Assignment / Tutorial 1

Manufacturing Process BMMP 1323

1. Why does porosity have detrimental effects on the mechanical properties of castings? Would
physical properties, such as thermal and electrical conductivity, also be adversely affected by
porosity? Explain.
Answer:
 Because Pores are ,in effect , internal discontinuities that are prone to propagate
under external stresses.
 The toughness of a material , for example , will decrease as a result of porosity.
 The presence of pores in a metal part under tension requires that the material
around the pores were present ; thus the strength and elasticmodulus are also
lowered .
 Considering thermal and electrical conductivity thermal and electrical
conductivity ,porosity decrease both the thermal and electrical conductivity
because of the presence of a vacuum or air
3. Describe the drawbacks to having a riser that is (a) too large and (b) too small.
Answer:
Drawbacks to having a riser that is too large
1. Costs more money and more effort for machining it .
2. Slows down solidification.
3. Cause unwanted buoyancy forces and separate the mold which is not the desired
requirement.
Drawbacks to having riser that is too small
1.Responsible for insufficient feeding of liquid to compensate solid shrinkage
2.Solidfication front will not be uniform
3.Grases may not escape out , and left in the metal which causes defect.

4. What differences, if any, would you expect in the properties of castings made by permanent-
mould versus sandcasting processes?
Answer:
 That permanent mold castings have closer dimensional tolerance , more uniform physical
properties , can develop a finer finished surface and reproducible thin walled parts as
compared to sand casting .
 Sand casting is more adept for producing very intricate , large pieces at lower cost than
those of permanent mold casting .
 The actual cost variance will depend on the alloy that must be used for the sand casting.

5. Would you recommend preheating the moulds used in permanent-mould casting? Would you
remove the casting soon after it has solidified? Explain your reasons.
Answer:
 By preheating a mold to be used for a permanent mold casting , there is less likelihood
that the metal will chill when toughes the mold surface , which could lead to low fluidity
.
 Preheating the molds by repeated casting with molten metal . As for removing the casting
quickly , the part must be given adequate time to cool in the mold so that there is no
possibility of it being distorted or acquiring other defect during the shakeouts process.
 Small parts require less time than large casting.