BAYERO UNIVERSITY KANO

MANUFACTURING PROCESSES LAB REPORT

GROUP D

19/03/2021

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MEMBERS REGISTRATION NO.

MUSA YAHYA SHUAIBU ENG/16/MEC/00274

IBRAHIM YAKUBU ABDULLAHI ENG/16/MEC/00276

USMAN YAKUBU GARBA ENG/16/MEC/00277

ABDULMAJEED YUNUSA YAKUBU ENG/16/MEC/00280

ABDULHAMEED YUSUF ONOKHOME ENG/16/MEC/00281

AMINU MUHAMMAD ABBA ENG/17/MEC/00521

ABDULGANIYU JAMI’U ENG/17/MEC/00522

ABDULLAHI FA’IZU MUHAMMAD ENG/17/MEC/00523

ABDULLAHI UMAR FARUQ ENG/17/MEC/00524

ALI DAVID ALI ENG/17/MEC/00526

ALIYU KAMAL SA’AD ENG/17/MEC/00527

ALIYU YUSUF AHMAD ENG/17/MEC/00528

BASHIR MUKHTAR MUSTAPHA ENG/17/MEC/00529

ISSA MUHAMMED NURUDEEN ENG/17/MEC/00532

MUHAMMAD FARUK AUWAL ENG/17/MEC/00534

MUHAMMAD SAIFULLAH ENG/17/MEC/00535

MUSA HABILA ENG/17/MEC/00536

ONOJA INNOCENT ALVIN ENG/17/MEC/00537

RIAGBAYIRE FORTUNE VOKE ENG/17/MEC/00538

SANI HABIBU YUNUSA ENG/17/MEC/00540

BALARABE MUSA ENG/17/MEC/00541

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INTRODUCTION

Manufacturing technology can be defined as the art and science of making hardware of specified quality
and optimum material utilization and also on a planned production scale with optimum productivity of
labour.

Manufacturing sector is one of the most important sectors of the industry. Products such as machine
tools, cars, air craft, robots, electrical and electronics equipment, medical equipment, etc, all undergo
basic manufacturing processes in the cause of their physical realization.

Materials have to be processed into large variety of shapes in order to make component parts. The
shapes required vary both in size and complexity, ranging from micro-electronics components to large
castings and forgings. The Engineer is expected to have basic awareness on the range of manufacturing
processes and their advantages and also associated limitations. The shaping processes can be broadly
classified into four categories:

1) Casting : this involves pouring of liquid into a prepared mold

2) Metal forming: it involves working metals in their plastic stage

3) Powder techniques: in this category, items are produced form metallic powders

4) Metal cutting: in metal cutting components are produced through cutting operation through
production of chips.

5) Joining: it comprises all forms of joining processes which include permanent and temporary joinining.

CASTING

Casting is a process in which molten metal flows by gravity or other force into a mold where it solidifies
in the shape of the mold cavity. The term casting also applies to the part made in the process:

CAPABILITIES AND ADVANTAGES OF CASTING

i. Can create complex part geometries that cannot be made by any other process.

ii. Can create both external and internal shapes.

iii. Some casting processes are net shape; others are near net shape.

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iv. Can produce very large parts (with weight more than 100 tons), like m/c bed.

v. Casting can be applied to shape any metal that can melt.

vi. Some casting methods are suited to mass production.

vii. Can also be applied on polymers and ceramics .

DISADVANTAGES OF CASTING

i. Limitations on mechanical properties.

ii. Poor dimensional accuracy and surface finish for some processes; e.g., sand casting.

iii. Safety hazards to workers due to hot molten metals.

iv. Environmental problems

Example of parts produced by casting include Big parts such as Engine blocks and heads for automotive
vehicles, wood burning stoves, machine frames, railway wheels, pipes, bells, pump housings. Small parts
include Dental crowns, jewelry, small statues, frying pans, etc.

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BASIC STEP IN PRODUCING CASTING

i. Pattern making

ii. Core making for castings with holes

iii. Mould making

iv. Melting the metal and pouring

v. Shakeout and cleaning after the metal has solidified

MOLD

A mold is an assembly of two or more blocks of metal or bonded refractory particles with a primary
cavity which is a negative of the desired part. It contains secondary cavities for pouring and channeling
the liquid material into the primary cavity. It has a large cylindrical cavity for storing the metal for
“feeding” into the primary cavity during solidification when the specific volume of the material at the
melting temperature is greater for the liquid than it is for the solid.

Metal molds are permanent molds because several castings can be made from one mold. Molds made
of bonded refractory such as sand can be used only once. This is only true for the green sand and not
for baked sand; shell and investment molds. A good casting cannot be produced without a good mold.
Because of the importance of the molds, casting processes are often described by the material and
method employed for the mold. Thus; sand casting may be made into: green sand molds; dry sand

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molds; core sand molds; loam molds; shell molds and cement bonded [Link] major methods used
for making molds are:

i. bench molding

ii. machine molding

iii. floor molding

iv. fit molding

In preparing or producing a sand mold, the molders skill is of great value. He must know how to prepare
a mold with the following characteristics.

i. The mold must be very strong enough to hold the metal

ii. The molds must resist the erosive action of the rapidly flowing metal during pouring

iii. The mold must generate a minimum amount of gas when filled with molten metal. Gases
contaminate the metal and can disrupt the mold

iv. The mold must be made such that only gases formed can pass through the body of the mold itself
and not to penetrate the metal

v. The mold must be refractory enough to withstand the high temperature of the metal and strip away
clearly from the metal after cooling

vi. The core must collapse enough to permit the casting to contract after solidification.

DESIRABLE MOLD PROPERTIES

i. Strength - Ability of mold to maintain shape and resist erosion caused by the flow of molten metal.
Depends on grain shape, adhesive quality of binders.

ii. Permeability - to allow hot air and gases to pass through voids in sand.

iii. Thermal stability - ability of sand at the mold surface cavity to resist cracking and buckling on contact
with molten metal.

iv. Collapsibility - ability to give way and allow casting to shrink without cracking the casting.

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v. Reusability - can sand from broken mold be reused to make other molds?

PATTERN

A pattern is a replica of the part to be cast and is used to make the mold cavity into which the liquid
material is poured. It is either made from wood, metal, wax or plastic. Types of patterns are determined
by the number of castings required as well as the casting process itself.

LOOSE PATTERN

Loose pattern is simply a replica of the part to be produce, usually made of wood of the desired type. It
is made slightly larger than the casting, and it may have several projections called core prints that the
resulting casting does not have. They obtained their name because they are not attached or mounted on
a plate or frame. They are used when the number of castings to be done is very small (around hundred).
It may be one solid piece, exactly like the desired casting, or may be split along a plane or irregular
surface to facilitate extraction.

GATED PATTERN

It is simply one or more loose patterns having attached gates and runners, which are the channels
through which liquid flows from the pouring sprue to the cavity. The gated pattern reduces the molding
time. They are frequently set on a follow board. They have higher cost then the loose pattern as such
they are only used when the size of the casting is small and the amount required is about one thousand.

MATCH PLATE PATTERN

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It is a split pattern that has the cope (top section) and the drag (bottom section) mounted on opposite
sides of the wood or metal plate called the match plate that conforms to the contour of the parting
surface. It is located between the cope and the drag halves by locating pins. This type of pattern is
normally used for large number of castings. Several sizes can be mounted on the match plate if the size
of the casting is small. Moulding machines are normally used in ramming the molds. The gates and
runners are mounted on the match plate to decrease/reduce hard work.

COPE AMD DRAG PATTERN

Split patterns with both the cope and drag mounted on different match plates. For this pattern less
skilled molders are needed. Pneumatic vibrators are attached to cope and drag pattern as well as the
match plate to facilitate withdrawal of the pattern. Shell molds are made with patterns that can be
described as cope and drag type. Ejector pins are used.

SWEEP PATTERN

This is used for making moulds mean for casting large work of cylindrical shape. The sweep is used to
form the mould surfaces.

SKELETON PATTERN

Skeleton pattern is used for the production of extremely large castings (weighing up to hundred of
tonnes). They are made by fixed position manufacture. The molder use it as guide to hand form the
mold for casting. Molds are either in a pit or on the foundry floor (pit or floor molding).

RISERS AND ITS FUNCTION

Riser is used to compensate for shrinkage of part during solidification and later it is separated from the
casting and re-melted to make more castings. The Chvorinov’s rule should be used to satisfy the design
requirements.

There could be different designs of riser:

- Side riser: Attached to the side of casting through a channel

- Top riser: Connected to the top surface of the casting

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- Open riser: Exposed to the outside at the top surface of cope- Disadvantage of allowing of more heat
to escape promoting faster solidification.

- Blind riser: Entirely enclosed within the mold.

FUNCTION OF RISER

-is feeder

-is reservoir

-it prevents cavities due to shrinkage

-they compensate for solidification shrinkage

VARIOUS TYPES OF CASTING

Metal casting process begins by creating a mold, which is the ‘reverse’ shape of the part we need. The
mold is made from a refractory material, for example, sand. The metal is heated in an oven until it melts,
and the molten metal is poured into the mould cavity. The liquid takes the shape of cavity, which is the
shape of the part. It is cooled until it solidifies. Finally, the solidified metal part is removed from the
mould.

A large number of metal components in designs we use every day are made by casting. The reasons for
this include:

(a) Casting can produce very complex geometry parts with internal cavities and hollow sections.

(b) It can be used to make small (few hundred grams) to very large size parts (thousands of kilograms)
(c) It is economical, with very little wastage: the extra metal in each casting is re-melted and re-used

(d) Cast metal is isotropic – it has the same physical/mechanical properties along any direction.

SAND CASTING

Sand casting uses natural or synthetic sand (lake sand) which is mostly a refractory material called silica
(SiO2). The sand grains must be small enough so that it can be packed densely; however, the grains must
be large enough to allow gasses formed during the metal pouring to escape through the pores. Larger

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sized molds use green sand (mixture of sand, clay and some water). Sand can be re-used, and excess
metal poured is cutoff and re-used also.

DIE CASTING

The mold is made of two parts, the top half is called the cope, and bottom part is the drag.

• The liquid flows into the gap between the two parts, called the mold cavity. The geometry of the
cavity is created by the use of a wooden shape, called the pattern. The shape of the patterns is (almost)
identical to the shape of the part we need to make.

• A funnel shaped cavity; the top of the funnel is the pouring cup; the pipe-shaped neck of the funnel is
the sprue – the liquid metal is poured into the pouring cup, and flows down the sprue.

• The runners are the horizontal hollow channels that connect the bottom of the sprue to the mould
cavity. The region where any runner joins with the cavity is called the gate.

• Some extra cavities are made connecting to the top surface of the mold. Excess metal poured into the
mould flows into these cavities, called risers. They act as reservoirs; as the metal solidifies inside the
cavity, it shrinks, and the extra metal from the risers flows back down to avoid holes in the cast part.

• Vents are narrow holes connecting the cavity to the atmosphere to allow gasses and the air in the
cavity to escape.

• Cores: Many cast parts have interior holes (hollow parts), or other cavities in their shape that are not
directly accessible from either piece of the mold. Such interior surfaces are generated by inserts called
cores. Cores are made by baking sand with some binder so that they can retain their shape when
handled. The mold is assembled by placing the core into the cavity of the drag, and then placing the
cope on top, and locking the mold. After the casting is done, the sand is shaken off, and the core is
pulled away and usually broken off.

SHELL MOLD CASTING

Shell-mold casting yields better surface quality and tolerances. The process is described as follows:

- The 2-piece pattern is made of metal (e.g. aluminum or steel), it is heated to between 175°C-370°C,
and coated with a lubricant, e.g. silicone spray.

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- Each heated half-pattern is covered with a mixture of sand and a thermoset resin/epoxy binder. The
binder glues a layer of sand to the pattern, forming a shell. The process may be repeated to get a thicker
shell.

- The assembly is baked to cure it.

- The patterns are removed, and the two half-shells joined together to form the mold; metal is poured
into the mold. - When the metal solidifies, the shell is broken to get the part.

PLASTER MOLD CASTING

The mold is made by mixing plaster of paris (CaSO4) with talc and silica flour; this is a fine white powder,
which, when mixed with water gets a clay-like consistency and can be shaped around the pattern (it is
the same material used to make casts for people if they fracture a bone). The plaster cast can be
finished to yield very good surface finish and dimensional accuracy. However, it is relatively soft and not
strong enough at temperature above 1200°C, so this method is mainly used to make castings from non-
ferrous metals, e.g. zinc, copper, aluminum, and magnesium. Since plaster has lower thermal
conductivity, the casting cools slowly, and therefore has more uniform grain structure (i.e. less war page,
less residual stresses).

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INVESTMENT CASTING

This is an old process, and has been used since ancient times to make jewellery – therefore it is of great
importance to HK. It is also used to make other small (few grams, though it can be used for parts up to a
few kilograms). The steps of this process are shown in the figure 10 below. An advantage of this process
is that the wax can carry very fine details – so the process not only gives good dimensional tolerances,
but also excellent surface finish; in fact, almost any surface texture as well as logos etc. can be
reproduced with very high level of detail.

DIE CASTING

Die casting is a very commonly used type of permanent mold casting process. It is used for producing
many components of home appliances (e.g rice cookers, stoves, fans, washing and drying machines,
fridges), motors, toys and hand-tools – since Pearl river delta is a largest manufacturer of such products
in the world, this technology is used by many HK-based companies. Surface finish and tolerance of die
cast parts is so good that there is almost no post-processing required. Die casting molds are expensive,
and require significant lead time to fabricate; they are commonly called dies. There are two common
types of die casting: hot- and cold-chamber die casting

• In a hot chamber process (used for Zinc alloys, magnesium) the pressure chamber connected to the
die cavity is filled permanently in the molten metal. The basic cycle of operation is as follows:

(i) die is closed and gooseneck cylinder is filled with molten metal;

(ii) plunger pushes molten metal through gooseneck passage and nozzle and into the die cavity; metal is
held under pressure until it solidifies;

(iii) die opens and cores, if any, are retracted; casting stays in ejector die; plunger returns, pulling molten
metal back through nozzle and gooseneck;

(iv) ejector pins push casting out of ejector die. As plunger uncovers inlet hole, molten metal refills
gooseneck cylinder. The hot chamber process is used for metals that

(a) have low melting points and

(b) do not alloy with the die material, steel; common examples are tin, zinc, and lead.

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• In a cold chamber process, the molten metal is poured into the cold chamber in each cycle. The
operating cycle is

(i) Die is closed and molten metal is ladled into the cold chamber cylinder;

(ii) plunger pushes molten metal into die cavity; the metal is held under high pressure until it solidifies;

(iii) die opens and plunger follows to push the solidified slug from the cylinder, if there are cores, they
are retracted away; (iv) ejector pins push casting off ejector die and plunger returns to original position.
This process is particularly useful for high melting point metals such as Aluminum, and Copper (and its
alloys).

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