Shell Moulding:

It is process in which the sand mixed with a

thermosetting resin is allowed to come into contact
with a heated metallic pattern plate, so that a thin and
strong shell of mould is formed around the pattern.
Then the shell is removed from the pattern and the
cope and drag are removed together and kept in a flask
with the necessary back-up material and the molten
metal is poured into the mould.
Generally, dry and fine sand (90 to 140 GFN) that is
completely free of clay is used for preparing the shell
moulding sand. The grain size to be chosen depends on
the surface finish desired on the casting.
The synthetic resins used in shell moulding are
essentially thermosetting resins, which get hardened
irreversibly by heat. The resins most widely used are
phenol formaldehyde resins. Combined with sand, they
have high strength and resistance to heat.
The first step in shell moulding is the preparation of
sand mixture in such a way that each of the sand grain
is thoroughly coated with resin. Since the sand resin
mixture is to be cured t about 150⁰C temperature, only
metal patterns with the associated gating systems are
used.
The metallic pattern is heated to a temperature of 200-
300 ⁰C depending on the type of the pattern. A silicon
release agent is then sprayed on the pattern and the
metal plate. The heated pattern is then securely fixed
to a dump box, wherein coated sand is in an amount
larger than required.
Then dump box is rotated so that the coated sand falls
on the heated pattern. The heat from the pattern melts
the resin adjacent to it thus causing the sand mixture
to adhere to the pattern.
When desired shell thickness is achieved, the dump box
is rotated backwards by 180 degrees so that the excess
and falls back into the box, leaving the formed shell
intact.
The shell along with the pattern plate is kept in an
electric or gas-fired oven for curing the shell.
Overcuring may cause the mould to break down as the
resin would burn out, undercuring may result in blow
holes in the casting.
Advantages:
1. Shell moulding castings are generally more
dimensionally accurate than sand castings.
2. A smoother surface can be obtained in shell
castings. This is primarily achieved by the finer
grain size used.
3. Draft angles, which are lower tan the sand
castings, are required in shell moulds, which
considerably saves the material costs and the
subsequent machining costs.
4. Sometimes, special cores may be eliminated in
shell moulding. Since the sand has high strength
the mould could be designed in such a manner that
internal cavities can be formed directly.
5. Permeability of the shell is high and therefore no
gas inclusions occur.
6. Very small amount of sand needs to be used.
 7. Mechanism is readily possible due to simple
processing involved.
Limitations:
1. The patters are very expensive and therefore are
economical only if used in large scale production.
2. The size of the casting obtained by shell moulding
is limited.
3. Highly complicated shapes cannot be obtained.
4. More sophisticated equipment is needed for
handling the shell mouldings such as those
required for heated metal patterns.
Applications:
Cylinders and cylinder heads for air-cooled IC engines,
automobile transmission parts, cast tooth bevel gears,
break beam, radome hubs, track-rollers for crawler
tractors, transmission planet carrier and small crank
shaft are some of the common applications of shell-
mould casting.
Precision Investment Casting
This is the process where the mould is prepared around
an expendable pattern. The first step in this process is
the presentation of the pattern for every casting to be
made. To do this, molten wax, which is used as the
pattern material is injected under pressure of about 2.5
MPa into a metallic die, which has the cavity of the
casting to be made. The wax when allowed to solidify
would produce the pattern. Then the cluster of wax
patterns is attached to the gating system by applying
heat.
To make the mould, the prepared pattern is dipped into
slurry made by suspending fine ceramic materials in a
liquid such as ethyl silicate or sodium silicate. The
excess liquid is allowed to drain off from the pattern.
Dry refractory grains such as fused silica or zircon are
stuccoed on this liquid ceramic coating. Thus, a small
shell is formed around the wax pattern. The shell is
cured and then the process of dipping and stuccoing is
continued with ceramic slurries of gradually increasing
grain sizes.
The next step in the process is to remove the pattern
from the mould, which is done by heating the mould to
melt the pattern. The melted wax is completely drained
through the sprue by inverting the mould.
The molten metal is poured into the mould under
gravity, under slight pressure, by evacuating the mould
first. The method chosen depends upon the type of
casting.
Advantages:
1. Complex shapes which are difficult to produce by
any other methods are possible since the pattern is
withdrawn by melting it.
2. Very fine details and thin sections can be produced
by this process because the mould is heated before
pouring.
3. Very close tolerances and better surface finish can
be produced. This is made possible because of the
fine grain of sand used next to the mould cavity.
4. Castings produced by this process are ready for
use with little or no machining required. This is
particularly useful for hard-to-machine materials
such as nimonic alloys.
5. With proper care it is possible to control grain size,
grain orientation and directional solidification in
this process, so that controlled mechanical
properties can be obtained.
6. Since there is no parting line, dimensions across it
would not vary.
Limitations:
 1. The process is normally limited by the size and
mass of the casting. The upper limit on the mass of
a casting may be of the order of 5kg.
2. This is more expensive process because of larger
manual labour involved in the preparation of the
pattern and the mould.
Applications:
the process was used in the olden days for the
preparation of artefacts, jewellery and surgical
instruments. Presently, the products made by this
process are vanes and lades for gas turbines, shuttle
eyes for weaving, pawls and claws for movie cameras,
wave guides for radars, bolts and triggers for fire arms
and impellers for turbo chargers.

Permanent Mould Casting

For large –scale production, making a mould for every
casting produced may be difficult and expensive.
Therefore, a permanent mould, called die may be made
from which a large number of castings anywhere
between 100 and 250000 can be produced, depending
on the alloy used and the complexity of the casting.
This process is called permanent mould casting or
gravity die casting, since the metal enters the mould
under gravity.
The mould material is selected on the consideration of
the pouring temperature, size of the casting and
frequency of the casting cycle. They determine the
total heat to be borne by the die. Fine-grained grey cast
iron is the most generally used die material. The die life
is less for higher melting temperature alloys such as
copper or grey cast iron.
For making any hollow portions, cores are also used in
permanent mould casting. The cores can be made out
of metal or sand. When sand cores are used, the
process is called semi-permanent moulding.
The mould cavity should normally be simple without
any undesirable drafts or undercuts, which interface
with the ejection of the solidified castings. The gating
and risering systems used are very similar to that of
the sand casting.
Under regular casting cycle, the temperature at which
the mould is used depends on the pouring temperature,
casting cycle frequency, casting weight, casting shape,
casting wall thickness and thickness of mould coating.
Mould should be heated to its operating temperature
before casting.
The materials which are normally cast in permanent
moulds are aluminium alloys, magnesium alloys,
copper alloys, zinc alloys and grey cast iron. Permanent
mould casting is particularly suited to high volume
production of small, simple castings with uniform wall
thickness and no intricate details.
Advantages:
 1. Because of the metallic mould used, this process
produces a fine grained casting with superior
mechanical properties.
2. They produce very good surface finish of the order
of 4 microns and better appearance.
3. Close dimensional tolerances can be obtained.
4. It is economical for large scale production as the
labour involved in the mould preparation is
reduced.
5. Small-cored holes may be produced compared to
sand casting.
6. Inserts can be readily cast in place.
Limitations:
1. The maximum size of the casting that can be
produced is limited because of the equipment.
2. Complicated shapes cannot be produced.
3. The cost of the die is very high and can only be
justified for large scale production.
4. Not all materials are suited for permanent mould
casting essentially because of the mould material.
Applications:
Some of the components that are produced in
permanent moulds are automobile pistons, stators,
gear blanks, connecting rods, aircraft fittings, cylinder
blocks, etc.

Die Casting
Die casting involves the preparation of components by
injecting molten metal at high pressure into a metallic
die. Die casting is closely related to permanent mould
casting, in that both the processes use reusable
metallic dies. In die casting, as the metal is forced in
under pressure compared to permanent moulding, it is
also called pressure die casting. Because of the high
pressure involved any narrow sections, complex shapes
and fine surface details can be easily produced.
In die casting, the die consists of two parts. One part is
called stationary half or cover die which is fixed to the
die casting machine. The second part is the moving half
or ejector die that is moved out for the extraction of
casting.
The casting cycles starts when the two parts of the die
are apart. The lubricant is sprayed on the die cavity
manually or by the auto-lubricating system so that the
casting will not stick to the die. The two die halves are
closed and clamped. The required amount of metal is
injected into the die. After the casting is solidified under
pressure, the die is opened and the casting is ejected.
The die needs to have the provision of ejectors to push
the casting after it gets solidified.
Hot working-tool steel is generally used for the
preparation of the dies, die inserts and cores. For zinc
alloys, the normal die material is AISI P20 for low
volume and H13 for high volume, whereas for
aluminium and magnesium, H13 and H11 are used. For
copper alloys, H20,H21 and H22 are the usual die
materials.
Advantages:
1. Because of the use of movable cores, it is possible
to obtain fairly complex castings than that feasible
by permanent mould casting.
2. Very small thickness can be easily filled because
the liquid metal is injected at high pressure.
3. Very high production rates can be achieved. The
typical rates can be 200 pieces per hour since the
process is completely automated.
4. Because of the metallic dies, very good surface
finish of the order 1 micron can be obtained. The
surfaces generated by die casting can be directly
electroplated without any further processing.
5. Closer dimensional tolerances of the order of
+0.08 mm for small dimensions can be obtained
compared to the sand castings.
6. The die has a long life, which is of the order of 300
000 pieces for zinc alloys and 150 000 for
aluminium alloys.
7. Die casting gives better mechanical properties
compared to sand casting, because of the fine
grained skin formed during solidification.
8. Inserts can be readily cast in place.
9. It is very economical for large scale production.
Limitations:
1. The maximum size of the casting is limited.
2. This is not suitable for all materials because of the
limitations on the die materials. Normally, zinc,
aluminium, magnesium, copper alloys are die cast.
 3. The air in the die cavity gets trapped inside the
casting and is therefore a problem often with the
die castings.
4. The dies and the machines are very expensive and
therefore, economy in production is possible only
when large quantities are produced.
Applications:
The typical products made by die casting are
carburetors, crank cases, magnetos, handle bar
housings and other parts of scooters, motorcycles and
mopeds, zip fasteners, head-lamp bezels and other
decorative items on automobiles.
Vacuum Die Casting
The major problem with the die casting is the air left in
the cavity when the die is closed. Since that air cannot
escape, it ends up inside the casting. As a result, when
the casting is heat treated, blisters appear on the
surface. This problem is solved by evacuating the air
from the die after the die is closed and before the metal
is injected. Thus, the metal enters much faster into the
die, thereby decreasing the filling time and the same
time the parts do not experience any porosity due to
the removal of air in the cavity.
The part is exposed to atmospheric air only after
solidification and as such the oxidation of the material
is avoided. It would be possible with the vacuum die
casting to process parts with very thin walls, tight
tolerances, fine microstructure due to rapid
solidification rates and therefore have properties
approaching that of wrought product and with relatively
short cycle times.
Low-Pressure Die Casting
Though the process is not new, it has been adapted
generally for casting aluminium and magnesium based
alloys. In this process, the permanent mould and the
filling system are placed over the furnace containing
the molten alloy. Then, compressed gas is used at a
pressure typically ranging from 0.3 to 1.5 bars to force
the molten metal to rise slowly through the ceramic
riser tube that is connected to the mould. Once the
mould cavity is filled, the pressure in the crucible is
removed and the residual molten metal in the tube
flows back to the crucible. After the casting is solidified,
the side dies opens and the top die is raised vertically.
The casting will move with the top die owing to the
shrinkage and will be ejected onto a transfer tray.
The quality of the casting is affected by the cooling rate
and therefore care has to be taken to see that the
casting is properly cooled before ejecting from the die.
The top and the bottom dies are cooled by the means
of air jets. Care needs top be exercised during the
design of the mould to provide proper cooling circuits,
so that the heavier sections of the casting are located
close to the feeding path to make it act as a riser. Since
the metal enters the mould slowly compared to die
casting with less turbulence, the casting quality is
improved, eliminating the defects. Close tolerance
castings can be made using this process.

Centrifugal Casting
This is a process where the mould is rotated rapidly
about its central axis as the metal is poured into it.
Because of the centrifugal force, a continuous pressure
will be acting on the metal as it solidifies. The slag,
oxides and other inclusions being lighter, gets
separated from the metal and segregates towards the
centre.
This is normally used for making hollow pipes, tubes,
hollow bushes, etc. , which are axi-symmetric with a
concentric hole. Since the metal is always pushed
outward because of the centrifugal force, no core needs
to be used for making the concentric hole. The axis of
rotation can either be horizontal, vertical or any other
angle in between. Very long pipes are normally cast
with a horizontal axis, whereas short pipes are
conveniently cast with a vertical axis.
First, the moulding flask is properly rammed with sand
to confirm to the outer contour of the pipe to be made.
Then the flask is dynamically balanced so as to reduce
the occurrence of undesirable vibrations during the
casting process. The finished flask is mounted in
between the rollers and the mould is rotated slowly.
Now, the molten metal, in requisite quantity, is poured
into the mould through the movable pouring basin. The
amount of metal poured determines the thickness of
the pipe to be cast. After the pouring is complete, the
mould is rotated at its operational speed till it solidifies
to form the requisite tubing. Then the mould is replaced
by a new mould machine and the process continued.
Advantages:
1. The mechanical properties of centrifugally cast
jobs are better compared to other processes,
because the inclusions such as slag and oxides get
segregated towards the centre and can be easily
removed by machining. Also, the pressure acting
on the metal throughout the solidification causes
the porosity to be eliminated giving rise to dense
metal.
2. Up to a certain thickness of objects, proper
directional solidification can be obtained starting
from the mould surface to the centre.
3. No cores are required for making concentric holes
in the case of centrifugal casting.
4. There is no need for gates and runners, which
increases the casting yield, reaching almost 100%.
Limitations:
1. Only certain shapes which are axi-symmetric and
having concentric holes are suitable for centrifugal
casting
2. The equipment is expensive and thus is only
suitable for large scale production.
Continuous Casting
Generally, the starting point of any structural steel
product is the ingot which is subsequently rolled
through a number of mills before a final product such
as a slab or a bloom is obtained. However, the wide
adoption of the continuous casting has changed that
scenario by directly casting slabs, billets and blooms
without going through the rolling process. This process
is very fast and economical.
In this process, the liquid steel is poured into a double-
walled, bottomless water cooled mould where a solid
skin is quickly formed and a semi-finished skin emerges
from the open mould bottom. The skin formed in the
mould is further solidified by intensive cooling with
water sprays as the casting moves downwards.
The molten steel is collected in a ladle and kept over a
refractory lined intermediate pouring vessel named
tundish. The steel is then poured into water-cooled
vertical copper moulds. Before starting the casting, a
dummy starter bar is kept in the mould. After starting
the casting process as the metal level rises in the
mould to a desirable height, the starter bar is
withdrawn at a rate equal to the steel pouring rate. The
initial metal freezes onto the starter bar as well as the
periphery of the mould. This solidified shell supports
the metal a it moves downwards. This steel shell is
mechanically supported as it moves down through the
secondary cooling zone where water is sprayed onto
the shell surface to complete the solidification process.
After the casting is completely solidified, it is cut to
desired lengths by suitable cutoff apparatus.

Squeeze Casting
The product quality is greatly improved in this process
by solidifying the casting under heavy pressure to
prevent the formation of shrinkage defects and retain
dissolved gasses in solution until freezing is complete.
Thus, it is a combination of casting and forging.
When the cycle is started, the punch and die portion
are separated. The holding furnace holds the molten
metal at the requisite temperature. Then the carefully
metered charge of molten metal is poured into the die
cavity. Then the punch is lowered into place forming a
tight seal. The punch portion of the upper die is then
forced into the cavity, displacing the molten metal
under pressure until it fills the annular space between
the die and the punch. The metal is then under
pressure and at the same time loses heat rapidly
because of its contact with the metallic die. The
solidification under pressure is claimed to be
responsible for the reduction in the shrinkage cavities
in the resulting castings. Once the casting is completely
solidified, the punch is retracted and then the casting is
ejected from the die.
The squeeze-casting process has very low gas
entrapment, lower shrinkage cavities, lower die costs
and very high-quality surface with fine details. Also, it
produces a fine grain size, which improves mechanical
properties. Aluminium, magnesium and copper alloy
components can be readily manufactured using this
process

Manufacturing
Process
Assignment: Special
Casting Processes

By:

A
nkit Khullar
B.Tech(C.S) 1st Year
 Index
• Shell Moulding
• Precision Investment Casting
• Permanent Mould Casting
• Die Casting
• Vacuum Diecasting

• Low Pressure Diecasting

• Centrifugal Casting
• Continuous Casting
• Squeeze Casting