Practical Casting - A Studio Reference

Throughout history, metal casting has been used to make tools, weapons, and
religious objects. Metal casting history and development can be traced back to
Southern Asia (China, India, Pakistan, etc). [3] Southern Asia traditions and
religions relied heavily on statue and relic castings.[4] These items were
frequently made from a copper alloy laced with lead.[5] Since the beginning of
metallurgy the majority of castings were simple one to two piece molds fashioned
from either stone or ceramics. However, there is evidence of lost wax castings in
numerous ancient civilizations.[4]

Early civilizations discovered lead aided in the fluidity of molten copper,

allowing them to cast more intricate designs. For example, the dancing girl of
Mohenjo-daro is a copper alloy casting that most likely utilizes the lost wax
technique.[4] Lost wax casting can be dated back to 4000 BC or the Chalcolithic
period.[4] One of the oldest studied examples of this technique is a 6,000-year old
amulet from Indus valley civilization.[6]

India is attributed as one of the first civilizations to use casting methods to

mass produce coins. Around the middle of the first millennium BC (1000 BC - 1 BC),
coins used were made from silver but as the millennium progressed the coins shifted
to a cast copper alloy.[4] New technology was developed to mass produce the new
copper coins. Introduced was a multi piece stackable coin template mold. Multiple
molds were placed on top of one another into a clay cylinder so molten metal could
be poured down the center, filling and solidifying in the open spaces.[4] This
process allowed one hundred coins to be produced simultaneously.[4]

In the Middle East and West Africa the lost wax technique was used very early in
their metallurgy traditions while China adopted it much later. In Western Europe
lost wax techniques are considered to have been hardly used especially in
comparison to that of the Indus valley civilization.[4] There were no pieces of
lost wax found in the capital of Anyang during the Shane dynasty (1600-1040 BC)
while a large amount (100,000 pieces) of piece-mould fragments were found. This led
to the conclusion that lost wax was not performed in the capital during this
dynasty. However, the discovery of a mask made using the investment moulding dated
at around 1300 BC indicated that the lost wax technique may have influenced other
regions in China.[7]

Historians debate the origin of the development of the cannon but most evidence
points to Turkey and Central Asia in the 18th and 19th century. The casting process
of a cannon is a bit more complex with the use of a clay core, a template which has
clay moulded around it and then broken out followed by an assembly in a casting pit
that involves binding the casting with iron bands.[4]

Types
Main article: List of manufacturing processes � Casting
Metal
Main article: Casting (metalworking)
In metalworking, metal is heated until it becomes liquid and is then poured into a
mold. The mold is a hollow cavity that includes the desired shape, but the mold
also includes runners and risers that enable the metal to fill the mold. The mold
and the metal are then cooled until the metal solidifies. The solidified part (the
casting) is then recovered from the mold. Subsequent operations remove excess
material caused by the casting process (such as the runners and risers).

Plaster, concrete, or plastic resin

Main article: Resin casting
Plaster and other chemical curing materials such as concrete and plastic resin may
be cast using single-use waste molds as noted above, multiple-use 'piece' molds, or
molds made of small rigid pieces or of flexible material such as latex rubber
(which is in turn supported by an exterior mold). When casting plaster or concrete,
the material surface is flat and lacks transparency. Often topical treatments are
applied to the surface. For example, painting and etching can be used in a way that
give the appearance of metal or stone. Alternatively, the material is altered in
its initial casting process and may contain colored sand so as to give an
appearance of stone. By casting concrete, rather than plaster, it is possible to
create sculptures, fountains, or seating for outdoor use. A simulation of high-
quality marble may be made using certain chemically-set plastic resins (for example
epoxy or polyester which are thermosetting polymers) with powdered stone added for
coloration, often with multiple colors worked in. The latter is a common means of
making washstands, washstand tops and shower stalls, with the skilled working of
multiple colors resulting in simulated staining patterns as is often found in
natural marble or travertine.

Fettling
Raw castings often contain irregularities caused by seams and imperfections in the
molds,[7] as well as access ports for pouring material into the molds.[8] The
process of cutting, grinding, shaving or sanding away these unwanted bits is called
"fettling".[9][10] In modern times robotic processes have been developed to perform
some of the more repetitive parts of the fettling process,[11] but historically
fettlers carried out this arduous work manually,[5] and often in conditions
dangerous to their health.[12]

Fettling can add significantly to the cost of the resulting product, and designers
of molds seek to minimize it through the shape of the mold, the material being
cast, and sometimes by including decorative elements.[13][7]

Casting process simulation

Casting process simulation uses numerical methods to calculate cast component
quality considering mold filling, solidification and cooling, and provides a
quantitative prediction of casting mechanical properties, thermal stresses and
distortion. Simulation accurately describes a cast component's quality up-front
before production starts. The casting rigging can be designed with respect to the
required component properties. This has benefits beyond a reduction in pre-
production sampling, as the precise layout of the complete casting system also
leads to energy, material, and tooling savings.

The software supports the user in component design, the determination of melting
practice and casting methoding through to pattern and mold making, heat treatment,
and finishing. This saves costs along the entire casting manufacturing route.

Casting process simulation was initially developed at universities starting from

the early '70s, mainly in Europe and in the U.S., and is regarded as the most
important innovation in casting technology over the last 50 years. Since the late
'80s, commercial programs (such as AutoCAST and MAGMA) are available which make it
possible for foundries to gain new insight into what is happening inside the mold
or die during the casting process.