CASTING DEFECTS :-

The defects in a casting

may be due to pattern and molding box equipment , molding
sand, cores, gating system or molten metal. Some of the
defects are :- 1) Mould Shift:- It results in a mismatching of
the top and the bottom parts of the casting, usually at the
parting line. Cause :- i)Worn or loose dowels in patterns
made in halves ii)Worn out, loose, bent or ill-fitting molding
box calming pins. Remedies:-involve removing the causes.
2)Fins & Flash:-These are thin
projection of the metal not
intended as a part of casting.
These usually occurs at the
parting line of the mold. Causes
:-Occurs when:- i)bottom boards
are too flexible ii) pattern plates
are not sufficiently rigid to keep straight during ramming. 3)
Sand Blow or Blow Holes:-It is smooth depression on the
outer surface of the casting work piece. They are entrapped
bubbles of gas with smooth walls. Causes:-Excessive
moisture in molding sand ii) low permeability & excessive
fine grain sands iii) Molds being not adequately vented iv)
Presence of gas producing ingredients in the mold. 4)
Scabs:-These are patches of sand on the upper surface of the
casting component. Cause :-i) too fine sand ii) Sand having
low permeability iii) High moisture content of sand iv)
Uneven mold ramming. 5) Hot Tear:-It is an internal or
external ragged discontinuously in the metal casting
resulting just after the metal has solidified. Cause:- i)Very
hard ramming ii) High dry & hot strength of sand mold. iii)
Too much shrinkage of metal while solidifying. iv) Slow
small gates or metal lacking fluidity. v) High sulphur
content. 6) Cold shuts &Misruns :-These happens when the
mold cavity is not completely filled by the molten &
insufficient material or metal. Causes: - Too cold molten
metal. ii) Too thin casting section iii) too small gates. iv)
Metal lacking in fluidity 7) Honey combing or Slag holes:
- These are smooth depressions on the upper surface of the
castings. They usually occur near the ingate. Causes: - Slag
holes result when slag enters the mould cavity, hence they
can be obviated by inserting slag traps in the gating systems.
8) Shrinkage: - It is a crack or breakage in the casting on
the surface of the work piece, which results from unequal
contraction of the metal during solidification. 9) Runouts &
Bustouts: - These permit drainage of the metal from the
cavity and result in incomplete casting. Causes :- i) Faulty
moulding box equipment ii) Faulty molding. 10) Sand Cuts
& Washes: - It usually occurs near the ingates as rough
lumps another surface of a casting causes: - i) Soft ramming
ii)insufficient draft on patterns iii)Improper gating system
iv)Insufficiently bonded or over baked cores.

SHELL MOULDING :-Shell

molding replaces
conventional sand molds by shell molds made up of
relatively thin, rigid shells of approximately uniform wall
thickness. Steps :- 1) A metal pattern having the profile of
the reqd casting is heated to 180*c-250*c in an oven
maintained at 300*- 400*c. 2)Pattern after being heated is
taken out of the oven & sprayed with soln of lubricating
agent. 3) Metal pattern is then turned face down & clamped
over the open end of the dump box. 4) The dump box is
inverted so that dry sand-resin mixture falls onto the face of
hot metal pattern 5) As the dump box is turned to its original
position, excess sand rein mixture falls back into the dump
box leaving a shell adhering closely to the pattern. 6) The
pattern along with the shell adhering to it is passed directly
into an oven for 1 to 2 minutes when the resin in the resinsand mixture cures and the shell acquires rigidity. 7) The
shell is then stripped from the pattern plate with the help of
ejector pins which are an integral part of the metal pattern.
8) After the shell so obtained have cooled, two mating shells
are securely fastened together to form a complete mold. 9)
shell molds may be poured either by keeping the parting
surface vertical or horizontal.

INVESTMENT CASTING:-Invest

casting is a
manufacturing process in which a wax pattern is coated with
a refractory ceramic material. Once the ceramic material is
hardened its internal geometry takes the shape of the
casting. The wax is melted out and molten metal is poured
into the cavity where the wax pattern was. The metal
solidifies within the ceramic mold and then the metal
casting is broken out. This manufacturing technique is also
known as the lost wax process. Parts manufactured in
industry by this process include dental, fixtures, gears,
cams, ratchets, jewelry, turbine, blades. etc..
Steps:-1)Producing a die for making wax patterns 2)Making
of expendable patterns and gating system 3)Percolating the
pattern assembly 4)Investing the wax pattern assembly for
the production of molds 5)Removing wax pattern from the
investment mold 6)Pouring metals into the molds 7)After
they are solidified, the castings are removed from the mold
8) Cleaning, Finishing & Inspection.

CENTRIFUGAL CASTING ADVANTAGES :-

CONTINUOUS CASTING :- is the process whereby

1) Cylinders and shapes with rotational symmetry are most

commonly cast by this technique. "Tall" castings are always
more difficult than short castings. In the centrifugal casting
technique the radius of the rotation, along which the
centrifugal force acts, replaces the vertical axis. The casting
machine may be rotated to place this in any convenient
orientation, relative to gravity's vertical. Horizontal and
vertical axis machines are both used, simply to place the
casting's longest dimension conveniently horizontal. 2)
Thin-walled cylinders are difficult to cast by other means,
but centrifugal casting is particularly suited to them. To the
rotation radius, these are effectively shallow flat castings
and are thus simple. 3) Centrifugal casting is also applied to
the casting of disk and cylindrical shaped objects such as
railway carriage wheels or machine fittings where the grain,
flow, and balance are important to the durability and utility
of the finished product. 4) Impurities ligther than metal gets
collected in centre, giving a good product. 5) Longer Life
:Parts made from centrifugals, with the castings finer
grained, denser structure provide increased service life and
withstand greater overloads and impact without fracturing.
6) Reduction of Manufacturing Costs: As a result of the
uniformity and other desirable characteristics of centrifugal
castings, machining time and material waste are
significantly reduced. Hard spots, sand residue, cavities,
blowholes and porosity are virtually eliminated.
CASTING CLEANING :- Cleaning the casting is major
problem in manufacturing industry. Due to sticky sand and
roughness, life of castings decreases. Hence it is necessary
to clean the castings in a certain cleaning value, but it also
increases the lead time. The lead-time raises the cost of
production. Hence casting protection is essential from the
economic point of view. The application of cleaning of
casting increases the life of product. Jet cleaning is generally
used after shot blasting or any other machining process to
remove the impurity like core sand particle inside the
casting and burr. After the metal has solidified and cool in
the mold. These molds go to a shake out station where the
sand and casting are dumped from the flask. The casting
are shaken free from the molding and some dry sand cores
are knocked out. This process of shake out is called the
cleaning of castings.
FETTLING : - The complete process of cleaning of
castings called fettling. It involves the removal of the cores,
gates, sprues, runners, risers and chipping of any of
unnecessary projections on the surface of the castings. The
fettling operation may be divided in to different stages.
Knocking out of dry sand cores. Dry sand cores may be
removed by knocking with iron bar. For quick knocking
pneumatic or hydraulic devices are empolyed, this method
is used for small, meduim work. For large castings the hydro
blast process is mostly employed.

molten metal is solidified into a "semifinished" billet,

bloom, or slab for subsequent rolling in the finishing mills.
This process is used most frequently to cast steel.
Aluminium and copper are also continuously cast.

DIE CASTING :- is a metal casting process that is

characterized by forcing molten metal under high pressure
into a mold cavity. The mold cavity is created using two
hardened tool steel dies which have been machined into
shape and work similarly to an injection mold during the
process. Most die castings are made from non-ferrous
metals, specifically zinc, copper, aluminium, magnesium,
lead, pewter and tin based alloys. Depending on the type of
metal being cast, a hot- or cold-chamber machine is used.
The following are the four steps in traditional die casting,
also known as high-pressure die casting,these are also the
basis for any of the die casting variations: die preparation,
filling, ejection, and shakeout. The dies are prepared by
spraying the mold cavity with lubricant. The lubricant both
helps control the temperature of the die and it also assists in
the removal of the casting. Advantages :Excellent
dimensional accuracy, Smooth cast surfaces,Reduces or
eliminates secondary machining operations. Disadvantage:
the very high capital cost. Both the casting equipment
required and the dies and related components are very costly