Bangladesh University of Engineering &

Technology (BUET)

MME Assignment
Topic: Metal Fabrication Techniques
Submitted By :
Reaz Khan
IPE
1308006

Metal Fabrication Techniques

Metal fabrication is the building of metal structures by cutting, bending, and
assembling processes.It is the transformation of metal into finished products. This process
involves many complex methods and techniques. Some methods are:

Casting: Casting means pouring molten metal into a mold with a cavity of the shape to be
made, and allowing it to solidify. When solidified, the desired metal object is taken out from the
mold either by breaking the mold or taking the mold apart. The solidified object is called the
casting.

Forging: Forging is a manufacturing process involving the shaping of metal using localized
compressive forces. The blows are delivered with a hammer or a die. Forging is often classified
according to the temperature at which it is performed: Cold forging, Warm forging and Hot
forging.

Extrusion: Extrusion is a process used to create objects of a fixed cross-sectional profile. A

material is pushed or pulled through a die of the desired cross-section. The two main advantages
of this process over other manufacturing processes are its ability to create very complex crosssections, and to work materials that are brittle, because the material only encounters compressive
and shear stresses.

Hydroforming: Hydroforming is a cost-effective way of shaping ductile

metals. One of the largest applications of hydroforming is the automotive
industry, which makes use of the complex shapes possible by hydroforming
to produce stronger, lighter, and more rigid body structures for vehicles. This
technique is particularly popular with the high-end sports car industry and is
also frequently employed in the shaping of aluminium tubes for bicycle
frames.

Heat treating: Heat treating is a group of industrial and metalworking processes used to alter
the physical, and sometimes chemical, properties of a material. The most common application is
metallurgical. Heat treatment involves the use of heating or chilling, normally to extreme
temperatures, to achieve a desired result such as hardening or softening of a material. Heat
treatment techniques include: Annealing, Case Hardening, Tempering and Quenching.

Welding: Welding is a fabrication or sculptural process that joins materials, usually metals or
thermoplastics, by causing fusion, which is distinct from lower temperature metal-joining
techniques such as Brazing and Soldering, which do not melt the base metal. In addition to
melting the base metal, a filler material is often added to the joint to form a pool of molten
material that cools to form a joint that can be as strong as the base material.

Polishing and Buffing: Polishing and Buffing are finishing processes for smoothing a work
piece's surface using an abrasive and a work wheel or a leather strop. Technically Polishing
refers to processes that use an abrasive that is glued to the work wheel, while Buffing uses a
loose abrasive applied to the work wheel.
Among these techniques casting process is described below :
Foundry or casting is the process of producing metal or alloy component parts of desired shapes
by pouring the molten metal or alloy into a prepared mold (of that shape) and then allowing the
metal or alloy to cool and solidify. The solidified piece of metal or alloy is known as a Casting.

Tools and equipment:

Drag - lower molding flask,

Flask: A metal or wood frame, without fixed top or bottom, in which the mold is formed.

Cope - upper molding flask,

Cheek - intermediate molding flask used in three piece molding.
Sprue: The passage through which the molten metal, from the pouring basin, reaches the
mold cavity. In many cases it controls the flow of metal into the mold.
Pattern: It is the model of desired casting with exactly same shape and size with or
without the addition of core print but allowance is must.
Runner: The channel through which the molten metal is carried from the sprue to the
gate.
Riser: A column of molten metal placed in the mold to feed the castings as it shrinks and
solidifies. Also known as feed head.
Gate: A channel through which the molten metal enters the mold cavity.
Core: A separate part of the mold, made of sand and generally baked, which is used to
create openings and various shaped cavities in the castings.
Vent wire: It is used to create small opening in the mold to facilitate escape of air and
gases.
Draw pin: it is driven into a wooden pattern when it is withdrawn from the sand.

Steps involved in casting process:

The pattern should be made out of Wood, Metal or Plastic.
The necessary sand mixtures for mold and core making should be prepared.
The Mold and necessary Cores should be made.
The metal or alloy to be cast should be melt.

 The molten metal or alloy should be poured into mold and remove the casting from the
mold after the metal solidifies.
The casting should be cleaned and finished.
The casting should be test and inspected.
The defects should be removed, if any.

Casting Defects :
A casting defect is an irregularity in the metal casting process that is very
undesired. Some defects can be tolerated while others can be repaired,
otherwise they must be eliminated. They are broken down into five main
categories: gas porosity, shrinkage defects, mold material defects, pouring
metal defects, and metallurgical defects.
These defects may be the result of :
(a) improper pattern design,
(b) improper mould and core construction,
(c) improper melting practice,
(d) improper pouring practice and
(e) Because of molding and core making materials.
(f) Improper gating system
(g) Improper metal composition
(h) Inadequate melting temp and rate of pouring
It creates a deficiency or imperfection.

Some defects are:

Blow:
Blow is relatively large cavity produced by gases which displace molten

metal form.
Scar:
Due to improper permeability or venting.A scare is a shallow blow. It
generally occurs on flat surf; whereas a blow occurs on a convex casting

surface. A blister is a shallow blow like a scar with thin layer of metal
covering it.

Scab:
This defect occurs when a portion of the face of a mould lifts or breaks down
and the recess thus made is filled by metal. When the metal is poured into
the cavity, gas may be disengaged with such violence as to break up the
sand which is then washed away and the resulting cavity filled with metal.
The reasons can be: - to fine sand, low permeability of sand, high moisture
content of sand and uneven moulds ramming.

Drop:
Drop or crush in a mould is an irregularly shaped projection on the cope
surface of a casting. This defect is caused by the break-away of a part of
mould sand as a result of weak packing of the mould, low strength of the
molding sand, malfunctioning of molding equipment, strong jolts and strikes
at the flask when assembling the mould.
The loose sand that falls into the cavity will also cause a dirty casting
surface, either on the top or bottom surface of the casting, depending upon

the relative densities of the sand and the liquid.

Penetration:
It is a strong crust of fused sand on the surface of a casting which results
from insufficient refractoriness of molding materials, a large content of
impurities, inadequate mould packing and poor quality of mould washes.
When the molten metal is poured into the mould cavity, at those places
when the sand packing is inadequate, some metal will flow between the sand
particles for a distance into the mould wall and get solidified. When the
casting is removed, this lump of metal remains attached to the casting. Of
course, it can be removed afterwards by chipping or grinding.

Blow holes:
Blow holes, gas holes or gas cavities are well rounded cavities having a clean
and smooth surface. They appear either on the casting surface or in the body
of a casting.
These defects occur when an excessive evolved gas is not able to flow
through the mould. So, it collects into a bubble at the high points of a mould
cavity ad prevents the liquid metal from filling that space.
This will result in open blows. Closed, cavities or gas holes are formed when
the evolved gases or the dissolved gases in the molten metal are not able to
leave the m ass of the molten metal as it solidifies and get trapped within
the casting.
These defects are caused by :
i) excessive moisture content (in the case of green sand moulds) or organic
content of the sand, moisture on chills, chaplets or metal inserts,
ii) inadequate gas permeability of the molding sand (due to fine grain size of
sand, high clay content, hard ramming),
iii) poor venting of mould, insufficient drying of mould and cores, cores not
properly vented, high gas content of the molten metal,
iv) low pouring temperature and incorrect feeding of the casting etc.
Pin holes:
Pin holes are small gas holes either at the surface or just below the surface.
When these are present, they occur in large numbers and are fairly uniformly
dispersed over the surface. This defect occurs due to gas dissolved in the
alloy and the alloy not properly degassed.

Wash:
A cut or wash is a low; projection on the drag face of a casting that extends
along the surface, decreasing in height as it extends from one side of the
casting to the other end. It usually occurs with bottom gating castings in
which the molding sand has insufficient hot strength, and when too much
metal is made to flow through one gate into the mold cavity,

Rat tail :
A rat tail is a long, shallow, angular depression in the surface of a flat rating
and resembles a buckle, except that, it is not shaped like a broad vee. The
reasons for this defect are the same for buckle.

Hot tear:
Hot tears are hot cracks which appear in the form of irregular crevices with a
dark oxidized fracture surface. They arise when the solidifying met does not
have sufficient strength to resist tensile forces produced during
solidification.
They are chiefly from an excessively high temperature of casting metal,
increased metal contraction incorrect design of the gating system and
casting on the whole (causing portions of the casting to be restrained from
shrinking freely during cooling which in turn causes excessive high intern
resistance stresses), poor deformability of the cores, and non-uniform cooling
which gives rise t internal stresses. This defect can be avoided by improving
the design of the casting and by having a mould of low hot strength and
large hot deformation.

Shrinkage :
A shrinkage cavity is a depression or an internal void in a casting that results
from the volume contraction that occurs during solidification.