FOUNDRY PROCESSES

Foundry processes consist making moulds

preparing and melting the metal
pouring liquid metal into molds
cleaning the castings
reclaiming the sand for reuse
Machining a block of metal to an intricate shape can be very
expensive, which encourages a foundry worker to say
Why whittle when you can cast?
High rates of production, good surface finish, small dimensional
tolerances and improved material properties allow the casting of
small and large intricate parts of all metals and alloys
Molds are made of metal, plaster, ceramics and other refractive
substances.
This chapter is concerned with the preparation of sand molds
The principles used in sand casting of metals are important
because of their economic advantage over manufacturing
method

SAND CASTINGS AND MOLDING PROCEDURES

Sand casting are classified according to the type of pattern used
a) Removable pattern
b) Disposable pattern
Removable pattern, sand is packed around the pattern.
Later the pattern is removed and the cavity is filled with molten
metal
Disposable patterns are made from polystyrene and are vaporised
when the molten metal is poured into the mold.
Molds are classified according to the materials
Green-Sand Molds
Forming the mold from damp sand
The terms green sand does refer to the color of the sand which is
dark brown or black
It refers to the sand that is uncured and uses clay and water for
bonding (refer to fig. 5.1 illustrates the procedure for making
green-sand molds)
Loam Molds
Used for large castings
The mold is built up with bricks or large iron parts
These parts are plastered over with a thick loam mortar,
The shape of the mold obtained with sweeps or skeleton patterns
It is allowed to dry thoroughly, so it can resist the heavy rush of
molten metal
Due to production time, loam molds are seldom used
Furfuryl Alcohol Binder Molds
The process has its trademark, Furan
Good for making molds using disposable patterns and cores
Dry sharp sand is mixed with phosphoric and sulfuric acid which
act as an accelerator
The resin is added and mixing is continued
In use with disposable patterns, furan resin sand is employed as a
wall or shell around the pattern supported by green or sharp sand
or it can be used as the complete molding material
CO2 Mold
Clean sand is mixed with sodium silicate and the mixture is
rammed about pattern.
CO2 gas pressure-fed to the mold the sand mixture is hardens.
Very smooth and intricate castings are obatined by this method.
Although the process was originally developed for making cores.
Shakeout and core removal are difficult.
Skin Dried Mold
Two general methods are used.
1) The sand around the binder is mixed with binder to depth of
12.7mm
After drying, there is a hard surface on mold.
Remainder of the mold is ordinary green sand.
2) The mold of the green sand are makes and coats it surface
with a spray or wash that hardens when heat is applied.
Sprays used for this purpose include linseed oil, molasses water,
gelatinized starch and similar liquid solutions.
In both methods the mold is dried either by air or by a torch to
harden the surface and drive out excess moisture.

Dry-sand molds
Are made entirely from fairly coarse molding sand mixed with a
binding material similar to those already discussed.
Dry-sand mold must be oven-baked before being used, the flask
are of metal.
It can holds its shape when poured and is free from gas problems
caused by moisture. Both skin dry and dried sand molds are not
used widely in foundries.
Metal and Special Molds
Metal molds are used mainly in die-casting low temperature
alloys.
Casting are accurately shaped and have a smooth finish, thus
eliminating final machining.
Plastics, cement, plaster, paper, wood and rubber are molds
materials for particular applications.
Molding process in conventional foundry are as follows:
1) Bench molding- For small work one on a bench at a height
convenient to molder.
2) Floor molding- For medium-size and large castings.
3) Pit molding- For Extremely large castings and frequently
molded in a pit instead of a flask. The pits act as the drag part of
the flask and a separate cope is used above it. The side of the pit
are brick lined and the bottom is a thick layer of cinders with
with connecting vent pipes to the floor level.
4) Machine Molding-Machines do a number of the operations that
the molder ordinarily does by hand.
Ramming the sand, rolling the mold over, forming the gate and
drawing the pattern are performed by machines much better and
more efficiently than by hand.
5) Removable pattern molds- A simple procedure for molding a
cast-iron gear blank is shown in figure 5.1
The mold for this blank is made in a flask that has two parts. Top
part is called the cope and the lower part is called the drag. If the
flask is made in three parts, the center is called a cheek. The parts
of the flask are held in a definite relation to another by pins.
6) Disposable pattern mold- The pattern usually one piece
including sprue, gate and riser is placed on board and the drag is
molded in the conventional way.
In figure 5.2, vent holes are added and the drag is turned over for
molding the cope.
Common material-green sand & other special-purpose sand are
used.
The pattern, usually polystyrene or styrofoam including the gating
and pouring system, is left in the mold
Disposable patterns can be made in one of two ways
1) May be glued and hot wire or knife carved. Sprues, runners and
gates may be glued on or attached with wire or nails.
2) May be made from expandable or foam polystyrene in foam of
small beads that contain penthane as a blowing agent. The
polystyrene thus transformed into foam is injected under heat
and pressure into the metal die. The die is then cooled.
Complex shapes can be formed at high production rates. The
only allowances necessary are for shrinkage, finish and
distortion.
Advantages of disposable pattern process
1) The process requires less production time(one of a kind
castings)
2) Allowances are unnecessary in removing the pattern from the
sand
3) Finish is uniform and reasonably smooth
4) A complex wooden pattern with loose pieces is uncessary
5) Cores are seldom required
6) Molding is greatly simplified
The disadvantages include the following
1) The pattern is destroyed in the process
2) Patterns are more delicate to handle
3) There is no opportunity to inspect the finished cavity
4) Environmental concerns with collection of toxic gases
The weight of a complex casting is not easily determined but can
be estimated by weighing the pattern. The following relationship
is used. Wp / p = Wc / c
Wp and Wc = weight of pattern and casting (kg)

p and
c= density of pattern and casting (kg/m 3)

The density of polystyrene foam ia about 336 kg/m3 & soft pattern
pine is 400kg/m3
 Gating System And Solidification Characteristics
The passageway for bringing the molten metal to the mold cavity
is called gating system.
Constructed of pouring basin, a down gate o rknown as sprue
and a gate which the metal flows through the sprue base to the
mold cavity.
By tapering the sprue to proper proportions, the metal does not
pull away from the mold as it accelerates downward. For freely
failling metal, the velocity increases with the square root of the
falling distance.
A conservative estimate of the taper which neglects frictional
effects of the sprue, enterance and exit effect and back pressure
as the mold fills is given as:
A1 /A2 < (ha/ hb)
The gating system of molten metal to mold involves a number
of factors:
1. Metal should enter the cavity with as little turbulence as
possible at near the bottom of the mold cavity when pouring
small castings.
2. Erosion of the passageway or cavity surfaces should be
avoided by regulating the flow of metal properly or by the use of
dry-sand cores. Formed gates and runners resist erosion better
than those that are cut.
3. Metal should enter the cavity so that directional solidification is
provided if possible. The solidification should progress from the
mold surfaces to the hottest metal so that there is always
molten metal available to compensate for shrinkage.
4. Slag and foreign particles should be prevented from entering
the mold cavity. Skimming gates such as shown in figure 5.3
trap slag and other light particles into the second sprue hole.
The gate to the mold is restricted somewhat to allow time for
floating particles to rise into skimmer.
A strainer made of baked dry sand or ceramic material also can
be used at the pouring basin to allow entry of clean metal.
Riser are often provided in molds to feed molten metal into main
cavity to compensate for the shrinkage. They should be large in
section so as to remain in molten as long as possible and should
be located near heavy sections subject to large shrinkage.
Blind risers are domelike risers found in cope half of the flask that
are not complete height of the cope. They are normally placed
directly over the gate where the metals feeds into the mold cavity
and thus supply the hottest metal when pouring is completed.
Risers should be last to solidify.
Volumetric shrinkage usually occurs when metals solidifies. A
shrinkage cavity results if the solidification is not directed. Voids
caused by shrinkage should occurs in the gate, risers or sprue.
The shrinkage occurs in the location where the metal stays molten
the longest. Shrinkage for aluminum, zinc and iron is 6%, 4.2%
and 3% respectively.
Figure 5.4 illustrates temperature gradient or isotherm lines in a
casting. Shrinkage can caused voids occur in region of highest
temperature and mold design must be modified so as to remove
this tendency if such a void is detrimental to a casting.
Metal inserts called chills are sometimes used to control
solidification y carrying heat away from the solidifying metal at a
more rapid rate.
Exothermic chemical compounds may be packed next to a part of
the casting so that the heat is retained in that area. This materials
will burn at or close to the melting of the metal so it does not add
heat to the metal. It does act as an adiabatic surface to prevent
heat from leaving the casting zone.
PATTERNS
The simplest form is the solid or single piece pattern shown in
figure 5.5A
Many pattern cannot be made in a single piece because they
cannot be removed from the sand. To solve this problem some
pattern are made in two parts (figure 5.5 B) so that half part of the
pattern will rest in the lower part of the mold and half in the upper
part.
The split occurs at the parting line of the mold. Figure 5.5C shows
a pattern with two loose pieces that are necessary to facilitate
withdrawing it from the mold.
In production work where many casting are required, gated
patterns as shown in figure 5.5D may be used.
These patterns are made of metal to give them strength and
eliminate warping. Match plates provide a substantial mounting for
pattern are widely used in machine moulding (figure 5.5E)
In figure 5.5F single or multiple gated patterns.
All high production work on molding machines uses the match-
plate pattern.
Many mold of regular shape may be constructed by the use of
sweep pattern shown in figure 5.5G. The advantages of this
pattern it eliminates expensive pattern construction.