THE AMERICAN UNIVERSITY IN CAIRO

MENG 3209/339
Lab Report 2: Permanent Casting Processes

Submitted by: Cherif Youssef Chokeir

SID: 900140712

Date of Submission: 1/3/2017

Dr. AbdAllah Wifi

Ta. Kirolos Bastawros

Abstract:
The purpose of this report is to study two permanent mold casting processes: true centrifugal

casting and semicentrifugal casting and to understand the basic differences between these two

processes. It is also important to compare these two processes in terms of advantages and

disadvantages. Furthermore the study of the design of the mold and its effect on the reduction of

shrinkage cavities on the cast part is important in this report.

Table of Contents:
List of figures4
Introduction And Background.5
Objective7
Experiment Description and Analysis8
Conclusions and Recommendations...........20
List of figures
Fig. 1 Schematic of Centrifugal Casting Process
9
Fig.2 True Centrifugal Casting machine .10
Fig 3 Pouring the molten metal into mold ...10
Fig 4 Obtaining the final casting after solidification.......10
Figure 5: Cleaning the part....11
Fig.6 Examination and inspection.11
Fig. 7 Steps in mold preparation for spin casting...14
Fig. 8 Vulcanization frames...14

Fig 9 Electric Melting Furnace 15

Fig. 10 Spin-Caster ...15
Fig.11 600RPM casting product..16
Fig.12 300 RPM casting product.16
Figure 13 Mold Types .
..18
Fig 14 Different sections of the casted parts based on fig. 13 mold type
design.19
Introduction and Background:
Metal Casting is a manufacturing process in which the use of a mold made of sand, ceramic or

other material help to obtain a final product in the desired shape by pouring molten metal into a

mold and wait until its solidification. The main steps are 1. Melt the metal 2. Pour it into mold 3.

Let it freeze. In this process the mold, which plays a crucial role must be oversized in order to

account for solidification shrinkage. It could be made of sand, ceramic, plaster and metal. The

main advantages of the casting process is that one can create complex part geometries, both

external and internal surfaces, can produce parts in different sizes and suited to mass production.

Some of its disadvantages are the poor dimensional accuracy and surface finish in some

processes, the safety to foundry men and on the environment and the limitations on the

mechanical properties. Parts produced by casting involve compressor frames, wheels, bells etc.

There are two types of metal casting processes:

1. Expendable Mold processes: in which the workers, named foundry men scarifies the

mold in order to obtain the desired casting. Mold materials are sand, plaster etc.
The advantages of this process is that it is capable of producing complex shape

geometries. Its disadvantages are that the production rate are too low since the time is

usually taken to prepare mold for each new casting.

2. Permanent Mold processes, in which the mold could be used and reused to produce

castings. The advantages and disadvantages of the process are opposite to those of the

expendable mold process. Namely, the most important advantage of using permanent
mold processes is the high production rates one can obtain since the mold could be used

many times to produce different castings. In this process the mold material is usually

metal.
In this experiment, the purpose is to study two permanent mold processes:

centrifugal/horizontal/true casting and semi-centrifugal/vertical casting processes. It is

also important to discuss the solidification of mold ingots since this is a topic that is

highly involved in todays world of manufacturing.

Objectives:
- Understand and study the process of centirfugal casting
- Understand and study the process of spin casting
- Perform the casting operation
- Understand and study different casting defects, their reasons and means of

eliminating them
- Compare between different casting processes in terms of advantages and

disadvantages.
- Understand and discuss the solidification of mold ingots and specify the

different types of pipes obtained using different molds.

Experiment Description and Analysis
1. Centrifugal Casting :
Centrifugal Casting, also known as true casting or horizontal casting, is a type of

permanent mold casting processes, in which the mold that is made from sand, metal or

ceramic refractory material rotates at high speeds. This particular setting is done such that

when the molten metal is poured inside the mold, it hits the molds walls due to the action

of the centrifugal force. This causes its rapid cooling and solidification which is the main

advantage of this type of casting process. Furthermore, the fast rotation rate makes the

casting of fine grain size, which strengthen the casting and with this method of casting,

impurities and slags have tendency to accumulate on the inner surface of the casting,

making it easier to remove them by machining.

This process is intensively used in the manufacturing of cast iron pipes, gun barrels,

pressure vessels, brake drums and cylindrical liners.

This process could be used to cast different types of metals, nearly all castable alloys.
Its limitation lies in the fact that the produced casting could only have circular cross-

section.
 Figure (1)
Schematic of Centrifugal Casting Process [After Kalpakjian et al]
 Roller
s

Spou
t

Mold

Fig.2 True Centrifugal Casting machine

The main steps in this process are presented below with their corresponding images

Fig.3 Pouring the molten metal into mold

Fig. 4 Obtaining the final casting after solidification

Fig. 5 Cleaning the part

Fig.6 Examination and inspection

The obtained casting showed that the impurities gathered at the inner surface of the casting, they
could then be removed through machining which is the main advantage of this process. It is also
important to note that the inner surface was incomplete: in fact the volume of the molten metal
was insufficient to fill the whole mold.

It is now important to calculate the GF (G factor) of the mold. The GF is defined as the ratio of
the centrifugal force to that of the weight of the mold. Its calculation is important since the value
of GF determines whether the liquid metal will rain inside the cavity instead of remaining against
the internal walls of the horizontal mold.
The equations used are :

So GF = 90.1/2*10^-3*(*1410/30)^2/9.81 =100, relatively high GF.

 2. Spin Casting :

Another important casting process of the category of centrifugal casting processes is the spin
casting, also named vertical centrifugal casting or semi-centrifugal casting.
This specialized casting process is based on the same physical concept of centrifugal casting but

is intended to produce parts that are non-cylindrical and in many cases asymmetrical. The

castings are made through pouring molten metal into a rotating, disk-shaped mold. The action of

the centrifugal forces help to distribute the molten liquid metal throughout the mold which makes

it fills the entire cavities and details inside the mold.

Mainly used in producing parts for functional and decorative components like the jewelry, the

medals, the door handles, and the picture frames etc.

The main type of metals that are used in this process are the ZAMAK: zinc alloys, lead-tin and

aluminum alloys and white metal, gold and silver, with thermosets like polyester, polyurethane

and epoxies.

The main advantage of this casting process when compared to other processes is that it offers

good surface finish and dimensional accuracy (no extra machining required). It is a high quality

and versatile process.

The main disadvantages are the limitations in terms of material and size.

This process is divided into three main steps:

1 Mold making: In this type of casting process, molds are usually made out of vulcanized

rubber. The vulcanization process helps in shaping the molds. In this step, typical models are

inserted between the halves of the molds, then the mold is pressed under temperature so that

the rubber out of which the mold is made is vulcanized. The design of the mold should also
 take into consideration the gating and venting system. This vulcanization process results in a

tough, resilient, dimensionally accurate and thermo-mechanically stable mold.

Mold Mold Gating &

Preparation Vulcanization Venting

Fig. 7 Steps in mold preparation for spin casting

Fig.8 Vulcanization frames

2 Material Melting: In this step the material is melted in either a gas or electric furnace. Care
should be taken to the melting temperature of the liquid metal. For safety manners, it is
usually recommended that the temperature of the molten metal is not very high in order not to
burn the mold itself.
 Fig. 9 Electric Melting Furnace

3 Casting: The next step is to pour the molten metal inside the spinning mold. The quality of the
casting depends on many factors: the speed of mold RPM, the clamping pressure, the casting
cycle time, the pouring temperature , the mold temperature, the rate of pouring, the direction
of the spin and the degree of metal purity and cleanliness.

Fig. 10 Spin-Caster
To observe the effect of the rotation speed on the quality of the casting, observe figs 11 and 12
Fig.11 600RPM casting product Fig.12 300 RPM casting product
It appears from the figures that the RPM of the spinning mold is a significant factor in this
process. In fact at low RPM (300RPM), there is not enough force to overcome friction and to
completely fill the mold which results in an incomplete casting part. At high RPM (600), there is
enough force to overcome friction and fill the entire mold which results in a better quality of the
cast.

The following table shows some major defects observed in spin casting and the main reasons
behind that.
Defect Reason
Incomplete percolation of molten Low spinning speed (RPM)
metal
Air cavities within the cast Discontinuous pouring
Laminated casting Vibrations and improper
mounting
Flashing at the parting line Overheating the material

3) Solidification of Model Ingots

It is now important to study the solidification of model ingots. In fact, the structure of a solid

metal ingot is largely affected by the conditions of its solidification which are affected by the
design of the mold, the heat transfer and the amount of impurities and slags in the cast metal

itself. Generally, the ingot contains a region of chill grains at its surface which is caused by the

rapid solidification of the liquid when in contact with the cold mold. Inside this region, there is

another region of columnar grains that grow into the liquid metal from the nuclei on the chill

zone. At the end, the central zone could be described as equiaxed grains when the liquid

temperature has fallen sufficiently so that nucleation starts at random within it. The relative size

and importance of each of these zones highly depends on the composition of the metal and on the

temperature of casting.

When solidifying, the solid ingot experiences a volume contraction that occurs on solidification

leading to a cavity, a phenomenon called pipe effect. The form of that pipe greatly depends on

the design of the mold itself, and less important to the teeming conditions. Practically speaking,

this pipe effect is undesirable since it would be associated with segregation of impurities and

even if the manufacturer welded it by rolling, it would lead to central unsoundness.

A practical way to eliminate this pipe effect in the ingot is to extend the mold itself with a

refractory surface called hot top in which the molten metal would cool slower than in the main

body of the ingot. So this hot top would provide a reservoir of molten metal to feed the ingot as

the solidification occurs. (i.e., it will act as a riser)

In this experiment, it would be practical to use paraffin wax in order to study solidification of

molten metal without the hazard that is normally associated with that and to be able to section

the casted part.

The importance now is to study the effect of positive and negative mold taper and a hot top on

the ingot structures.

The experiment would have for objective to obtain the following mold types

(a) positive (b) negative (c) hot-top

Figure 13 Mold Types

Fig 14 Different sections of the casted parts based on fig. 13 mold type design
From figure 14, it is possible to observe the effect of the mold design on the relative

solidification and appearance of a cavity inside the part.

When the three designs are compared it appears that the best design to limit the pipe effect is the

one on the right (hot top mold), since the hot top mold provides a reservoir for the bottom part

which reduces the amount of cavity. Then at a less quality comes the one on the left (positive

taper) since it provides the bottom part to act as riser for the top part and will supply more

molten metal, then the less quality is the middle part which was based on a negative mold design

since the top part will act as a riser for the bottom so it wouldnt have a reservoir to counteract

the shrinkage effect and the formation of cavity.

 Conclusion and Recommendations:

To sum up, in this experiment, the purpose was to study two permanent

mold casting processes: true centrifugal casting and semicentrifugal

casting. Each of the two casting processes has its advantages and

disadvantages but the main concept is the same: the centrifugal force

send molten metal on the walls of the mold which accelerates

soldiification. The main advantage of the true centrifugal process lies in

the fast rate of production. While the main advantage of the spin casting is

the complexity of shapes that could be casted.

It was also important to study the effect of the mold design on the

solidification of the metal cast. The presence of a hot tap helps in reducing

the pipe effect which greatly helps the casting part.

It is further recommended that the lab responsible would possibly in the

future offer other types of casting processes to compare different processes

and their relative advantages and disadvantages.

References

Groover Funfamentals of Modern Manufacturing. John Wiley and Sons 2010

Lab notes AUC

Lecture 2 : Design for Casting Retrieved 28 Feb 2017 from

http://nptel.ac.in/courses/112101005/modules/lec3-2/1.11.html