production rate
 Very large parts can be produced in one piece
 The labour cost involved is less
 Casting can utilize materials that are difficult or uneconomical to process by other means.

FEATURES OF THE CASTING PROCESS

Figure 33: Cross-section of a typical two-part sand mold.

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Figure above shows a cross-section of a typical two-part sand mold and incorporates many features
of the casting process.
These are:
Pattern: The pattern is a replica or dublicate of the casting to be produced. Patterns are generally
made from the following materials:: Wood, Metals, Cast iron, Brass, Plaster of paris ,Plastic , Wax.
Drag. The drag is the bottom half of any of these features.
Core. A core is a sand shape that is inserted into the mold to produce internal features of a casting,
such as holes or passages for water cooling.
Flask. The flask is the box that contains the molding aggregate.
Cope. In a two-part mold, the cope is the top half of the pattern, flask, mold, or core.
Core print. A core print is the region added to the pattern, core, or mold; the core print is used to
place and support the core within the mold.
Riser. Risers serve as reservoirs of molten metal to supply any molten metal necessary to prevent
shrinking during solidification.
Gating system. The gating system is the network of channels used to deliver the molten metal from
outside the mold into the mold cavity.
Pouring basin. The pouring basin or cup is the portion of the gating system that initially receives
the molten metal from the pouring vessel and controls its delivery to the rest of the mold. From
the pouring basin the metal travels down the sprue (the vertical portion of the gating system), then
along horizontal channels (called runners), and finally through controlled entrances, or gates, into
the mold cavity.

One of the key elements to making a metal casting of high quality is the design of a good gating
system. This is even more important if a casting is produced by a gravitational process.

BASIC STEPS OF CASTING PROCESSES

Basic steps are present in most casting processes:
1. Preparing a mold: Moulds are prepared with the help of a pattern to produce a cavity of
desired shape. Usually the mould is made of sand. But sometimes permanent metal moulds
can be used.
2. Melting the metal: The required quantity of the metal with proper composition is melted
in a suitable furnace.

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 3. Pouring metal into the mold: when the molten metal attains pouring temperature it is
taken into ladles and poured into the molds.
4. Cooling (solidification). After pouring the molten metal into the mold cavity it is allowed
to cool down so that the metal solidifies.
5. Removing the solidified casting from the mold: The solidified casting are extracted by
breaking the mold and cleaned by removing adhering sand.
6. Fetting: The unwanted projections in the form of gates, risers etc. are cut off and the entire
surface is cleaned and made uniform.

SAND CASTING
Sand casting is a metal-forming process in which a molten metal compound is poured into a sand
mold to produce a workpiece’s desired shape.
Making a sand mod involves proper ramming of molding sand around a pattern. After the pattern
is removed from the sand and the gating arrangement is completed, the mold cavity is filled with
molten metal to form a casting.

Types of sand molds

Sand molds are characterized by the types of sand that compose them and by the methods used to
make the molds. They are often classified as greensand, dry sand, skin-dried, and no-bake molds.

Greensand molds.

Sand molds made with moist sand, in which the moisture is present at the time metal is poured
into the mold are called green sand mold. In essence, the mold material consists of sand, usually
silica in a quartz form, clay, and water. The water develops the bonding characteristics of the clay,
which binds the sand grains together. Under the application of pressure, the mold material can be
compacted around a pattern to produce a mold having sufficient rigidity to enable the metal to be
poured into it to produce a casting. Greensand molding is the least expensive method of making a
mold, and the sand is easily recycled for subsequent use.

The sand used for greensand molding must fulfill a number of requirements:
1. It must pack tightly around the pattern, which means that it must have flowability.
2. It should be capable of being deformed slightly without cracking, so that the pattern can
be withdrawn. In other words, it must exhibit plastic deformation.
3. It must have sufficient strength to strip from the pattern and support its own weight without
deforming, and to withstand the pressure of the molten metal when the mold is cast. It
must therefore have green strength.
4. It must be permeable, so that gases and steam can escape from the mold during casting.
5. It must have dry strength, to prevent erosion of the mold surface by liquid metal during
pouring as the surface of the mold cavity dries out.
6. It must have refractoriness, to withstand the high temperature involved in pouring without
melting or fusing to the casting.

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With the exception of refractoriness, all of these requirements are dependent on the amount of
active clay present and on the water content of the mixture
ADVANTAGES OF SAND CASTING:
Relative inexpensive to produce
Simple –complex design changes can easily be done to the mold
It is easily adapted to mechanical and automated production
DISADVATAGES
Not as strong as other type of molds
May be damaged if mishandled
Moisture, gas can be produced and this can cause defects in the cavity and
castings

Dry sand molds.

Sand molds made with sand and a type of binder that does not require moisture to develop strength
is called dry sand mold. This type of mold is commonly used for steel castings. The binder used
with the sand is a special oil which when it is mulled, coats the grains of sand. The sand is then
baked in an oven the oil polymerizes and the grains of sand are bonded together.
The molds are usually small to medium in size.
ADVANTAGES
They resist metal erosion
Dry sand molds are stronger
Moisture related problems of green sand are eliminated
DISADVANTAGES
Costs are much higher than green sand molds

Skin-dried molds.
Skin-dried mold is made in the same way as a greensand mold, but after it is made, the inside
cavity surfaces need to be sprayed with a mixture of 10% water to one part molasses or lignin
sulphite. The sprayed areas are dried using torches, heating lamps, or other means to a depth of
about 10 to 15 mm, leaving a smooth hard skin. Since moisture in the backup sand will migrate
through the dry skin, the mold must be filled shortly after they have dried. They cannot be stored
for any length of time.

No-bake molds.
In the no-bake mold process, a synthetic liquid resin is mixed with the sand to form a filled mold
that hardens at room temperature. This type of mold has a good dimensional control in high-
production applications

To increase production rate and improve quality of casting, a sand mixture is compacted around
the pattern by a molding machine.
There are a number of techniques for doing this.
Squeeze molding machines. Squeeze-molding machines automatically insert and compact sand in
a mold. The processes used are designed to produce a uniform compaction. Jolting is sometimes
used to help settle the sand in a mold. These molds are made in flasks.
Sandslingers. High-speed streams of sand fill the flask uniformly and tend to pack the material
effectively. Sandslingers are used to fill large flasks and are typically operated by machine.

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SOLIDIFICATION AND COOLING OF METALS
A series of events and transitions takes place during the process of the solidification of the
molten metal and its cooling to ambient temperature. These events greatly influence the size,
shape, and chemical composition of the grains formed throughout the casting
The cooling rate of a casting affects its microstructure, quality, and properties. The cooling
curve illustrates the way in which molten metals solidify. There is a fundamental difference
between the cooling curve observed during the solidification of a pure metal and that of an
alloy.

Pure Metal

MICROSTRUCTURE DURING COOLING OF A PURE METAL

The solidification process begins at the interface of mold and metal and over the entire outer skin
of the casting. This rapidly cooling action causes the grains in the skin to become fine and
randomly oriented. As cooling continues and the energy transfer continues through the solid thin
layer of metal toward the mold material, energy travels in one direction while the energy of the
solidification process travels in the opposite direction. Since the heat transfer is through the skin
wall, the grains continually grow as dendritic growth until complete solidification has been
achieved. The grains resulting from this dendritic growth are coarse and columnarly oriented
toward the center of the casting. Schematic illustration of grain formation is shown in Fig. 1.5.

Cooling curve of an alloy:

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While pure metals have a well-defined melting point temperature, for alloys there is a melting
temperature range, over which liquid and solid co-exist. The melting range can be quite large,
which is the case for cobalt–chromium alloys, resulting in a phenomenon known as coring.
Coring means that individual grains do not have the same chemical composition from the
center to the outer edge of the grain.
MICROSTRUCTURE OF ALLOYS

If the wall is cold and the casting is large, solidification will begin in the chill zone at the mold
wall and proceed inward, parallel to the flow of heat out from the melt, shown in Fig.1.7 as
zone a. The grains so formed are therefore elongated, or columnar, in shape. In Fig.1.7, this is
shown as zone b. If zone b can reach the center of the casting before the temperature there
drops low enough for nucleation to occur, the entire casting structure will be composed of
columnar grains. Usually this is not the case, since the center part of the casting begins to
solidify before the columnar grains arrive there. Because the grains in the center of the casting
are not forced to grow in any particular macroscopic direction, heat being removed
isotropically, they are more equiaxial in shape. In Fig.1.7 this is shown as zone c.

A uniform but slow cooling rate, accompanied by a quiescent liquid pool, leads to a coarse grain
structure in the interior of the casting, whereas a fast cooling rate and turbulent pool produce a fine
grain structure, which is more desirable for good mechanical properties. In fact, a general rule
about any solidification process is this: the faster the cooling rate, the finer the microstructure.

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 Solidification Time:
According to Chvorinov’s rule, the mathematical relationship can be written as

EXERCISE

1. A cylindrical-shaped part is to be cast out of aluminum. The radius of the cylinder r=

250 mm and its thickness (h)= 20 mm. If the mold constant Cm = 2.0 sec/mm2 in
Chvorinov’s Rule, how long will it take the casting to solidify?
2. Three metal pieces being cast have the same volume, but different shapes: One is a
sphere, one a cube, and the other a cylinder with its height equal to its diameter. Which
piece will solidify the fastest, and which one the slowest? Assume that n = 2.

Time required to cool from pouring temperature to solid state is called total solidification time.
CASTING DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS
Pattern allowances:
The pattern required is found using the formular
Pattern size=Casting size Allowance

There are five types of casting allowances are there, and those are:

1. Shrinkage Allowance
2. Machining Allowance
3. Draft Allowance
4. Shake Allowance
5. Distortion Allowance

Shrinkage Allowance:

 During cooling of the material in the Casting process, in all the three stages, the material
is shrinking (reducing its dimensions or volume). Shrinkage taking place in 1st stages is
called Liquid Shrinkage. Shrinkage in the 2nd stage is called liquid solid shrinkage
 Shrinkage in 3rd - the stage is called Solid shrinkage.
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 The first two stages are always compensated by providing a riser in the casting process.
 1st two stages are specified as “% by Volume”.
 Out of the different metals cast in the industry, “Aluminum(Al) ” has the highest
shrinkage for the first two stages which is about 6%.
 Solid shrinkage is specified as (Percentage/Dimensions).
 Pattern allowance is used to compensate for the solid shrinkage.
 Except grey cat iron all material will contract during shrinkage.
 Hence allowance is added to the casting size
 For grey cast iron allowance is subtracted from the casting size

Distortion allowance

 Provided For thin U shaped sections having long legs.

Machining Allowance:

 The extra dimension provided on the casting to allow for machining after the casting has
been completed is called Machining Allowance

Draft or Taper Allowance:

Draft allowance is given so that the pattern can be easily removed from the molding
material tightly packed around it without damaging the mould cavity.

Rapping/shake allowance

When the pattern is removed from casting, it will slightly increase the dimension of casting. So to
compensate this changes, the pattern is made slightly smaller from casting. This change in
dimension is known as rapping allowance.

Exercise:

1. The casting shown in fig. is to be made in plain-carbon steel using a wooden pattern.
Assuming the shrinkage allowance only, calculate the dimensions of the pattern.
Shrinkage allowance for steel is 21.0 mm/ m

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 2. Gray cast iron block 200 by 100 by 10mm are to be cast in sand moulds.Shrinkage
allowance for pattern is 1%.The ratio of the volume of pattern to that of the casting
will be?
3. A pattern is required for manufacturing hollow cylindrical casting in steel indicating
the allowance provided. Cylinder size after machining is OD=150mm, ID=100mm,
length=150mm.Shrinkage allowance is 1/50. Machining allowance is 2mm.Find
length of pattern.

4. Determine the dimensions of the wooden pattern required to cast the part below.
Assume that the machining allowance of 2mm on each side , shrinkage allowance of
1/50 and a taper allowance of 2 degrees

THE GATING SYSTEM

The gating system guides the poured liquid metal, prepared in the foundry, to the mold
cavity and has direct and indirect effects on the quality of the casting process.

The gating system can be divided into the following:

• pouring cup
• sprue
• Runner
•riser
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 •gate.

A common technique for controlling cavity and pipe shrinkage is to place a riser, or an extra
reservoir of metal, adjacent and connected to the casting. As the casting solidi- fies and shrinks,
liquid metal flows from the riser into the casting to fill the shrinkage void. We need only to ensure
that the riser solidifies after the casting and that there is an internal liquid channel that connects
the liquid in the riser to the last liquid to solidify in the casting. compensate for shrinkage

Variuos methods are used to design the riser.These methods include

1.Chvorinovs rule
2. Modulus method
3. Caines method
4. NRL method.
For this study we will use chvorinovs rule to design the riser.The riser should take 25% longer to
solidify than the casting

Exercise
1. A cylindrical riser must be designed for a sand-casting mold. The casting itself is a steel
rectangular plate with dimensions 7.5 cm x12.5 cm x 2.0 cm. Previous observations have
indicated that the solidification time for this casting is 1.6 min. The cylinder for the riser
will have a diameter-to-height ratio as 1.0. Determine the dimensions of the riser so that
its solidification time is 2.0 min.
2. Design a cylindrical riser, with a height equal to twice its diameter, that will compensate
for shrinkage in a 5 cm by 15 cm by 25 cm casting

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