DISCUSSION

During the lab, we are needed to build the mold for sand casting. Generally, the mold can
be divided into two parts, known as Cope for the upper part and Drag for the lower part. We used
green sand for the mold. Green molding sand contain of mixture of sand, clay, and water. The
term green refers to the fact that the sand in the mold is moist or damp while the metal is
poured into it. During the lab, the process of producing the cop and drag went smoothly. But
there are some precautions that need to be measured such as putting or spreading the parting
agent onto the pattern so that the mold will not stick to the pattern. We can use any kind of
powder or flour as parting agent and make sure use the correct technique during spreading the
parting agent to avoid any defect.

Then after the pouring and cooling process was done, we take a look and we make a
analysis to our final products. Based on our analysis, products contained several defects such as
blow hole, shrinkage defects, metallurgical defects (hot tear), gas defects (pin hole), wash and
flashes. Shrinkage defects can occur when standard feed metal is not available to compensate for
shrinkage as the thick metal solidifies. The possible causes for this problem are the density of a
die casting alloy in the molten state is less than its density in the solid state. Therefore, when an
alloy changes phase from the molten state to the solid state, it always shrinks in size. This
shrinkage takes place when the casting is solidifying inside a die casting die. At the centre of
thick sections of a casting, this shrinkage can end up as many small voids known as shrinkage
porosity. Therefore, for eliminating shrinkage porosity is to ensure that liquid metal under
pressure continues to flow into the voids as they form.

Shrinkage defects

Hot tears also known as hot cracking can appear in die castings from a number of causes.
Some cracks are very obvious and can easily be seen with the naked eye. Other cracks are very
difficult to see without magnification. There are many possible causes that leads this problem
happen such as shrinkage of the casting within the die, undercuts or damage in die cavities,
uneven, or excessive, ejection forces, thermal imbalance in the die and insufficient draft in
sections of the die. Due to the many possible causes of this problem, many ways need to be taken
to eliminate this problem. The example of the solution are reduce dry strength, add saw dust or
coal dust reduce pouring temperature and avoid superheating of metal.

Metallurgical defects (hot tears)

Flashes can be described as any unwanted, excess metal which comes out of the die
attached to the cavity or runner. Typically it forms a thin sheet of metal at the parting faces. It
caused by corrosion of mold and core surfaces by metal flowing in the mold cavity. It can be also
causes because parts of the die have insufficient strength and bending, crowning of stretching of
dies. But, this can be prevented by increase the green shell strength, and the most important, it
can be avoided by weight down the mold.

Flashes defects

Blowholes and pinholes are produced because of gas entrapped in the metal during the
course of solidification. The gas dissolved during solidification can be caused by hydrogen or
nitrogen in the initial liquid or core gas decomposed from the sand core and vented to the liquid.
Make adequate provision for evacuation of air and gas from the mold cavity to reduce or
eliminate core-gas related defects. Increase permeability of mold can also solve this problem.

Gas defects (pin hole)

Porosity in casting may be caused by shrinkage, entrained or dissolved gases. Porous

region can develop in castings because of shrinkage of the solidified metal. Porosity is
detrimental to the strength and ductility of the casting and its surface finish, potentially making
the casting permeable, thus affecting the pressure tightness of the cast pressure vessel. Others
causes for this problem are metal pouring temperature too low, interruption to pouring during
filling of the mould and metal section too thin. Porosity can be eliminate by edequate liquid
metal should be provided to prevent cavities caused by shrinkage. Increase metal pouring
temperature and modify metal composition to improve fluidity also can solve this problem.

Gas Porosity

In order to make the best quality of a product, we can take some precautions especially
during the pouring process. For example, the correct pouring rate is needed to make sure material
flow constantly into the mold. If it is too fast, it can result in turbulence and if it is too slow, it
can solidify before filling the mold. Another precaution that need to be taken is to make sure
pouring temperature suitable according to the material used. The difference between the pouring
temperature and the solidification temperature needs to be higher and this is known as the
superheat.