102090403 : MT

Syllabus – Chapter 1

Metal-Casting Processes and equipment (15 lectures)

• Patterns-types, material, allowances, pattern colours; cores- types,
materials, core making, core print, core boxes; moulding materials, moulding
sands - properties and sand testing; grain fineness; moisture content, clay
content and permeability test; melting, refining, and pouring of liquid metal,
types of furnaces, fluidity

• Gating systems for casting- elements of gating system, gating ratios,

aspiration effects and its prevention, risering design – Caine’s method,
modulus method and NRL method, Chvorinov’s rule, numerical on
solidification time and riser design.

• Fettling of casting; defects in casting, its remedies and quality

consideration
• Special Casting Processes: Shell moulding, investment casting, die casting
(hot chamber and cold chamber process, vacuum, low-pressure),
centrifugal casting and continuous casting.
 Types of Parts Made
▪ Engine blocks
▪ Pipes
▪ Jewellery
▪ Fire hydrants
 Complex, 3-D shapes
• Near net shape
• Low scrap
• Relatively quick process
• Intricate shapes
• Large hollow shapes
• No limit to size
• Reasonable to good surface finish
 Processes
• Sand
• Die
• Shell
• Plaster
• Centrifugal
• Squeeze
• Ceramic
• Investment
• Semi-solid
• Single crystal
• Lost foam
• Pressure
• Directional
• solidification
• Vacuum
• Continuous
 Metals processed by casting
• Sand casting – 60%
• Investment casting – 7%
• Die casting – 9%
• Permanent mold casting – 11%
• Centrifugal casting – 7%
• Shell mold casting – 6%
 Shapes(Mold)
Permanent mold
(cavity)
1. die casting
2. hot chamber
3. Cold
Expendable
Sand
Slurry
Shell
Investment(lost wax,foam etc.)
Centrifugal
Pipes,Cylinders etc.
 Capabilities
Dimensions
• sand casting - as large as you like
• small - 1 mm or so

Tolerances
• 0.005 in to 0.1 in

Surface finish
• die casting 8-16 micro-inches (1-3 μm)
• sand casting - 500 micro-inches (10-25 μm)
 Casting Steps
quick route from raw material to finished product

• Melt metals
• Pour / force liquid into hollow cavity
(mold)
• Cool / Solidify
• Remove
• Finish
 Melting
• Raw material (charge)
scrap
alloying materials
• Atmosphere
Air (oxygen) vacuum
inert gas (argon)
• Heating
External - electric, gas, oil
Internal - induction, mix fuel with charge
steel making in blast furnace -mix coke with iron
• Furnace material
refractory
Sand Casting
Casting:
” Foundry or casting is the process of
producing metal/alloy component parts of
desired shapes by pouring the molten
metal/alloy into a prepared mould (of that
shape) and then allowing the metal/alloy to
cool and solidify. The solidified piece of
metal/alloy is known as a CASTING”.
 Steps involved in making a casting:

1. Make the pattern out of Wood , Metal or Plastic.

2. Prepare the necessary sand mixtures for mould and core
making.
3. Prepare the Mould and necessary Cores.
4. Melt the metal/alloy to be cast.
5. Pour the molten metal/alloy into mould and remove the casting
from the mould after the metal solidifies.
6. Clean and finish the casting.
7. Test and inspect the casting.
8. Remove the defects, if any.
9. Relieve the casting stresses by Heat Treatment.
10. Again inspect the casting.
11. The casting is ready for shipping.
 Pattern:
❖ A Pattern is a model or the replica of the object to be cast.

❖ Except for the various allowances a pattern exactly resembles the casting to be
made.

❖ Patterns may be in two or three pieces, where as casting are in a single piece.

❖ A pattern is required even if one object has to be cast.

❖ The quality of casting and the final product will be effected to a great extent by
the planning of pattern.
 Functions of Patterns:
▪ A Pattern prepares a mould cavity for the purpose of
making a casting.

▪ A Pattern may contain projections known as core prints if

the casting requires a core and need to be made hollow.

▪ Risers, runners and gates may form a part of the pattern.

▪ Patterns properly made and having finished and smooth

surfaces reduce casting defects.

▪ Properly constructed patterns minimize overall cost of the

casting.
 Selection of Pattern Materials:
The following factors assist in selecting
proper pattern material:
➢No. of castings to be produced.
➢Metal to be cast.
➢Dimensional accuracy & surface finish.
➢Shape, complexity and size of casting.
➢Casting design parameters.
➢Type of molding materials.
➢The chance of repeat orders.
➢Nature of molding process.
➢Position of core print.
The pattern material should be:
1. Easily worked, shaped and joined.
2. Light in weight.
3. Strong, hard and durable.
4. Resistant to wear and abrasion .
5. Resistant to corrosion, and to chemical
reactions.
6. Dimensionally stable and unaffected by
variations in temperature and humidity.
7. Available at low cost.
Materials for making patterns:
a. Wood
b. Metal
c. Plastic
d. Plaster
e. Wax.
 1. Wood Patterns:
These are used where the no. of castings to be produced
is small and pattern size is large.
Advantages:
✓Inexpensive
✓Easily available in large quantities
✓Easy to fabricate
✓Light in weight
✓They can be repaired easily
✓Easy to obtain good surface finish
Limitations:
▪ Susceptible to shrinkage and swelling
▪ Possess poor wear resistance
▪ Abraded easily by sand action
▪ Absorb moisture, consequently get wrapped
▪ Cannot withstand rough handling
▪ Life is very short

Commonly used woods for making patterns:

a. Teak
b. Pine
c. Mahogony
d. Deodar etc..
 2. Metal Patterns:
These are employed where large no. of castings
have to be produced from same patterns.
Advantages:
✓Do not absorb moisture
✓More stronger
✓Possess much longer life
✓Do not wrap, retain their shape
✓Greater resistance to abrasion
✓Accurate and smooth surface finish
✓Good machinability
Limitations:
▪ Expensive
▪ Require a lot of machining for accuracy
▪ Not easily repaired
▪ Ferrous patterns get rusted
▪ Heavy weight , thus difficult to handle

Commonly used metals for making patterns:

i. Cast iron
ii. Aluminium and its alloys
iii. Steel
iv. White metal
v. Brass etc..
 3. Plastic Patterns:
Advantages:
✓ Durable
✓ Provides a smooth surface
✓ Moisture resistant
✓ Does not involve any appreciable change in size or shape
✓ Light weight
✓ Good strength
✓ Wear and corrosion resistance
✓ Easy to make
✓ Abrasion resistance
✓ Good resistance to chemical attack
Limitations:
▪ Plastic patterns are Fragile
▪ These are may not work well when subject to conditions of
severe shock as in machine molding (jolting).
 4. Plaster Patterns:
Advantages:
✓ It can be easily worked by using wood working
tools.
✓ Intricate shapes can be cast without any
difficulty.
✓ It has high compressive strength.

➢ Plaster may be made out of Plaster of paris

or Gypsum cement.
➢ Plaster mixture is poured into a mould
made by a sweep pattern or a wooden master
pattern, in order to obtain a Plaster pattern.
 5. Wax patterns:
Advantages:
✓ Provide very good surface finish.
✓ Impart high accuracy to castings.
✓ After being molded, the wax pattern is not taken out of the
mould like other patterns;
✓ rather the mould is inverted and heated; the molten wax
comes out and/or is evaporated.
✓ Thus there is no chance of the mould cavity getting
damaged while removing the pattern.

➢ Wax patterns find applications in Investment casting

process.
Types of patterns depend upon the following
factors:
i. The shape and size of casting
ii. No. of castings required
iii. Method of moulding employed
iv. Anticipated difficulty of moulding
operation
 Types of Patterns:
1. Single piece pattern.
2. Split piece pattern.
3. Loose piece pattern.
4. Match plate pattern.
5. Sweep pattern.
6. Gated pattern.
7. Skeleton pattern
8. Follow board pattern.
9. Cope and Drag pattern.
 1. Single piece (solid) pattern:
• Made from one piece and does not contain loose
pieces or joints.
• Inexpensive.
• Used for large size simple castings.
• Pattern is accommodated either in the cope or in
the drag.
Examples:
1. Bodies of regular shapes.
2. stuffing box of steam engine.
Fig: Single piece pattern
 2. Split piece pattern:
• Patterns of intricate shaped castings cannot be made in one
piece because of the inherent difficulties associated with the
molding operations (e.g. withdrawing pattern from mold).

• The upper and the lower parts of the split piece patterns are
accommodated in the cope and drag portions of the mold,
respectively.

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

• Dowel pins are used for keeping the alignment between the
two parts of the pattern.
• Examples:
1. Hollow cylinder
2. Taps and water
stop cocks etc.,
 3.Loose piece pattern:
• Certain patterns cannot be withdrawn once they are
embedded in the molding sand. Such patterns are
usually made with one or more loose pieces for
facilitating from the molding box and are known as
loose piece patterns.

• Loose parts or pieces remain attached with the main

body of the pattern, with the help of dowel pins.

• The main body of the pattern is drawn first from the

molding box and thereafter as soon as the loose parts
are removed, the result is the mold cavity.
•
4. Match plate pattern:
It consists of a match plate, on either side of which each half
of split patterns is fastened.

• A no. of different sized and shaped patterns may be

mounted on one match plate.

• The match plate with the help of locator holes can be

clamped with the drag.

• After the cope and drag have been rammed with the
molding sand, the match plate pattern is removed from in
between the cope and drag.

• Match plate patterns are normally used in machine molding.

• By using this we can eliminate mismatch of cope and drag
cavities.
Fig: Match plate pattern
 5. Sweep pattern:
• A sweep pattern is just a form made on a wooden
board which sweeps the shape of the casting into
the sand all around the circumference. The sweep
pattern rotates about the post.
• Once the mold is ready, Sweep pattern and the post
can be removed.
• Sweep pattern avoids the necessity of making a full,
large circular and costly three-dimensional pattern.
• Making a sweep pattern saves a lot of time and
labour as compared to making a full pattern.
• A sweep pattern is preferred for producing large
casting of circular sections and symmetrical shapes.
 6. Gated pattern:
• The sections connecting different patterns
serve as runner and gates.

• This facilitates filling of the mould with molten

metal in a better manner and at the same time
eliminates the time and labour otherwise
consumed in cutting runners and gates.
• A gated pattern can manufacture many casting
at one time and thus it is used in mass
production systems.

• Gated patterns are employed for producing

small castings.
 castings

Gating system
 7. Skeleton pattern:
• A skeleton pattern is the skeleton of a desired shape
which may be S-bend pipe or a chute or something
else. The skeleton frame is mounted on a metal base

• The skeleton is made from wooden strips, and is thus a

wooden work.

• The skeleton pattern is filled with sand and is rammed.

• A strickle (board) assists in giving the desired shape to

the sand and removes extra sand.
• Skeleton patterns are employed for producing a few
large castings.
• A skeleton pattern is very economical, because it
involves less material costs.
 8. Follow board pattern:
• A follow board is a wooden board and is used for
supporting a pattern which is very thin and fragile and
which may give way and collapse under pressure when
the sand above the pattern is being rammed.

• With the follow board support under the weak pattern,

the drag is rammed, and then the follow board is with
drawn, The rammed drag is inverted, cope is mounted on
it and rammed.

• During this operation pattern remains over the inverted

drag and get support from the rammed sand of the drag
under it.

• Follow boards are also used for casting master patterns for
many applications.
 9. Cope and Drag patterns:
• A cope and drag pattern is another form of split
pattern.
• Each half of the pattern is fixed to a separate
metal/wood plate.
• Each half of the pattern(along the plate) is molded
separately in a separate molding box by an
independent molder or moulders.
• The two moulds of each half of the pattern are finally
assembled and the mould is ready for pouring.
• Cope and drag patterns are used for producing big
castings which as a whole cannot be conveniently
handled by one moulder alone.
Fig: Cope and drag pattern
 (a)Split
pattern
(b) Follow-
board
(c) Match
Plate
(d) Loose-
piece
(e) Sweep
(f) Skeleton
pattern
 Pattern Allowances:
A pattern is larger in size as compared
to the final casting, because
- it carries certain allowances due to
metallurgical and mechanical reasons for
example, shrinkage allowance is the
result of metallurgical phenomenon
where as machining, draft, distortion,
shake and other allowances are provided
on the patterns because of mechanical
reasons.
 Types of Pattern Allowances:
The various pattern allowances are:
1. Shrinkage or contraction allowance.
2. Machining or finish allowance.
3. Draft of tapper allowances.
4. Distortion or chamber allowance.
5. Shake or rapping allowance.
 1.Shrinkage Allowance:
All most all cast metals shrink or contract
volumetrically on cooling.

The metal shrinkage is of two types:

1. Liquid Shrinkage:
it refers to the reduction in volume when the metal
changes from liquid state to solid state at the solidus
temperature. To account for this shrinkage; riser, which
feed the liquid metal to the casting, are provided in the
mold.
2. Solid Shrinkage:
it refers to the reduction in volume caused when
metal loses temperature in solid state. To account for
this, shrinkage allowance is provided on the patterns.
▪ Almost all cast metals shrink or contract
volumetrically after solidification and therefore
the pattern to obtain a particular sized casting is
made oversize by an amount equal to that of
shrinkage or contraction.
▪ Different metals shrink at different rates because
shrinkage is the property of the cast metal/alloy.
▪ The metal shrinkage depends upon:
1. The cast metal or alloy.
2. Pouring temp. of the metal/alloy.
3. Casted dimensions(size).
4. Casting design aspects.
5. Molding conditions(i.e., mould materials
and molding methods employed)
The contraction of metals/alloys is always volumetric,
but the contraction allowances are always expressed in
linear measures.
 2. Machining Allowance:
A Casting is given an allowance for
machining, because:
i. Castings get oxidized in the mold and during
heat treatment; scales etc., thus formed need
to be removed.

i. It is intended to remove surface roughness

and other imperfections from the castings.

i. It is required to achieve exact casting

dimensions.

i. Surface finish is required on the casting.

How much extra metal or how much machining
allowance should be provided, depends on the
factors listed below:

i. Nature of metals.
ii. Size and shape of casting.
iii. The type of machining operations to be
employed for cleaning the casting.
iv. Casting conditions.
v. Molding process employed
Machining Allowances of
Various Metals:
 3. Draft or Taper Allowance:
▪ It is given to all surfaces perpendicular to
parting line.
▪ Draft allowance is given so that the pattern can
be easily removed from the molding material
tightly packed around it without damaging the
Mould cavity.
▪ The amount of taper depends upon:
i. Shape and size of pattern in the depth
direction in contact with the mould cavity.
ii. Moulding methods.
iii. Mould materials.
iv. Draft allowance is imparted on internal as
well as external surfaces; of course it is
more on internal surfaces.
The taper provided by the pattern maker on all vertical
surfaces of the pattern so that it can be removed from the
sand without tearing away the sides of the sand mold and
without excessive rapping by the molder.

Figure 3 (a) shows a pattern having no draft allowance being

removed from the pattern. In this case, till the pattern is
completely lifted out, its sides will remain in contact with the
walls of the mold, thus tending to break it.
 Figure 3 (b) is an illustration of a pattern having
proper draft allowance. Here, the moment the
pattern lifting commences, all of its surfaces are
well away from the sand surface. Thus the pattern
can be removed without damaging the mold cavity.
Fig: taper in design
4. Distortion or cambered allowance:
A casting will distort or wrap if :
i. It is of irregular shape,
ii. All its parts do not shrink uniformly i.e.,
some parts shrinks while others are
restricted
iii. It is u or v-shape,
iv. The arms possess unequal thickness,
v. It has long, rangy arms as those of propeller
strut for the ship,
vi. It is a long flat casting,
vii. One portion of the casting cools at a faster
rate as compared to the other.
 5. Shake allowance:
▪ A patter is shaken or rapped by striking the same
with a wooden piece from side to side. This is done
so that the pattern a little is loosened in the mold
cavity and can be easily removed.

▪ In turn, therefore, rapping enlarges the mould

cavity which results in a bigger sized casting.
▪ Hence, a –ve allowance is provided on the pattern
i.e., the pattern dimensions are kept smaller in
order to compensate the enlargement of mould
cavity due to rapping.

▪ The magnitude of shake allowance can be reduced

by increasing the tapper.
 Pattern Colors:
Patterns are imparted certain colors
and shades in order to:

i. Identify quickly the main body of pattern

and different parts of the pattern.
ii. Indicate the type of the metal to be cast.
iii. Identify core prints, loose pieces, etc.,
iv. Visualize the surfaces to be machined,
etc.
the patterns are normally painted with contrasting
colors such that the mould maker would be able to
understand the functions clearly.
The color code used is,
1. Red or orange on surface not to be finished and left
as cast
2. Yellow on surfaces to be machined
3. Black on core prints for unmachined openings
4. Yellow stripes on black on core prints for machinsed
openings
5. Green on seats of and for loose pieces and loose core
prints
6. Diagonal black strips with clear varnish on to
strengthen the weak patterns or to shorten a casting.