Metallurgical Processes

Introduction to Metallurgical processes

Casting processes: Moulding materials and their requirements; Patterns:

Types and various pattern materials. Various casting methods: sand
casting, investment casting, pressure die casting, centrifugal casting,
continuous casting, thin roll casting; Mould design; Casting defects and
their remedies.

Metal forming processes: Various metal forming techniques and their

analysis, viz., forging, rolling, extrusion, wire drawing, sheet metal
working, spinning, swaging (Shaping of metal part by a swage rolling
motion, reduction in cross section of metal part), thread rolling; Metal
forming defects.

Metal joining processes: brazing, soldering, welding; Solid state welding

methods; resistance welding; arc welding; submerged arc welding; inert
gas welding; Welding defects, inspection.
 Metal casting processes
• Casting is one of the oldest manufacturing process. It is the first step in
making most of the products.

• Steps:
- Making mould cavity
- Material is first liquefied by properly heating it in a suitable furnace.
- Liquid is poured into a prepared mould cavity
- allowed to solidify
- product is taken out of the mould cavity, trimmed and made to shape

We should concentrate on the following for successful casting operation:

(i) Preparation of moulds of patterns
(ii) Melting and pouring of the liquefied metal
(iii) Solidification and further cooling to room temperature
(iv) Defects and inspection
Advantages
• Molten material can flow into very small sections so that intricate shapes can
be made by this process. As a result, many other operations, such as
machining, forging, and welding, can be minimized.
• Possible to cast practically any material: ferrous or non-ferrous.
• The necessary tools required for casting moulds are very simple and
inexpensive. As a result, for production of a small lot, it is the ideal process.
• There are certain parts (like turbine blades) made from metals and alloys that
can only be processed this way. Turbine blades: Fully casting + last machining.
• Size and weight of the product is not a limitation for the casting process.
Limitations

• Dimensional accuracy and surface finish of the castings made by

sand casting processes are a limitation to this technique.

• Many new casting processes have been developed which can take
into consideration the aspects of dimensional accuracy and surface
finish. Some of these processes are die casting process, investment
casting process, vacuum-sealed moulding process, and shell
moulding process.

• Metal casting is a labour intensive process

• Automation: Very expensive

 Typical sand mould

Mould Section and casting nomenclature

Pattern attached
with gating and risering
system
Mould Section and casting nomenclature, (a) top view, (b) front view

Materials and Processes

Important casting terms Flask: A metal or wood frame, without fixed top or
bottom, in which the mould is formed. Depending
upon the position of the flask in the moulding
structure, Two piece Mould or three piece Mould it is
referred to by various names such as drag – lower
moulding flask, cope – upper moulding flask, cheek –
intermediate moulding flask used in three piece

Pattern: It is the replica of the final object to be made.

The mould cavity is made with the help of pattern.

Parting line: This is the dividing line between the two

moulding flasks that makes up the mould.

Moulding sand: Sand, which binds strongly without

losing its permeability to air or gases. It is a mixture of
silica sand, clay, and moisture in appropriate
proportions.

Facing sand: The small amount of carbonaceous

material sprinkled on the inner surface of the mould
cavity to give a better surface finish to the castings.
Core: A separate part of the mould, made of sand and
generally baked, which is used to create openings and
various shaped cavities in the castings.

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 channel through which the molten metal is

carried from the sprue to the gate.

Gate: A channel through which the molten metal enters the

mould cavity.

Chaplets: Chaplets are used to support the cores inside the

mould cavity to take care of its own weight and overcome
the metallostatic force.

Riser: A column of molten metal placed in the mould to feed

the castings as it shrinks and solidifies. Also known as “feed
head”.

Vent: Small opening in the mould to facilitate escape of air

and gases
 Steps in making sand castings
The six basic steps in making sand castings are,
(i) Pattern making, (ii) Core making, (iii) Moulding, (iv) Melting and
pouring, (v) Cleaning

Pattern making
- Pattern: Replica of the part to be cast and is used to prepare the
mould cavity. It is the physical model of the casting used to make the
mould. Made of either wood or metal.

-The mould is made by packing some readily formed aggregate

material, such as moulding sand, surrounding the pattern. When the
pattern is withdrawn, its imprint provides the mould cavity. This cavity
is filled with metal to become the casting.

- If the casting is to be hollow, additional patterns called ‘cores’, are

used to form these cavities.
Core making
Cores are placed into a mould cavity to form the interior surfaces of
castings. Thus the void space is filled with molten metal and eventually
becomes the casting.

Moulding
Moulding is nothing but the mould preparation activities for receiving molten
metal.
Moulding usually involves: (i) preparing the consolidated sand mould around
a pattern held within a supporting metal frame, (ii) removing the pattern to
leave the mould cavity with cores.
Mould cavity is the primary cavity.

The mould cavity contains the liquid metal and it acts as a negative of the
desired product.

The mould also contains secondary cavities for pouring and channeling
the liquid material in to the primary cavity and will act a reservoir, if
required.
Melting and Pouring
The preparation of molten metal for casting is referred to simply as
melting. The molten metal is transferred to the pouring area where
the moulds are filled.

Cleaning
Cleaning involves removal of sand, scale, and excess metal from
the casting. Burned-on sand and scale are removed to improved the
surface appearance of the casting. Excess metal, in the form of fins,
wires, parting line fins, and gates, is removed. Inspection of the
casting for defects and general quality is performed.
 Pattern
The pattern and the part to be made are not same. They differ in the
following aspects.
1.A pattern is always made larger than the final part to be made. The
excess dimension is known as Pattern allowance.
Pattern allowance => shrinkage allowance, machining allowance

2. Shrinkage allowance: will take care of contractions of a casting

which occurs as the metal cools to room temperature.

Liquid Shrinkage: Reduction in volume when the metal changes

from liquid state to solid state. Riser which feed the liquid metal to the
casting is provided in the mould to compensate for this.
Solid Shrinkage: Reduction in volume caused when metal looses
temperature in solid state. Shrinkage allowance is provided on the
patterns to account for this.

Shrink rule is used to compensate solid shrinkage depending on the

material contraction rate.
 Pattern materials
• Patterns for sand castings are subjected to considerable wear and tear due
to ramming action that is required and the abrasive action of the sand
• Should be impervious to moisture because of changing surroundings
• Made of: wood, metal, plastics, plaster and synthetic materials
• Woods => white pine, sugar pine; The wood should be straight grain, light,
easy to work, little tendency to develop crack and warp.
• More durable: Mahogany (can reuse the patterns)
• For large castings: metal such as cast iron or aluminium
• When metal pattern are cast from the wooden master pattern, double
shrinkage must be provided on the wooden master pattern
• Assume metal pattern is made of aluminium and castings are made of CI,
the shrinkage allowance for the wooden master pattern is different.
 Binders Used in Sand Casting for Molds, Cores

Clays: Wood –product binders:*‡

Fire clay (kaolinite) Natural resin (e.g., rosin, thermoplastic)
Southern bentonite (calcium montmorillonite) Sulfite binders (contain lignin, produced in the
Western bentonite (sodium montmorillonite) paper pulp process)
Secondary mica clays (illite) Water-soluble gums, resins, and organic
Oils:* chemicals
Vegetables (e.g. linseed oil) Protein binders (containing nitrogen):*
Marine animal (e.g., whale oil) Glue
Mineral (used for diluting oils given above) Casien
Synthetic resins, thermosetting:*‡ Other binders:
Urea formaldehyde Portland cement†
Phenol Formaldehyde Pitch (a coal-tar product)*†
Cereal binders made from corn:* Molasses (usually applied in water as a spray)
Gelatinized starch (made by wet milling, contains Cements (e.g., rubber cement)†
starch and gluten) Sodium silicate (water glass, CO2 hardening
binders)†
Gelatinized corn flour (made by dry-milling hominy)
* Harden by baking.
Dextrin (made from starch, a water-soluble sugar)
† Harden at room temperature.
‡ Available as either a liquid or a dry powder.
 Natural and Synthetic molding sand
Natural molding sand:
This is ready for use as it is dug from the ground. Good natural molding sand are
obtained from Albany, New york etc. (Bentonite Clay: Ca, Mg, Iron)
The following average compositions are seen in natural molding sand: 65.5% silica
grains, 21.7% clay content, 12.8% undesirable impurities.
Too much clay content and other impurities fill up the gaps between the sand grains. This will
hinder the necessary passage of steam and other gases during pouring of the mold.

Synthetic molding sand

Synthetic molding sand is made by mixing together specially selected high quality clay free
silica, with about 5% of clay. They are tailor made to give most desirable results.

Some of the advantages of synthetic molding sand are:

1. Less bonding agent is required (about 1/3rd of the clay percentage found in natural molding
sand),
2. More suitable for use with mechanical equipment

Advantages of natural molding sand:

1. Moisture content range is wide,
2. Moulds can be repaired easily
 Core making

• Generally Cores are used for making interior surfaces of hollow castings and
now-a-days it is used for making exterior surfaces and for other purposes.
• Green sand cores contain ordinary molding sand and dry sand core contains
hardened or baked sand.
• Core mix contains clay free silica sand. This is suitably mixed with binders,
water and other ingredients to produce a core mix.
• Synthetic core binders have some unusual properties like shorter baking times
and excellent collapsibilities which reduces the defect castings.
• Urea formaldehyde binders burn out faster and collapse at lower temperature
as compared to phenol formaldehyde binders. Thus urea formaldehyde binders
are suitable for use at lower temperature metals like Al, Mg, thin sections of
brass, bronze.
• Phenol formaldehyde binders are employed for thick sections of CI, steel
castings
 Heating the metal
Furnaces are used to heat (and melt) the metal to a molten temperature
sufficient for casting. The total heat energy required is the sum of
(1) the heat to raise the temperature to the melting point,
(2) the heat of fusion to convert it from solid to liquid, and
(3) the heat to raise the molten metal to the desired temperature for pouring

This is expressed as: H  V C (Tm Ta )  H f  Cl (Tp Tm )


S
(1) (2) (3)

H: total heat required to increase the temperature of the metal to the pouring temp (in J)
ρ: density (in g/cm3)
V: Volume of metal used for heating (in cm3)
Cs: Specific heat for the solid (in J/gC)
Tm : Melting temperature of the metal (in C)
Ta: Ambient temperature (or starting) (in C)
Hf : Heat of fusion (in J/g)
Cl: specific heat of the liquid metal (in J/gC)
Tp: Temperature of the pouring liquid (in C)
Assumptions valid for the above eqn. are,

1. Specific heat and other thermal properties of a solid metal are constant
and not dependent on temperature, but not really true especially if the
metal undergoes a phase change during heating.

2. Sometimes specific heat of metal in solid and liquid states are assumed
same, but not really true

3. Single melting point which is not valid for alloys as there is a temperature
range between solidus (alloy is complete solid) and liquidus (alloys is
complete liquid) temperature. Thus, the heat of fusion cannot be applied
so simply as indicated above. (heat required to melt a metal/alloys)

4. There are no heat losses to the environment during heating, but not really
true
 Melting of metals
Gases in metals:

The gases in metal is important in deciding the defect free castings. In metal castings, gases may
be mechanically trapped, generated due to variation in their solubility at different temperatures and
phases, generated because of chemical reaction.
Gases generally present are: hydrogen, nitrogen
Hydrogen: Based on the solubility of hydrogen, metals are divided as
Endothermic (metals like Al, Mg, Cu, Fe, Ni), Exothermic (like Ti, Zr)
The solubility of hydrogen in various metals are shown in figure. Here solubility S is the volume of H 2
gas absorbed by 100 g. of metal. The solubility of hydrogen in solid and liquid phases (pressure = 1
atm) at solidus temperature is given in table.

S  C exp Es /(k ) ES : heat of solution of one mole of hydrogen;

sign determines endothermic or exothermi
Sources of hydrogen in a melt are furnace dampness, air, oil and grease.
Most of the hydrogen removal techniques are based on the above
equation – this is by reducing the partial pressure of hydrogen by
bubbling dry insoluble gases through the molten melt.
Hydrogen removal:
For non-ferrous metals, chlorine, nitrogen, helium or argon is
used.
For ferrous metals and Ni based alloys, nitrogen cannot be
used. They form nitrides that affects the grain size. In this case,
carbon monoxide is used.

Nitrogen removal: carbon monoxide can be used. A marked

decrease in solubility of nitrogen in ferrous metal leads to
porosity in casting. Vacuum melting is used nowadays for
preventing the solution of gases in metals.
 Cooling and Solidification
Solidification of pure metals
- Change of molten metal to solid state
- Solidification of pure metals and alloys are different
- The cooling curve of pure metals is shown in figure. Here solidification
occurs at constant temperature equal to its freezing point.( solidification
or cooling of metal/Alloy near the mould wall)

-The solidification occurs at prescribed time duration.

- Local solidification time: time between freezing start
and freezing completion. In this time, the molten metal
heat of fusion is delivered into mould.
- Total solidification time: time between pouring and
final solidification
- First liquid cooling occurs till freezing starts. Then
solidification occurs for a time duration, till freezing
completes. Even after solidification is over, solid cooling
occurs at a particular rate as shown in the figure.
The grain structure in pure metals Columnar grains perpendicular to
mold wall
depends on the heat transfer into the
mold and thermal properties of the metal. Mold wall
The mold wall acts as a chiller and
hence solidification starts first in the Fine, randomly
molten metal closer to the mold wall. oriented grains

A thin skin of solid metal is first formed

near the mold wall. The solidification
continues inwards towards the mold
center.

The initial skin formed near the mold wall Grain structure in casting
has gone through fast removal of heat of pure metals
and randomly oriented grains are
formed.
Dendritic growth:
When the solidification continues inwardly, heat is removed through the mold wall and
thin solid skin. Here the grains grow as needles with preferred orientation. As these
needles enlarge, side branches develop, and as these branches grow, further
branches form at right angles to the first branches. This type of grain growth is
referred to as dendritic growth. It occurs at the freezing of pure metals and in alloys.
 Casting processes
Sand Casting
We have already seen sand casting processes. The steps involved in this
process is shown here briefly.

Riser, runner and

gate making

Melting
and pouring