Lecture No.
5 Casting
Lecture No.5
Sand Casting
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1.5Patterns
Patterns define the external shape of the cast part. Materials used to make
patterns include wood, plastics, and metals. Selection of the appropriate pattern
material depends to a large extent on the total quantity of castings to be made.
Wood Patterns: is a common pattern material because it is easily shaped. Its
disadvantages are that it tends to warp, and it is abraded by the sand being compacted
around it, thus limiting the number of times it can be reused.
Metal patterns are more expensive to make, but they last much longer.
Plastics Patterns represent a compromise between wood and metal.
There are various types of patterns, as illustrated in Figure 1.5:
(1) Solid Pattern : The simplest is made of one piece, called a solid pattern.
Although it is the easiest pattern to fabricate, it is not the easiest to use in making the
sand mold. Determining the location of the parting line between the two halves of the
mold for a solid pattern can be a problem, and incorporating the gating system and
sprue into the mold is left to the judgment and skill of the foundry worker.
Consequently, solid patterns are generally limited to very low production quantities.
(2) Split patterns : consist of two pieces, dividing the part along a plane
coinciding with the parting line of the mold. Split patterns are appropriate for
complex part geometries and moderate production quantities.
(3) match-plate patterns : are used. In match-plate patterns, the two pieces of the
split pattern are attached to opposite sides of a wood or metal plate. Holes in the plate
allow the top and bottom (cope and drag) sections of the mold to be aligned
accurately.
(4) Cope-and-drag patterns are similar to match-plate patterns except that split
pattern halves are attached to separate plates, so that the cope and drag sections of the
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Lecture No.5 Casting
mold can be fabricated independently, instead of using the same tooling for both. Part
(d) of the figure includes the gating and riser system in the cope-and-drag patterns.
Figure 1.5 Types of patterns used in sand casting: (a) solid pattern, (b) split pattern,
(c) match-plate pattern, and (d) cope-and-drag pattern.
1.5Foundry sands:
Foundry sands are silica (SiO2) or silica mixed with other minerals. the
important features of the sand include grain size, distribution of grain size in the
mixture, Small grain size provides a better surface finish on the cast part, but large
grain size is more permeable (to allow escape of gases during pouring)., the grains of
sand are held together by a mixture of water and bonding clay.
A typical mixture (by volume) is 90% sand, 3% water, and 7% clay. Other
bonding agents can be used in place of clay, including organic resins (e.g., phenolic
resins) and inorganic binders (e.g., sodium silicate and phosphate). Besides sand and
binder, additives are sometimes combined with the mixture to enhance properties
such as strength and/or permeability of the mold.
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1.5.5Several indicators are used to determine the
quality of the sand mold:
1. Strength: the mold’s ability to maintain its shape and resist erosion caused by
the flow of molten metal; it depends on grain shape, adhesive qualities of the binder,
and other factors;
2. Permeability: capacity of the mold to allow hot air and gases from the casting
operation to pass through the voids in the sand;
3. Thermal Stability: ability of the sand at the surface of the mold cavity to
resist cracking and buckling upon contact with the molten metal;
4. Collapsibility: ability of the mold to give way and allow the casting to shrink
without cracking the casting; it also refers to the ability to remove the sand from the
casting during cleaning; and
5. Reusability: can the sand from the broken mold be reused to make other
molds.
1.5.5Sand molds are often classified as:
1. Green sand molds: Are made of a mixture of sand, clay, and water, the word
green referring to the fact that the mold contains moisture at the time of pouring.
Green-sand molds possess sufficient strength for most applications, good
collapsibility, good permeability, good reusability, and are the least expensive of the
molds. They are the most widely used mold type, but they are not without problems.
Moisture in the sand can cause defects in some castings, depending on the metal and
geometry of the part.
2. A dry-sand mold is made using organic binders rather than clay, and the mold
is baked in a large oven at temperatures ranging from (200 to 320 ). Oven baking
strengthens the mold and hardens the cavity surface. A dry sand mold provides better
dimensional control in the cast product, compared to green-sand molding. However,
dry-sand molding is more expensive, and production rate is reduced because of
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Lecture No.5 Casting
drying time. Applications are generally limited to medium and large castings in low
to medium production rates.
3. Cement bonded sand molds: A mixture of silica sand containing 8-12%
cement and 4-6% water is used. When making the mold, the cement-bonded sand
mixture must be allowed to harden first, before the pattern is withdrawn. The mold
obtained is then allowed to cure for about 3-5 days. Large castings with intricate
shapes, accurate dimensions and smooth surfaces are usually produced by this
method. The only shortcoming being the long time required for the molding process.
1.5Foundry furnace :
Selection of the most appropriate furnace type depends on factors such as the
casting alloy; its melting and pouring temperatures; capacity requirements of the
furnace; costs of investment, operation, and maintenance; and environmental
pollution considerations.
1.5.5The types of furnaces most commonly used in foundries are:
(1) Cupolas furnace:
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Figure 4.4 Cupola used for melting cast iron. Furnace shown is typical for a small
foundry and omits details of emissions control system required in a modern cupola.
(2) Electric-Arc Furnaces
(3) Induction Furnaces: An induction furnace uses alternating current passing
through a coil to develop a magnetic field in the metal, and the resulting induced
current causes rapid heating and melting of the metal. Features of an induction
furnace for foundry operations are illustrated in Figure (4.5). The electromagnetic
force field causes a mixing action to occur in the liquid metal. All of this results in
molten metals of high quality and purity, and induction furnaces are used for nearly
any casting alloy when these requirements are important. Melting steel, cast iron, and
aluminum alloys are common applications in foundry work.
Figure 4.5: Induction furnace.
1.5Cleaning of Castings:
After the casting has solidified and been removed from the mold, a number of
additional steps are usually required. These operations include:
1. Trimming (involves removal of sprues, runners, risers, parting-line flash, fins,
chaplets, and any other excess metal from the cast part)
2. Removal of core, feeder etc.
3. Surface cleaning
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Lecture No.5 Casting
4. Finishing,( the end product final finish is provided by machining, polishing,
buffing, chemical treatment, heat treatment, etc).
5.5 Inspection of casting:
Generally the inspection of castings is carried out to ascertain the required surface
finish, dimensional accuracy, various mechanical and metallurgical properties and
soundness. various tests used for inspection of castings are:
1. Measurement of the final dimensions
2. Measurement of Surface finish such as roughness tester,
3. Non-destructive testing :visual inspection to detect obvious defects such as
misruns, cold shuts, and severe surface flaws; pressure testing—to locate leaks in the
casting; radiographic methods (X-rays), magnetic particle tests, the use of fluorescent
penetrants, and supersonic testing to detect either surface or internal defects in the
casting, as well as to metallurgical, chemical, physical, tests .
4. Destructive testing mechanical testing to determine properties such as tensile
strength and hardness.
