Casting Design and Performance

Pages 247249

Copyright 2009 ASM International

All rights reserved.
www.asminternational.org

Inspection of Castings
After nishing, castings are inspected for surface quality. Inspection can be performed manually by visual checking, manually by template
comparison, or by an automated inspection station. Visual inspection is simple yet informative.
A visual inspection would include signicant
dimensional measurements as well as general
appearance. Surface discontinuities often indicate the presence of internal discontinuities.
Computer-assisted
coordinate-measuring
machines measure both pattern and casting
dimensions. These machines can perform a variety of dimensional checks ranging from basic geometric measurement to parallel and plane
projection. The operator simply identies critical
part locations so that the machine can establish a
working plane. The coordinate-measuring
machine can perform in a few minutes the tedious
checks that take 2 to 4 h to be done manually.
For small castings produced in reasonable volume, a destructive metallographic inspection on
randomly selected samples is practical and economical. This is especially true on a new casting
for which foundry practice has not been optimized
and a satisfactory repeatability level has not been
achieved. For castings of some of the harder and
stronger alloys, a hardness test is a good means
of estimating the level of mechanical properties.
Hardness tests are of less value for the softer tin
bronze alloys because hardness tests do not reect
casting soundness and integrity.
Inspection also includes various methods of
nondestructive testing (NDT) to screen castings
for imperfections that may be considered to be
defects. The techniques for NDT of casting
are briey summarized in this chapter. The general types of imperfections or defects in castings are listed in Table 1.
As a general rule, the method of inspection
applied to some of the rst castings made from a
new pattern should include all those methods that
provide a basis for judgment of the acceptability
of the casting for the intended application. Any
deciencies or defects should be reviewed and
the degree of perfection dened. This procedure
can be repeated on successive production runs
until repeatability has been ensured.

NDT Methods
Nondestructive testing (NDT) of cast products is necessary to monitor product quality,
depending on the level of quality required.

Table 1 Casting defects, descriptions, and prevention

Casting
imperfections or
defects

Description

Prevention

Cold shuts

Appear as folds in the metal occurs when two

streams of cold molten metal meet and do not
completely weld
Possible causes:
 Interruption in the pouring operation
 Too slow a pouring rate
 Improperly designed gating

Pour as quickly as possible

Design gating system to ll entire mold quickly
without an interruption
Preheat the mold
Modify part design
Avoid excessively long, thin sections

Hot tears and

cracks

Hot tears are cracklike defects that occur during

solidication due to overstressing of the
solidifying metal as thermal gradients develop.
Cracks occur during the cooldown of the casting
after solidication is complete due to uneven
contraction.

Fill mold as quickly as possible

Change gating system; e.g., use several smaller gales
in place of one large gate
Apply thermal management techniques within the
mold (e.g., chills or exothermic material) to control
solidication direction and rate
Insulate the mold to reduce its cooling rate Modify
casting design:
 Avoid sharp transitions between thin and thick
sections
 Taper thin sections to facilitate establishment of
appropriate solidication gradients
 Strengthen the weak section with additional
material, ribs, etc.

Inclusions

Presence of foreign material in the microstructure

of the casting
Typical sources:

Modify gating system to include a strainer core to

lter out slag
Avoid metal ow turbulence in the gating system that
could cause erosion of the mold
Improve hardness of the mold and core

 Furnace slag
 Mold and core material
Misruns

Incomplete lling of the mold cavity Causes:

 Too low a pouring temperature

 Too slow a pouring rate
 Too low a mold temperature

 High backpressure from gases combined with

Control mold and metal temperature

Increase the pouring rate
Increase the pouring pressure
Modify gating system to direct metal to thinner and
difcult-to-feed sections more quickly

low mold permeability

 Inadequate gating
Porosity

Holes in the cast material Causes:

 Dissolved or entrained gases in the liquid metal

 Gas generation resulting from a reaction

Pour metal at lowest possible temperature

Design gating system for rapid but uniform lling of
the mold, providing an escape path for any gas that
is generated
Select a mold material with higher gas permeability

between molten metal and the mold material

Microshrinkage Liquid metal does not ll all the dendric
interstices, causing the appearance of
solidication microshrinkage

Control direction of solidication:

 Design gating system to ll mold cavity so that

solidication begins at the extremities and
progresses toward the feed gate
 Lower the mold temperature and increase the
pouring temperature
 Add risers, use exothermic toppings to maintain
temperature longer
 Control cooling rate using chills, insulators, etc. in
selected portions of the mold

248 / Casting Design and Performance

Quality levels dictate the frequency of testing
and types of tests being needed. The commonly
used techniques include:
 Liquid penetrant inspection (LPI)
 Radiographic inspection
 Fluoroscopic inspection and automated






defect recognition
Ultrasonic inspection
Eddy current inspection
Process-Controlled resonant testing
Leak test
Electrical conductivity measurements

Liquid penetrant inspection is extensively

used as a visual aid for detecting surface aws.
One of the most useful applications, however,
is the inspection of alloys susceptible to hot
cracking. Such cracks are virtually undetectable
by unaided visual inspection but are readily
detectable by liquid penetrant inspection.
Liquid penetrant inspection essentially involves
a liquid wetting the surface of a workpiece, owing
over that surface to form a continuous and uniform
coating, and migrating into cracks or cavities that
are open to the surface. After a few minutes, the liquid coating is washed off the surface of the casting,
and a developer is placed on the surface. The developer is stained by the liquid penetrant as it is drawn
out of the cracks and cavities. Liquid penetrants will
highlight surface defects so that detection is more
certain.
The liquid penetrant ows over a surface and
enters various types of minute surface openings
(0.1 mm (0.4 min.) wide) by capillary action. This
helps detect surface cracks, laps, laminations, and
similar aws: However, it should be noted that surface condition (cleanliness, roughness) of the part
being inspected is critical since false indications
can arise from poor surface preparation or condition.
The three basic penetrant systems commonly
used are:

shuts, internal shrinkage, porosity, core shifts,

and inclusions in aluminum alloy castings.
Radiography can also be used to measure the
thickness of specic sections. Aluminum alloy
castings are ideally suited to examination by radiography because of their relatively low density; a
given thickness of aluminum alloy can be penetrated with approximately one-third the power
required for penetrating the same thickness of
steel. The typical complexity of shape and varying
section thicknesses of the castings may require
digital radiography or computed tomography.
Unlike liquid penetrant and eddy current
inspection, radiography can satisfactorily detect
aws that are completely internal and located
well below the surface of the component. If the
workpiece is properly oriented during inspection, radiography is capable of detecting defects
such as cracks. Voids and inclusions having measurable thickness in all directions can be also
detected as long as they are not too small in relation to section thickness. Radiography is used
extensively for evaluation of large components
(e.g., steel castings) that exhibit a difference in
thickness or physical density.
The sensitivity, or the ability to detect aws,
of radiographic inspection depends on close
control of the inspection technique, including
the geometric relationships among the point of
x-ray emission, the casting, and the x-ray imaging plane. The smallest detectable variation in
metal thickness lies between 0.5 and 2.0% of
the total section thickness. Narrow aws, such
as cracks, must lie in a plane approximately
parallel to the emergent x-ray beam to be
imaged; this requires multiple exposures for
x-ray lm techniques and a remote-control parts
manipulator for a real-time system.
Real-time systems have eliminated the need for
multiple exposures of the same casting by dynamically inspecting parts on a manipulator, with the
capability of changing the x-ray energy for

changes in total material thickness. These capabilities have signicantly improved productivity and
have reduced costs, thus enabling higher percentages of castings to be inspected and providing
instant feedback after repair procedures.
Automated Defect Recognition. This system has replaced conventional radiography (lm
x-ray) and consists of an x-ray generator and a
detector (an image intensier or a digital detector). The image created by a detector can be converted to a digital image that may be
subsequently processed by a computer program
(ADR program). Based on the difference in gray
scales of the image, the program can detect
defects in the image with great success (see
Fig. 1). The ADR is used extensively in high-volume detection environments to reduce dependency on a human operator to make decisions.
Ultrasonic inspection for both thickness and
defects is practical with most ferrous castings
except for the high-carbon gray iron castings,
which have a high damping capacity and absorb
much of the input energy. The measurement of
resonant frequency is a good method of inspecting some ductile iron castings for soundness and
graphite shape. Electromagnetic testing can be
used to distinguish metallurgical differences
between castings. Aluminum alloy castings are
sometimes inspected by ultrasonic methods to
evaluate internal soundness or wall thickness.
The principal uses of ultrasonic inspection for aluminum alloy castings include the detection of
porosity in castings and internal cracks in ingots.
The advantages of ultrasonic tests are as
follows:
 High sensitivity, which permits the detection

of minute cracks

 Great penetrating power, which allows the

examination of extremely thick sections

 Accuracy in measuring of aw position and

estimating defect size

 Water-soluble:

The penetrants can be

removed directly with water.
 Postemulsiable: These penetrants have an
oil base and, thus, cannot be removed directly
with water. Consequently, an emulsier is
needed (following application of the penetrant) to make the penetrant soluble in water.
 Solvent-removable: These also have an oil
base and employ a solvent for both precleaning and removal of excess penetrant.
Each of these systems uses either a visible or
a uorescent penetrant material. The visiblepenetrant inspection uses a liquid that is typically red in color and, thus, reveals red indications under visible light. On the other hand,
the uorescent penetrant inspection employs
penetrants that uoresce under ultraviolet light.
Components with complex designs (sharp
corners or radii) and/or made with alloys that
are prone to hot tearing are often subjected to
liquid penetrant inspection.
Radiographic inspection is a very effective
means of detecting such conditions as cold

Fig. 1

(a) X-ray inspection equipment. (b) Digital image of two aluminum castings showing no defects

Inspection of Castings / 249

Ultrasonic
limitations:

tests

have

the

following

 Size-contour complexity and unfavorable

discontinuity orientation can pose problems

in interpreting the echo pattern
 Undesirable internal structurefor example,
grain size, structure, porosity, inclusion content, or ne dispersed precipitatescan similarly hinder interpretation
 Reference standards are required
Because castings are rarely simple at shapes,
they are not as easy to inspect as such products
as rolled rectangular bars. The reections of a
sound beam from the back surface of a parallel-sided casting and a discontinuity are shown
schematically in Fig 2(a), together with the relative heights and positions of the reections of
the two surfaces on an oscilloscope screen.
A decrease in the back reection at the same
time as the appearance of a discontinuity echo
is a secondary indication of the presence of a
discontinuity. However, if the back surface of
the casting at a particular location for inspection
is not approximately at a right angle to the incident sound beam, the beam will be reected to
remote parts of the casting and not directly
returned to the detector. In this case, as shown
in Fig. 2(b), there is no back reection to monitor as a secondary indication.

Fig. 2

Many castings contain cored holes and

changes in section, and echoes from holes and
changes in section can interfere with echoes
from discontinuities. As shown in Fig. 2(c),
the echo from the cored hole overlaps the echo
from the discontinuity on the oscilloscope
screen. The same effect is shown in Fig. 2(d),
in which echoes from the discontinuity and
the casting llets at a change in section are
shown overlapping on the oscilloscope.
Magnetic Particle Inspection. Magnetic
particle inspection is a highly effective and sensitive technique for revealing cracks and similar
defects at or just beneath the surface of castings
made of ferromagnetic metals. The capability
of detecting discontinuities just beneath the surface is important because such cleaning methods as shot or abrasive blasting tend to close a
surface break that might go undetected in visual
or liquid penetrant inspection.
When a magnetic eld is generated in and
around a casting made of a ferromagnetic metal
and the lines of magnetic ux are intersected by
a defect such as a crack, magnetic poles are
induced on either side of the defect. The resulting local ux disturbance can be detected by its
effect on the particles of a ferromagnetic material, which become attracted to the region of the
defect as they are dusted on the casting. Maximum sensitivity of indication is obtained when
a defect is oriented in a direction perpendicular

Schematic of the effect of casting shapes on reection and oscilloscope screen display of sound beams. See
text for discussion.

to the applied magnetic eld and when the

strength of this eld is sufcient to saturate
the casting being inspected.
Equipment for magnetic particle inspection
uses direct or alternating current to generate
the necessary magnetic elds. The current can
be applied in a variety of ways to control the
direction and magnitude of the magnetic eld.
In one method of magnetization, a heavy current
is passed directly through the casting placed
between two solid contacts. The induced magnetic
eld then runs in the transverse or circumferential
direction, producing conditions favorable to the
detection of longitudinally oriented defects. A coil
encircling the casting will induce a magnetic eld
that runs in the longitudinal direction, producing
conditions favorable to the detection of circumferentially (or transversely) oriented defects. Alternatively, a longitudinal magnetic eld can be
conveniently generated by passing current through
a exible cable conductor, which can be coiled
around any metal section. This method is particularly adaptable to castings of irregular shape.
Circumferential magnetic elds can be induced in
hollow cylindrical castings by using an axially disposed central conductor threaded through the
casting.
Small castings can be magnetic particle
inspected directly on bench-type equipment
that incorporates both coils and solid contacts.
Critical regions of larger castings can be
inspected by the use of yokes, coils, or contact
probes carried on exible cables connected to
the source of current; this setup enables most
regions of castings to be inspected.
Eddy Current Inspection. Eddy current
inspection consists of observing the interaction
between electromagnetic elds and metals. In a
basic system, currents are induced to ow in
the testpiece by a coil of wire that carries an
alternating current. As the part enters the coil,
or as the coil in the form of a probe or yoke is
placed on the testpiece, electromagnetic energy
produced by the coils is partly absorbed and converted into heat by the effects of resistivity and
hysteresis. Part of the remaining energy is
reected back to the test coil, its electrical characteristics having been changed in a manner
determined by the properties of the testpiece.
Consequently, the currents owing through the
probe coil are the source of information describing the characteristics of the testpiece. These
currents can be analyzed and compared with currents owing through a reference specimen.
Eddy current methods of inspection are effective with both ferromagnetic and non-ferromagnetic metals. Eddy current methods are not as
sensitive to small, open defects as liquid penetrant or magnetic particle methods are. Because
of the skin effect, eddy current inspection is generally restricted to depths less than 6 mm ( in.).
The results of inspecting ferromagnetic materials can be obscured by changes in the magnetic
permeability of the testpiece. Changes in temperature must be avoided to prevent erroneous
results if electrical conductivity or other properties are being determined.