1. Why does porosity have detrimental effects on the mechanical properties of castings?

Would physical properties, such as thermal and electrical conductivity, also be adversely
affected by porosity? Explain.

Pores are, in effect, internal discontinuities that are prone to propagate under external
stresses. Thus, the toughness of a material, for example, will decrease as a result of porosity.
Furthermore, the presence of pores in a metal part under tension requires that the material
around the pores support a greater load than if no pores were present; thus the strength and
elastic modulus are also lowered. Considering thermal and electrical conductivity, porosity
decreases both the thermal and electrical conductivity because of the presence of a vacuum or
air.

2. When designing patterns for casting, pattern makers use special rulers that automatically
incorporate solid shrinkage allowances into their designs; therefore, a 300-mm
patternmaker's ruler is longer than 300 mm. How long should a patternmaker's ruler be for (1)
aluminum castings, (2) malleable cast iron, and (3) high manganese steel?

From the following formula, L ruler = Lo (1 + shrinkage)

Shrinkage
Metal allowance, %
Aluminum 1.3
Malleable cast Iron 0.89
High-manganese steel 2.6

3. Describe the drawbacks to having a riser that is (a) too large and (b) too small.

If the drawbacks to having (a) a riser are mainly associated with defects in the casting, either
due to insufficient feeding of liquid metal to compensate for solidification shrinkage. The
development of shrinkage pores because the solidification front is not uniform. The
main drawbacks to having a riser (b) are the material in the riser is eventually scrapped and has
to be recycled. The riser that has (b) to be cut off the riser may interfere with solidification.
11. The figures below indicate various defects and discontinuities in cast products. Review
each one and offer design solutions to avoid them.

Most defects and discontinuities occur because the thinner sections of the casting solidify faster.
As a result, the thick sections will contract more than the thin sections will allow. This could lead
to residual tension stresses, fracture, shrinkage, voids and porosity. The fracture in (a) is caused
by high concentration of stresses at the corner. To avoid such fractures, you should add fillets to
inside corners.
The purpose of the riser in (b) is to serve as a reservoir of molten metal to supply the casting
with additional metal while it is experiencing shrinkage during solidification. Here, the runner
seems to be too narrow, so it solidifies early, prevents the riser from performing its function and
leads to fracture.
This could be remedied by using a thicker runner. To prevent the sink mark in (c) due to
shrinkage, you could add a chill or redesign the part to reduce the thickness at the intersection.
Cold tearing as in (d) happens in areas susceptible to tensile stresses during cooling if the part is
constrained from shrinking freely.