CASTING

Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering

 CASTING

A manufacturing process in which molten metal is poured

into a mould, having the shape of the desired product,

and then allowed to solidify.

Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering 2

Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering 3
 Casting Process

• Pattern making

• Mould making

• Core making

• Metal is heated above its melting point

• Molten metal is poured into mould

• Metal solidifies and conforms to the shape of the mould

• Solidified part is removed from mould

• Post casting operations – Cleaning & Machining

Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering 4

Two Box Moulding Procedure or
Making a Green Sand Mould

Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering 5

Two Box Moulding Procedure or
Making a Green Sand Mould

Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering 6

Two Box Moulding Procedure or
Making a Green Sand Mould

Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering 7

Two Box Moulding Procedure or
Making a Green Sand Mould

Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering 8

Molding Sand Composition
The main ingredients of moulding sand are:

• Silica sand (75%) – Constitutes the major ingredient, gives high

temperature withstanding ability to the moulding sand.

• Binder(8 – 15%) - Clay is the most commonly used binder. It imparts

necessary bonding strength to silica sand grains.

• Moisture(6 – 8%) - Clay acquires its bonding action only in the presence of

the required amount of moisture or water.

• Additives(5%) – Additives such as limestone, soda potash, magnesia,

certain oils etc. enhance the properties of the moulding sand.

Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering 13

Properties of a Molding Sand

The desirable properties possessed by moulding sand are

1. Permeability or Porosity

2. Refractoriness

3. Adhesiveness

4. Cohesiveness

5. Flowability

6. Collapsibility

Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering 14

 PATTERN
• A pattern is a replica of the casting to be made.

• Using pattern, impressions or mould cavity can be formed in

the moulding sand.

Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering 19

Pattern materials
Wood
• Easy to work, cheap & readily available
• Can take up any shape easily and is light in weight
• Disadvantage is it is readily affected by moisture and wears out
quickly as a result of sand abrasion.
Metal
• Do not change their shape when subjected to moist conditions
• Used when the castings are large in number
• High surface finish and dimensional accuracy
• High cost, greater weight and tendency to rust

Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering 20

Pattern materials

Plastics
•Do not absorb moisture, light in weight and have a very
smooth and glossy surface.
• Because of their glossy surface they can be withdrawn from
the mould very easily without injuring the mould.

Plaster
• Easy to prepare but not durable, gets affected by moisture &
hard ramming.
• Intricate shapes can be easily made.

Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering 21

 Single piece pattern.
• A pattern which is made without any joints, partings or loose pieces
in its construction is called a single-piece or solid pattern. This is the
simplest of all the patterns and is generally contained only in the
drag during the moulding process.

Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering 22

Split pattern
• Used whenever the casting has a contour or irregular shape.

• Parting line of the pattern forms the parting line of the casting.

• Dowel pins are used for proper alignment.

• The lower half is contained in the drag and the upper half in the cope

Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering 23

Pattern Making Allowances

1. Shrinkage Allowance

2. Machining or Finishing Allowance

3. Draft or Taper Allowance

4. Shake or Rapping Allowance

5. Camber or Distortion Allowance

6. Mould Wall Movement Allowance

Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering 24
3. Draft or Taper Allowance

• When the pattern is withdrawn from the mould there is always

a possibility of damaging the vertical surfaces and edges of the
mould.

• This difficulty can be overcome if the vertical surfaces of a

pattern are tapered slightly which is known as draft allowance.

• It facilitates easy withdrawal of pattern from the mould. It may

be expressed either in degrees or in terms of linear measures.

Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering 27

5. Distortion Allowance

• Some castings because of their size and shape tend to get

distorted during solidification period due to the thermal
stresses developed in them.

• The shape of the pattern is thus bent in the opposite

direction to overcome this distortion. This is called distortion
allowance
Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering 29
Cores in the Mold Cavity

• The mold cavity provides the external surfaces of the cast part

• In addition, a casting may have internal or hollow surfaces,

which is determined by a core, placed inside the mold cavity
to define the interior geometry of part

• Since cores are subjected to severe conditions they must be

strong enough to resist erosion by the molten metal, must
have adequate permeability, should be highly refractory in
nature and must have good collapsibility to minimize strains
on the casting and to facilitate their removal from the casting.

Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering 31

Moulding:

Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering

 Defects in casting
• Blowholes
– Smooth round holes appearing as a group of small holes
below the surface of casting
– Due to entrapped bubble of gases

• Scabs
– Projection on the casting that occur when a portion of the
mould lifts and metal flows.

• Drop
– Occurs when upper surface of the mold cracks and pieces
of sand fall in to the molten metal

• Shrinkage cavity
– Void created in the casting mainly due to uncontrolled
solidification of the metal

Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering 33

• Hot Tears
• -They are internal or external cracks having ragged
edges occurring immediately after the metal has
been solidified

• Shifts
– An external defect caused due to core
misplacement or mismatching of top and bottom
parts of the casting

• Fin
– A thin projection of the metal, caused due to
incorrect assembling of molds or cores.
• Swell
– Enlargement of metal cavity by metal pressure,
caused by improper ramming.
Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering 34
 Forging

Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering 35

 Forging

Forging involves heating a metal stock to a desired

temperature, enabling it to acquire sufficient
plasticity, followed by operations such as
hammering, bending, pressing etc. to give it the
required shape. These operations can be carried out
either by hand hammers or by power hammers.

Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering 36

Smithing is a hand forging operation wherein small parts are
produced by heating the metal stock in an open fire or
hearth and then working on it with hand hammers to give
the desired shape.

Forging involves heating the metal stock in a closed furnace

and working on it with the help of power driven hammers to
give the desired shape. It is generally used in the production
of heavy parts

Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering 37

 HOT METAL

Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering 38

Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering 39
 LEAF HOOK

Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering 40

Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering 41
Characteristics of Forging:

• Forging refines the structure of the metal by smashing up large

grain formations and closing up any cavities that may be present in
the metal.
• In forging the grains rearrange themselves according to the shape
of the object hence, forged components exhibit directional
properties indicated by the flow lines which increases the strength
of the component.
• In forging certain mechanical properties, resistance to shock and
vibration are improved and cracks and blow holes are welded up,
hence the component will be free from internal defects

Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering 42

Characteristics of Forging:

• Forging produces poor surface finish due to scale or oxide

formation at high temperatures with the result the dimensional
accuracy of the components is difficult to maintain.

• Forging is a costlier process requiring expensive tools and dies,

hence it is suitable only for mass production work.

Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering 43