h

furnace

o9

(ajo,.st preform at 110:....130c'.

iLI - - "
Eject solidified preform at 350-500C

c::J ~ c::, c= ~ c= = l!5 c= c=

TCast preform forging a

Although forging produces high integrity
components the high viscosity of solid metal
means that several preforming operations are
often needed to change the shape of the raw
material (normally bar or ingot) to the shape
of the final component. This is an expensive
process. One way of reducing these costs is to
cast the forging preform. One proprietary
process that operates in this way is the
Hyperforge process which is described in
Figure 2.43.

(b) 'Hold' furnace (mesh belt). Equalizes

temperature for forging at about 450C

Because the casting is only a preform,

without the detail required in the final
product, low fluidity, Jong freezing range
wrought alloys can be used. The prefomis
are gravity die cast into cooled copper
moulds. The detail required in the product is
then produced by the second part of the
process, which is essentially a hot forging

process. The manufacturing steps in the

production of a bicycle crank are shown in
Figure 2.44 which shows the preform, a forged
preform with flash still attached and the final
product. The preform
temperature is adjusted to the correct forging
temperature but most of the heat required
comes from the casting process. The preform
is then hot forged and cooled before the flash
is removed by cold clipping. Any waste is
recycled into the melt so that both material
and energy costs are minimized. The
properties of the final castings are only
slightly inferior to those of hot forged
components and are more homogeneous.
Because the casting and forging operations
are separated, multiple moulds can be used,
meaning that production rates of up to 250
per hour can be achieved from one forging
press.

flash
~

(c) Closed die forged (flash).

Heated dies (250C)

(d) Cold clipped (deflashed) scrap flash

clipping (25%) recycled into melt
.!>

Figure 2.43 The Hypcrforgc process

Figure 2.44 Stages in. the Hyperforge precess

115

Summary
\

..

The fluidity of a material is controlled by the mode of solidification as well as

the rate of heat transfer from the casting.
It is the short freezing range of eutectics that is responsible for their
popularity as casting materials.
The surface texture of a casting is controlled by the porosity of the mould,
the surface energy of the melt and the applied melt pressure.
Grey cast iron is a very tolerant. casting material. Most other materials are
less tolerant and benefit from care and control when filling the mould.
Cast quality is improved if turbulence can be avoided during mould
filling.

High pressure, high speed injection processes, although productive,

produce castings of poor integrity, because of air entrapment.
Low pressure, low speed 'uphill' injection processes can substantially
improve casting quality by reducing oxide formation during pouring.
The application of pressure during solidification can produce products of
exceptional quality at some cost penalty.

2.6 Metal founding

So far we have tried to-snow how all casting processes.are controlled by the
same physical processes, namely fluid flow, heat transfer and solidification.
However, there are fundamental differences between the behaviour of metals
and polymers, the two main classes of materials that dominate the casting
industry. Metal founding is still largely a traditional industry with some
foundries changed little since Victorian times whereas polymer casting is a
far more recent industry that has seen great growth in the past 30 years. One
of the major differences between.. casting metals and polymers is that metals
shrink far more on cooling. This produces substantial differences between the
two technologies. Here we will examine the various criteria that are
important in obtaining good metal castings. Polymer casting is covered in
Section 2.7.

2.6.1 Feeding
Nearly all materials contract on cooling and further changes occur in
volume when phase changes take place. Figure 2.45 illustrates the
contraction of a typical metal as it cools from the liquid state. The thermal
contraction of both the liquid and the solid casting is usually homogeneous
and can be allowed for by making the mould larger. The increase required
is, of course, material dependent and is known as a 'patternmaker's
correction'. For example, it is I in 77 for most ahiminium alloys.
Figure 2.45 Volume change with

temperature in a typical metal

_.._ __

Figure 2.46 Macroporosity in a complex sand casting

The contraction that occurs on solidification is quite another matter. It is a

large (typically 3-6% in volume) contraction which occurs nonuniformly
throughout the casting and presents engineers with a major problem - how to
feed extra liquid to the casting as it solidifies. Feeding is made difficult by
the growth of solid, which makes the possible feeding paths narrow and
tortuous and may eventually cut off distant regions of the casting. Such areas
then accommodate the shrinkage locally by forming large internal cavities or
macroporosity. Figure 2.46 shows macroporosity revealed by sectioning a
complex sand casting. It can also cause areas of the surface to collapse into
the casting, forming surface sinks. Figure 2.47 shows a surface sink in a cast
iron cylinder head.

Figure 2.47 Surface shrinkage (sink)

117

To produce sound castings, extra liquid metal must be introduced during

solidification, to compensate for this shrinkage. This is normally achieved
by producing feeder heads that provide a reservoir of liquid metal under
sufficient pressure to maintain a flow of liquid into the casting. There is a
vast ainount of largely empirical information available on specific
procedures for ensuring a sound metal casting. However, they are all based
on four main principles which can be expressed as four basic feeding rules.
To produce a sound casting, the feeder design must satisfy all of these
criteria. Since porous castings are - not uncommon; it is worth
investigating each criterion individually to study the principles on which it
is based and to see how it affects casting practice.

Heat transfer criterion

The heat transfer criterion simply states that the feeder must not freeze
before the casting. Looking at heat transfer processes during solidification
showed us that the cooling time for a casting depends on the material
properties, the mould properties; and the modulus V/ A of the casting. Since
the feeder has the same mould and material, its modulus is the main thing
that determines whether it will solidify before the casting. Thus, another
way of stating this rule is that the feeder must have a larger modulus than
the casting. In practice, a safety. factor of 20% is used, so the modulus of
the feeder should be 1.2 times that of the casting.
The real objective is to increase the solidification time of the feeder and
there are a number of ways to do this other than changing the size and
shape of the feeder. One way is to put an insulating sleeve around the
feeder. Another is to add material which reacts exothermically with the
molten metal and remelts feed material which has solidified. This can be
part of the sleeve or it can be added to the open top surface after the
casting has been poured. Recent developments have included designing
the exothermic material so that it acts as an insulator once it is spent.
It is also necessary to consider how heat is transferred from one part of the
casting to another. Castings of high conductivity metals, such as
aluminium or copper alloys, can nearly always be treated as a single piece
from the point of view of heat transfer, since thin sectionseffectively cool
the thick sections that are attached to them. But in castings with a lower
thermal conductivity, such as steel, almost every part of the casting has to
be treated as separate from the others. So in working out the modulus of a
complex casting shape you would deal with it as an assembly of plates,
cubes, cylinders and other simple shapes, rather than calculating the total
volume divided by the total surface area.

118

seri6us:""" ..

....----l

I}-----+--

overlap'

.
~q,~

Figure 2.49 Application of Heuvers construction

Figure 2.48 Efficiency of various feeder shapes

probably
acceptable
overlap

E = 67%

cyliii4ri~al ~ith

. exothermic
sleeve

and casting. If the feeder efficiency is E, then

the volume of feed liquid is EVc.
Rearranging these two relationships gives:
f)
V,. = rr
rr. ~
(2.18
)
This can be used to work out the required
feeder volume for a given material and feeder
efficiency. For example, for aluminium being
poured into a normal cylindrical feeder, P is
7% and Eis 14%. This means that. V,. = ~.
which means that half of the material is
wasted. Further allowances for the occasional
scrapped faulty casting mean that an
aluminium foundry using cylindrical feeders
has a materials utilization of less than 50%.
For steel, on the other hand, fJ can be as low
as 3%, so using cylindrical feeders results in
V,. = 0.27 Yc. Thus, the smaller shrinkage of
ferrous materials
substantia11y reduces the volume
requirements of the feeder.

The efficiency of a feeder is the proportion of

Needless to say most real feeders are
its full charge which it can deliver as liquid
somewhere between these two extremes.
into the casting before solidification is
Their efficiency varies with their shape and
complete. So a feeder in which the material
the measures taken to prevent premature
freezes
up
as
soon
as
the
casting
is
poured
solidification
(FiguresJJlid4
2.48). towards the
In sand casting, we can also help
to ensu~al
will have a zero efficiency - in other words it
feeder
by
using
chills.
These
are
blocks
of
metal
that
are built into the
is useless and satisfies neither the heat
criterion
nor the
criterion.
feederrate of heat
mould
to mass
increase
theAlocal
of Yc
the
For a transfer
casting of out
volume
of a material
Although the use of insulated feeders can
keeps all
of the
feed material
liquid temperature
which on freezing
shrinks
by a fraction p of
which
casting.
The
resulting
increased
gradients
encourage
whileOne
the casting
freezes,
and
empties
just
as
its liquid volume,
andis
a feeder
volume
Vr, use
the increase efficiency as shown in Figure 2.48 it
way
to solidification
check
that the communication
criterion
satisfied
is to
should be clear that material utilization will
directional
the chill
and
towards
the
the casting
is completing
solidificationaway
is JOOfrom
volume
of feed
material
needed
to .feeder.
satisfy
always be significantly lower than 100% in
a geometrical constructional method
by . iseuvers
ire
% efficient.
thederived
mass criterion
P(V.: + 1Vc) which is the
total
shrinkage
in
both
feeder
are inscribed inside the casting sections. If they increase in 1a,ne~-towardssand casting.

the feeder, then the criterion is met. If they do not, the feeder should be
relocated,
more feeders should be added.
Mass
transferorcriterion
In some cases the shape of the casting is modified to ensure that it gets
The feeder
must contain
sufficient
liquid
to compensate
for all the
shrinkageand
progressively
thicker
towards
the feeder.
This is known
as padding,
in thethe
casting.
That
is, as well as
taking
longer
to solidify,
excess
is. machined
away
after
casting.
Figure the
2.49feeder
showsmust
the
also contain
enough
liquid
metal
to
feed
the
casting.
It
also
has
to be a size
application of Heuvers construction to a grooved wheel casting.
It shows
and shape
that will
constant
flow
of liquidoninto
that there
is a provide
serious afeeding
path
problem
thethe
left,casting
which
throughout
the solidification.
But thecasting
material
in the in
feeder
solidifies
would certainly
lead to serious
defects
the form
of and
shrinks
at
the
same
time
as
that
in
the
casting.
If
the
feeder
is
the
wrong has
macroporosity in the centre of the casting. On the right, padding
shapebeen
or is added,
too small,
the majority
of the feedneed
will to
solidify
on the wall
of the
which
will subsequently
be machined
away.
The
feederslight
and there
won't
be
enough
liquid
left
to
fill
up
the
casting,
resulting
in
residual problem cannot be eliminated if reasonable moulding
a large shrinkage pore which extends right into the casting. TFeeder efficiency
radii are to be maintained but the casting will now be acceptable. .
A examines the factors that affect the usable volume of feeders.
Pressure criterion
Although all the other three criteria may be fulfilled, the casting may
Communication criterion
still tum out to be porous if the feed pressure is not high enough to
Keeping
the feeder
full of liquid
solidification
is not
enough.
The feed
inhibit
pore nucleation
andduring
growth.
YDissolved
gasesA
describes
metal methods
has to be for
ableremoving
to get through
to
all
parts
of
the
casting.
This
means
some of the gases that can aid pore formation.
designing the casting so that it starts solidifying at the opposite end from the
feeder, usually by putting the feeder on the thickest section of the casting.
120

119