See

discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/278330128

Design of Gating and Riser System for Grate Bar

Casting

Article · January 2015

CITATIONS READS

0 3,662

1 author:

Samavedam Santhi
Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Technology
18 PUBLICATIONS 7 CITATIONS

SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

Estimation of porosity and shrinkage of cast Al-Si alloys through casting process simulation View
project

Shrinkage characteristics of cast Aluminium alloys View project

All content following this page was uploaded by Samavedam Santhi on 16 June 2015.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

Design of Gating and Riser System for
Grate Bar Casting
S. Santhi, B. Ramakrishna Surya, S. Jairam, J. Jhansi and P. K. S. Subramanian
Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Technology,
Hyderabad-500075
Corresponding author E-mail: santhi_samave@yahoo.com

Introduction
The grate bar, used in pallet cars of pallet or sintering plant,
Metal casting is a manufacturing process where molten or
that are used for iron making in blast furnace. Austenitic
liquid metal is poured into a mould cavity and allowed to stainless steel with low percentage of carbon is considered
solidify to acquire the shape of the mould. Metal Casting is for this grate bar casting to prevent sensitisation. A key
unique among metallurgical processes as complex physics element in producing quality castings is the proper design
is involved in it[1]. Any type and shape of an alloy can be and sizing of the gating and riser systems. Gating and riser
produced using sand casting technique. Sand mould’s system are designed with the help of mathematical formulae.
refractoriness helps to retain its shape and size, and shows A C programme has been developed to calculate the areas
a slight expansion when subjected to high temperature of sprue, runner and ingates and volume of the riser. Well-
for a long period. Sand casting technique is the most designed gating and riser system improved the quality of
the grate bar casting.
cost-effective and design-flexible in foundry[2]. Innovative
and well-planned management of sand is essential for Keywords: Grate bar, Cast stainless steel, Gating system,
maintaining quality of the product and process according Riser, C programme.
to Ravneet Kakria[3]. The greatest percentage of castings
is produced by sand casting route which is the most
economical with optimum efficiency and reclaimability[4]. the most versatile of the common foundry metals. Stainless
In sand moulds, the temperature distribution in the molten steel alloys have special advantages for casting, negligible
metal is uniform and the temperature of the inside surface solubility for all gases except hydrogen and good surface
of the mould is equal to the temperature of the liquid finish that is usually achieved with final products[8].
metal, because the heat conductivity of the sand is very
low compared to molten metal[5].
The grate bar, used in pallet cars of pallet plant or sintering
plant, that are found in steel industries is shown in Fig.
1. These grate bars are made of cast stainless steel. Since
they undergo repeated heating cycles for a long period of
time, there is always a chance for sensitisation to occur[6].
To prevent this, an austenitic stainless steel is used with low
percentage of carbon (0.2%-0.4%). Nominal Composition
of the cast stainless steel grate bar is 27% Cr-13%Ni as per
ASTM A-297 as given in Table-1[7]. Stainless steel is one of

Table-1: Chemical Composition of Grade

ASTM A297[7]
Elements %wt.
Carbon 0.4
Silicon 2 Fig. 1: Pallet car used in a sintering plant.
Manganese 2
A key element in producing quality aluminium castings
Phosphorus 0.04
is the proper design and sizing of the gating and riser
Sulphur 0.04
systems[9]. The soundness of a casting depends upon
Chromium 24-28
how the molten metal enters a mould and solidifies. The
Molybdenum 0.50
assembly of channels which facilitates the molten metal to
Nickel 11-14

19
Indian Foundry Journal Vol 61 • No. 1 • January 2015
enter into the mould cavity is called the gating system[10].
The major elements of gating system are pouring basin,
sprue, well, runner, and ingate, in the sequence of flow of
molten metal from the ladle to the mould cavity[11] as shown
in Fig. 2. Production costs can be significantly reduced by
minimising the amount of metal contained in the gating
system[1]. Proper design of an optimised gating system will
be made easier by the application of several fundamental
principles of fluid flow. The design of each gating system
depends upon its primary objectives like ease of moulding,
avoiding turbulent flow, erosion of sand from the mould
walls, avoiding inclusion of dross or slag with metal
entering the mould. The main objective of gating system is
Fig. 2: Various parts of gating system.
to lead clean molten metal keeping in view of the shrinkage
behaviour and the crystal growth morphology[10,11]. There
are primarily two types of gating systems based on the
ratio between sprue, runner and gate area, like pressurised
gating system and unpressurised gating system.
For stainless steel castings, the gating ratio generally
considered is pressurised gating system as shown in Fig. 3
and the value considered is 1:2:1.5. Riser acts as a feeder for
molten metal to the casting as it solidifies. A riser must stay
fluid and be able to feed the casting during solidification.
20
Vol 61 • No. 1 • January 2015
Fig. 3: Pressurised gating system.
The requirements of the riser depend considerably on
the type of the metal being poured and percentage of
volumetric shrinkage for stainless steel is 6.60%.
Gating System
Purpose of the gating system is to direct the flow of the
molten metal into the mould cavity and also prevents
the mould material from entering into the casting, since
pouring the molten metal directly into the mould cavity
can cause the mould to dislodge and cause the material to
get included into the casting. Runner is typically located in
the drag of the casting. Gates are the inlets into the mould
cavity. The gates can be no thicker than the casting section
to which they are attached. It is usually the best practice
to have the gates slightly thinner than the casting section.
Size and dimensions of the present casting are given in Fig.
4 as a schematic diagram. Gating ratio is defined as the
ratio of the area of the sprue to the area of the runner to
the area of the gating system and for the present stainless
steel casting, it is 1:2:1.5.
Fig. 4: Schematic diagram of
the casting.
Indian Foundry Journal
Calculation for Area of Sprue, Area of Runner and Area
of ingates
Area of sprue, area of runner and area of ingates calculated
for present casting are as given below[11,12,13]:
As=[Ra/(d*f* (2*g*H)0.5)] Equation 1
Where, As is area of sprue, Ra is adjusted
pouring rate, g is the acceleration due to
gravity, H is the metallostatic height, d
is density of the alloy, f is Darcy friction
factor for laminar flow
R = [wc/(1.34+t/13.77)] Equation 2
Where, R is pouring rate, t is the critical
thickness of the casting,
wc is weight of the casting
Ce = [C+(0.25*Si)+(0.5*P)] Equation 3
Where, Ce is carbon equivalent, weight
percentages of C, Si and P
K = [(14.9*Ce)+(0.5*Tp)-155] Equation 4
Where, K= fluidity of the metal casting, Tp
pouring temperature
Ra = [R/(K*f*0.0254)] effective cooling surface area Equation 9
f is the Friction factor Darcy friction factor
for laminar flow
Equation 5
Re is the Reynolds number for laminar flow (4H+2D) Equation 11
Ar=2*As Equation 6
Where, Ar area of runner Typical riser height is twice the diameter (H=2D) for body
Ag=1.5*As Equation 7
Where, Ag area of gate Substitute H=2D in Equation 11
Calculations for Riser Dimensions
A riser will be added to accommodate the liquid shrinkage
and to supply liquid feed metal to compensate for the
solidification shrinkage within the casting. The riser must
often be larger than the casting it feeds, because it must
supply feed metal for as long as the casting is solidifying.
Therefore, to ensure that the casting solidifies before the
riser, the volume of the riser should be greater than that of
the casting[1,14].
Volume of riser > Volume of the casting
Hence, the casting should be designed to produce
directional solidification which sweeps from the extremities
of the mould cavity towards the riser. In this way, the riser
can feed molten metal continuously and will compensate
for the solidification shrinkage of the entire mould cavity.
If this type of solidification is not possible, multiple risers
may be necessary with various sections of the casting
solidifying towards their respective risers.
Indian Foundry Journal
Chvorinov’s Rule: Chvorinov's Rule is a mathematical
relationship that relates the solidification time for a simple
casting to the volume and surface area of the casting[12].
In simple terms, the rule establishes that under otherwise
identical conditions, the casting with large surface area
and small volume will cool more rapidly than a casting with
small surface area and a large volume. The relationship can
be written as:
Equation 8
Where, t is the solidification time, V is the volume of the
casting, A is the surface area of the casting in contact with
the mould, B is a constant whose value depends upon
the metal and each metal has a unique value and n is a
constant that has a value of 1.5-2.
In the above formula, ratio of the volume of casting to
surface area of the casting is known as the modulus of the
casting. It is seen that there is a direct relationship between
the modulus of casting and the modulus of riser, Modulus
(Mc) method, the simplest method for designing a riser.
volume of casting
Mc =
Mriser = 1.2 Mcasting Equation 10
Modulus for a cylindrical riser is given by the equation
DH
Mriser=
Where, D = Diameter of the riser, H = Height of the riser
plate casting
Equation 12
Feeding distance of risers is determined by the alloy being
poured and by the thickness of the section being fed. For
castings, the following formula can be used to approximate
the theoretical feeding distance of a hot riser:
FD = 2T
In the above equation, FD is feeding distance and T is
thickness of casting section.
Table-2: Formulae for Gating and Riser System
Sprue Runner Gate Riser
As=Ra/(2*g*H)
0.5
2*As 1.5*As Mr=1.2Mc
21
Vol 61 • No. 1 • January 2015
Calculation of Gating System #include<math.h>
By considering the formulae from Table-2, C programme void main()
has been developed to calculate the dimensions of the {
gating and risering system of the present casting[15]. float Wc,H,Mc,D,V,R,Sa;
C Programme for Calculation of Gating System printf("\n weight of the casting ");
scanf("%f",&Wc);
#include<stdio.h>
printf("\n enter the height of the casting in inches");
#include<math.h>
scanf("%f",&H);
void main()
H=H*2.5;
{
printf("\n enter the diameter of the riser in inches");
float Cf,g=9.8,H,Vs,d,w,p=0.5,t,R,Tp,K,Ce,c=0.3,Si=1.75,P=
0.04,b,Ta,T,Ra,As,Ar,Ag; printf("\n enter the value of friction scanf("%f",&D);
factor and metallostatic height"); scanf("%f%f",&Cf,&H); D=D*2.5;
Vs=Cf*(sqrt(2*g*H)); Mc=(D*H)/((4*H)+(2*D));
printf(" velocity at the sprue exit is %f",Vs); R=D/2;
printf("\n enter the density of the metal"); V=3.14*H*pow(R,2);
scanf("%f",&d); Sa=V/Mc;
printf("\n enter the weight of casting, pouring temperature printf("\n the volume of the riser is: %f",V);
and wall thickness"); printf("\n the surface are of the riser is: %f",Sa);
scanf("%f%f%f",&w,&Tp,&t); printf("\n the modulus of riser is: %f",Mc);
R=pow(w,p)/(1.34+(t/13.77)); }
printf("\n the pouring rate is %f",R); Results for Riser system
Ce=(c+(0.25*Si)+(0.5*P)); Weight of the casting 4.5
K=((14.9*Ce)+(0.5*Tp)-155); Enter the height of the casting in inches 4
printf("\n fluidity of the metal casting is %f",K); Enter the diameter of the riser in inches 2.5
Ra=(R/(K*Cf*0.0254)); The volume of the riser is: 306.6406625
printf("\n Adjusted pouring Rate is %f",Ra); The surface area of the riser is: 257.578125
As=(Ra/(d*Cf*sqrt(2*g*H)))*10000; The modulus of the riser is: 1.190476
printf("\n correct area of sprue base is %f",As);
Ar=2*As; Dimensions of the Gating and Riser System for
printf("\n correct area of runner base is %f",Ar); the Present Casting
Ag=1.5*As; Table-3 provides details of the gating and resering system
printf("\n correct area of gate base is %f",Ag); of the present casting.
}
Table-3: Dimensions for Gating and Risering
Results for Gating System System, cm2
Enter the value of friction factor and metallostatic height Sprue Runner Gate Riser
0.06 0.21
13.755193 27.510386 20.632790 380.234374
Velocity at the sprue exit is 0.121728
Enter the density of the metal 7800 Experimental Studies
Enter the weight of casting, pouring temperature and wall Moulding, Melting and Pouring
thickness 4.5 1873 0.06
CO2 moulding is the moulding technique used for the
The pouring rate is 1.577944
current experiment. The composition of the moulding sand
Fluidity of the metal casting is 792.786743 considered for the present sand is SiO2 78%, Al2O3 12%,
Adjusted pouring rate is 1.306021 Na2O(SiO2) 5%, Cr2O3 3% and ZrO2 2% and consistency of
Correct area of sprue base is 13.755193 the mixture is achieved by mulled in a 50 kg sand muller.
Correct area of runner base is 27.510386 After ramming into the desired shape by hand hardening,
Correct area of gate base is 20.632790 CO2 gas has been passed into the mould to achieve desired
properties as shown in Fig. 5. Shellac coating is applied on
C Programme for Calculation of Riser System the mould surfaces of cope and drag and fired just before
#include<stdio.h> pouring to ensure non-adherence to surface of the mould

22
Vol 61 • No. 1 • January 2015 Indian Foundry Journal
 and to prevent premature solidification. Hardness in excess
of 95 units has been obtained as a result of combination
of ramming and curing by passing CO2. Melting was
carried out in a 250 kg induction furnace with a power
rating of 140 kW and a voltage of 415V. Before pouring,
the chemical composition is analysed using Leco Carbon
Sulphur analyser[16] and composition is in good agreement
with Table-1.
Fig. 4: Wooden pattern used for preparation of mould.
Fig. 5: Solidified grate bar castings.
Inspection
Figure 6 depicts the solidified stainless steel casting. Non-
destructive testing results show acceptable amount of
pin holes and blow holes in the casting as per standard.
quality of the casting is meeting requirement of the ASTM
A297 standard.
Indian Foundry Journal
View publication stats
Conclusions
With the help of well-designed gating system, the grate
bar casting is free from inclusions, shrinkage and other
defects. Appropriate riser design removed the undesirable
shrinkage cavity resulting into desirable shape and quality
of the grate bar castings.
Acknowledgements
The authors thank the Managing Director of Sri
Mahalakshmi- Earth Movers Limited, Vishakapatnam and
the Principal, MGIT, Hyderabad for providing support and
permission for carrying out this R&D work.
References
1. ASM Metals Handbook – Volume 15, Casting, ASM
International, The Materials Information Company.
2. Thoguluva Raghavan Vijayaram, Mechanical Property
Investigation of LM6 Alloy Castings Manufactured with the
Aid of Casting Solidification Simulation Technology, Indian
Foundry Journal, Vol.51, No.11, November 2005, p. 30-34.
3. Ravneet Kakria, Chandandeep Singh, Priyavrat Thareja,
Quality Improvement of Aluminium Alloy (LM6) Casting
Using Taguchi Method, Indian Foundry Journal, Vol.53,
No.11, November 2007, p. 33-41.
4. P. J. Tikalsky, H. U. Bahia, A. Deng and T. Snyder, Excess
Foundry Sand Characterization and Experimental
Investigation in Controlled Low-strength Material and Hot-
mixing Asphalt, Contract No. De-fc36-01id13974, October
2004, U.S. Department of Energy, p.13-16.
5. Mollard, F.R., Flemmings M.C. and Nyama E.F., Understanding
Aluminium Fluidity: the Key to Advanced Cast Products, AFS
Trans (1987), Vol. 95, p. 647-652.
6. ASM Metals Handbook Volume 11, Properties and
Selection: Irons, Steels, and High Performance Alloys, ASM
International, The Materials Information Company.
7. ASTM A297 - 14 Standard Specification for Steel Castings,
Iron-Chromium and Iron-Chromium-Nickel, Heat Resistant,
for General Application.
8. Foseco Non-Ferrous Foundryman’s Handbook, Eleventh
Edition, Revised and Edited by, John R. Brown, Butterworth
Heinemann Publisher, 2008.
9. Flemings M.C., Solidification Processing, McGraw-Hill Inc.
London, (1974).
10. Fundamental of Metal Casting Technology by P. C. Mukherjee.
11. R. W. Heine, Carl R. Loper and P. C. Rosenthal, Principles of
Metal Casting.
12. N. Chvorinov, Theory of the Solidification of Castings,
Geisserei, Vol.27, p. 177-255, 1940.
13. Casting Process Design Guidelines, S. Guleyupoglu
Concurrent Technologies Corporation Johnstown,
Pennsylvania, AFS Transactions p. 869-876.
14. Castability Control in Metal Casting via Fluidity Measures:
Application of Error Analysis to Variations in Fluidity Testing
by Brian Albert Dewhirst, Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
15. TURBO C by Akshansh.
17. User Manual of LECO Carbon and Sulphur analyzer.
23
Vol 61 • No. 1 • January 2015