UDC

669.13:621.746.62:539.32.096

Strength Cast Iron

and

Movement Sand

of Solid Mold*

Skin

during

Solidification

of

in the

By

Tatsushi

AIZAWA**

and

Akihide

WA TANABE**

Synopsis The strength of the solid skin and its movement during solidificationin the mold weremeasuredwhen moltencast iron was pouredinto a self-hardening sand mold. The strength of the solid skin was low immediatelyafter pouring, but increasedrapidly after a certain period of time. The strengthimmediately after pouring depended on the property of iron, increasing in the order of magnesium treated spheroidal graphite iron, calcium treated spheroidal graphite iron, inoculatedgray iron, non-inoculated gray iron. Carbon content had little effect on the strength of the solid skin. The solid skin moved toward the metal immediatelyafter pouring, then it movedtoward the mold after a certain period of time. The distanceof movement toward the mold increased as the strength of the solid skin decreased. I. Introduction

C) D)

When a molten metal solidifies in a mold, a solid skin grows. It has been known that the solid skin moves either toward the mold or the metal when cast iron solidifies.l-10~ The movement of the solid skin not only deteriorates the dimensional accuracy of castings, but also causes large shrinkage cavities in the castings if the solid skin moves toward the molds-i0> This tendency is significant in spheroidal graphite cast iron, and large shrinkage cavities occur when soft mold such as green sand mold is used.2j The movement of the solid skin toward the mold is caused mostly by the expansive force of graphite precipitation. It has been explained that the distance of the solid skin movement may depend on the thickness of the solid skin during solidification. For example, in spheroidal graphite cast iron, mashier solidification occurs, resulting longer moving distance of the solid skin. The movement of solid skin also depends on the strength of the solid skin. However, the strength of the solid skin has not been known. Therefore the authors have attempted to measure the strength and the distance of the solid skin movement in six different cast irons with varying shrinkage characteristics in order to discuss a relationship between the strength and the movement of the solid skin.

inoculated low carbon f.g. iron magnesium treated spheroidal graphite cast iron (s.g. iron) of high carbon content E) magnesium treated low carbon s.g. iron F) calcium treated high carbon s.g. iron All irons were melted in a 50 kg induction furnace with magnesia lining. The chemical composition of the materials used is shown in Table 1. The weight of a melt was 45 kg. For irons of high carbon content, 42.2 kg pig iron and 3.8 kg steel were charged. For irons of low carbon content, 36.0 kg pig iron and 9.0 kg steel were charged. When the melt was heated at 1400C, ferro silicon was added. All melts were heated to 1500C for 10 min and then tapped into a ladle. For the uninoculated f.g. iron, the melt was allowed to cool down to the pouring temperature. For the inoculated f,g. iron, 0.5% ferro silicon containing 75% silicon was added to the melt. For the magnesium treated s.g. iron, 2.25% ferro silicon-magnesium alloy containing 20% magnesium was added, and then 0.5% ferro silicon was added. For the calcium treated s. g. iron, an alloy containing calcium and magnesium fluoride and rare earth elements was added, and then 0.5% ferro silicon was added. When the temperature of the melt in the ladle dropped to 1 350C, the melt was poured into a mold. At the same time, 30 mm diameter bars were cast in the case of f.g. iron, and one inch keel blocks were cast in the case of s.g. iron. Chemical compositions and mechanical properties were examined. Table 2 shows typical results. 2. Shearing Rupture Test of Solid Skin A block of 80 x 80 mm width and 100 mm height was cast with an open riser. Figure 1 shows the mold. The mold was made by self-hardening sand (Nprocess). During molding, a steel bar of 20 mm diameter was positioned at 10 mm from the mold cavity. The load was applied to the steel bar by an oil cylinder. The horizontal arrow in Fig. 1 shows the direction of the load. The oil cylinder had
Table 1. Chemical composition of materials.

II. Experimental

Procedure
%)

1. Melting The cast irons used in this study were as follows : A) uninoculated flake graphite cast iron (f.g. iron) of high carbon content B) uninoculated low carbon f.g. iron
*

**

Originally published in Imono (The Journal of The Japan Foundrymen'sSociety), 54 (1978), 240, in Japanese. English version received September 12, 1978. Formerly Mechanical Engineering Research Laboratory, Hitachi Ltd. Now at Hitachi Research Laboratory, Hitachi Ltd. Horiguchi, Katsuta 312.

Research

Article

(1)

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Table

2.

Chemical

composition

and

mechanical

properties

of

irons.

Fig.

1.

Mold for

rupture

test

of solid skin.

(unit: mm)

Fig. 2.

Mold for measurement (unit: mm)

of movement

of solid

skin.

to those in Fig. 1 were used in order to relate the distance measurement to that of the rupture test. However, a 7.2 mm diameter hole was drilled at the position of the steel rod and a 7 mm diameter silica rod was inserted. The end of the silica rod was placed 5 mm from the mold wall into the casting. A dial gauge was attached to the other end of rod for a distance measurement. Furthermore, sheathed silica tubes and thermocouples were placed in the same mold, the temperature of the casting and the riser being simultaneously measured.
Photo. 1. Shearing rupture test apparatus for solid skin.

III.

Experimental

Result

40 mm internal diameter and was operated by an oil pump with 70 kgf cm2 maximum pressure. A pressure and flow regulator were located between the oil pump and the cylinder. The speed of the cylinder head was controlled to 3.5 mm/sec and the maximum load were regulated at 650 kg. The load was measured by a pressure pick up which was positioned in the oil cylinder. The moving distance of the steel rod was measured by a linear type potentiometer placing at the cylinder head. The load and the moving distance of the cylinder head were recorded by a two pen recorder. Photograph 1 shows the apparatus, on which the mold is setting. 3. Measurementof Moving Distance of Solid Skin As shown in Fig. 2, a mold and a casting similar

Figure 3 shows typical cooling curves for the casting and the riser of magnesium treated low carbon s.g. iron. It was observed that the temperature of the riser was higher than that of the casting until 12 min after pouring. The relationship between the load applied to the steel rod and the moving distance of the steel rod is shown in Fig. 4. In this figure, the maximum load represents the rupture load of the solid skin. It is seen that the load after the rupture of the solid skin decreases rapidly for the f.g. iron, but gradually for the s. g. iron. Figure 5 shows the rupture load of the solid skin as a function of time. The strength of the solid skin was low for all the irons immediately after pouring, but increased rapidly after a certain period of time. The carbon content had little effect on the strength of the solid skin. The solid skin strength of the in-

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Fig.

3.

Cooling nesium

curves treated

of casting 9Qand riser Q2 . low carbon s.g, iron)

(MagPhoto. 2.
Vertical sectioned face of casting.

Fig . 4.

Relation head.

of

load

to

moving

distance

of

cylinder

Fig.

6(a).

Cooling load

curves, skin.

moving

distance

and

rupture

of solid

Fig.

5.

Relationship and time after

between pouring.

rupture

load

of

solid

skin

oculated iron was lower than that of the uninoculated irons immediately after pouring, but the former became stronger as the solidification progressed. The solid skin strength of the s. g. iron was lower than that of the f.g. iron. The solid skin strength of the magnesium treated s.g. iron increased rapidly and was higher than that of the calcium treated s, g. iron at any time. Photograph 2 shows the vertically sectioned face of a typical casting. Gaps were observed between the steel rod and the casting. The compressed sand

Fig.

6 (b).

Cool ing load

curves, skin.

moving

distance

and

rupture

of solid

had been filled up in the gaps. Figures 6 (a) and 6 (b) show the relationship between the strength of the solid skin, the cooling curve, and the moving distance of the solid skin. These figures show that the solid skin moved toward the casting at the first stage after pouring, and then moved

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toward the mold after a certain period of time. The distance of movement toward the casting was larger for the s.g. irons than for the f.g. irons, and was little affected by either the carbon content, inoculation or the spheroidal agent. The solid skin began to move toward the mold in 3.5 min after pouring for the f.g. irons and in 6.0 min for the s.g. irons, and the movement was affected neither by carbon content nor treatment. The distance of movement toward the mold increased in the order of uninoculated f.g. iron, inoculated f.g. iron, calcium treated s.g, iron, and magnesium treated s.g. iron. Discussion In the present shearing rupture test of the solid skin, the following forces are considered to be applied to the steel rod in opposition to the load. a) static hydraulic force of the melt b) adhesive force of the melt c) compressive force of the melt d) shearing force of the solid skin It is, however, assumed that forces a), b) and c) would be small, and force d) be large. The shearing force, in general, is a function of shearing strength and thickness. However, the shearing strength of the solid skin is considered to be little affected by the kind of an iron, because the strength near solidification temperature is discussed here. Therefore, it can be concluded that the strength of the solid skin corresponds to its own thickness. Thus, the strength of the solid skin in this study can be related to the thickness of the solid skin. It was observed that the strength of the solid skin of the s.g. iron was lower than that of the f.g. iron. This is in agreement with the thermal analysis by W. S. Pellini13~ and I.C.H. Hughes,14~ who indicated that the s.g. iron solidified mushier than the f.g. iron did. It was observed that the solid skin strength of the inoculated f.g. iron was lower than that of the uninoculated iron. This also corresponds to the result by H. D. Merchant15~ that the width of mushy zone increased by inoculation. However, the reason why the solid skin strength of the calcium treated s.g. iron was higher than that of magnesium treated s.g. iron, has not been clarified yet. The movement of the solid skin may arise from the following forces : a) static hydraulic force b) expansive force due to graphitization in the casting c) expansive force of sand heated by the melt. It was observed that the solid skin moved toward the casting immediately after pouring. At this stage, the castings were liquid, surrounded with very thin solid skin. Thus, the expansive force of the sand was higher than the static hydraulic force, or the strength of the solid skin, so that the solid skin moved toward the castings. In this study, the solid skin moved toward the casting immediately after pouring because the mold was made by the N-process and it had high strength. It has been known, however, that the solid skin moved toward the mold when the low strength Iv.

mold such as the green sand mold was used. After a certain period of time, the solid skin moved back toward the mold. At this stage, the expansive force of graphitization increased rapidly and overcame the strength of the solid skin or the mold . Figure 7 shows the relationship between the total distance of the movement toward the mold and the strength of the solid skin in 4.5 min after pouring when the solid skin began to move toward the mold. It is found in Fig. 7 that the movement distance of the solid skin toward the mold was larger as its strength was lower. Figure 7 also shows that the movement distance of the solid skin of the high carbon irons was larger than that of the low carbon irons. This may be due to larger amount of graphitization taken place in the case of higher carbon irons. For s.g. irons, the movement distance of the solid skin toward the mold was larger in the calcium treated iron than in the magnesium treated iron. The reason for this difference has not been clarified yet, but strength of the solid skin may make significant contribution. It has been known that the volume shrinkage of the calcium treated s. g. iron was smaller than that of the magnesium treated iron. This is in agreement with the fact that the movement distance of the solid skin toward the mold was smaller in the calcium treated iron than in the magnesium treated iron. V. Conclusion The strength and the moving distance of the solid skin were measured for six types of cast irons solidified in the self-hardening sand mold. The results are summarized as follows : (1) The strength of the solid skin was low immediately after pouring, but began to increase rapidly after a certain period of time. (2) Carbon content had little effect on the strength of the solid skin. (3) The strength of the solid skin immediately after pouring depended on the iron properties, increasing in the order of magnesium treated s.g. iron, calcium treated s.g. iron, inoculated f.g. iron, and uninoculated f.g. iron.

Fig. 7.

Relationship between moving distance of solid sk in toward mold and rupture load of solid skin in 4.5 min after pouring.

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(4) The solid skin moved toward the casting immediately after pouring, and then it moved back toward the mold after a certain period of time. The distance of the movement toward the mold was larger for the iron with higher strength solid skin as well as higher carbon content.

REFERENCES 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) S. Katajima, K. Shigematsu and A. Satoyoshi : Imono (J. Japan Foundrymen'sSoc.), 45 (1973), 945. T. Tanaka : Imono (J. Japan Foundrymen'sSoc.), 45 (1973). 90. B. C. Yearley: Foundry,93 (1965), No. 3, 62 and No. 4, 76. R. P. Dunphy and W. S. Pellini: Trans. Amer. Found. Soc., 60 (1952), 783. K.E.L. Nicholas and I.C.H. Hughes: British Foundryman,

51 (1958), 428. 6) J. Gittus : Iron Steel, 28 (1955), 331 and 387. 7) W. Patterson and S. Engler : Giesserei,48 (1961), 633. 8) A. G. Fuller: British Foundryman,52 (1959), 400. 9) W. A. Schmidt and H. F. Taylor: Trans. Amer. Found. Soc., 60 (1952), 211 and 61 (1953), 131. 10) H. D. Merchant and J. F. Wallace: Trans. Amer. Found. Soc., 68 (1960), 429. 11) R. P. Dunphy, C. G. Ackerlind and W. S. Pellini: Foundry, 82 (1954), No. 6, 108. 12) K. Li and E. Kayama: Imono (J. Japan Foundrymen'sSoc.), 47 (1975), 549. 13) R. P. Dunphy and W. S. Pellini: Trans. Amer. Found. Soc., 59 (1951), 425 and 60 (1952), 775. 14) A. G. Fuller and I.C.H. Hughes: BCIRA j., 7 (1958), 288. 15) H. D. Merchant: " Studies in the Solidification of Gray Iron Castings," Doctoral Dissertation, (1961).