2/2/2016 BehaviorofAluminumAlloyCastingsunderDifferentPouringTemperaturesandSpeedsfromLeonardoElectronicJournalofPracticesandTechnolo...

BehaviorofAluminumAlloyCastingsunderDifferentPouringTemperaturesand
Speeds

MohammadB.NDALIMAN*andAkpanP.PIUS

MechanicalEngineeringDepartment,FederalUniversityofTechnology,Minna,Nigeria
mbndaliman@yahoo.com(*CorrespondingAuthor)

Abstract
The investigation studies the effect of pouring temperatures and rates on the
mechanical properties of Aluminum alloy castings. The castings were produced at
differentpouringtemperaturesandspeeds.Thespeedrangeis2.0cm/sto16.0cm/s,
whilethetemperaturerangefortheinvestigationis680oCto750oC.Thespecimens
were subsequently tested for quality and properties such as hardness and strength.
Observations and results indicated that lower pouring temperatures, nearer to the
meltingtemperaturesofthealloysproducedgoodqualitycastingswiththeoptimum
values of hardness and strength as 65.5 and 112 N/mm2 respectively. The optimum
pouringspeedisintherangeof2.2cm/sto2.8cm/s,wherethehardnessandstrength
were65.4and127N/mm2respectively.
Keywords
PouringTemperaturePouringSpeedUltimateTensileStrengthRockwellHardness
PercentageElongationPercentageReductioninArea.

Introduction

To an engineer, the knowledge and understanding of casting parameters in casting different

metalsandalloysisassignificantasthecastproducts.Metalcastingisbydefinitionanyprocessof
meltingmetalandpouringthemintomouldinordertoproducetherequiredshapes.Specificcasting
parameters such as pouring temperatures, rate of pouring, fluidity and composition of metals are of
topmostimportanceforconsiderationifsoundcastingistobeachieved.
Ithasbeenobserved[1]thatmeltingandpouringconditionsdirectlyorindirectlyaffectssuch
mechanical properties of cast materials as: hardness, percentage elongation, percentage reduction in
diameter,toughnessandsoon.Forinstanceaninvestigationonpouringrateofsomeferrousmetals
[2] revealed that metals such as steels have very high freezing rate compared to most other alloys
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castings.Theoptimumpouringspeedisalsofoundtobeafunctionofthecastingsizeandshape.
Theknowledgeofmeltingtemperatureofmetalsandalloysisnecessarytoestimatetheir
correspondingpouringtemperature[3].Aluminumalloycastinghasmeltingtemperatureof660C[4]
withitscorrespondingpouringtemperaturerangetobebetween700C750C.Itwasalsostatedby
Lindberg[5]thatthismeltingtemperaturemaybeaslowas649C.
Inthispaper,theeffortsmadeinsandcastingAluminumalloyofthesamesizeandshapeat
selectedpouringtemperaturesandratesispresented.Thecastalloyswereexaminedformechanical
properties. The aim is to determine the optimum points at which these parameters produce good
quality castings. It has been stated [6] that when pouring temperature is lower than optimum, the
mould cavity will not fill the gate or riser will solidify too rapidly and intercept directional
solidification. On the other hand, higher pouring temperature causes shrinkage of the casting and
mould warping [7]. Above all, many casting defects result because the optimum casting conditions
werenotusedduringthecastingprocess[7].

Experimentalmethods

For this investigation, the casting parameters varied were the pouring temperature and the
pouringrate.SpecimensofsandcastAluminumalloywereproducedwiththeaidofwoodenpattern.
Thestandardcastingprocedure,whichcomprisesofpatternmaking,molding,melting,pouringand
cleaning/fettling,wasfollowed.Aftermolding,scrapsofAluminumalloyweremeltedinanoilfired
crucible furnace. Charging and melting was for 1 hour. Temperature measurement was done with
thermocouple,andthealloywasalwaysheatedtoatemperatureof10oCabovethespecifiedpouring
temperature. This allows for temperature drops encountered during reloading and temperature loss
duringthetimerequiredforpouringofthecastingstobecompensatedfor.Thesamesizesandshapes
werecasttopresentuniformityinmeasurements.

Determinationofpouringspeed
Pouringspeedofmoltenmetal,Vmaybedefinedastheflowofthemetalperunittime.In
determine the pouring speed, the parameter, V, is expressed as the distance of the ladle above the
pouringbasinperunittimeofpouringthemetal.Thisisexpressedas:

where: V = pouring speed (cm/s) H = Height of ladle above pouring basin (cm) T = Time for
pouringthemoltenmetal(sec).
The sand mould for each specimen to be cast was placed on a mould board and the distance
betweenthepouringbasinandtheladlewasmeasuredas80cm.Themoltenmetalwasthenpoured
intothemouldandthepouringtimeforeachmouldtobefilledupwasvariedforeightspecimensso
as to obtain different pouring speeds for the castings. The pouring temperature was maintained at
700C.
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DeterminationofPouringTemperatures
ThepouringtemperaturesoftheAluminumalloycastingsweremeasuredbyathermocouple.
Inthepouringladle,thetipoftheinstrumentwasallowedtomakecontactwiththebaseofthemolten
metal contained in it. For each casting, two temperature readings were noted and recorded
accordingly.Thefirstbeingthetemperaturereadingatthebeginningofpouringofthemoltenmetal
intothemouldandthesecondbeingthetemperaturereadingimmediatelythemouldisfilledup.The
average of these two temperatures calculated were the temperatures for the particular casting. This
wasdoneforeightcastingsatdifferenttemperatures.Thepouringspeedwasmaintainedat2.5cm/s.
Thepouredmoltenmetalwereallowedtosolidifyandcool,andthenremovedfromthesand
andthefettlingoperationswereconductedonthemusingthenormalmethods.

TestoftheCastProducts
Standard specimen dimensions were prepared out of the castings for the test of mechanical
properties.Thetestsconductedaretensileandhardnesstests.AtensiletestingandRockwellhardness
testingmachineswereusedforthesetests.

ResultsandDiscussions

ThechemicalcompositionoftheAluminumalloycastingispresentedinTable1.

Table1.CompositionoftheAluminumAlloyCasting
Element
Composition(%) *StandardComposition(%)
Iron
0.5
0.5
Silicon
0.4
0.3
Copper
0.1
0.1
Nickel
0.1
0.1
Magnesium 4.2
3.06.0
Manganese 0.5
0.30.7
Zinc

0.1
Aluminum Balance
Balance
*Source[9]

ThecompositioninTable1canbeusedtocomparewiththepropertiesofatypicalAluminum
MagnesiumManganesealloyinascastcondition.Kempster[9]gavetheircompositionofsuch
analloytobeinthefollowingranges:Magnesium(3.06.0),andManganese(0.30.7).
The experimental results obtained for the mechanical properties of aluminum alloy casting
have been computed and plotted in graphs. A series of results were obtained for the properties at
different pouring speeds, with the pouring temperature kept constant at 700oC. From the tensile
testing,theultimatetensilestrength,percentageelongationandreductioninareawerecomputed.The
hardness values: both across and along the axis were also determined. The variations of these
propertieswithpouringspeedarepresentedinfigure1to3
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Similarpropertieswereinvestigatedwhenthepouringspeedwaskeptconstantat2.5cm/s,
while the pouring temperature was varied in the temperature range of 680.0C and 750.0C. The
behavioursofthepropertiesinthespecifiedrangearepresentedinfigures4to6.

CastingsPropertiesatDifferentPouringSpeeds
InFig.1,theRockwellhardnessnumberdeterminedforthecastingatdifferentpouringspeeds
ispresented.Thehardnessvalueacrossaxisincreasesinitiallywithpouringspeedfrom63.0.Itlatter
attaineditsmaximumvalueof65.4atthespeedof2.2cm/s.Thereafter,itfallssharplytoavalueof
58.0attherateof3.2cm/s.Itthenroseto62.0fromwhereitfinallyfallswithanyincreaseinpouring
speed.Forhardnessalongaxis,thehardnessvalueincreasesinitiallywithpouringspeedfrom60.0to
maximumvalueof63.1atthespeedof3.2cm/s,untilitfinallyfalltoavalueof50.0atthepouring
speedof16.0cm/s.

Figure1.VariationofHardnesswithPouringSpeed

Infigure2theultimatetensilestrengthdecreasesinitiallywithincreasingpouringspeedfrom
123.0N/mm2 to112.0N/mm2.Itreachesamaximumvalueof127.5N/mm2atthepouringspeedof
about2.8cm/s.Subsequentincreaseinpouringspeedreducesthetensilestrength.Thelowestvalueof
68.5N/mm2wasobtainedatthepouringrateof16cm/s.
Infigure3,thepercentageelongationincreasewithincreaseinpouringspeedfrom1.6%tothe
maximum of 2.8% at 2.8cm/s. Subsequence increase in pouring speed reduces the percentage
elongation. It can be observed that the lowest value obtained is 0.1% at 16.0cm/s. The percentage
reduction in diameter also follows the same trend, except that the values are lower than that
percentageelongationforanygivenrateofpouring.

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Figure2.VariationofUTSwithPouringSpeed

From these results, the maximum values obtained for the properties are consistent with the
existingstandards[9]whenthepouringrateisintherangeof2.22.8cm/s.Thus,thehardnessvalue
of 65.4 compares well with 50.0 [10], as obtained in standards. Similarly, the maximum tensile
strengthandelongationareinclosecomparisonwith140.0N/mm2and2.0respectivelyasfoundin
standards[9,10].Therefore,allthediscussionsonthevariationtrendswouldbetakentobevalid.

PropertiesofCastingatDifferentPouringTemperatures
Figure 4 shows the variation of Rockwell hardness with pouring temperature. Generally the
hardnessacrosstheaxisisshowntobealwayshigherthanthatalongaxis.Thehardnessacrossthe
axisincreasesinitiallywithpouringtemperaturetoamaximumof65.5attemperatureof688C.
Themaximumhardnessattainedalongtheaxisis62.8atthepouringtemperatureof688C.
Thebehaviorofthetwohardnesstypesfollowswaveforms,butgenerallydecreasesathigherpouring
temperatures. For instance, at the pouring temperature of 760C, the Rockwell hardness across the
axisis51.0,whilethatalongtheaxisis40.0.

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Figure3.EffectofPouringSpeedonDeformationofAluminumAlloyCasting

It has been observed [5] that pinholes in aluminum castings are caused by the absorbed
hydrogen. This can be minimised by pouring the alloy at temperatures just necessary for casting.
Therefore,oncethisoptimumpouringtemperatureisidentified,itshouldbeproperlyapplied.

Figure4.VariationofHardnesswithPouringTemperature

Figure5.VariationofUTSwithTemperature
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The ultimate tensile strength decreases with increasing pouring temperature (fig 5). The
minimumvalueattainedis79.5N/mm2atthepouringtemperatureof740C.
InFigure6,thepercentageelongationisseentoincreasewithpouringtemperaturefrom2.8%
toamaximumvalueof3.1%.

Figure6.EffectofPouringTemperatureonDeformation
Furtherincreasesinpouringtemperaturereducethepercentageelongation.Ontheotherhand,
thepercentagereductionindiameterincreasesinitiallywithpouringtemperaturefrom2.0%to2.5%
atthetemperatureof700C.Itthendecreasesto2.2%afterwhichitincreasestoamaximumvalueof
2.5%. Thereafter it falls sharply to 1.0%. Since these properties compared favorably well with the
castingsofsimilaralloycompositions,theproductscanbeusedinareassuchasfoodandchemical
industriesaswellasmarineandarchitecturalworks.

QualityAssessmentoftheCastings
For aluminum alloys, the optimum pouring temperature range is 700C to 750C. At
temperatures higher than this range, the casting results in large crystals, low strength and gases are
entrappedinthecastings,leadingtodefectsknownasblowholes.

ResultofVisualInspectionoftheCastings
Fromcastings,thebestsurfacefinishwasobtainedatthepouringtemperaturerangeof680C
700C.Athighertemperatures,castingswithstickysandandveryroughsurfaceswereobtained.
Pouringspeedalsoaffectsthequalityofcastings.Thespeedrangeof2.0cm/s2.7cm/sgave
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thebestsurfacefinish.Thedegreeofsurfacefinishdeterioratedasthespeedincreases.

InternalDefects
Thecastingsproducedatpouringtemperatureslessthan730Cwerefreefrominternaldefect.
This implied that the temperature were sufficient. Also castings at different pouring speeds on
machiningshowedvariationininternaldefectswithcastspecimens.Thecastingsproducedathigher
speeds {8.0cm/s to16.0cm/s} were found to have either inclusions or dross and gas holes. These
defectsmaybeasaresultofturbulenceflowconditionofthemoltenmetalasitispouredthroughthe
gatingsystemintothemould.

Conclusions

Fromboththequalityandmechanicalpropertyassessments,itwasfoundthatforAluminum
alloystheoptimumpouringtemperaturerangeisbetween700oCand750oC.Thisistheregionwhere
goodqualitycastsareproducedwithgoodmechanicalproperties.
Thepouringspeedrange,whichgavethebestsurfacefinish,isbetween2.0cm/sand2.8cm/s.
Optimum values of hardness, tensile strength and deformations were obtained at this temperature
range.
Furtherstudiesonthemetallurgicalinvestigationsonthecastingsproducedatvariedrangesof
these parameters {temperature & speed} are currently in progress. This is to check the grain sizes,
nonmetallicinclusionsandsubmicroscopicpinholes.

References

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and Medium Carbon Steel, Unpublished B. Eng Project Submitted to the Dept. of Mechanical
Engineering,FederalUniversityofTechnology,Minna,2000.
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3.JainP.L.,PrincipleofFoundryTechnology,MIRPublicationsMoscow,1986,p.2264.
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MechanicalEngineeringDepartment,F.U.T.Minna,1992,p.1718.
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