Introduction

The expendable-pattern casting uses a polystyrene pattern, which evaporates upon

contact wiht molten metal to form acavity for the casting. The process is also known as
evaporative-pattern or lost-pattern casting and inder th trade name Full-Mold process. It was
formerly known as the expanded polystyrene process, and has become one of the more
important casting processes for ferrous and non-ferrous metals, paticularly for the automotive
industry. This process takes advantage of the low boiling point of foam to simplify the
investment casting process by removing the need to melt the wax out of the mold.

Typical applications for this process are cylinder heads, crankshaft, brake components
and manifolds for automoniles and machine bases. Aluminium engine blocks and other
components for General Motors automobiles are made by this process. Recent developments
include the use of polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) and polyalkylebe carbonate as pattern
materials for ferrous castings. New developments in evaporative-pattern casting include
production of meal-matrix composites. During the process of molding the polymer pattern,
fibers or particles are embedded throughout. These become an integral part of the casting.

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 Objectives

In this casting process, there are objectives to archieve. First, students need to
understand how the process of this casting works. Besides that, student can express their
creativity through this casting process because students need to design a polystyrene and
create the polystyrene into an object that needs to be used in casting process.

Second, to determine the process in practically. Students can know how the lost form
casting works. When handling this project students must take safety precautions to avoid any
harmness happened to the students and surrounding. This will make sure students to be more
careful when the casting process is conducted.

Lastly, students can observe and determine the weakness and advantages using this
process in the industries. To make a high quality surface finish students must makesure the
polystryne and gating system coated with ceramic slurry and hardened in a drying oven. The
weakness of this process are, the pattern costs can be high for low volume applications and
the patterns are easily damaged or distorted due to their low strength. If a die is used to create
the patterns there is a large initial cost.

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 Safety Precautions

1) Wear the personal protective equipment such as leather gloves and visor when pouring
the hot metal.

2) Clear any hazards that are in the workspace.

3) Do not spill any metal onto the floor, especially concrete floor as it can cause an
explosion.

4) Be cautious of your surroundings.

5) Be wary of any surfaces that may be hot especially when handling the hot metal.

6) Use the help of the operator or helper when pouring the hot metal to avoid any
accident from occurring.

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 Process

Lost foam casting technique (LFC) also known evaporative pattern casting,
evaporative foam casting, full mold and expandable-pattern casting. Similar to the full mold
process, in this process the pattern evaporates when the metal is poured into the mold.

Lost foam casting is used mostly for automotive applications. Cast iron, aluminum
alloys, steels, nickel and in some cases stainless steel and copper alloys are cast in this
process. The flexibility of LFC is useful in making complicated casting assemblies for
automotive parts like cylinder heads. This simple and inexpensive method is used in hobby
foundry work.

Firstly, a pattern is made of polystyrene foam, which can be done by many different
ways. As our pattern just in a small volume, so that the pattern can be made by cutting the
polystyrene using a knife or a hot-wire foam cutter. Then, the parts foam pattern is glued
together with the sprue.

Pattern Foam Pattern Foam with Sprue

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 Next, the pattern that glued with the sprue is placed into the flask. The silica sand is
poured and compacted about the pattern. Then, a tapering shape around the sprue is made on
the surface of the sand.

Pattern Placed Into The Flask Sand Poured and Compact

Tapering Shape

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 Then, at the same time metal (aluminum) is melted in a melting furnace, its took
almost an hour to melt the metal (aluminum). After that, the molten metal is poured slowly
but continuously into the mold until the mold is full. The foam will evaporate and escape
through the normal routes gas evacuates through.

Melt The Aluminium Molten Metal is Poured

Finally, the part is removed from the sand once it is fully solidified and cold enough.

Removed The Part Final Product

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 Discussions

1) Lost foam castings can be used for the manufacturing for small and complex part
based on detail duplication and pattern assembly in foam and due to its unique properties,
foam is easy to carve, glue and manipulate.

2) Lost foam castings have tighter dimensional tolerances compared to sand castings,
because variations caused by core shift and core variability are eliminated and there is much
less tool wear over the production life.

3) Patterns are also easily damaged and distorted as it is made of low strength materials.
A very good process control is also needed in this casting method as a scrapped casting will
mean the replacement of not only the mold, but the pattern used to produce it as well.

4) For our lost foam product, the surface of the product was evenly smooth. Rough beady
product surface in lost foam castings may produce because of the rough and uneven surface of
the pattern. This defect can be prevented by smoothing the surface of the pattern using sand
paper. The smallest beads give the best fill into the tool and surface finish, but they are more
difficult to control for uniform density.

5) Fold defects in lost foam casting products is cause by the gas holes in the cast
component proximate the core-forming passages, especially those passages located remote
from the initial melt or pattern contact region. The gas holes are usually rounded and
detectable but are found when castings are test fractured. The unbounded metal forming a
plane of weakness that results in low strength and low ductility of the casting. Fold defects
may be reduced by use of high melt casting temperatures. Metal pour temperature must be
sufficiently high to prevent premature solidification. In addition, the filling pattern of a mold
must be such that metal fronts do no merge in a way that traps liquefied foam material,
causing internal defects in the cast part.

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6) For our lost foam casting product, there was no raise of bubble defect means that the
shape of the product accurately the same as the pattern. Lost foam casting product may have
raise of bubble defect at the surface of the product because of the sand at the base of the
vessel was not compact perfectly. This will cause hot liquid metal to sink into the sand
without properly covering the shape of the pattern. The defect can be prevented by properly
compact the based sand before putting the pattern on it.

7) For improving the lost foam casting product quality, pattern coating can be used. The
different pattern sections are assembled and glued together with the pouring sprue to form the
pattern cluster The pattern cluster is coated with a water-based ceramic slurry which is oven-
dried to form a rigid coating over the foam. The coating acts as a barrier to metal penetration
into the sand, provides an escape path for foam decomposition products, stiffens the foam
cluster, provides a smooth surface finish to the casting, and affects the heat transfer into the
sand during casting.

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 Conclusions

In conclusion, the lost foam casting process usually uses a polystyrene pattern where
the pattern is usually handmade. Molten metal will evaporate the pattern upon contact and
forming a cavity for casting. Lost foam casting has become one of the prominent casting
processes for ferrous and nonferrous metals, especially in automotive industry. This process is
rather simple because there is no parting lines, cores or risers systems and does cost a lot
many due to the polystyrene being inexpensive and can be easily shaped into all kind of
patterns. This process is economical for a long production runs.

References

C.W. Hirt, M. R. Barkhudarov. Predicting Defects in Lost Foam Casting. Modern

Casting. December 2002: 31-33. https://www.flow3d.com/wp-
content/uploads/2014/08/Predicting-Defects-in-Lost-Foam-Castings.pdf.

George D. Chandley, Qi Zhao. Lost foam casting without fold defects, General
Motors Corporation. Michigan. February 20, 2001.
https://www.google.com/patents/US6189598.

A Design Study in Lost Foam Aluminum Casting - GM Cylinder Block. American

Foundry Society. Schaumburg. August 2004.
https://sfsa.org/tutorials/eng_block/GMBlock_12.htm.

Lost Foam Casting. Chinasavvy HK Ltd. Guangzhou, China. Accessed March 10,
2017. http://www.chinasavvy.com/industrial/lostfoamcasting.php