While iron is not traditionally known for its ability to cast thin walls, more designers are looking

to the metal to achieve high-strength, thin-walled components.

Joseph Maffia, Associate Editor

ach alloy has its advantages and disadvantages. But what if a perceived disadvantage could be altered through technological advancements and quality metalcasting operations? The con would quickly turn into a pro. When design engineers are trying to decide between the use of iron or aluminum in their components, the biggest impediment to using cast iron is that iron components are often thicker than necessary, resulting in added weight and reduced energy efficiency. In automotive applications, where weight reduction is a paramount achievement, this all but eliminates the iron component from contention. This occurs because molding technology is believed to be inadequate for the production of quality thin-wall iron castings. However, recent achievements, specifically in iron green sand metalcasting, has lead to thin-walled iron components that can maintain structural integrity and

compete with lightweight (aluminum, magnesium, etc.) castings without unnecessarily raising the weight of the component. This article will look at what is achievable in thin-wall iron casting using the green sand molding process.

Casting For Thin Walls

The green sand process is the most common mold technique for casting iron components. Utilizing this method, walls as thin as 0.12-in. are possible. But in order to produce this thickness, a foundry must keep a careful eye on its metalcasting operations. A foundry with good sand controls, good melting and metal delivery systems, and molding equipment that can produce good, dense molds is going to be more successful in producing thinner sections than a foundry lacking in sufficient sand and metal controls, said Don Reimer, foundry operations man-

Fig. 1 These duralite wheel hubs were converted to an austempered ductile iron design (l) from aluminum (r). The iron design reduced weight by 3% and cost by 30%.

ager at Farrar Corp., Norwich, Kan. According to Reimer, the green sand process offers several advantages if quality equipment is used. As foundries grasp a better understanding of controlling sand, incorporate better methods of producing pattern equipment and invest in better molding equipment, tolerances improve significantly, Reimer said. Hard, dense molds produce castings that are uniform in section thickness and better pattern equipment eliminates wider tolerance ranges that were once required for pattern shift and pattern thickness inconsistencies. However, any time that a casting includes transitions from one section thickness size to another, there is a potential for problems. First, metal can not feed a relatively heavy section through a thinner section without the probability of shrinkage occurring in the thicker section. If the thick pieces are 1 in. thick and the thin is 1/8 in., a shrinkage problem will occur. Another problem that can occur is that the mechanical properties of each section will vary due to the difference in cooling rates. Also, hot tears (a defect that occurs when the skin formed at the start of solidification is not strong enough to withstand the forces of contraction) may occur in the casting. Designers must realize that the same criteria will apply to thin wall sections when using iron and the green sand molding process as in any other casting design, said Reimer. If a thinner section of a casting is around a boss area or even a thicker section, the designer must be mindful that metal cannot flow through the thinner section to ensure soundness in the thicker sections. Also, sharp transitions should be avoided, or have adequate fillets to eliminate hot tears. When the wall thickness is small, other material properties generally seen in cast iron components are sacrificed. As section thickness becomes thinner,
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there is a tendency to lose elongation in ductile iron. There also is a tendency toward losing nodule count in thin sections, with the possibility of carbide formations. The thinner the section the more care must be taken in order to avoid the carbides. If the carbides occur, the casting will be more brittle and could cause problems during machining. Most of these microstructure probFig. 2. This 2.3L, I4 valve exhaust manifold lems can be dealt with by adjusting pourfrom Wescast Industries features 4-mm thick ing temperatures, maintaining proper sulwalls and was redesigned into a single-component casting for a cost savings of 50%. fur to rare earth percentage and by using proper and adequate post inoculation techniques, said Reimer. In some cases, Combating Common Defects in-mold-stream inoculation or even inThe good news for designers is that sevsprue inoculation may be required. Howeral things can be done during the ever, as in any other casting, mechanical metalcasting process to ensure that the properties will vary within the casting as component produced features thin walls section thickness varies. that are structurally sound. One option to further upgrade thin FluidityFluidity, which is the ability wall iron castings is the use of ductile iron of the metal to fill the mold, plays an and austempered ductile iron (ADI) to important role in casting for thinhelp maintain a greater strength-to-weight walled sections. The greatest levels of ratio. When using ductile iron and ADI, fluidity are found with dense green strength requirements can be maintained sand molds. Pressure-squeezed green while utilizing thinner sections, for an sand molds are the most dense, foloverall reduction in the weight of the comlowed by jolt/squeeze molds and handponent, said Reimer. packed molds; Ductile iron combines the processing advantages of gray iron (low melting point, good fluidity and castability, and ready machinability) with many of the engineering advantages of steel (high strength, ductility and a Casting iron components with wear resistance). This allows thin walls using the green sand for higher material properties molding process is an everyday as tensile and yield strength occurrence at Specialty Castings, then gray iron in thin walls. Inc. In order to consistently cast Austempered ductile iron is high quality, thin-walled iron comductile iron that undergoes ponents, the firm carefully times austempering, a special heat each pour to make sure that the treatment process that, when molds fill appropriately. applied to irons, produces parts Three different examples of thin-walled castings run at Spethat are stronger and tougher cialty are shown in Fig. 4. The b than conventionally heat exhaust component (a) is 2 in. in treated, as cast components. diameter and 12 in. long. The ADI also has a relatively low exhaust manifold (b) is 6 in. x 4 weight per unit of yield in., and the pump housing (c) is 8 strength, allowing for stronger in. in diameter and 4 in. thick. thin sections. All three cast iron components feaFigure 1 shows a duralite ture wall sections of 0.18-in. wheel hub that was converted to an austempered ductile iron design from aluminum, reducing weight by 3% and cost by 30%. Alc though austempered ductile Fig. 4. Three thin-walled iron castings produced using the green iron has a higher strengthsand molding process at Specialty to-weight ratio than alumiCastings are an exhaust componum, this weight savings nent (a), exhaust manifold (b) and pump housing (c). All three feawas achieved by redesigning ture walls 0.18-in. thick. the hub to take advantage of irons properties.
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Gating Systems The flow pattern of the metal fill is largely determined by the geometry of the ingate system. In order to achieve thin-walled castings, the runner system should be kept as short as possible to avoid hydrogen pinholing; Sand TypeSynthetic sands that have been mechanically compacted produce more rigid molds, which leads to less variation in the castings; Pouring TemperatureWhen pouring iron castings into a green sand mold, a lower pouring temperature between 2525-2642F (1385-1450C), can yield better control of grain size; Solidification RateThe properties of all metals are influenced by the rate at which they solidify, but gray iron is especially sensitive to cooling rate. The slower solidification and cooling of heavier castings result in the formation of coarser graphite flakes and a softer matrix structure, reducing the strength of the iron. The solidification in thin-walled sections can be so rapid that hard iron carbides (or white iron) can form. One practical approach to reducing the cooling rate between thin and thick sections is to decrease mold-filling time. Some foundr i e s h ave a d a p te d filling times as short as 7-10 sec for 125 kg poured weight.

Exhaust Manifold
This single casting valve exhaust manifold (Fig. 2) by Wescast Industries, Inc., was redesigned to a casting, eliminating all weldments at a cost savings of 50%. Cast in silicon-molybdenum ductile iron using green sand molding, the component features 4-mm thick walls. Wescast generated several cast designs for the component to optimize the air flow char acteristics. A combination of analytical (computational fluid dynamics) and exper imental (rapid prototypes and flow bench) tools was
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Fig. 3. The thief hatch cover produced by Clay & Bailey Manufacturing features a 0.18-in. wall around the outer rim of the component.

also used to optimize manifold runner balancing, sensor positioning and catalytic converter flow uniformity. The final design optimization removed 4.3 lb and lowered the unit price by $1.55 from the foundrys initial casting design.

Oil Industry Component

The thief hatch cover (Fig. 3) cast by Clay & Bailey Manufacturing Corp., features a wall thickness of 0.18-in. around the outer rim of the casting. The thief hatch cover is a pressure vacuum device used in the oil field industry. After the oil is pumped out of the ground it is sent into holding tanks, and when a sample of the oil is taken, it is commonly referred to as taking a thief of the oil. The cover opens up when pressure in the tanks builds up, allowing for a sample to be taken. The casting, which required two chaplets and two cores to produce, had to be carefully cast to achieve quality thin-walled sections. Any time you have a long, thin section in an iron casting, it has a tendency to pull together during cooling, which can cause structural defects, said Brad Holmes, sales manager at Clay & Bailey. In order to make sure that this did not occur, it was important that we leave the casting in the mold for a longer period of time to make sure that it cooled properly, said Holmes. If we were to remove the casting too soon, warping could occur.
For More Information
Study of Effects of Mold Placement on Dimensional Variation in Thin Wall Iron Castings, J.F. Cuttino, A. Kachru and T.S. Piwonka, 2002 AFS Transactions, No. 02-107. Developments in Thin-Wall Iron Casting Technology, J.F. Cuttino, J.R. Andrews, T.S. Piwonka, 1999 AFS Transactions, No. 99-189.
Circle No. 129 on Reader Action Card.

Circle No. 128 on Reader Action Card.

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