PRODUCT INNOVATIONS
Visit the Product Innovations Archive at www.moderncasting.com
Bio-urethane binders also were
tested on pump and impeller castings
at Viking Engineered Cast Products.
Cedar Falls, Iowa. Viking reported
the castings poured using the bio-
urethane cores exhibited less hot tear-
ing and cracking than conventional
ester-cured phenolic cores.
I h c new bio-urethanes were
developed by UNI to be casting
facility-ready. Improved shakeout
of ihe two binders without sacrific-
ing casting c|uality is ideal for many
applications, Cost savings are seen
with decreased shakeout time, ener-
gy, and damage. Trial metalcasting
facilities have experienced a much
Custom Castings Uses Simulation to Eliminate Defects in Aluminum Part
When tAisiom Ca.stings, Winnipeg.
Canada, a nonferrous metaicasting
facility making aluminum and zinc al-
Icjy castings via the gravity permanent
moid, semi-permanent mold and tilt
pour jirtK'esses, tackled a large l60-lb.
semi-permanent tilt pour job, it began
|')u>hing its equipment to the edge of its
capabilities. The metalcaster acquired
the order for the l60-lb, casting because
a vendor producing it in gravity sand
delivered castings that were cracking
in .service (Fig. 1). Custom Castings
had been using Magmasoft by Magma
Foundry Solutions, Schaumburg, III.,
Fig. 1. Parts originally produced via gravity sand casting were experiencing failure
tiefects in service.
MODERN CASTING /June 2010
safer moid and core room environ-
ment with improved emissions on
the production floor. Bio-hinders
decrease metaicasters' dependence
on petrochemicals by using materi-
als grown or mined in the U.S. and
all over the world. Funding for the
CABB project has been extended,
and UNI will continue developing
binders and processes.
Visit www,mcc.uni,edu for more information.
CF8M stainless steel pumps and impellers
were cast using bio-urethanes at Viking
Engineered Cast Products.
for about one year to improve its cast-
ing quality and reduce sampling times,
and using the .software, It was able to
show it could prcjvide the casting with
better mechanical properties through
the permanent mold process.
Custom Castings continued to use
casting process simulation during
tooling development to evaluate the
customer's current casting design.
By providing simulation results, it
justified casting design changes that
improved the castability of the part
while maintaining its functionality in
service. The new casting was easier to
MC
produce, which allowed Custom Ca.st-
ings to provide the order on time and
to the specified quality level. After the
design changes were approved, the
metalcasier began developing an ap-
propriate rigging system and process
parameters that ensured unacceptalMc
defects were not present in the casting.
Having developed a robust gating
and risering system along with all the
necessary process parameters, Custom
Castings verified the .simulation work
by ainning a batch of .samples, liut
it hit a glitch upon running the first
batch. Large porous voids were present
in the casting, which did n(,)t coincide
with the simulations. Cu.stom Castings
invoK-ed .Magma engineers to assist in
sorting out the issue,
The engineers first thought the large
voids were due to shrinkage porosity.
The simulation results were again re-
viewed and evaluated to check for errors
tliat may have caused the di.screpancy in
results. Variations of material tempera-
ture, cycle times and mold temperatures
were run to see if they would result in the
observed defects. Through all the varia-
tions of parameters, tlie casting remained
nearly defect-free with nowhere neai
the defect severity of the first sample
Rin. The .simulations showed locations
of shrinkage in tlie defect region, but it
was minor in relation to the defect size
seen in the sample Rin,
The simulation inputs were double-
45
 PRODUCT INNOVATIONS

checked and all the process parameters were modified to the

pos-sible extreme, yet the simulated defects varied only slightly.
Kventually. the engineers decitled ihe casting detect was n(.ii
shrinkage porosity at all, but a condition in the process that
was not being captured—core gas. Magmasoft currently does
not directly calculate the evolution of gas from core and mold
hinders. However, the conditions that cause off-gassing of
cores and their migration into the casting are accounted for
by the software's results.
In order for a core to emit a gas. uncured binder must be
present in the core or mold, and these core/mold materials
must reach high temperatures, hnages from the simiÈlalions
at Custom Castings showed that the core possessed all the
required conditions to produce gas.
The second condition of core gas-related porosity is an
eniiy point for the gas to flow into the casting. Once a skin
has formed on the outside of the casting, the likelihood of
gas migrating into the casting is small, as the gas will take the
path of least resistance. Simulation software results were used
to identify tlie locations of ilie casting that formed a skin last
and thus identify the entry poini of the gas into tlu- casting
and tiie amount of time it was able to do so (Fig. 2).
These two results, in combination with a sectioned core, re-
vealed all the conditions necessary for the core to produce gas
and the location within the casting that the gas would reside.
With ihe triÈe defect ¡denttfted, (Xistoni Castings' engineering
department worked with its core materials supplier to trouble-
shoot the variability in tlie coremaking process. The company
reduced the binder content of the sand, which yieldeti a slight
improvement in the defect severity. During the investigation of
the cores. Custom Castings discovered the core molds were not
heating the core e\'enly, causing the uncured binder issue. To
verify the sand cores were the root cause of the problem, the

iNCnst
cores were replaced with an alternate material to completely
remove the potential for core ga.s porosity issues. A sample
am of the castings was conducted using the new material, and
it resulted in lOÛ'Mt sound castings and \'erified the cores were
CORE AND MOLDING SANDS the source of the porosity issue. MC
Visit www.magniasoft.com for more information.
Trtjsi your most complex cores to INCAST'! The ideal
combination of geometry, density and particle size distribution,
INCAST improves critical core making and casting properties
including binder utilization, permeability and dimensional
stability. Higher strength cores, better surface finish and
increased efficiency and yield are the INCAST advantages.
These sands are engineered for the metaicaster.

For more information and our

complete product portfolio:
www.metalcaster.com

Visit us at the AFS Wisconsin Regional Conference

Fig. 2. The defect prone region of the casting took \40 seconds after

unimin. filling to completely form a skin. Pictured at left is the inital skin
formation. At right is the final casting skin.

MODERN CASTING/June 2010

® INCAST is 0 ttodemarii. Al rights memed. ©2O10
Copyright of Modern Casting is the property of American Foundry Society, Inc. and its content may not be
copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written
permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.