Pattern Allowance:

• Molten metal on cooling shrinks, therefore the final size of the

casting produced will be smaller than the cavity of the mould.
• Thus, it is necessary for a pattern maker to make a pattern of
the larger size than the size of the final casting, by an amount
equal to the shrinkage that takes place on solidification of
molten metal.
• In order to compensate for the known shrinkage of the metal,
the pattern maker uses the appropriate shrink scale (which is
longer than the ordinary rule of the same length), in laying out
the dimensions of a pattern.
• The shrink scales are graduated to shrinkage allowance
directly and are available in 300 mm to 500 mm in length.
 Unit-2
Patterns and Pattern Making - Casting
Pattern Allowance:

• While making patterns certain dimensional allowances must be given in the

pattern so that the casting obtained is of the required specifications.

•The Proper selection of allowances greatly helps in reduction of production costs
and Reduces rejections…
Allowances to be taken into consideration:

 Shrinkage or contraction allowances,

 Draft or taper allowance,
 Machining / surface finish allowance,
 Distortion of chamber allowance,
 Rapping or shaking allowance.
 Unit-2
Patterns and Pattern Making - Casting
Pattern Allowance:

Shrinkage or contraction allowances :

When a heated metal is allowed to cool, it shrinks or contracts. These shrinkage

allowances are provided to compensate these contractions. It happens in three
stages:

 The contraction of the liquid from the poring

temperature to the freezing temperature,
Compensated by riser
 The Contraction associated with the change
of phase from liquid to solid

 The contraction of the solid casting from the

freezing temperature to room temperature. Shrinkage allowance
Table 1: Contraction Allowance for Different Metals
 Unit-2
Patterns and Pattern Making - Casting
Draft or Taper Allowance:

Tapering is provided to the sides of the pattern that will allow the smooth withdrawal of
the pattern form the mould cavity without causing any damage to the edges of the mould
is known as draft allowance.
Taper is put on the surface parallel to the direction of the withdrawal of the pattern from
the mould cavity.
 Unit-2
Patterns and Pattern Making - Casting
Draft or Taper Allowance:

• It is the taper provided on vertical surfaces of a pattern to facilitate its removal

from the mould without excessive rapping or breakage of cavity edges. The
amount of taper varies with the type of pattern.
• The taper on the inner surfaces should be greater than on the outside surface.
•The amount of taper varies from 0.5° to 1.5°. It may be reduced to less than
0.5° for larger castings.
• The wooden patterns require more taper than metal patterns because of the
greater frictional resistance.
 Unit-2
Patterns and Pattern Making - Casting
Machining allowance:

 Usually the surface finish of a casting is too rough to be used in the same way as the
surface of the final product.
 Hence, further machining operations are required to produce the final product ,
 To compensate loss of such material for machining losses, machining allowances are
allowed.
 Unit-2
Patterns and Pattern Making - Casting
Machining allowance:

 Machining or finishing allowance is the extra material provided on certain

details of a casting so that the casting may be machined to exact dimensions. The
machining allowance depends on the following factors:
(i) Casting process
(ii) Size of the casting
(iii) Degree of finish
(iv) Machining method
(v) Metallic alloy from which the casting is made.
(vi) The amount of this allowance varies from 1.6 mm to 12.5 mm
(vii) The ferrous metals require more machining allowances than
non-ferrous metals.
 Unit-2
Patterns and Pattern Making - Casting
Distortion/ Camber allowance:

Some times castings get

distorted inside the camber
while cooling, due to typical
shape.
 Internal stresses,
 Non-uniform cooling of
casting.

To overcome distortion:
 Sufficient machining allowances are to be provided to cover the distortion
allowance.
 Providing suitable (camber)allowance on the pattern (Inverse Reflection)
 Unit-2
Patterns and Pattern Making - Casting
Distortion/ Camber allowance:

• This allowance is provided on the pattern to compensate for

possible distortion of the casting because of the unequal cooling

rates of different sections of the casting and uneven internal
stresses.
•Such an allowance depends on the judgement and experience of the
pattern maker, who understands the shrinkage characteristics of the
metal.
 Unit-2
Patterns and Pattern Making - Casting
Rapping or Shaking allowance:

• This allowance is provided to compensate for enlargement of the mould cavity

because of excessive rapping.
• This allowance is provided in the pattern to compensate for the rapping of
mould because the pattern is to be rapped before removing it from the mould.
• The contraction of metals/ alloys is always
volumetric, but the contraction allowances are
always expressed in linear measures.
 Unit-2
Patterns and Pattern Making - Casting
Distortion/ Camber allowance:

• This allowance is provided on patterns used for castings of such design in

which the contraction is not uniform throughout.
• For example:
• Consider a long I- Section beam having the top flange much thicker than the
bottom one, as shown in fig (a).
• The thinner flange will freeze and contract first and when the top flange freezes
it contracts more than the
 Unit-2
Patterns and Pattern Making - Casting
Rapping or Shaking allowance:

• This allowance is provided to compensate for enlargement of the mould cavity

because of excessive rapping.
• This allowance is provided in the pattern to compensate for the rapping of
mould because the pattern is to be rapped before removing it from the mould.
• In small and medium – sized castings, this allowance can be neglected. But in
larger casting this allowance is considered by making the part slightly smaller
than the casting (i.e., the allowance is a negative once as the pattern is made to
allow rapping operation).