Structure of Metals

BCC Structure

FCC Structure

Good strength Moderate Ductility

HCP Structure

Brittle at room Temp More ductile at elevated Tem

Moderate strength Good Ductility

Defects in a Crystal
Different types of Point Defects Vacancy Interstitial atom (extra) Impurity (Interstitial & Substitutional)

Edge and Screw Dislocations

Edge Dislocation An extra Plane of atoms at the edge Screw Dislocation A helical Defect caused by the atomic Planes in a crystal lattice

Presence of dislocations help in explaining why the actual strength of metals is much lower than the predicted Strength as obtained from theory

Stages During Solidification

(a) Nucleation of crystals at random sites (b) & (c) Growth of those crystals (d) Solidified metal showing individual grains and grain boundaries

Grain Size its effects on the mechanical characteristics of the material At room temperature, a larger grain size indicates low strength, low hardness and low ductility ASTM grain size number, N is given by N = 2n-1 For N = 5 ~ 8 grains are considered finer. Sheet metals typically used for car bodies have grain size N = 7

Grain Boundary Defects o Grain Boundary Embrittlement Embrittling metals are Pb, Bi etc. o Hot shortness caused by an impurity in the grain boundary which melts at temperature below the m.p. of the metal Plastic Deformation of Polycrystalline materials its effects o o o o Causes deformation of grains and grain boundaries For most materials lead to an increase in strength (strain hardening effect) A decrease in ductility of the material Causes anisotropic behavior of the material Possible way for reversal of these effects A heat treatment process called Annealing PROPERTIES OF METALS CAN BE ENHANCED BY ALLOYING

Structure of Alloys

An alloy is composed of two or more elements at least one of which needs to be metal Most engineering materials used for various applications are basically alloys.

Alloys can be broadly divided into two categories: Solid solutions (Crystal structure of solvent is maintained during alloying) Intermetallic Compounds (Solute atoms present among the solvent atoms in certain proportions) Solid solutions are of two types: o Substitution Solid Solution (Example is Brass an alloy of Cu and Zn(solute)) o Interstitial Solid Solution (Example is steel an alloy of Iron and Carbon)

TWO PHASE SYSTEM Pb and Cu

TWO PHASE SYSTEM consisting of two different grains

COOLING CURVE FOR SOLIDIFICATION OF PURE METAL

Phase Diagram For Nickel-Copper Alloy System

Iron-Iron-Carbide Phase Diagram

Phase Diagrams types: Solid solution Eutectic (e.g Cast Iron) Eutectoid (e.g. steels)

Three Cast Structures of Solidified Metals

PURE METALS SOLID SOLUION Heterogeneous nucleation

Preferred Texture At A Mold Wall

Note: only favorably oriented grains grow away from the surface of the mold

Solidification and Temperature Distribution in Solidifying Metal

Near the mold walls due to rapid cooling A solidified skin of equiaxed grains are formed Grains having favourable orientation grow Preferentially and are termed as columnar gra

Solidification Patterns

(a) Solidification patterns for gray cast iron in a 180-mm (7-in.) square casting. Note that after 11 minutes of cooling, dendrites reach each other, but the casting is still mushy throughout. It takes about two hours for this casting to solidify completely. (b) Solidification of carbon steels in sand and chill (metal) molds. Note the difference in solidification patterns as the carbon content increases. Source: H.F. Bishop and W. S. Pellini.

Basic Types of Cast Structures

(a) columnar dendritic

(b) equiaxed dendritic

(c) equiaxed nondendritic

Near the mold walls due to rapid cooling A solidified skin of equiaxed grains are formed Grains having favourable orientation grow Preferentially and are termed as columnar grains. Further away from the mold walls the grains become equiaxed and coarse

Different Features of a Sand Mold

Effects of Cooling rates on Casting Structure

Slow cooling leads to coarse dendrites with large interdendritic spaces Moderate cooling rates result in finer dendrites and lesser dendritic space Very high cooling rates lead to amorphous structures Decrement in grain size normally associated with higher strength and higher ductility Decrement in microporosity due nto less interdendritic spacings Decrease in hot tearing during solidification

Lack of uniformity of grain size and distribution leads to anisotropic properties within the castings

Fluid Flow in Castings

Fluid flow in a mold is governed majorly by the proper design of a Gating system. The major functions of gating system are: o Trapping of contaminants like oxides and impurities o Minimizing problems like premature cooling, turbulence and gas entrapment The two basic principles of fluid flow used in Gating design:

Bernoullis Theorem Law of Mass Conituinity

TYPICAL RISER GATED CASTING

Sprue Design

Typically sprue is tapered to prevent aspiration effect

Relation in cross sectional areas of a tapered sprue at locations 1 and 2 is:
1 2

2 1

Computational Tools like Magmasoft, Pro cast, Quikcast and Powercast exist to evaluate gating designs

Flow Characteristics Considered during the Casting Process

Reynolds Number (Re) is used to quantify the metal flow as laminar or turbulent during casting process Turbulent flow is not desired as it leads to aspiration problem Reynolds number is given by the following formula:

. . =
Re , 2000 flow is laminar; 2000 < Re < 20000 flow is turbulent For Re > 20000 dross formation occurs Turbulence prevented by: Avoiding sudden changes in flow direction By controlling the geometry of the channel cross sections in the gating system By using filters in the runner system

Fluidity of Molten Metal during Casting Characteristics of molten metal Casting Process Parameters
Various molten metal characteristics: Viscosity Surface tension (higher surface tension lowers fluidity. Oxide films increase surface tension) Inclusions (increase viscosity) Solidification pattern of the alloy (Lower freezing range for metals increase fluidity) Various Casting parameters influencing fluidity: o Mold design (riser, runners gates) o Mold metal and its surface characteristics (higher thermal conductivity and rougher surface decrease fluidity) o Degree of superheat o Rate of pouring (slower pouring decrease fluidity) o Heat transfer (affects the viscosity of the molten metal)

Fluidity Test

The fluidity index is the length of the solidified metal in the spiral passage. The greater the length of the solidified metal, the greater is its fluidity

Buoyancy in Sand Casting Operation

During pouring, buoyancy of the molten metal tends to displace the core Core displacement can cause casting to be defective Force tending to lift core = weight of displaced liquid less the weight of core itself
Fb = Wm - Wc

where Fb = buoyancy force; Wm = weight of molten metal displaced; and Wc = weight of core

Heat Transfer during Casting

For thin section castings, the metal flow rates must be high enough to avoid premature cooling. It should not be so high that it causes turbulence

Temperature distribution at the interface of the mold wall and the liquid metal during solidification of metals in casting.
Resistances to heat flow as conceived by Flemings: 1. The liquid 2. The solidified metal 3. The metal / mould interface 4. The mould 5. The surroundings of the mould

Normally Resistances 1 and 5 are negligible for most of the cases

Resistance 2 : The Casting itself Considering unidirectional flow of heat from metal at its melting point Tm against a mould Temperature of To. This is a case of transient heat flow problem and can be explained by the below given Differential equation

s is the thermal diffusivity of the solid

At the solidification front the rate of heat evolved out of the solid must balance the rate of conduction down the temperature gradient given by the following equation:

Solution for the above heat equation is

Where S is the thickness of the solidified shell,

Resistance 3: The Metal / Mould Interface This resistance is important for cases where the metal and the mould Both have very high heat conductivity leaving the boundary between the two as the dominant resistance. Most often the mould heats up and expands and moves away from the frozen metal thereby leaving an air gap Between the mould and frozen metal interface. This is more common for die casting of light alloys

For unidirectional flow, the rate of heat loss can be related to the latent heat of solidification, H by

Let h be the heat transfer coefficient between the metal and mould interface then

Assuming Tm To to be always constant , Equating the above two equations and integrating taking the limits as S = 0, t =0 & S = S at t = t For simple shaped castings the equation may further be generalized to

Consideration of Air Gaps

Equation for the air gap d between the expanding mould and the contracting solidified cast

D is the diameter of the Casting, Tf is freezing point temperature of the melt, To is the initial mould temperature

Probable zero air gap

Variable air gaps in a shaped casting

Resistance 4: The Mould resistance Let the metal pouring temperature be denoted by Tm and the initial mould temp is To However on pouring the metal the inside surface temperature of the mould is assumed to be Tm at time, t = 0 Heat Equation for this situation is given by:

Flemings solution to this equation is again given by:

The above relation is true for most of the non ferrous alloys But for ferrous alloys since on cooling iron can take the FCC austentic structure which has poor conductivity, the above relation does not hold true For simple shaped castings S can be replaced by V/A factor and the above equation can be simplified to: Or

Solidification Time For Casting

Chvorinovs Rule:

, = C

Skin thickness thinner at internal angles due to 2 slower cooling

Solidified skin on a steel casting. The remaining molten metal is poured out at the times indicated in the figure. Hollow ornamental and decorative objects are made by a process called slush casting, which is based on this principle

Freezing time of plate shaped castings in different alloys and moulds

Various Types of Chills Used in Castings to Eliminate Porosity

Various types of (a) internal and (b) external chills (dark areas at corners), used in castings to eliminate porosity caused by shrinkage. Chills are placed in regions where there is a large volume of metal, as shown in (c).