You are on page 1of 3

09/04/2016

HowtoOrderaSteelCasting

Steel Founders' Society of America

Search...

OrderingSteelCastings
Theorderingofsteelcastingstakesacertainamountoftimeandenergytoqualifyapotentialsupplier.Togetthebestvaluefromthesteelcastingalso
requiresacooperativeeffortonthepartofthebuyerandthesellerfromtheearlystagesofthedesignthroughthemanufacturingprocess.Goodplanning
aheadoftimewillpaydividendsforbothyouandyoursupplier.

HowtoOrderSteelCastings
Aswithanymanufacturingprocess,inordertoproduceapart,itisnecessarytoknow:
DesignWhatisthepart?
MaterialWhatshouldthepartbemadeof?
TestingHowshouldthepartbetestedbeforedelivery?

InquiryandOrdering
Allpertinentinformationmustbestatedonboththeinquiryandorderincluding:
Castingshapeeitherbydrawingorpattern.Drawingshouldincludedimensionaltolerances,indicationsofsurfacestobemachined,datumpointsfor
locating.
Materialspecificationandgrade(e.g.ASTMA2787Grade6030ClassI).
NumberofParts
SupplementaryRequirements(e.g.ASTMA78187aS2RadiographicExamination).
TestMethods(e.g.ASTME94)
AcceptanceCriteria(e.g.ASTME186severitylevel2orMSSSP54)
Anyotherinformationthatmightcontributetotheproductionanduseofthepart.

I.Design
Toachievethemostefficientproductionandthehighestqualityproduct,thepartshouldbedesignedtotakeadvantageoftheflexibilityofthecasting
process.
Thefoundrymusthaveeitherthedesigner'sdrawingsorpatternequipmentandknowthelengthoftherun(numberofpartstobemade).
Totakeadvantageofthecastingprocess,thefoundryshouldalsoknowwhichsurfacesaretobemachinedandwheredatumpointsarelocated.The
acceptabledimensionaltolerancesmustbeindicatedwhenadrawingisprovided.
Tolerancesarenormallydecidedbyagreementbetweenthefoundryandcustomer.SFSAHandbookSupplement3representsacommonstartingpointfor
suchagreements.Itisnotaspecificationandcareshouldbetakentoreachagreementonwhattolerancesisrequired.
Closecooperationbetweenthecustomer'sdesignengineersandthefoundry'sengineerisessentialtooptimizethecastingdesign.
MinimumSectionThickness
Therigidityofasectionoftengovernstheminimumthicknesstowhichasectioncanbedesigned.Therearecases,however,whenaverythinsectionwill
suffice,dependinguponstrengthandrigiditycalculations,andwhencastabilitybecomesthegoverningfactor.Inthesecasesitisnecessarythatalimitof
minimumsectionthicknessperlengthbeadoptedinorderthatliquidmetalwillcompletelyfillthemoldcavityinthesethinnersections.
Moltensteelcoolsrapidlyasitentersamold.Inathinsection,closetothegate,whichdeliversthehotmetal,themoldwillfillreadily.Atadistancefromthe
gate,themetalmaybetoocoldtofillthesamethinsection.Aminimumthicknessof0.25in(6mm)issuggestedfordesignusewhenconventionalsteel
castingtechniquesareemployed.Wallthicknessof0.060in(1.5mm)arecommonforinvestmentcastingsandsectionstaperingdownto0.030in(0.76
mm)canreadilybeachieved.
Draft
Draftistheamountoftaperortheangle,whichmustbeallowed,onallverticalfacesofapatterntopermititsremovalfromthesandmoldwithouttearing
themoldwalls.Draftshouldbeaddedtothedesigndimensionswhilemaintainingminimummetalthickness.
Regardlessofthetypeofpatternequipmentused,draftmustbeconsideredinallcastingdesigns.(Draftcanbeeliminatedbytheuseofcoreshowever,
thisaddssignificantcosts.)Incaseswheretheamountofdraftmayaffectthesubsequentuseofthecasting,thedrawingshouldspecifywhetherthisdraftis
tobeaddedtoorsubtractedfromthecastingdimensionsasgiven.
Thenecessaryamountofdraftdependsuponthesizeofthecasting,themethodofproduction,andwhethermoldingisbyhandormachine.Machine
moldingwillrequireaminimumamountofdraft.Interiorsurfacesingreensandmoldingusuallyrequiresmoredraftthanexteriorsurfaces.Theamountof
draftrecommendedundernormalconditionsisabout3/16in.perft.(approximately1.5degrees),andthisallowancewouldnormallybeaddedtodesign
dimensions.
PartingLine
Partinginoneplanefacilitatestheproductionofthepatternaswellastheproductionofthemold.
Patternswithstraightpartinglines,thatis,withpartinglinesinoneplane,canbeproducedmoreeasilyandatlowercostthanthosewithirregularparting

https://www.sfsa.org/sfsa/buyrord1.php

1/3

09/04/2016

HowtoOrderaSteelCasting

lines.
Castingshapeswhicharesymmetricalaboutonecenterlineorplanereadilysuggestthepartingline.Suchcastingdesignsimplifiesmoldingandcoring,
andshouldbeusedwhereverpossible.Theyshouldalwaysbemadeas"splitpatterns"whichrequireaminimumofhandworkinthemold,improvecasting
finish,andreducecosts.

Cores
NumberofCores
Acoreisaseparatepiece(oftenmadefrommoldingsand)placedinsidethemoldtocreateopeningsandcavitieswhichcannotbemadebythepattern
alone.Everyattemptshouldbemadebythedesignedtoeliminateorreducethenumberofcoresneededforaparticulardesigntoreducethefinalcostof
thecasting.
Theminimumdiameterofacorewhichcanbesuccessfullyusedinsteelcastingsisdependentuponthreefactors:
Thethicknessofthemetalsectionsurroundingthecore
Thelengthofthecore
Thespecialprecautionsandproceduresusedbythefoundry.
Theadversethermalconditionstowhichthecoreissubjectedincreaseinseverityasthemetalthicknesssurroundingthecoreincreasesandthecore
diameterdecreases.Theseincreasingamountsofheatfromtheheavysectionmustbedissipatedthroughthecore.Astheseverityofthethermal
conditionsincreases,thecleaningofthecastingsandcoreremovalbecomesmuchmoredifficultandexpensive.
Thethicknessofthemetalsectionsurroundingthecore,andthelengthofthecore,bothaffectthebendingstressesinducedinthecorebybuoyancyforces
and,therefore,theabilityofthefoundrytoobtainthetolerancesrequired.Ifthesizeofthecoreislargeenough,rodscanoftenbeusedtostrengthenthe
core.Naturally,asthemetalthicknessandthecorelengthincrease,theamountofreinforcementrequiredtoresistthebendingstressesalsoincreases.
Therefore,theminimumdiametercoremustalsoincreasetoaccommodatetheextrareinforcing.
CoreRemoval
Thecostofremovingcoresfromcastingcavitiesmaybecomeprohibitivewhentheareastobecleanedareinaccessible.Thecastingdesignshouldprovide
foropeningssufficientlylargetopermitreadyaccessfortheremovalofthecore.

InternalSoundnessDirectionalSolidification
Steelcastingsbegintosolidifyatthemoldwall,formingacontinuouslythickeningenvelopeasheatisdissipatedthroughthemoldmetalinterface.The
volumetriccontractionthatoccurswithinasolidifyingcastmembermustbecompensatedbyliquidfeedmetalfromanadjoiningheaviersection,orfroma
riserwhichservesasafeedmetalreservoirandwhichisplacedadjacentto,orontopof,theheaviersection.
Thelackofsufficientfeedmetaltocompensateforvolumetriccontractionatthetimeofsolidificationisthecauseofshrinkagecavities.Theyarefoundin
sectionswhich,owingtodesign,mustbefedthroughthinnersections.Thethinnersectionssolidifytooquicklytopermitliquidfeedmetaltopassfromthe
risertothethickersections.

DesignforMachining
Inthefinalanalysisthefoundrycastingengineerisresponsibleforgivingthedesigneracastproductthatiscapableofbeingtransformedbymachiningto
meetthespecificrequirementsintendedforthefunctionofthepart.Toaccomplishthisgoalacloserelationshipmustbemaintainedbetweenthecustomer's
engineeringandpurchasingstaffandthecastingproducer.Jointly,andwithacooperativeapproach,thefollowingpointsmustbeconsidered:
Thecastingprocess,itsadvantagesanditslimitations.
Machiningstockallowancetoassurecleanuponallmachinedsurfaces.
Designinrelationtoclampingandfixturingdevicestobeusedduringmachining.
Selectionofmaterialspecificationandheattreatment.
Quantityofpartstobeproduced.

Layout
Itisimperativethateverycastingdesign,whenfirstproduced,becheckedtodeterminewhetherallmachiningrequirementscalledforonthedrawingsmay
beattained.Thismaybebestaccomplishedbyhavingacompletelayoutofthesamplecastingtomakesurethatadequatestockallowanceformachining
existsonallsurfacesrequiringmachining.Formanydesignsofsimpleconfigurationthatcanbemeasuredwithasimplerule,acompletelayoutofthe
castingmaynotbenecessary.Inothercases,wherethemachiningdimensionsaremorecomplicated,itmaybeadvisablethatthecastingbechecked
morecompletely,callingfortargetpointsandthescribingoflinestoindicateallmachinedsurfaces.Additionalguidelinesforcastingdesignaregiveninthe
SteelCastingsHandbookandSupplements1,3and4oftheHandbook.

II.Material
Thematerialtobeusedtoproducethepartmustbeidentifiedintheorder.MaterialforsteelcastingsisgenerallyorderedtoASTMrequirements,although
otherspecificationsmaybeused.Thissectioncontainsasummaryofthescope,chemicalcompositionrequirementsandmechanicalpropertyrequirements
ofthesematerialsorproductspecifications.Manyrequirementsarecommontoseveralspecificationsandaregivenin:ASTMA781/A781M89and/or
ASTMA703/703M89
A781/CASTINGS,STEELANDALLOY,COMMONREQUIREMENTS,
FORA781M89GENERALINDUSTRIALUSE
ThisspecificationcoversagroupofrequirementsthataremandatoryrequirementsofthefollowingsteelcastingspecificationsissuedbytheAmerican
SocietyofTestingandMaterials:A27,A128,A148,A297,A447,A486,A494,A560,A743,A744andA747.

https://www.sfsa.org/sfsa/buyrord1.php

2/3

09/04/2016

HowtoOrderaSteelCasting

Iftheproductspecificationspecifiesdifferentrequirementstheproductspecificationshallprevail.
Thisspecificationalsocoversagroupofsupplementaryrequirements,someofwhichmaybeappliedtotheabovespecificationsasrequired.These
areprovidedforusewhenadditionaltestingorinspectionisdesiredandappliesonlywhenspecifiedindividuallyintheorderbythepurchaser.
A703/STEELCASTINGS,GENERALREQUIREMENTS,
FORPRESSUREA703M89CONTAININGPARTS
Thisspecificationcoversagroupofcommonrequirementswhich,unlessotherwisespecifiedinanindividualspecification,shallapplytosteelcastings
forpressurecontainingpartsundereachofthefollowingASTMspecifications:A216,A217,A351,A352,A389,andA487.
Thisspecificationalsocoversagroupofsupplementaryrequirementswhichmaybeappliedtotheabovespecificationsasindicatedtherein.Theseare
providedforusewhenadditionaltestingorinspectionisdesiredandappliesonlywhenspecifiedindividuallybythepurchaserintheorder.

III.Testing
Testingensuresthatthematerialmeetstherequirementsofthespecificationconsequently,testingismandatory.Morefrequenttestingorothertestsmay
beimposed,byuseofsupplementaryrequirementsofproductspecificationsorgeneralrequirementspecifications.
Inadditiontospecifyingtestmethods,acceptancecriteriamustbeagreedupon.Themoretestingandtightertheacceptancecriteriathemoreexpensive
theproductwillbewithoutnecessarilyincreasingqualityorserviceability.Hence,theextentoftestingandacceptancecriteriashouldbebasedonthe
designandservicerequirements.
Themechanicalpropertiesareverifiedbytheuseoftestbarscasteitherseparatelyorattachedtothecastings.
Themechanicalpropertiesobtainedrepresentthequalityofthesteel,butdonotnecessarilyrepresentthepropertiesofthecastingsthemselves,whichare
affectedbysolidificationconditionsandrateofcoolingduringheattreatment,whichinturnareinfluencedbycastingthickness,sizeandshape.Inparticular,
thehardenabilityofsomegradesmayrestrictthemaximumsizeatwhichtherequiredmechanicalpropertiesareobtainable.

Lastmodified:May2008
Copyright19952016bySteelFounders'SocietyOfAmerica.
Allrightsreserved.AddressCommentsto: blairr@sfsa.org

https://www.sfsa.org/sfsa/buyrord1.php

Home | Contents | Contact

3/3

You might also like