Unit-2

Metal Casting
➢ Appraisal of various Casting Processes:
Pouring molten metal into mould cavity and after solidification The metal assumes shape
o mould cavity product is called casting
Types of casting:
1. Sand casting 2. Shell moulding 3. Ceramic shell casting
4. Investment casting 5. Centrifugal casting 6. Permanent mould casting
7. Gravity die casting 8. Low pressure die casting 9. Hot chamber die casting
10. Cold chamber die casting
What is Pattern?

For making the casting product in the casting process, a pattern is used to make a mold cavity
in the sand.
A pattern is similar to the casting product but not exactly the same size, given some allowance
because of the shrinkage property of cast metal.
The pattern materials can be made of wood, metal, plastic, compound, or wax.
Usually, the patterns are made of wood only because they are cheap, and they are also easy to
make.
Pattern Allowance

A pattern is a replica of casting which is used to make a mold cavity but it has slightly large
dimensions.
This change in the pattern is due to when the cast solidifies, it shrinks at some limit due to
metal shrinkage property at the time of cooling.
So to compensate for this, a pattern is made a little bigger.
These slight changes in the pattern are known as pattern allowance.
Types of Pattern Allowance

There are the following types of pattern allowances are used in the casting process.
• Shrinkage Allowance
• Draft Allowance
• Machining Allowance
• Deformation or Camber Allowance
• Shake or Rapping Allowance
Shrinkage Allowance

Shrinkage is defined as the reduction during the cooling or solidification process.

This is a common property of all materials.

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The magnitude of shrinkage varies from material to
material, but each and every material has to shrinks.
For avoiding this, the pattern is made larger than the required
size of the casting product with the help of the shrink rule.
Then the difference between actual pattern size and required
casting size is known as shrinkage allowance.
The shrinkage allowance is given in the pattern in mm/m
(millimeter/meter).
Which is different for different materials.
Shrinkage Allowances For Different Materials
There are following some shrinkage allowance given inside the pattern for different materials
are used in casting.
1. For grey cast iron shrinkage allowance is given from 6.95 to 10.5mm/m.
2. For white cast iron and steel, it is given up to 20.8 mm/m.
3. For Aluminium shrinkage allowance given 17 mm/m and for aluminum alloy given
from 12.5 to 15 mm/m
4. For brass, it is given up to 15.3 mm/m.
Draft Allowance

During removing the pattern from the mold cavity, the parallel
surfaces in the direction in which the pattern is withdrawn are
slightly damaged and also converted into slightly tapered surfaces.
To compensate for these changes, these parallel surfaces on the
pattern are slightly tapered by about 1 to 2 degrees.
By which removal of the pattern from the mold cavity becomes
easy and suitable and also does not affect the casting in any way.
These small changes in the surface of the pattern are called draft
allowances to protect it from damage.
Machining Allowance

As we know that the product of the casting process gives a

very poor surface finish, so the surface of the final product of
casting always is rough.
But we required a product that is polished and has a good
surface finish.
So in order to have a good surface finish, the final product of
the casting is machined with the help of a lathe
machine, milling machine, shaper machine, slotting
machine with these processes such as turning, grinding,
shaping, drilling to obtain a surface finish.
This allowance is added to the basic size of the pattern.
It ranges from less than 2 mm to 15 mm depending on the
size and material of the pattern.

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Deformation or Camber Allowance

When the metal is in the cooling process,

stress is developed during the solidifying of
this metal due to uneven metal thickness in
the casting process.
This stress can cause deformation or bend in
the casting.

To avoid this bending or deformation in castings, camber is provided in the opposite direction
so that when bending occurs due to uneven thickness of metal, the casting product becomes
straight.
These small changes in a pattern to avoid bending in the casting process are called bending or
camber allowances.
Shake or Rapping Allowance

When the pattern is to be removed from the sand of the

casting, a slight shake is required to remove the pattern from
the sand and this will increase the dimension of the casting
slightly.
To avoid this increase in the dimension of the casting, the
pattern is made slightly smaller than the casting.
These small changes in the dimensions of the pattern in the
casting process are called the shaking or rapping allowance.

➢ Design Considerations for Casting:

1. Pattern allowances: Free withdrawal of pattern, Draft on the vertical faces of casting based
on surface height. For internal surfaces, draft values should be higher than those for external
ones. Loose parts and complex parting lines should be avoided, if possible, on the patterns.
2. Avoiding large horizontal surfaces on the top of mould, since gas evolved by the metal and
in the mould may be trapped on the surfaces causing cavities and pinholes.
3. Avoiding abrupt changes in the path of molten metal.
4. Equal rate of cooling in all section of castings and allow unrestricted shrinkage.
5. Form of casting should be such that all feeding heads, risers, runners, sprues and gates can
be easily cut off, all cores knocked out and core irons removed.
6. One datum surface along each of the three space coordinates.
7. The size and weight of casting, type of alloy employed, and the casting method should be
considered for designing wall thickness.
8. Rib design depends on the overall dimensions of the casting and their size is in definite
relation to wall thickness.

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9. Corner radii at junctions may range from 2 mm to 120 mm depending on overall dimensions
and the angle between them.
10. Rate of cooling for outside corners is always higher than that of inside corners.
11. Bosses are provided at places where holes are to be drilled.

➢ Use of Solidification Simulation in Sand Casting:

Casting simulation is a powerful tool to visualize mould filling, solidification and cooling,
predicting defect location. It helps in Trouble shooting existing castings and developing new
castings.
In this day and age, customers, especially in the automotive industry, would be more likely to
request castings with high quality (Q), quick delivery (D) and at a low cost (C). A tool that
foundries may use to achieve the three goals previously mentioned is to apply Computer Aided
Engineering into their process, in this case is by using computer simulation software for
casting.
The procedure of using casting simulation software may be explained as follows
1) Build a model of the casting design including the gating system and all other material used
with the casting, such as chills, cores, sleeves, etc. This step may be done by using a CAD
(Computer Aided Design) system.
2) Input required data needed for computation, such as the physical, mechanical and heat
properties of the metal, properties of the mold or die, pouring temperature, pouring time,
pressure, etc.
3) Computation of the simulation, which different casting simulation programs may have
different approaches in simulating the results. Some well-known approaches, for example are,
the numerical simulation approaches (Finite Element and Finite Difference Methods), the
geometrical approach, the meshless method etc.
4) Simulated results and interpretation of results. The results from the simulation program may
be shown in the form of graphs or colored figures with numerical results depending on what
criterion is used, such as the temperatures in each section of the casting at a given time,
solidification times, hot spots, material density, etc. These results must be translated into useful
information to evaluate if a casting is sound or not, or what must be done to improve the casting
design and start from step 1 once again.
Benefits of casting simulation
1) Customer satisfaction 2) Faster development 3) Lower rejection
4) Higher yield 5) Cost reduction
Disadvantages of casting simulation:
1) Trained manpower required 2) Technical support 3) Maintenance
4) Initial cost

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Some of the Casting Simulation software’s are listed below:
AUTO CAST- BOMBAY C
AP/WRAFTS -USA
CAST FLOW -FINLAND
JS CAST -AUSTRALIA
MAGM SOFT -JAPAN
MAVIS -GERMANY
➢ Product design rules for sand casting:
1. Avoid Sharp Angles and Multiple-Section Joints.
Metal structure is affected by the shape of the casting section. Solidification of the
molten metal begins at the mould face, from which crystals grow into the casting at right
angles. A straight section of constant thickness (see Fig. a) results in uniform cooling, which
will in turn produce uniform material properties. On the other hand, sharp angles can cause
large temperature variations in the casting, which often lead to casting defects. Also, chilled
areas arise on external corners from being exposed to two cooling planes (see Fig. b). The
resulting grain structure is not homogeneous and, in particular, weak areas in the casting are
created in the areas where the cooling rate is excessive.

A well-designed casting brings the minimum number of sections together at

intersections and avoids acute angles. Wherever a number of sections converge, the
appropriate solution is to create a large hole like the centre of a web.(See below fig.)

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2. Design Sections of Uniform Thickness
Design the casting so that all of the section thicknesses are as consistent as possible.
This promotes even cooling of the casting, reducing the likelihood of defects. If larger masses
of metal are unavoidable, the designer should make them accessible for feeding either
directly or with a riser. Designing for uniform thickness also reduces the amount of material
in a casting, saving weight and reducing machining, and results in a stronger casting.
However, if section thicknesses are too small, then feeding problems may occur. The
increased cost of scrap caused by incomplete feeding (caused by metal freezing and blocking
the section from being completely filled) will normally be higher than the material savings in
a lighter casting.
3. Proportion Inner Wall Thickness
Inner sections in a casting cool more slowly than a section exposed to the mold face.
If a complex geometry is necessary, the designer should reduce the inner section thickness to
80% of the outer wall thickness. Also, core section thicknesses should always be greater than
the section thickness of the surrounding metal. If the core is too small, it will become
overheated and slow down the solidification rate of the surrounding metal, leading to the
possibility of defects.
4. Consider Metal Shrinkage in the Design
Almost all alloys shrink as they solidify. While the patternmaker is the one affected
by the shrinkage, the designer must still compensate for it in the design. In a good design, the
section thicknesses decrease as the distance from the feed system or riser increases. In order
to accomplish this, the designer must be familiar enough with the casting process to be able
to visualize how the casting will be fed and adjust the casting's dimensions to assist the metal
flow. The greater the shrinkage of the metal, the more the designer must consider it when
designing the casting.
5. Use a Simple Parting Line
A flat plane, known as a straight parting line, separating the two mold halves, results
in more economical casting than a tiered or contoured separating surface. More complex

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parting lines often result in fewer parts per mold, more costly patterns, less accuracy, and
increased scrap. Also, the parting line should be positioned so that it has minimal effect on
the functional characteristics of the part.
6. Define Appropriate Machining Allowances
The machining allowance is material added to the casting to compensate for
dimensional and surface variations in the as-cast part. The amount of stock added is a
function of the size of the surface to be machined and to a lesser degree the machining
method and the final accuracy required. Minimal additional material is needed if only
flatness, possibly with some unmachined surface areas, is desired. A larger allowance is
required if the full surface is to be machined without any imperfections. Normal machining
allowances vary from 0.25cm for small castings (< 15 cm) to as much as 2.5 cm for large
castings (>250 cm).
7. Use Economical Tolerances
The tolerances achievable by a foundry vary depending on the types of processes
employed at the facility. For example, automated moulding machines are capable of
producing moulds with tighter tolerances than might be produced by hand. Conservative
tolerances, which are readily achievable by most foundries and are therefore the most
economical. Tighter tolerances may be obtained by machining, which significantly increases
the cost of the casting.