Review Questions on Metal Casting

1- Label the different elements of the following Figure P1

568-

7-

1-

910-

423112- What are the design efforts required to produce a good casting? P1
1. Create a gating system to bring molten metal into the mold cavity free from
entrapped slag, sand or gases.
2. Provide a riser which feeds liquid metal into the casting cavity as the liquid is
cooling and solidifying
3. Control heat flow out of the casting so that the last liquid to solidify is in the riser.
4. Control the rate of heat flow so as to control the nature of the solidified product.
3- Write about the five basic steps in metal castings. P2
1. Pattern making
The pattern is a model of the casting used to make the mold. The mold is made by
packing some readily formed aggregate material, such as molding sand, around the
pattern.
2. Core making
Cores are forms, usually made of sand, which are placed into a mold cavity to form
the interior surfaces of castings.
3. Molding
Molding consists of all operations necessary to prepare a mold for receiving molten
metal.
4. Melting and Pouring
The molten metal is transferred to the pouring area where the molds are filled.
5. Cleaning
Cleaning refers to all operations necessary to the removal of sand, scale, and excess
metal from the casting.
1

4- State four of the requirements in pattern material. P3

The pattern material should be:
1. Easily worked, shaped and joined
2. Light in weight
3. Resistant to wear and abrasion
4. Resistant to corrosion, and to chemical reactions
5. Dimensionally stable and unaffected by variations in temperature and humidity
6. Available at low cost.
5- What are the volumetric contractions taking place during cooling of castings?
How to account for them?
The volumetric contractions are:
1. Liquid Shrinkage, i.e. the contraction during the period in which the temperature of
the liquid falls from the pouring temperature to the solidification temperature.
2. Reduction in volume when the metal changes from liquid state to solid state at the
solidus temperature.
To account for these two shrinkages; risers, which feed the liquid metal to the casting,
are provided in the mold.
3. Solid Shrinkage: It refers to the reduction in volume caused when metal loses
temperature in solid state.
To account for this, shrinkage allowance is provided on the patterns.
6- What is meant by finish allowance? and why it is essential for sand casting?
P7
Finish allowance is the amount the dimensions on a casting are made over size to
provide stock for machining.
It is essential for sand casting because the finish and accuracy achieved in sand
casting are generally poor and therefore when the casting is functionally required to
be of good surface finish or dimensionally accurate, it is generally achieved by
subsequent machining.

7- What is the reason for the distortion taking place in castings? What are the
measures taken to prevent this distortion?
The distortion in casting occurs due to internal stresses. These internal stresses are
caused due to unequal cooling of different section of the casting and hindered
contraction. Measures taken to prevent the distortion in casting includes:
1. Modification of casting design
2. Providing sufficient machining allowance to cover the distortion effect
3. Providing suitable allowance on the pattern called camber or distortion allowance
(inverse reflection, see Figure).

Distortion in castings
8- Write about the gated pattern.
This is an improvement over the simple pattern where the gating and runner system
are integral with the pattern. This would eliminate the hand cutting of the runners and
gates and help in improving the productivity of a moulder.

Typical pattern attached with gating and risering system

9- What are the main constituents of the core sand and what are the required
characteristic in each constituent?
The constituents are
1- Pure sand: is preferred because of its high refractoriness. sand with coarser
grain-size is used for high permeability,.
2- Binder: used to hold the sand grains together, impart strength and provide for
sufficient collapsibility. The binder should be such that it produces a minimum
amount of gases when it comes in contact with the molten metal.
10- With the aid of sketch describe three different types of cores. P12-14.
11- What are the main requests of the gating system (state at least 4 requests) ?
1- Metal should be able to flow through the gating system with a minimum of
turbulence and aspiration
2- Temperature gradient should be established through the metal facilitate
directional solidification towards the riser.
3- The casting should be produced with a minimum excess metal in gates and
risers.
3

4- Erosion of mould walls should be avoided.

12- Sketch four types of runners of the gating system. P21
13- Sketch five types of parting gates. P23
14- What is meant by the pressurized and unpressurized gating system? what
are the advantages and disadvantages of each of them? P25
15- How to control the directional solidification of casting? P29
16- What is the function of the chaplets? Sketch three of their types. How to
calculate their area?
Chaplets are metallic support often kept inside the mould cavity to support the cores.
Sketch P16
Chaplets area: First paragraph of P17
Put ( ) or (x)
Inner details of the pattern require higher draft allowance than outer surfaces.
P5
The draft allowance is applied on the horizontal surfaces of the pattern. P5

At least one statement is correct, cross the square in front of the correct
statement(s)
1- The allowances to be added to the linear dimensions of a casting are:
[ ] Shrinkage or Contraction Allowance
[ ] Machining Allowance
[ ] Rapping Allowance
2- A gear has an internal diameter of 500 mm. To account for the shrink, the
pattern should be made with an internal diameter of:
[ ] 505.3 mm
[ ] 494.7 mm
[ ] 500.0 mm
3- The considerations have to be given while selection core sand are: P13
[ ] The permeability of the core sand must be lower than that of the moulding sand.
[ ] The core sand should not posses such materials which may produce gases when
contact the molten metal.
[ ] High refractoriness is required.
[ ] The core sand should be not collapsible.
4- Chaplets are:
[ ] Made of steel
[ ] Kept inside the mould cavity
[ ] Molten metal should provide enough heat to melt them

Mach the statements:

1-Match Plate Pattern

A- These are used for generating large

shapes which are axi-symmetrical or
prismatic in nature such as bell shaped or
cylindrical.

2-Cope and Drag Pattern

B- These are generally used for small

castings with higher dimensional accuracy
and large production.

3-Follow Board Pattern

C- These types of patterns are used for

castings which are heavy and inconvenient
for handling as also for continuous
production.

4-Sweep Pattern

D- is useful for large castings, required in

small quantities.

5-Skeleton Pattern:

E- This type of pattern is adopted for those

castings where there are some portions
which are structurally weak and if not
supported properly are likely to break under
the force of ramming.

Solution:
1
B

2
C

3
E

5
D

A- spherical, flattened or elongated cavities

present inside the casting or on the surface.
B- caused by dropping of sand from the cope
or other overhanging projections into the
mould Drops
C- non fusion of two streams of metal
resulting in a discontinuity or weak spot in
casting.
D- misalignment between two halves of a
mould
E- lighter impurities appearing on the top of a
casting are called

1- Dross
2- Drops

3- Cold shut

4- Blow
5- Mould shift

Solution:
1
E

4
A

2
B

3
C

4
A

5
D