CASTING

DEFECTS

BY: DR. PIYUSH TANDAN

 CAUSES OF DEFECTIVE CASTINGS
• Defects in casting can be classified under
four headings.
(1) Distortion

(2) Surface roughness and irregularities

(3) Porosity

(4) Incomplete or missing detail

 Distortion

• Any marked distortion of the casting is

probably related to the distortion of the wax
pattern.

• This type of distortion can be minimized or

prevented by proper manipulation of the wax
and handling of the pattern
• Unquestionably, some distortion of the wax
pattern occurs as the investment hardens
around it.

• The setting and hygroscopic expansions of the

investment may produce a nonuniform
expansion of the walls of the pattern.

• This type of distortion occurs in part from the

non uniform outward movement of the
proximal walls
 Surface Roughness, Irregularities, &
Discoloration
• Surface roughness should not be confused
with surface irregularities.

• Surface roughness is defined as relatively

finely spaced surface imperfections whose
height, width, and direction establish the
predominant surface pattern.

• Surface irregularities are isolated

imperfections, such as nodules, that are not
characteristic of the entire surface area .
 SURFACE ROUGHNESS &
SURFACE IRREULARITIES
CAUSES:
 Air bubbles / Water film
 Rapid heating rates / Under heating
 Liquid : Powder ratio
 Prolonged heating
 Casting pressure
 Composition of Molten alloy
 Foreign bodies / Carbon inclusion
 Impact of molten alloy
 Pattern position
 Porosity
Porosities in noble metal alloy castings may be
classified as follows:
I. Solidification defects -
A. Localized shrinkage porosity
B. Microporosity

II. Trapped gases -

A. Pinhole porosity
B. Gas inclusions
C. Subsurface porosity.

III. Residual air.

 Localized shrinkage porosity
• Localized shrinkage is generally caused by premature
termination of the flow of molten metal during
solidification.

• Localized shrinkage generally occurs near the

sprue-casting.

• This type of void may also occur externally, usually in

the interior of a crown near the area of the sprue, if a
hot spot has been created by the hot metal impinging
from the sprue channel on a point of the mold wall.

• This hot spot causes the local region to freeze last

and results in what is called suck-back porosity.
• Suck-back porosity
often occurs at an
occlusoaxial line angle
or incisoaxial line angle
that is not well rounded.
• The entering metal
impinges onto the mold
surface at this point and
creates a higher
localized mold
temperature in this
region, known as a hot
spot
• A hot spot may retain a localized pool of
molten metal after other areas of the
casting have solidified. This in turn creates
a shrinkage void, or suck-back porosity.

• Suck-back porosity can be eliminated by

flaring the point of sprue attachment and
reducing the mold-melt temperature
differential, that is lowering the casting
temperature by about 30 degree C.
 Microporosity
• Occurs from solidification shrinkage but is generally
present in fine-grain alloy castings when the
solidification is too rapid for the microvoids to
segregate to the liquid pool.

• This premature solidification causes the porosity

shown in the form of small, irregular voids.

• Such phenomena can occur from rapid solidification

if the mold or casting temperature is too low.

• Unfortunately, this type of defect is not detectable

 Pinhole and the Gas inclusion
porosities
• Both pinhole and the gas inclusion porosities are
related to the entrapment of gas during
solidification.

• Both are characterized by a spherical contour, but

they are decidedly different in size.

• The gas inclusion porosities are usually much larger

than pinhole porosity.
• Many metals dissolve or occlude gases while they
are molten. For example, both copper and silver
dissolve oxygen in large amounts in the liquid state.

• Molten platinum and palladium have a strong affinity

for hydrogen as well as oxygen. On solidification,
the absorbed gases are expelled and pinhole
porosity results

• The larger voids may also result from the same

cause, but it is more logical to assume that such
voids are caused by gas that is mechanically trapped
by the molten metal in the mold or by gas that is
incorporated during the casting procedure
 Subsurface porosity
• Subsurface porosity occurs on occasion. At other
times, it may be particularly evident.

• The reasons for such voids have not been

completely established.

• They may be caused by the simultaneous nucleation

of solid grains and gas bubbles at the first moment
that the alloy freezes at the mold walls.

• As has been explained, this type of porosity can be

diminished by controlling the rate at which the molten
metal enters the mold.
 Entrapped –air porosity
• Entrapped –air porosity
on the inner surface of
the casting, sometimes
referred to as back-
pressure porosity, can
produce large concave
depressions. This is
caused by the inability of
the air in the mold to
escape through the pores
in the investment or by
the pressure gradient that
displaces the air pocket
toward the end of the
investment via the
molten sprue and button.
 Incomplete casting :
• Occasionally, only a partially complete casting
or perhaps no casting at all is found.

• The oblivious cause is that the molten alloy

has been prevented, in some manner, from
completely filling the mold.

• At least 2 factors that may inhibit the ingress

of the liquefied alloy are insufficient venting of
the mold and high viscosity of the fused metal
Rounded incomplete margins which are
evidence of insufficient casting pressure
• Incomplete casting resulting from
incomplete wax elimination characterized by
rounded margins and shiny appearance .
• The pressure should be applied for atleast 4
seconds.

• The mold is filled and the alloy is solidified in

one second or less, yet it is quite soft during the
early stages.

• Therefore, the pressure should be maintained

for a few seconds beyond this point.

• These failures are usually exemplified in

rounded, incomplete margins.
Incomplete casting