Lecture 8: Casting Technology
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Lecture 8: Casting Technology MT321: Principles of Materials Processing Lecture 8:Casting Technology 1 Design of Gating Systems Functions of a gating system: To deliver liquid metal to mould cavity within a short time. To minimise turbulent flow. To keep dross and/or inclusion particles from entering mould cavity. MT321: Principles of Materials Processing Lecture 8:Casting Technology 2 MT321: Principles of Materials Processing Lecture 8:Casting Technology 3 How to deliver liquid metal fast? By using a sufficient large cross sectional area; By using multiple runners. How to minimise turbulent flow? By using tapered sprue and runners. By bottom filling of the liquid into the mould cavity. By regulating the change of cross sectional area of the channels according to fluid dynamics principles. MT321: Principles of Materials Processing Lecture 8:Casting Technology 4 How to keep dross and inclusion particles from entering mould cavity? By using dross traps. By using filters. MT321: Principles of Materials Processing Lecture 8:Casting Technology 5 Various types of ceramic filters that may be inserted into the gating systems of metal castings MT321: Principles of Materials Processing Lecture 8:Casting Technology 6 MT321: Principles of Materials Processing Lecture 8:Casting Technology 7 Solidification Shrinkage The liquid of most metals and alloys shrinks during solidification. Solidification shrinkage (percent) of some common engineering metals and alloys MT321: Principles of Materials Processing Lecture 8:Casting Technology 8 Two considerations must be made in designing a casting mould, due to the solidification shrinkage: A riser, which is a reservoir of liquid, is needed to compensate for the shrinkage of the whole casting. For every location of a casting, when the liquid solidifies, liquid from the surrounding of that location is needed in order to compensate for the instantaneous shrinkage. MT321: Principles of Materials Processing Lecture 8:Casting Technology 9 Microstructure of the hub section of a Mg alloy casting, showing pores caused by lack of compensation for the solidification shrinkage MT321: Principles of Materials Processing Lecture 8:Casting Technology 10 Riser Design Risers are added reservoirs designed to compensate for the solidification shrinkage of casting. Riser An Al casting produced without An Al casting produced with a riser using a riser MT321: Principles of Materials Processing Lecture 8:Casting Technology 11 Criteria for riser design: The volume of a riser must be adequate to compensate for all shrinkage volume. Riser must be the last to finish solidification. The liquid flowing channels between the riser and the solidifying metal must be kept open at all times. MT321: Principles of Materials Processing Lecture 8:Casting Technology 12 The minimum size of a riser needs to satisfies the following equation: triser = 1.25tcasting (1) triser is the solidification time of the riser tcasting is the solidification time of the casting triser and tcasting can be calculated using simulations software or Chrovinov’s rule which will be learnt later. MT321: Principles of Materials Processing Lecture 8:Casting Technology 13 Types of riser: open riser and blind riser MT321: Principles of Materials Processing Lecture 8:Casting Technology 14 Risering Aid The general function of risering aid: to promote directional solidification of casting towards riser. Types of risering aid: Chills Insulation materials Exothermic materials MT321: Principles of Materials Processing Lecture 8:Casting Technology 15 Chills The function of chills: to affect the direction of solidification. Types of chills: External chills: materials with high heat capacity and high thermal conductivity. Placed in mould, adjacent to casting. Internal chills: pieces of metals placed within the the mould cavity. Form part of casting. MT321: Principles of Materials Processing Lecture 8:Casting Technology 16 Insulation or Exothermic Materials The function of insulation or exothermic materials: to slow down the liquid solidification in a riser. They can reduce the required riser size --> increase materials yield. MT321: Principles of Materials Processing Lecture 8:Casting Technology 17 The Five Feeding Mechanisms After mould filling, the liquid needs to continue to flow to compensate for the instantaneous shrinkage caused by cooling and solidification of the liquid. This process is called feeding. There are five feeding mechanisms: Liquid feeding Mass feeding Interdendritic feeding Burst feeding Solid feeding MT321: Principles of Materials Processing Lecture 8:Casting Technology 18 Schematic diagram showing the five feeding mechanisms in a solidifying casting (From “Casting”, by John Campbell, 1990) MT321: Principles of Materials Processing Lecture 8:Casting Technology 19 Liquid Feeding This is the feeding mechanism in which shrinkage is compensated through movement of liquid in volume. It often precedes other forms of feeding. The liquid should be largely free of solid grains. MT321: Principles of Materials Processing Lecture 8:Casting Technology 20 Mass Feeding This is the feeding mechanism in which the shrinkage is compensated through the movement of a slurry consisting of a mixture of free-moving solid grains and liquid. MT321: Principles of Materials Processing Lecture 8:Casting Technology 21 Interdendritic Feeding This is the feeding mechanism in which the shrinkage is compensated by liquid flowing through a porous solid network formed by dendrites impinging on each other. In this situation, the solid dendrites are not free to move. MT321: Principles of Materials Processing Lecture 8:Casting Technology 22 Burst Feeding This is the feeding mechanism in which solidification shrinkage in a confined region is compensated by liquid breaking the surrounding solid barrier (bursting) and flowing to the solidifying region. MT321: Principles of Materials Processing Lecture 8:Casting Technology 23 Solid Feeding This is the feeding mechanism in which the solidification shrinkage in a confined region is compensated by the yielding (plastic deformation) of the surrounding solid caused by the hydrostatic stress due to the solidification shrinkage. This feeding mechanism often causes surface slumping. Schematic diagram showing plastic deformation zones spreading from isolated volumes of residual liquid in a casting, illustrating solid feeding in action (from “Castings”, by John Campbell, 1993) MT321: Principles of Materials Processing Lecture 8:Casting Technology 24 Pressure (or stress) required to drive Hydrostatic pressure in the different feeding mechanismsresidual liquid calculated for various feeding regimes during the freezing of a 20mm Different pressure diameter Al alloy cylinder (from “Casting” by John is required to drive Campbell, 1990) different feeding mechanisms. The pressure required increases with decreasing the diameter of the liquid channels. MT321: Principles of Materials Processing Lecture 8:Casting Technology 25 Dissolved gas Gas (mostly O2 and H2) originally dissolved in liquid will come out during solidification. This is because the solubility of gas in solid is generally much lower than in liquid. (e.g. H2 in Al) MT321: Principles of Materials Processing Lecture 8:Casting Technology 26 When coming out of the liquid solution, the gas forms bubbles which then turn into gas pores if they are trapped in the solid. MT321: Principles of Materials Processing Lecture 8:Casting Technology 27 How to prevent formation of gas pores? Keep effective channels during casting for gas bubbles to come out. Perform degassing: Flush other gas bubbles through liquid to bring dissolved gas out. Keep the liquid at as low temperature as posisble. (Not strongly recommended). MT321: Principles of Materials Processing Lecture 8:Casting Technology 28 Pattern Design When an expendable mould is used, it is necessary to design a pattern that is used to make the cavity for the casting. Pattern is a rough duplicate of the casting to be made. MT321: Principles of Materials Processing Lecture 8:Casting Technology 29 Considerations to be made in designing a pattern: Shrinkage allowance must be given: the size of pattern is ~2% larger than the size of casting. Position of parting line must allow removal of the pattern after moulding. Draft allowance (1-2o) is needed to assist removal of pattern. Machining allowance is needed if the casing is machined. MT321: Principles of Materials Processing Lecture 8:Casting Technology 30 MT321: Principles of Materials Processing Lecture 8:Casting Technology 31 MT321: Principles of Materials Processing Lecture 8:Casting Technology 32 Note: In many cases, a slight change of the design of a casting can make the casting easier to make or improve its quality. MT321: Principles of Materials Processing Lecture 8:Casting Technology 33 Major Casting Processes Sand casting Investment casting Lost-foam casting Gravity die casting (permanent mould casting) Low pressure die casting High pressure die casting Centrifugal casting MT321: Principles of Materials Processing Lecture 8:Casting Technology 34 Sand Casting Sand casting process makes use of sand as the moulding material. The sand that is often used: silica, zircon or olivine. MT321: Principles of Materials Processing Lecture 8:Casting Technology 35 MT321: Principles of Materials Processing Lecture 8:Casting Technology 36 Requirements for sand moulds: Refractoriness: the ability to withstand high temperatures. (sufficient for