Lecture 3

MAE Course 3344
Lecture 3
Background to Casting
Professor John J. Mills
Mechanical and Aerospace
Engineering
UTA
Return to Overview Slide
Lecture No 2
Outline of lecture
• Goal of Lecture
• Overview of material transformation processe
s
• Phase change forming - Casting
– Fundamentals
• Summary

Professor John J. Mills: Email: jmills@arri.uta.edu; Tel (817) 272-7366
Lecture No 3
Goal of Lecture
• To provide an overview of material forming
and shaping process fundamentals
• To understand the important factors in casting
metals
– Physical
– Operational
– Economics

Lecture No 4
Some Useful Links

• American Foundryman’s • Ductile Iron Society
Society – http://www.ductile.org
– http://www.afsinc.org
• American Metalcasting
• Ferroalloys Association
Consortium – http://www.amc.scra.org/tfa
– http://amc.aticorp.org • National Center for
• Cast Metals Institute Excellence in Metalworking
– http://www.castmetals.org – http://www.ncemt.ctc.com
• North American Die Casting • Nonferrous Founders
Association
– http://www.diecasting.org Society
– http://www.nffs.org
• Steel Founders of America
– http://www.sfsa.org

Lecture No 5
Casting Processes
• Some Web pages of casting sources
– Some cast houses
• http://www.solidiform.com/
• www.reliance-foundry.com/
• http://www.qesc.com/third.htm
– this has some nice images of large castings
– The future of casting
• http://www.oit.doe.gov/metalcast/

manufacturing Process Overview
Lecture No 6
SFF
Powders Firing/
Pressing
Sintering
Injection
Molding
Blow
molding
Raw Material
Sheet metal
Products
Stamping
Assembly
forming
Finishing
Continuous
Casting/Rolling Rolling
Forging/
Press forming
Ingot
Machining
casting
Extruding
Molten Casting
Material Shapes
Single crystal
pulling
Special
Increasing level of detail
Lecture No 7
Casting
• The conversion of raw materials into useful
shapes using phase transformations
• One of the first steps in converting raw
materials into useful products
• Applicable to most materials
– Metals
– Ceramics
– Plastics
– Glass
• Also includes mixtures
– Ceramic slips and slurries

Casting - a Form of Phase Change
Lecture No 8
Forming
• The use of changes of phase to create
intricate shapes
– Form the shape in the liquid state in a mold or
container
• Molten metals
• Monomer solutions
• Slips
• Slurries
• Change the liquid into a solid
• Remove heat
• Remove suspending liquid
• Initiate a reaction
– apply heat
– inject reactants
– irradiate with photons

Other Forms of Phase Change
Lecture No 9
Forming
• Plasma spraying
• Spray forming
• Stereolithography
– http://www.solutionsin3d.com/main.htm
– http://www.protocam.com/art_to_part/fslide2.htm
• Selective Laser Sintering
– http://lff.me.utexas.edu/sls.html
• Fused deposition modeling
– http://nasarp.msfc.nasa.gov/fdm.html
• Single crystal growing
• Inorganic glass forming
• Liquid metal jet printing
– http://arri.uta.edu/lmj/

Lecture No 10
Casting Fundamentals
• Casting advantages
– High shape complexity with internal cavities
– Large shape size and variety
– Wide variety of materials
– Ease of production
– Variety of materials that can be cast
– Close tolerances (some processes)
– High surface finish (some processes)
– Excellent mechanical properties (some
processes)
– Economics (for some lot sizes)
Kalpakjian pp 262-263

Lecture No 11
• Casting disadvantages
– High setup costs
– Low tolerances (some processes)
– Low surface finish (some processes)
– Porosity (some processes)
– Inhomogeneities (some processes)
– Poor mechanical properties (some processes)

Lecture No 12
• Overall Process:
– Make mold
– Pour in liquid
– Cool/solidify
– Remove shape from mold

Lecture No 13
Types of Casting
• Molten materials which solidify on cooling

– Metals, ceramics, glasses
• Liquids which solidify by reactions with light,
activators/hardeners or moisture
– Plastics
• Slurries which solidify by the extraction of the
suspending medium (usually water)
– Ceramics

Casting Fundamentals for Molten
Lecture No 14
Material
• Factors affecting solidification characteristics
from the molten state
– Fluidity
• Flow of molten material into the cavity
Kalpakjian p 265

Lecture No 15
Fluidity of Molten Metal
• Fluidity is dependent on:

– Characteristics of the fluid
– Casting parameters

Fluidity - Characteristics of the
Lecture No 16
fluid
• Basically, Fluidity is the ability of the liquid to
flow into the mold
• Viscosity and sensitivity

to temperature Fluidity
• Surface tension
• Inclusions
• Freezing range

Lecture No 17
Theory of Fluid Flow

• Theory has three components:
– Bernoulli's theorem
– Continuity law
– Laminar vs turbulent flow

Lecture No 18
Bernoulli's theorem
v2
p
h + ---- + ---- = constant
g 2g
• Where: h is the elevation above a reference plane, p is the pressure at
that elevation, v is the velocity of the liquid at that elevation,  is the
density of the liquid and g is the gravitational constant
– For zero velocity, pressure is proportional to height and density
– For a constant height, Velocity is proportional to the square root of
pressure
– etc

Lecture No 19
Continuity Law
• For an incompressible liquid:
• Av = constant, the flow rate

• Where A is the cross sectional area and v is the velocity

Lecture No 20
Laminar vs Turbulent Flow

• Laminar flow is preferred
– Reynolds number less than 2000
• Turbulent flow (Re >20,000) can cause air
entrapment and dross (oxide) formation
– results in defects

Lecture No 21
Practical Fluid Flow

• Pouring basin
– where the molten metal enters the mold
• Gating system
– connects the pouring basin to the rest of the
mold through
• Sprue connects the pouring basin to the runners
• Runners carry the molten metal to the mold
• Risers
– act as reservoirs to supply molten material as
it solidifies and shrinks

Lecture No
Casting Parameters Affecting 22
Fluidity
• Mold design
• Mold material
• Mold surface characteristics
• Degree of superheat
• Rate of pouring
• Heat transfer
Kalpakjian p 275

Lecture No 23
Material
– Fluidity
– Heat transfer
– During solidification and cooling
Kalpakjian p 265

Lecture No 24
Heat Transfer
• Very complex phenomenon
• Very simple process
– A cold mold extracts heat from the melt
causing it to solidify
• Critical to design of mold
• Can compute a relative time for solidification
Kalpakjian p 275

Lecture No 25
Heat Transfer - Solidification Time

• Proportional to the square of the volume/
surface area ratio
– A sphere will have a much longer solidification
time than a complex shape of the same volume

Lecture No 26
Effect of Cooling Rate
– Rate of cooling critical for the structure of the

material and hence its properties
• Slow cooling (~100K/s) gives large grain sizes
• Fast cooling (~10 k/s)gives small grain sizes
• Very fast cooling rates (>10 K/s)produce amorphous
materials
– Implications:-
• Should design artifact to be thin and not massive
• Require "chills" to control cooling rate

Lecture No 27
Material

– Fluidity
– Heat transfer
• During solidification and cooling
– Solidification
Kalpakjian p 265

Lecture No 28
Solidification Effects
• This is where the material comes important

– Plastics
• Not as critical as for metals
– Semiconductors
• Specialty crystal growing
• Single crystal so no microstructures
– Glass
• No microstructure

Lecture No 29
Solidification Effects - Metals
• Molten metal solidification events depend on

the type of material
– Pure metals
– Alloy

Lecture No 30
Solidification of Pure Metals
• Solidification occurs from the mold walls to

the center in a plane front
• Grains tend to be equiaxed and grow outward
from the mold wall in a columnar structure
• Nucleation agents can cause a more
equiaxed structure (more uniform grains and
size distribution)

Lecture No 31
Crystallization Phenomena
• Kalpakjian p 267

Lecture No 32
Solidification of Alloys
• Eutectics behave similarly to pure metals

but
• Cast grain structure depends on phase
diagram

Lecture No 33
Solidification of Alloys
• Alloys with liquidus and solidus temperatures have a

physical “mushy zone”
• “Mushy zone” has solid particles and liquid co-existing
• Solid particles tend to be dendritic (tree form) in
nature and grow from the mold wall
• Microstructure highly dependent on cooling rate
• Freezing range is the difference between the liquidus
and solidus temperatures
• Ferrous alloys tend to have small freezing ranges
• Aluminum and magnesium alloys tend to have wide
freezing ranges

Lecture No 34
Copper-Nickel Phase Diagram
Kalpakjian p 120

Why is solidification so important
Lecture No 35
for metals?
• The solidification events determine the
microstructure of the product:
– Grain size
– Grain distribution
– Grain morphology
– Grain boundaries
– Grain composition
– Porosity content and type

Lecture No 36
More Crystallization Phenomena

Lecture No
Influence of Grain Size on 37
Microstructure
Strength
Ductility
• Grain size
• Microporosity
Cracking tendency
Kalpakjian p 269

Lecture No 38
Structure-Property Relationships
• Slow cooling - uniform composition
• Normal cooling - microsegregation and Macro
segregation
• Microsegregation
– Segregation of alloying elements within the
grains or dendrites
– Dendrites are the columnar grains that
typically grow from the mold surface
– Dendrite surface has higher concentration of
alloying elements than core
• Macrosegregation
– Segregation of alloying elements across the
casting itself.
Lecture No 39
Structure-Property Relationships
• Macrosegregration
– Normal
• Lower melting constituents driven away from the
mold wall
– higher concentration at center
– Inverse
• melt enters the cavities among the dendrites formed
at the surface
– Gravity
• Heavy elements sink to the bottom
• Macrosegregation gives rise to poor
microstructures

Lecture No 40
Avoidance of Macrosegregation
• Use
– Nucleation agents
– Create more grains by mechanical means
• Rheocasting - stir the metal while it is in the mushy
zone
• Vibration
• Electromagnetic stirring

Lecture No 41
Solidification Effects - Shrinkage

• The metal shrinks as it cools
– in the melt
– as it solidifies as a solid (largest)
Volume Solid Contraction of some metals:

Aluminum 6.6%
Carbon Steel 2.5-3%
Copper 4.9%
Gray iron -2.55
Kalpakjian p 279

Lecture No
Impact of Shrinkage on Mold 42
Design
• Dimensions of mold
• Molds must be constructed to be larger than
the final product because the metal shrinks
as it cools
– Patternmakers ruler
• Warpage due to differential shrinkage
• Defects due to induced stresses
• Porosity

Lecture No 43
Solidification Effects - Defects

• Defects caused by
– materials
– part design
– processing techniques
• No simple answers

Lecture No 44
Defect Classes
• Projections
– fins, flash, swells (massive), rough surfaces
• Cavities
– internal, exposed, blowholes, pinholes
• Discontinuities
– cracks, cold and hot tearing, cold shuts
• Defective surface
– folds, laps, scars, adhering sand, oxide scale
• Incomplete casts
– insufficient metal, leaky molds
• Incorrect dimensions or shape
– improper shrinkage allowance, warping, etc
• Porosity See Kalpakjian pp 279-281
– T
Lecture No 45
Porosity
• A special kind of cavity
• Caused by shrinkage or gases
• Detrimental to the ductility of the metal, the
surface finish and pressure integrity of the
part

Lecture No 46
Shrinkage Porosity
• Caused by differential cooling
• Thin sections cool faster than thick sections
leading to too little material in the thick
sections
• When the thick sections begin to solidify,
porosity develops
• Mold designers avoid this by the use of chills
and proper flow channels and riser placement

Lecture No 47
Gas Porosity
• Liquid metals have greater solubility for gases
than solid metals
• Any gas in the melt appears as spherical
cavities
• Melt treatment must include various
degassification processes
• Can also have gases arising from reactions
(melt - mold)

Impact of all these factors on mold
Lecture No 48
design
• Very complex,
• Empirical
• Best left to experts
• There are some general guidelines, see later

Lecture No 49
Material
– Fluidity
– Heat transfer effects
• During solidification and cooling
– Solidification effects
– The type of mold material
Kalpakjian p 265

Lecture No 50
Influence of the Mold Material

• Mold material impacts:
– The heat transfer rate
– The surface finish
– The number and hence grain size of the
microstructure
• Selection of the mold material is strongly
influenced by the process

Lecture No 51
Wrap up
• Goal of Lecture
• Casting in perspective
• Phase change forming - Casting
– Fundamentals


Lecture 3

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MAE Course 3344

Return to Overview Slide

Return to Overview Slide

Some Useful Links

Return to Overview Slide

Return to Overview Slide

Return to Overview Slide

Return to Overview Slide

Return to Overview Slide

Return to Overview Slide

Return to Overview Slide

Return to Overview Slide

• Molten materials which solidify on cooling

Return to Overview Slide

Return to Overview Slide

Fluidity of Molten Metal

• Fluidity is dependent on:

Return to Overview Slide

• Viscosity and sensitivity

Return to Overview Slide

Theory of Fluid Flow

Return to Overview Slide

Return to Overview Slide

• Av = constant, the flow rate

Return to Overview Slide

Laminar vs Turbulent Flow

Return to Overview Slide

Practical Fluid Flow

Return to Overview Slide

Return to Overview Slide

Return to Overview Slide

Return to Overview Slide

Heat Transfer - Solidification Time

Return to Overview Slide

Effect of Cooling Rate

– Rate of cooling critical for the structure of the

Return to Overview Slide

• Factors affecting solidification characteristics

Return to Overview Slide

• This is where the material comes important

Return to Overview Slide

Solidification Effects - Metals

• Molten metal solidification events depend on

Return to Overview Slide

Solidification of Pure Metals

• Solidification occurs from the mold walls to

Return to Overview Slide

Return to Overview Slide

• Eutectics behave similarly to pure metals

Return to Overview Slide

• Alloys with liquidus and solidus temperatures have a

Return to Overview Slide

Copper-Nickel Phase Diagram

Return to Overview Slide

Return to Overview Slide

More Crystallization Phenomena

Return to Overview Slide

Return to Overview Slide

Return to Overview Slide

Return to Overview Slide

Solidification Effects - Shrinkage

Volume Solid Contraction of some metals: