LEARNING UNIT FOUR: QUALITY

CONTROL AND TESTING OF

CASTINGS

www.vut.ac.za

1
 GASEOUS DEFECTS QUALITY CONTROL AND TESTING OF CASTINGS

Blow holes
- large pockets of gases present inside the casting as a result
of evaporation of moisture.
- Causes: Poor permeability, gas evolution from mold,
molten metal and sand, poor gating system – which
doesn’t allow gasses to escape.
Open hole
- Similar to blowholes appear on the surface of the cast and
are easier to detect than subsurface blowholes.
- Cause: Poor venting of mold and cores, Insufficient drying of
mold and cores.
Air inclusions
- Generated due to the presence of air in the molten metals Pin holes porosity
a result of high temperature and high turbulence i.e poor - Usually appear in large numbers together, either at the
gating system. surface or just below the surface of the casting. They are
- Usually finer than the blowholes. always visible to the naked eye and don’t require
- Cause: dissolution of air at high temperatures and high equipment to identify.
molten metal turbulence. - Pinholes are very tiny holes (about 2 mm) usually found
- Remedy: control pouring and improve gating system. in the cope (upper) part of the mold, in poorly vented
pockets.
2
SHRINKAGE CAVITY DEFECTS
QUALITY CONTROL AND TESTING OF CASTINGS
This defect occurs as a result of metal high volumetric contraction (%)
Shrinkage occurs because metals are less dense as a liquid than a solid. Shrinkage cavity is a depression in a casting which
occurs during the solidification process. As a result of unfavorable temperature gradient i.e absence of directional solidification
Large shrinkage cavities can undermine the integrity of the casting and may cause it to eventually break under stress.
Shrinkage can result in two types of casting defects:
Open shrinkage defect
- These are defects are open to the atmosphere. Pipes are open shrinkage defects that
form at the surface and burrow into the casting. Caved surfaces are shallow, open
shrinkage defects that form across the surface of the casting.

Closed shrinkage defect

- This type of defect is also known as shrinkage porosity, which form within the casting.
- Macro shrinkage can be viewed with the naked eye, but micro shrinkage cannot.

Remedies:
- Design a running (gate) system with risers that ensure a continuous flow of molten
metal.
- Proper placement of chills to encourage directional solidification.
- Increase local heat dissipation by inserting internal chills, cooling ribs or cooling coils
- Reduce casting temperature to limit the total volume deficit
3
MOLD MATERIAL CASTING DEFECTS
QUALITY CONTROL AND TESTING OF CASTINGS
The mold materials casting defects occur as a result of poor mold strength, poor
mold refractoriness, sand size and poor ramming (either excessive or limited).
• Poor mold strength –Possible defects: Cut/washes, swells, drops.
• Poor mold refractoriness – Possible defect: Sand fusion where sand mold wall fuses with molten metal.
• Coarse sand size – Possible defect: Molten metal penetration.
• Poor ramming – causes poor mold strength while excessive ramming leads to poor permeability

Sand wash – is an irregularity in the surface of the casting that results from erosion of the
sand mold during pouring, and the contour of the erosion is formed in the surface of the
final cast part.

Cut defect – appears as a low projection along the surface of the drag face, decreasing in
height as it extends from one side of the casting to the other.

Cause: Low mold strength, molten metal flowing at high velocity which causes the too
much metal to flow through the gate.
Remedies: Designing the gating system properly, Improving mold and core strength,
Adding more binders to the facing and core sand.

4
MOLD MATERIAL CASTING DEFECTS
QUALITY CONTROL AND TESTING OF CASTINGS

Poor mold refractoriness – Possible defect: Sand fusion where sand mold wall fuses with molten metal. Remember what is
refractoriness?
Refractoriness is the ability of the molding material to resist the high temperature of the liquid so it doesn’t fuse with the
molten metal.

Fusion occurs when sand grains fuse with molten metal. It appears
as a thin crust with a brittle, glassy appearance firmly adhered to
the casting.
Causes: Low refractoriness of clay or sand, Too high pouring
temperature of molten metal.

Remedies: Improving the refractoriness of the molding material

and/or reducing the pouring temperature of the molten metal
will help prevent fusion.

5
MOLD MATERIAL CASTING DEFECTS
QUALITY CONTROL AND TESTING OF CASTINGS
Coarse sand size – Possible defect: Molten metal penetration.
Penetration refers to a surface defect that occurs when the fluidity of the liquid metal is high, and it penetrates into the sand
mold or sand core. Upon freezing, the casting surface consists of a mixture of sand grains and metal. The resulting casting will
have an increased surface roughness. The penetration casting defect is visible to the naked eye as a rough and uneven surface
finish of the casting.

Cause: Use of sand with low strength and high permeability, Use of large or coarse sand grain: the coarser the sand grains, the
more severe the metal penetration, Lack of mold wash, excessive high molten metal temperature as this leads to increased
fluidity.

Remedies: Prevent metal penetration by fixing these areas. Use high strength, small grain
size, low permeability and hard ramming of sand. Ensure a protective barrier against
metal penetration by coating the surface of molds with a mold wash.

Harder packing of the sand mold helps to alleviate this condition.

6
MOLD MATERIAL CASTING DEFECTS QUALITY CONTROL AND TESTING OF CASTINGS

Run out is when liquid metal leaks out of the Swells are an enlargement of the Drops occur when pieces of
mold, leading to an incomplete or missing casting. Swells typically take on the sand fall into metal casting
casting. A faulty mold or flask is responsible for shape of a slight, smooth bulge on the when it’s still liquid. Drops
run out. vertical face of castings. appear as an irregularly shaped
projection on the cope surface
Prevention of run out and incomplete castings Causes: Swell is usually caused by of a casting.
To prevent this casting defect, design the casting improper or soft ramming of the mold Cause and remedies:
mold with precision. Inspect and replace any or a low strength mold. Low sand strength – Use sand of
defective molds before casting. a higher strength.
Remedies: Molds should be built to Soft ramming – Provide harder
High temperatures can lead to excess wear and withstand liquid metal pressure. ramming.
tear of the mold. Use quality raw materials for Otherwise, the mold wall may give way
your mold that can resist high temperatures. or move back, causing swelling. Using a
strong, properly rammed mold prevents
swells.

7
 QUALITY CONTROL AND TESTING OF CASTINGS
POURING CASTING DEFECTS
Cold shut
- Cold Shuts, which occur when two portions of the metal flow together but there is a lack of fusion between them
due to premature freezing. Low temperatures can prevent fusion at the junction, causing the streams to solidify
before fusion, creating a cold shut.
- Cold shut is usually a result of a lack of fluidity of the molten metal, or a poor design of the gating system.
- This is a surface defects thus visible to the eye.

Remedies: Optimize gating system to

minimize narrow cross-paths and ensure
short flow paths, Increase the pouring
temperature to prevent premature
solidification.

8
 QUALITY CONTROL AND TESTING OF CASTINGS
POURING CASTING DEFECTS
Misruns occur when the liquid metal is too cold to flow to the extremities of the mold cavity before solidifying. The liquid metal
does not completely fill the mold cavity. The misrun is the unfilled portion or space in the mold.

Cause: Fluidity of the molten metal is insufficient, pouring

temperature is too low, pouring is done too slowly, cross-section of
the mold cavity is too thin.

Remedies:
Proper casting design, Increase pouring temperature and
pouring rate.

9
 QUALITY CONTROL AND TESTING OF CASTINGS
POURING CASTING DEFECTS
Scab Slag Inclusions
- Scabs are rough areas on the surface of the casting due - This defects occurs when molten metal containing slag
to encrustations of sand and metal. It is caused by particles is poured into the mold cavities and solidifies.
portions of the mold surface flaking off during
solidification and becoming imbedded in the casting Remedies: Remove slag particles from the molten metal
surface. before pouring it into the mold cavity.
- Scabs are typically only a few millimeters thick but can be
seen by the naked eye. They usually have sharp edges, Slag can be removed by:
irregular shapes and are firmly bonded to the casting. Melting the metal with a flux, in a vacuum or in an inert
- Remedies: Reduce the clay content, use additives which atmosphere, adding ingredients to the mixture to cause slag
reduces thermal expansion of sand, to float for easy removal before pouring.

10
 QUALITY CONTROL AND TESTING OF CASTINGS
METALLURGICAL CASTING DEFECTS
Hot tearing
- This defect occurs when the casting is restrained from contraction by an unyielding mold during the final stages of
solidification or early stages of cooling after solidification. The defect is manifested as a separation of the metal at a point
of high tensile stress caused by the metal’s inability to shrink naturally.

Cause: If the solidifying metal does not have sufficient strength

to resist tensile forces during solidification, hot tears will appear.
Hot tears are mostly caused by poor mold design.

Remedies: Modifying the mold to improve collapsibility can

easily resolve these issues.

11
 QUALITY CONTROL AND TESTING OF CASTINGS
METALLURGICAL CASTING DEFECTS
Hot spots
- This defect are spots that are harder than the surrounding area. This is because they cooled more quickly than the
surrounding material.
- Hot spot are areas on the casting which is harder than the surrounding area. It is also called as hard spot.
- Hard spots are difficult to machine and increase tool wear.

Causes: The rapid cooling an area of the casting than the

surrounding materials causes this defect.

Remedies: This defect can be avoided by using proper cooling

practice, By changing the chemical composition of the metal.

12
 QUALITY CONTROL AND TESTING OF CASTINGS
CASTING DEFECTS
Mold shift – refers to a defect caused by a sidewise displacement of the mold cope relative to the drag, the result of which is a
step in the cast product at the parting line.
Core shift – is similar to mold shift, but it is the core that is displaced, and the displacement is usually vertical. Core shift and
mold shift are caused by buoyancy of the molten metal
Mold crack – occurs when mold strength is insufficient, and a crack develops, into which liquid metal can seep to form a ‘‘fin’’ on
the final casting.

13