Exercise

Problems

Riser
Design

ME-220 Manufacturing Processes

Chapter 10: Fundamentals of Metal Casting
By: Syed M. Hassan Liaquat.
Lecturer, Mechanical Engineering Dept.
Introduction
The first type of shaping operations was the solidification processes. Most common types of
solidification process are casting and molding. Although they are quiet similar, but there are some
difference between them that are mentioned below;

Casting
Molten material is introduced into a
solid mold and allowed to solidify
Due to low viscosity of metal, no
external pressure is used to pour the
material, it flows due to gravity
Casting does not give final product
Mold is used once
Complex shape are possible
Molding
Molten material is introduced into a we are starting
solid mold and allowed to solidify From here
Materials is poured under external
pressure
Molding mostly gives the final product
Mold is used multiple times
Complex shapes are not possible
We will focus on the types of metal casting only that includes;
•Expendable mold casting.
•Permanent mold casting

Casting includes both, casting of ingots and casting of shapes.

Ingot means large

casting i.e. simple in
shape.

Advantages of casting process

 It is used to create complex geometry parts for both internal and external use.
 Some casting can produce net shape i.e. no further operations are required to achieve the required geometry.
 Can produce parts ranging from small to very large size.
 Can be performed on any material that can be melted by heating.
Dis-advantages of casting process
 Limitation on mechanical properties (for e.g. cored structure, dendritic structure)
 Porosity (due to non-uniform shrinkage while cooling, these pores acts like a defect and stress raiser)
 Poor dimensional accuracy.
 Poor surface finish.
 Safety hazards to the worker.
OVERVIEW OF CASTING TECHNOLOGY
Casting is usually performed in foundry, and the workers who performed casting are called foundrymen.
Casting Process:
Casting process begins with the mold.
 Mold contains a cavity which determines the part geometry.
 Actual size of the cavity should be little oversized to have provision for shrinkage of cast material.
 Molds are made of variety of materials including sand, plaster, ceramics and metals, various casting processes
are classified based on the type of mold being used.
For the casting process, there are two kinds of molds;
1. Open Mold. ( Liquid metal is simple poured until it fills the mold cavity)
2. Close Mold. (A passage way called gating system is provided to permit flow of molten metal from outside into
the cavity).
Based on mold types, casting process are of two kinds;
1. Expendable mold casting.
2. Permanent mold casting.

Expendable mold casting

It means, mold in which molten metal solidifies must be destroyed to remove the casting. Commonly made from
sand, plaster or similar materials with the help of binder. Sand casting is the most common example, in which molten
metal is poured into a mold made of sand.

Permanent mold casting

Molds that can be used over and over again is called as permanent mold casting. It is mostly made up of ceramic
refractory materials.
Sand Casting
 It is a type of expendable mold casting.
 It is one of the most common type of sand casting.
Cope: Upper half of a mold.
Drag: Lower half of a mold.
These two parts are contained in a box, called a Flask.
The line which separates the two parts called as parting line.
Pattern: In sand casting, mold cavity is formed by pattern usually made from wood,
metal, plastic or any other material that has shape of the part to be cast. Thus
cavity is formed by packing sand around the pattern.
Core: A form placed inside mold cavity to define interior geometry of the cast part.
Gating system: In a casting mold, it’s a channel or network of channels though
which molten metal flows into the cavity from outside of the mold.
Downsprue: Through which metal enters the runner and moves into the cavity.
Pouring cup: Use to minimize splashes and turbulence upon pouring into the down
sprue.
Riser: Any casting in which shrinkage is significant requires a riser connected to
main cavity, it serves as a reservoir of molten liquid to compensate for shrinkage
during solidification.