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1. Selection of a Layout
Decide first which way up the part is to be cast
For two/three-part mould, use casting in cope/middle box, allowing gating at the
lowest parts of the casting
A heavy section of the casting needs special attention. Orient the heavy part of the
casting at the top and plant a feeder there. If this cannot be done, provide chills and/or
fins to this section
When a general scheme is decided, including the approximate sitting of gates and
runners, the provision of feeders (if any) and the location of the sprue, a start can be
made on the quantification of the gating system.
,
, =
,
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3.2 Determination of pouring rate
Determine/decide on total filling time of casting. See Appendix 1 and Appendix 2.
Pouring time < solidification time of thinnest section of casting.
Find solidification time from modulus and the Chvorinovs rule.
Experience / trial and error are needed.
Find the average/initial filling rate (kg/s or m3/s) in the gating system
()
, / =
()
= . x
= .
hP = metal head pressure at the sprue base, H = height of sprue, h1 = height of casting
above the point of metal entry into the mould (or, height of casting in cope), h2 = height of
casting.
= =
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4. Design of Runner and Ingates
= x
The cross-section of a runner is usually rectangular and the thickness of runner should
be close to the height of a sessile drop of the corresponding liquid metal (16 for Mg-
base, 13 mm for Al-base, 8 for Cu- and Fe-base alloys) to avoid turbulence (even if the
liquid velocity exceeds the critical velocity).
Take a simple 90o turn from the sprue exit into the runner to streamline the sprue exit
and runner junction. The inside radius of this turn should be at least approximately 1
or 2 times the thickness of the runner.
= x
For multiple gates, divide the total gate area by the number of gates to determine the
individual gate area.
Usually, the thickness of gate equals the thickness the runner. Length of gate is
suitably designed to access the mould cavity.
x
= x
5. Inclusions Control
Use one or more inclusion control systems (filters, dross trap or swirl trap) in the gating
system to avoid entry of sand, oxide film and other inclusions into the mould cavity.
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Use of Nomogram
Calculation of sprue, runner and ingate dimensions of the gating design can be made with the use
of Nomogram (Fig. 1). Once the average fill rate and sprue height have been decided, the sprue
bottom area, gate area, and sprue top area can be found out from such nomogram.
Assumptions made in the preparation of the monograms:
1. Unpressurised gating system
2. Initial pouring rate 1.5 x average pouring rate
3. C = 0.8 (sprue loss), k = 0.5 (basin loss)
4. Critical gate velocity: 250 mm/s for Al-base alloys; 500 mm/s for Cu- and Fe-base alloys
5. 20% safety factor oversize of the sprue top area
6. h1 = 50 mm (height of liquid at the pouring basin)
4. Density data: 2500 kg/m3 for Al-base alloys; 7000 kg/m3 for Cu-, Fe-, Ni-, and Co-base alloys
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Appendix 1:
Calculation of pouring time base on experimented rules
Often experimentally determined equations are used to calculate pouring time (in seconds) and
pouring rate (kg/s) for typical foundry alloys. Some those equations are mentioned below.
2. Steel castings:
=
W = weight of casting, lbs; K = 1.2 (for 100 lb casting), 0.4 (for 100,000 lb casting)
(K values plotted against log W)
3. Copper alloys:
/
=
= average thickness of castings, mm; S = 1.3 1.8 (for bottom gated systems; lower value
for brass, higher value for tin bronze), 1.9 2.8 (for top gates systems; lower value for brass,
higher value for tin bronze); W = weight of casting, kg
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Appendix 2:
Calculation of pouring rate
=
. + .
W = weight of casting, kg; t = critical casting thickness, mm; P = constant (depends upon
the weight of casting). The value of constant P for different castings is as follows:
=
b = constant, depends on wall thickness. Typical values of b:
=
.
The factor f has a value of 0.85-0.90 for tapered sprue and 0.70-0.75 for straight sprue.
For all metals other than grey and malleable cast iron, k can be taken as unity. In case of grey
and malleable cast iron, the metal fluidity can be calculated from the carbon equivalent (Fig. 2).
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Fig. 7: Nomogram giving approximate sprue area (mm2) for light and dense metals as a function
of initial flow rate and head height.
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Fig. 2: Fluidity related to pouring temperature and composition of grey and malleable cast iron.
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