Casting process

Casting process
• It generally means pouring molten metal into a mould with a cavity of
the shape to be made, and allowing it to solidify. When solidified, the
desired metal object is taken out from the refractory mould either by
breaking the mould or taking the mould apart.

• The solidified object is called casting.

Applications
Typical applications of sand casting process are
cylinder blocks, liners, machine tool beds,
pistons, piston rings, mill rolls, wheels,
housings, water supply pipes and specials, and
bells.
Cast steel mill housing (280 tonnes)
 Advantage and Disadvantage
Advantages
• Any intricate shapes internal or external can be made with the casting process.
• It is possible to cast practically any material weather it is ferrous or non-ferrous.
• Tools required for casting are simple.
• Castings have no directional properties.
• Casting of any size and weight.

Disadvantages
• Dimensional accuracy and surface finish achieved by normal sand casting
process would not be adequate for final application in many cases.
• Casting process is labour intensive process like pattern preparation, mould
preparation and foundry mechanisation.
• Prone to defects specially in sand castings.
 Casting Terms
• Drag: Lower moulding flask.
• Cope: Upper moulding flask.
• Cheek: Intermediate moulding flask used in three piece moulding.
• Pattern: Pattern is a replica of the final object to be made with some
modifications. The mould cavity is made with the help of the pattern.
• Parting line: This is the dividing line between the two moulding flasks that
makes up the sand mould. In split pattern it is also the dividing line between the
two halves of the pattern.
• Bottom board: This is a board normally made of wood, which is used at the
start of the mould making. The pattern is first kept on the bottom board, sand is
sprinkled on it and then the ramming is done in the drag.
• Moulding sand: It is the freshly prepared refractory material used for making
the mould cavity.
 Casting Terms
• Pouring basin: A small funnel shaped cavity at the top of the mould into which
the molten metal is poured.
• Sprue: The passage through which the molten metal from the pouring basin
reaches the mould cavity. In many cases it controls the flow of metal into the
mould.
• Runner: The passageways in the parting plane through which molten metal
flow is regulated before they reach the mould cavity.
• Core: It is used for making hollow cavities in castings.
• Gate: The actual entry point through which molten metal enters mould cavity.
• Chill: Chills are metallic objects which are placed in the mould to increase the
cooling rate of castings to provide uniform or desired cooling rate.
• Riser: It is a reservoir of molten metal provided in the casting so that hot metal
can flow back into the mould cavity when there is a reduction in volume of
metal due to solidification.
 Cores
A core is a body made of refractory material, which is set into the prepared
mould before closing and pouring it, for forming through holes, recesses,
projections, undercuts and internal cavities.

chaplet

Fig. 1: Core held in cavity by chaplets

 Cores
Essential quality of a core

Severe thermal stresses

Cores
Severe mechanical stresses

• Dry strength of core must be greater than the mould.

• Good permeability to let mould gases escape from cavity.
• Smooth surface to ensure smooth casting.
• High refractoriness.
• High collapsibility to assist free contraction of solidifying material.
 Moulding material
Essential constituents- Silica sand, Binder, Additive and water

Silica sand- Main constituent of mould material because of its thermal and chemical stability

Binder- Act as bonding agent between sand particle, Bentonite clay is mostly used as binder

Additive- Enhance the properties of moulding sand

Coal particle- smoother mould surface, reduces the adherence of can particle with casting
Cereals- improves the strength of mouls

Typical green moulding sand for mild steel

Silica sand = 68 to 86%
Clay= 10 to 20%
Water = 3 to 6%
Additives= 1 to 6%
 Pattern
• A pattern is an element used for making cavities in the mould.
• It is not the exact replica of the desired casting.
• It slightly larger than the desired casting, due to various allowance.
• It may also have extensions to produce runner and gate during the moulding process.

Pattern material properties

 Cheap and readily repairable
 Easy to manufacture
 Light in weight and easy to handle
 Have high strength and have long life
 Surface should be smooth and wear resistant

The common material used in pattern making include ‘‘wood, metal

and plastic.
 Allowances in pattern

Shrinkage allowance
• Provided to compensate shrinkage of material during solid state cooling.
• Linear dimension of patterns are increased in respect of those of finished casting.
• It is given as mm/m and depends on coefficient of thermal expansion of material like

Machining allowance
• Provided to compensate machining requirement in casting.
• The machining allowance is added to all the surfaces that are to be machined.
• The amount of allowance depends upon material of casting, size, surface roughness required, degree of accuracy etc.
At the time of withdrawing the vertical faces of the pattern may damage the mould cavity.
To reduce this cause of damage, the vertical faces of the pattern are always tapered. This
provision is called draft allowance.

Typically it ranges from 1° to 3°.

Shake allowance
Before withdrawal of pattern from the sand mould, the pattern is shaked to enlarge the mould cavity
slightly, which facilitates its easy removal.
Since it enlarges the final casting made, it is desirable that the original pattern dimensions should be
reduced to account for this increase.

Distortion allowance
During solidification the casting may get distorted, particularly in case of long flat portions, V, U
sections or in a complicated casting which may have thin and long sections.
Types of pattern
 Test of fluidity
Fluidity is determined generally by spiral mold test. Fluidity index is the length of the metal in spiral passage.
 Test of mould

Permeability meter Mould harness

for measuring the tester for
permeability of measuring the
green sand strength mould
 Gating system

• Gating systems refer to all those elements, which are connected with
the flow of molten metal from the ladle to the mould cavity.
• Pouring basin,
• Sprue,
• Sprue base well,
• Runner,
• Runner extension,
• In-gate, and
Gating system
 Gating System
• Metal flow should be maintained in such a way that no mould erosion takes place.
• The gating system should ensure that enough molten metal reaches the mould cavity.
• The gating system design should be economical and easy to implement and remove
after casting solidification.
• The mould should be completely filled in the smallest time possible without having to
raise the metal temperatures or use higher metal heads.
• Unwanted material such as slag, dross and other mould material should not be
allowed to enter the mould cavity.
• The metal entry into the mould cavity should be properly controlled in such a way
that aspiration of the atmospheric air is prevented
 Solidification time
Chvorinov has shown that the solidification time of a casting is
proportional to the square of the ratio of volume to surface area of the
casting.

ts =

where ts = solidification time, s

V = volume of the casting
SA = surface area
k = mould constant
Mould constant usually depends upon
(a) Mould material
(b) Metal properties (including latent heat)
(c) Temperature
 Riser design

Since the metal in the riser must be last to solidify, to achieve directional solidification

In practice,
Shrinkage compensation

Compensated by riser

Compensated by
shrinkage allowance
 Solidification

Crystal that Grain

Liquid
Liquid form grain boundaries

Nuclei

Grains
Formation of Growth of nuclei into Completely
nuclei crystal solidified grains

Fig. 2: Growth of nuclei into crystal and grains.

 Fettling
Stages in fettling

• Knocking out of dry sand cores

• Removal of gates and risers
• Extraction of fins and unwanted projections at different places
• Cleaning of castings to fill cracks
• Straightening the warped or deformed casting
 Fettling
Knocking out of dry sand cores
• Knocking with iron bar
• Pneumatic and hydraulic devices may also be used heavier
cores

Removal of gates and risers

• Use of hammer and saws
• Flame cutting
• Abrasive cutting
• Plasma cut
 Cleaning or smoothening the casting
Tumbling
• Use of white iron pieces in tumbling barrel to
complete cleaning and polishing operation

Tumbling with hydro blast

• For more efficient cleaning and polishing high velocity stream
of water (100 m/sec) is used
• This method is better adapted for cleaning of non ferrous
casting
Cleaning with compressed air impact
• High velocity stream of compressed air along with abrasive
particles are directed towards casting.
• Sand is used as the abrasives.
 Casting Defects

• Gas defect- Blow holes, open blows and Air inclusions

• Shrinkage cavities
• Moulding material defect- Cuts & washes, Metal penetration, Runout, etc
• Pouring defect- Misrun and Coldshut
• Metallurgical defects- Hot tears
 Non Destructive Testing (NDT)

• Dye Penetrant Testing

• Fluorescent Powder Testing
• Magnetic Particle Inspection
• Radiographic Inspection
• Ultrasonic Testing
• Eddy Current Inspection

(c) McGrawHill Education New Delhi, Manufacturing

Technology Vol 1, Foundry, Forming and Welding by P N Rao
Simulation of casting process

Use of Magmasoft for casting process design

Simulation of the molten metal flow during the casting filling process
Thank you