Casting and Solidification

Lecture 3

1
 Contents
1. Ingot casting
2. Sand casting (temporary mould)
3. Die (Permanent mould) casting
4. Investment Casting
5. Solidification Mechanism
6. Shrinkages
7. Riser Design, Flow and heat Transfer and
related issues

2
 1. Ingot Casting
• The ingot casting of steel and aluminum consists of
producing relatively simple cross‐sectional shapes,
such as 15 cm diameter circles or rectangles up to
60 cm by 150 cm, in various lengths.
• Process of steel casting is relatively straight forward,
several issues require special attention.
• Occur during solidification due to the evolution of
gases (primarily oxygen, but also hydrogen, carbon
dioxide etc.) dissolved within the liquid steel.
• Four generic types of steel ingots

3
4
 2. Sand Casting
• Sand is used as the mould material
• Process has the advantages of low capital investment,
design flexibility and large alloy selection
• A split wooden or metal master pattern is made of
the shape to be cast
• One half of the pattern is positioned on a bottom
board and surrounded by the drag (bottom) half of
the molding flask (step 1)
• A parting compound (step 2), such as talc, is
sprinkled over the pattern to facilitate separation of
the pattern from the mould prior to pouring the
liquid metal 5
• Sand is packed tightly to ensure that the
shape of the pattern is retained
• The drag is inverted and the top half, or cope,
of the mould prepared in the same manner as
the drag (step 3)
• A feeding system for delivery of the molten
metal is formed in the cope
• This typically consists of a pouring basin, a
sprue (vertical metal transfer channel),
runners (horizontal transfer channels) and
ingates connecting the runners to the mould
cavity 6
7
• The cope and drag are separated and the pattern
removed (step 4)
• A core of sand mixed with resin or ceramic is
placed in the mould to form the hollow of the pipe
• The cope and drag are reassembled (step 5) and
clamped together, ready for receipt of the metal.
• The metal is poured from a small ladle into the
sprue, flows into the mould cavity and solidifies
• Once solidification is complete the mould is
broken and the cast part removed, all sand
cleaned off and the riser and feeding system are
cut away
8
9
10
 3. Die (Permanent Mould Casting)
• Disadvantage of sand casting is that a new mould is
required for every part cast
• Unacceptable for large‐scale production
• Casting involves pouring the metal into a mould that is
usually metallic and can be reused many times
• The metallic mould must be made of a metal with a
higher melting temperature than that of the metal being
cast, this limits use of steel casting
• Advantage of permanent mould casting is the high
thermal conductivity of metallic moulds, this causes
rapid solidification and cooling, which in turn results in a
smaller grain size and refined microstructures
11
• The outcome is improved strength for permanent mould
cast parts, offers better dimensional tolerances and an
improved surface finish
• Both gravity and die castings are used, In low pressure
die casting, metal is forced into the mould by external
pressure and problem of porosity arises
• High pressure die casting makes use of a pneumatically
or hydraulically actuated plunger to force the molten
metal into the die cavity with much higher pressure than
possible during low pressure die
• High pressure die casting is more suitable for complex
shapes and internal porosity is reduced

12
4. Investment or Lost Foam Casting
• The investment or lost wax casting process
produces parts with dimensional tolerances and
surface finishes unmatched by other casting
processes
• Complex shapes, such as internally cooled gas
turbine blades, are manufactured using
investment casting without the requirement for
extensive final machining or finishing operations.
• Alloys used for manufacturing gas turbine blades
are extremely difficult to machine

13
 5. Solidification of pure metals
• Solidification of a solid phase from a liquid invariably
requires the creation of new surfaces that separate
the liquid and solid phases
• Energy is required to produce these new surfaces.
Therefore, surface energy is associated with the
liquid‐solid interface.
• The energy to create new surfaces requires that
liquids cool below their equilibrium freezing
temperature or that they are under‐cooled, before
solidification begins

14
15
• Solidification will occur more spontaneously if there is a
high degree of under‐cooling
• When a metal is poured into a cooler mould, the mould
walls act as the initial nuclei for solidification
• Many small chill crystals with random crystallographic
orientations nucleate along the mould walls

16
• The conduction of heat from the liquid through the chill
crystals to the cooler mould creates a temperature gradient
• Latent heat of solidification is released at the solid‐liquid
interface, creating the temperature profile with an interface
temperature above that of both the liquid and solid phases.

17
• The rapid growth of protrusions (projection) from the
liquid‐solid interface leads to a transition from a flat
interface to a dendritic structure
• In the casting of dendrites grow perpendicularly away
from the mould wall, developing into columnar grains
(as shown in previous figures)

18
 6. Shrinkages
• As a metal casting solidifies and cools, the
volume decreases.
• Liquid shrinkage does not cause casting
problems
• Solidification shrinkage the
casting pattern must
be oversized appropriately
and risers added to
prevent the formation
of shrinkage cavities
during solidification
19
• The effect of solidification and solid shrinkage
is that casting first forms a solid skin at the
mould‐liquid interface

• As this material solidifies, it shrinks and a void

forms and void formation in this manner is
termed macroporosity

20
• Further solidification and solid shrinkage causes
distortion and produces a solidification pipe at
the top of the cube

• To prevent macroporosity and pipe formation,

risers are used which act as a source of liquid
metal to compensate for the solidification
shrinkage that would otherwise form.
21
22
23
24
7. Riser design & Flow and heat
Transfer

25
26
Q=

27
 Fluid Flow and Heat Transfer
‐ Fluid flow
Flow characteristics Reynold’s Number
• Ratio of momentum (inertia) to viscosity
• Fluid flow in gating systems is turbulence, as opposed to
laminar flow. (Which flow is preferred?)
• Reynolds number, Re, is used to characterize this aspect of
fluid flow.
momentum

vD v = velocity of the liquid

Re = D = diameter of the channel
 ρ = density
viscosity n = viscosity of the liquid.

• Higher the Re, greater the tendency for turbulent flow.

28
Critical Reynold’s Number

• Re ~ 2,000
– Laminar to turbulent transition
– Eddies begin to form

• Re > 20,000
– very turbulent

29
Example:
How fast would a stream of honey 1 in. in
diameter need to be turbulent?
Density (ρ) = 1.43 g/cm3 (at 20oC)
Viscosity ( ) = 189 poise (at 20.6oC)
Solution

vD
Re =
 turbulent flow transition
Re ~ 2,000
v×0.254×1430
Re =
18.9
Re = 2,000 = 1,430 * V * 0.0254/18.9

V = 1,040 m/s (This ignores shear thinning.) 30

Example Design and analysis of a sprue for casting
The desired volume flow rate of the molten metal into a mold is 0.01
m3/min. The top of the sprue has a diameter of 20 mm and its length is
200 mm.
What diameter should be specified at the bottom of the sprue in order
to prevent aspiration?
What is the resultant velocity and Reynolds number at the bottom of
the sprue if the metal being cast is aluminium and has a viscosity of
0.004 N-s/m2

Solution
 d2 = 
Since d1 = 0.02 m
A1 = (0.002)2 =3.14×104 m2
4 4
The metal volume flow rate is Q= 0.01 m3/min = 1.667×10-4 m3/s 1Top, 2 bottom
Therefore

Q = 1.667×104 = 0.531m/s
v1 = 4
A1 3.14×10
31
 Assuming no frictional losses, and recognizing that the pressure at the top and
bottom of the sprue is atmospheric
Thus,

2
(0.531)2 patm
h1 + p1 + v =h2 + p2 + v2 + f
1 p
0.2+ atm + = + v2 +0
 g 2g  g 2g  g 2(9.81)  g 2(9.81)

v2 =1.45m/s

Q = A2v2 1.667×104 = A2 ×1.45 A2 =1.15×104 m2

 1.15×104 =
 d =12mm
A2 =
2
d d2
4 4

32
In calculating the Reynolds number
since, = 2700kg /m3

vD v = velocity of the liquid

Re = = (1.45)(0.012)(2700) =11,745 D = diameter of the
 0.004 channel
ρ = density
n = viscosity of the liquid.

As stated above, this magnitude is typical for casting molds, representing

a mixture of laminar and turbulent flow

An Re value of up to 2000 represents laminar flow

An Re Between 2000 and 20,000 it is a mixture of laminar and turbulent
flow and is generally regarded as harmless in gating systems for casting
Re values in excess of 20,000 represent severe turbulence.

33
Chvorinov’s rule for solidification time for an insulating mold

 V 
t = C SA 
 
t = cooling time
C = a constant
V = volume
A = surface area

Chvorinov’s rule for solidification time for a conducting mold

t = C (V/A)

36
Material properties:
Data for solid materials at room temperature

Material Specificheat(C) Density(ρ) Thermalconductivity

o 3 o
(kJ/kg-C) (kg/m) (k)(W/m-C)

Sand 1.16 1500 0.60

Aluminum 0.90 2700 202
Nickel 0.44 8910 92
Magnesium 1.07 1700 156
Copper 0.39 8970 385
Graycastiron 0.441 7125 42.7

37
Data for liquid materials

Material Melting point Latent heat of Specific heat (C) Viscosity

o solidification o ( )
(C) (fusion) (kJ/kg‐C) (mPa‐s)
(Hf) (kJ/kg)
Aluminum 660 396 1.05 1.3
Nickel 1453 297 0.73 ‐‐‐
Magnesium 650 384 1.38 1.04
Copper 1083 220 0.52 2.1
Graycastiron 1251 211 0.34 5.25

38
 Solidification time
• Solidification time is a function of the volume of a
casting and surface area (Chvorinov’s rule).
n

Solidification time =C Volume   C = constant

SurfaceArea n= 2

• Effects of mould geometry and elapsed time on skin

thickness and its shape are shown below.

39
 Example : Solidification times for various solid shapes
Three pieces being cast have the same volume but different shapes. One is
a sphere, one a cube, and the other a cylinder with a height equal to its
diameter. Which piece will solidify the fastest and which one the slowest?
Use n = 2.
Solution 1
The volume is unity Solidification time
(Surfacearea)2
Respective Surface Areas (SA) are 2/3

Sphere: A= 4 3  = 4.84

4 
Cube: A= 6a2 = 6
Cylinder: A = 2r2 +2rh =5.54

Respective Solidification Times t are

t
tsphere = 0.043C c u b e
= 0.028C tcylinder = 0.033C
40
 Chvorinov's rule applied to riser
design
• The last metal to solidify is in the RISERS,
which will contain the macroporosity, and
eventually be removed from the final cast
shape.
• This means the time for the riser to solidify,
calculated from equation 2.16, must be more
than the solidification time for the casting.

41
Example
• A spherical casting of diameter 10 cm has a
cylindrical riser 5 cm in diameter and 10 cm
high. Will the riser prevent macroporosity in
the casting?

42
Problem1

43
Problem2

44
Problem3

45
Problem4

46
47
48
 Conclusion
• Sand, die and investment, high/low pressure
casting are important industrial shape making
process
• Start working on Lab work
• Will handover problem sheet to TA
Thank you

49