Casting Processes

Dr Ajay Batish
Shell Molding
It is a process in which, the sand mixed with
thermosetting resin is allowed to come in
contact with the heated metallic pattern
plate, so that a thin and strong shell of mould
is formed around the pattern, Then the shell
is removed from the pattern and the cope
and drag are removed together and kept in a
flask with necessary back up material and
then the molten metal is poured.
Shell Molding
 Shell molding process offers better surface finish,
better dimensional tolerances, and higher
throughput due to reduced cycle times.
 A heated (200 ºC / 392 ºF) metal pattern is
covered with a mixture of sand and thermoset
plastic. This causes a skin of about 3.5 mm (0.125
in) of sand/plastic mixture to adhere to the
pattern.
 This skin is removed from the pattern to form the
"shell mold".
 The two halves of the shell mold are secured
together and the metal is poured in the shell to
form the part.
 Once the metal solidifies, the shell is broken.
Shell Molding
Shell Molding
Shell Molding
 This process can produce complex parts with
good surface finish 1.25 µm to 3.75 µm (50
µin to 150 µin) rms, and good dimensional
tolerance of +/- 0.25mm.
 Size limits of 30 g to 12 kg (1 oz to 25 lb).
 Minimum thicknesses can be as low as 1.5 mm
(0.062 in) to 6.25 mm (0.25 in), depending on
the material.
 A good surface finish and good size tolerance
reduce the need for machining.
Shell Molding
 A fairly high capital investment is required,
but high production rates can be achieved.
 The process overall is quite cost effective due
to reduced machining and cleanup costs.
 The materials that can be used with this
process are cast irons, and aluminum and
copper alloys.
 Typical parts made with this process are
connecting rods, gear housings, lever arms
etc.
Shell Molding
Applications
 -Crankshaft fabrication

 -Steel casting parts, fittings

 -Molded tubing fabrication

 -Hydraulic control housing fabrication

 -Automotive castings (cylinder head and

ribbed cylinder fabrication).

Shells removed from the heated pattern
Shells matched to form a mould. (Mould preheated to avoid moisture)
Shells formed on the heated metal pattern
Copyright ©
Amit M Joshi
 Precision Investment Castings through Lost
Wax Process

 Investment Casting uses a mold that has been

produced by surrounding an expendable pattern
with a refractory slurry that sets at room
temperature. The pattern (usually of wax) is then
melted or burned out, leaving the mold cavity.
 Investment casting is also known as the "lost-
wax process" and as "precision casting".
 In Investment casting, a metal pattern die is
used to produce the patterns, which, in turn, are
used to produce ceramic molds. Both the pattern
and molds are expendable. Ceramic cores are
used, as required, and these also are
expendable.
Precision Investment Castings
 Investment casting is the most flexible of all the
precision casting process with respect to
attainable intricacy, precision and the variety of
alloys that may be cast within its inherent size
limitations.
 Many exaggerated claims were made regarding
the "precision" casting process.
 Many technical articles purported to establish
the dimensional tolerances for production
castings to limits as extreme as 0.0001 in.
 In reality, however, liner tolerances of 0.002-
0.005 in. per inch where difficult to obtain
Advantages of precision
casting
 Complex shapes can be made as there is no
need to withdraw the pattern
 Very fine details and thin sections can be
obtained
 Reasonably close tolerances and good finish
can be achieved
 Castings require little or no machining
 Since there is no parting line the dimensions
across will not vary
Limitations and applications
 Size – cannot exceed 5kg
 Expensive

Applications:
Vanes and blades of Gas turbines
Claws of movie cameras, wave guides for radars
Triggers for fire arms
Stainless steel valve bodies
 Permanent mold castings
 Instead of using sand as the mold material, a metal
is used as a mold. Typically cast iron is used as the
mold material and the cores are made from metal or
sand.
 Cavity surfaces are coated with a thin layer of heat
resistant material such as clay or sodium silicate.
 The molds are pre-heated upto 200 ºC (392 ºF)
before the metal is poured into the cavity.
 The cavity design for these molds do not follow the
same rules for shrinkage as in sand casting molds,
 This is because the metal molds heat up and expand
during the pour, so the cavity do not need to be
expanded as much as in the sand castings.
Permanent mold castings
 Gates and Risers are similar to that in sand
casting
 Moulds are coated with refractory material to
a thickness of about 0.8mm for
 Preventing the soldering of metal to mold
 Minimizing the thermal shock to mold material
 Controlling the rate and direction of solidification
Permanent mold castings
 Coatings may be applied by spraying or brushing and
must be thicker at surfaces which need to be cooled
slowly e.g. sprues, runners, risers
 The usual considerations of minimum wall thicknesses
(such as 3mm for lengths under 75 mm), radius (inside
radius = nominal wall thickness, outside radius = 3 x
nominal wall thickness), draft angles (1 to 3º on outside
surfaces, 2 to 5º on inside surfaces) etc all apply.
 Typical tolerances are 2 % of linear dimensions.
 Surface finish ranges from 2.5 µm to 7.5 µm (100 µin to
250 µin).
Permanent mold castings
 Typical part sizes range from 50 g to 70
kg (1.5 ounces to 150 lb).
 Typical materials used are small and
medium sized parts made from
aluminum, magnesium and brass and
their alloys.
 Typical parts include gears, splines,
wheels, gear housings, pipefitting, fuel
injection housings, and automotive
engine pistons.
Permanent mold castings
 Permanent mold castings, while not
as flexible as sand castings in allowing
the use of different patterns (different
part designs), lower the cost of
producing a part.
 At a production run of 1000 or more
parts, permanent mold castings produce
a lower piece cost part.
 Of course, the break-even point
depends on the complexity of the part.
Die Casting
 Die-casting is similar to
permanent mold casting except that the metal
is injected into the mold under high pressure
of 10-210Mpa (1,450-30,500) psi .
 This results in a more uniform part, generally
good surface finish and good dimensional
accuracy, as good as 0.2 % of casting
dimension.
 For many parts, post-machining can be totally
eliminated, or very light machining may be
required to bring dimensions to size.
Die Casting
Die-casting can be done using a cold
chamber or hot chamber process.
Cold chamber process, the molten metal
is ladled into the cold chamber for each
shot. There is less time exposure of the
melt to the plunger walls or the plunger.
This is particularly useful for metals such
as Aluminum, and Copper (and its alloys)
that alloy easily with Iron at the higher
temperatures.
Die Casting
Die Casting
Hot chamber process the pressure chamber is
connected to the die cavity is immersed permanently
in the molten metal.
The inlet port of the pressurizing cylinder is
uncovered as the plunger moves to the open
(unpressurized) position.
This allows a new charge of molten metal to fill the
cavity and thus can fill the cavity faster than the cold
chamber process.
The hot chamber process is used for metals of low
melting point and high fluidity such as tin, zinc, and
lead that tend not to alloy easily with steel at their
melt temperatures.
Die Casting
Die Casting
Die Casting
Dies

Dies consists of two parts:

 A cover die fixed on the stationery platen of

the die casting machine. It consists of sprue,

runners and gates and is also in contact with
the nozzle of the gooseneck in the case of hot
chamber and with the shot chamber in case
of cold chamber process
 Ejector die is fixed on the moving platen.

Ejector pins move thru’ the moving die to free

the casting from the ejector die
Die Casting
 Cores used are metallic and are of two types:
 Fixed core are fixed to the die halves and

parallel to the die movement

 Moving cores are not parallel with the die

movement and are to be removed before

the casting is to be ejected from the die
 Die casting molds tend to be expensive as
they are made from hardened steel-also the
cycle time for building these tend to be long.
 Also the stronger and harder metals such as
iron and steel cannot be die-cast
Common Alloys in Die Casting
 Aluminum, Zinc and Copper alloys are the
materials predominantly used in die-casting.
 On the other hand, pure Aluminum is rarely
cast due to high shrinkage, and susceptibility
to hot cracking.
 It is alloyed with Silicon, which increases melt
fluidity, reduces machinability.
 Copper is another alloying element, which
increases hardness, reduces ductility, and
reduces corrosion resistance.
Aluminum Alloys
Aluminum is cast at a temperature of 650 ºC
(1200 ºF).
 It is alloyed with Silicon 9% and Copper about

3.5%. Silicon increases the melt fluidity, reduces

machinability.
 Copper increases hardness and reduces the

ductility. By greatly reducing the amount of

Copper (less than 0.6%) the chemical resistance
is improved;
 A high silicon alloy is used in automotive engines

for cylinder castings, with 17% Silicon for high

wear resistance
Zinc alloys
 Zinc can be made to close tolerances and with
thinner walls than Aluminum, due to its high
melt fluidity.
 Zinc is alloyed with Aluminum (4%), which adds
strength and hardness.
 The casting is done at a fairly low temperature
of 425 ºC (800 ºF) so the part does not have to
cool much before it can be ejected from the die.
 Zinc alloys are used in making precision parts
such as sprockets, gears, and connector
housings.
 Copper alloys are used in plumbing, electrical and
marine applications where corrosion and wear
resistance is important.
 Minimum wall thicknesses and minimum draft
angles for die casting are
Material Min. Thickness Min. Draft
mm (in) Angle (º)
Aluminum 0.9 mm 0.5
alloys (0.035 in)

Zinc alloys 0.6 mm 0.25

(0.025 in)

Copper 1.25 mm 0.7

alloys (0.050 in)
(Brass)
Die Casting
 Die-castings are typically limited from 20 kg (55 lb) max.
for Magnesium, to 35 kg (77 lb) max. for Zinc.
 Large castings tend to have greater porosity problems,
due to entrapped air, and the melt solidifying before it gets
to the furthest extremities of the die-cast cavity.
 From a design point of view, it is best to design parts with
uniform wall thicknesses and cores of simple shapes.
 Heavy sections cause cooling problems, trapped gases
causing porosity.
 All corners should be radiused generously to avoid stress
concentration.
 Draft allowance should be provided to all for releasing the
parts-these are typically 0.25º to 0.75º per side depending
on the material.
Centrifugal Casting

 In centrifugal casting, a permanent mold is rotated

about its axis at high speeds (300 to 3000 rpm) as
the molten metal is poured.
 The molten metal is centrifugally thrown towards
the inside mold wall, where it solidifies after cooling.
 The solidification takes place from the outside
surface towards the axis of rotation resulting in
directional solidification, which takes care of
shrinkage.
 Centrifugal forces continue to feed molten metal,
compensating for shrinkage, so no risers are
required for centrifugal castings.
 Centrifugal Casting
 No core or mold is needed to shape the interior of the
castings, which will always have a round profile because
the molten metal is uniformly distributed by the
centrifugal forces.
 When rotation is about the horizontal axis, the inner
surface is always cylindrical.
 In case a vertical axis of rotation is used, gravitational
forces cause the inner surface to take shape of a
parabola and the exact shape is a function of the speed
of rotation.
 The casting is usually a fine grain casting with a very
fine-grained outer diameter, which is resistant to
atmospheric corrosion, a typical situation with pipes.
 The inside diameter has more impurities and inclusions
like dross which have lower density and are thus lighter,
which can be machined away.
Centrifugal Casting
Advantages
 Mechanical properties are better because of
inclusions such as slag and oxides are
segregated towards the centre and can be
easily removed by machining
 The pressure acting on the metal through the
segregation causes the porosity to be
eliminated.
 There is no need for gates or runners which
increases the yield reaching almost 100%.
Centrifugal Casting
 Only cylindrical shapes can be produced with
this process.
 Size limits are upto 3 m (10 feet) diameter
and 15 m (50 feet) length.
 Wall thickness can be 2.5 mm to 125 mm (0.1
- 5.0 in).
 The tolerances that can be held on the OD can
be as good as 2.5 mm (0.1 in) and on the ID
can be 3.8 mm (0.15 in).
 The surface finish ranges from 2.5 mm to
12.5 mm (0.1 - 0.5 in) rms.
Centrifugal Casting
 Typical materials that can be cast with
this process are iron, steel, stainless
steels, and alloys of aluminum, copper
and nickel.
 Two materials can be cast by introducing
a second material during the process.
 Typical parts made by this process are
pipes, boilers, pressure vessels,
flywheels, cylinder liners and other parts
that are axi-symmetric.
Semi-Centrifugal Casting

 The molds used can be permanent or

expendable, can be stacked as necessary.
 The rotational speeds are lower than those
used in centrifugal casting.
 The center axis of the part has inclusion
defects as well as porosity and thus is suitable
only for parts where this can be machined
away.
 This process is used for making wheels,
nozzles and similar parts where the axis of the
part is removed by subsequent machining.
Semi-Centrifugal Casting
Semi-Centrifugal Casting
 Is used for jobs which are more complicated
than those possible in true centrifugal
castings but are asymmetrical in nature
 The moulds made of sand or metal are
rotated about a vertical axis and the metal
enters the mould through the central pouring
basin
 For larger production rates, the moulds can
be stacked one over the other all feeding
from the same central pouring basin
Centrifuging
 Centrifuging is used for forcing metal
from a central axis of the equipment
into individual mold cavities that are
placed on the circumference.
 This provides a means of increasing the
filling pressure within each mold and
allows for reproduction of intricate
details.
 This method is often used for the
pouring of investment casting pattern.
Centrifuging