CASTING POROSITY DIAGNOSTICS: TYPES AND APPEARANCE: SAND INCLUSIONS : Deep, irregular shaped, filled with grey or white

e material. Usually a result of sand in mold cavity before pouring. May or may not be located consistently (important to know if location is consistent casting to casting) ENTRAINED AIR: Usually large, smooth cavities, can be flat or elongated hollow regions just under cope surface, often in protruding features such as bosses Usually consistent in location GAS BLOW: Small to medium size, often clustered, smooth and round, silver interior walls Often located in proximity to or above a cored surface Location usually consistent casting to casting REACTION GAS: Very small, round, scattered or clustered, often has a tail elongated perpendicular to surface Always found just under cored surface, or just under the cope surface. Often has white powder in interior METAL GAS

Very small, elongated, often on or just under surface . Many small holes in cluster of large area Can make shrinkage more pronounced and vein-like

CORRECTIVE ACTION METODOLOGY Sound Bite: Let the castings do the talking! Requires accurate diagnosis of defect: severity, size, location etc. Develop a scoring system that will accurately reflect the severity of the defect Make a systematic study of the key process variables, correlating defect severity to process variation. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) is the tool that we use to unlock the process secrets. The process variation analysis often gives valuable clues into the source of the problem. Corrective action must be determined, and may include designed experiments to optimize process output We must try to focus attention on a few key jobs, and try to determine key process variables for those, and then apply what we learn to all jobs Due to pervasive nature of porosity defects in commercial steel castings, and the fact that there are so many potential causes, there will probably never be a 100% cure for porosity defects, but we can minimize the most severe types.