CASTING DEFECTS
According to McAbe, The faults which can occur in casting may be of four types:
(1) Finning and bubbling.
(2) Incomplete casting.
(3) Porosity in casting.
(4) Oversized or undersized casting.
SURFACE ROUGHNESS
Is defined as relatively finely spaced surface imperfections whose height, width,
direction establish the predominant surface pattern.
SURFACE IRREGULARITIES
Are isolated imperfections, such as nodules, that are not characteristic of the entire
surface area.
FINNING
Occurs when the investment is heated up too rapidly in the furnace.
This causes the investment to crack.
Molten alloy flows into the cracks forming thin ‘fins’ on the casting in regions where the
cracks have been located.
BUBBLING
Appear as spheres of excess material attached to the surface of the casting.
These reflect the presence of surface porosities in the investment
A problem which can be overcome by vacuum investing.
INCOMPLETE CASTING
If the alloy is not properly melted, or if the mould temperature is too low,
solidification occurs before the mould can be properly filled.
If there is insufficient thrust created during casting, the alloy may not flow to all parts
of the mould cavity.
For centrifugal casting machines the thrust depends on the rotational speed of the
casting arm, the length of the arm and the density of the alloy.
The problem is therefore more significant for base metal alloys which have lower
density and create less thrust.
CLASSIFICATION OF POROSITY (PHILLIPS)
SOLIDIFICATION DEFECTS
Localized shrinkage porosity
Suck back porosity
Microporosity
TRAPPED GASES
Pinhole porosity
Gas inclusion porosity
Subsurface porosity
Back pressure porosity
LOCALIZED SHRINKAGE POROSITY
Caused by cooling shrinkage of the metal/alloy.
Linear contraction of noble metal alloys on cooling in 1.25%.
As they solidify they contract and draw molten metal from the remaining portions.
Voids will be formed unless more metal can enter the mould.
Local shrinkage defects are commonly seen in the casting at the base of the sprue.
Casting should freeze by a wave of solidification traversing its mass, moving towards
the sprue.
A reservoir of metal is hence present within the sprue, as near to the casting as possible.
These round sprue reservoirs should freeze last of all and any shrinkage porosity will be
found in them, and not in the casting.
SUCK BACK POROSITY
Occluso axial line angle that is not well rounded
Entering molten alloy impinges on the mold surface at this point
Localized higher mold temperature-hot spot is created
Hotspot solidifies after other areas of the casting have been solidified.
Shrinkage void thus created – suck back porosity
Prevented by reducing the mold-melt temperature differential
MICROPOROSITY
Fine-grain alloy castings
When the solidification is too rapid
GAS INCLUSION POROSITY (PIN HOLE POROSITY)
Produced by gases which become dissolved in the molten alloy.
Copper, gold, silver, platinum, and particularly palladium, all dissolve oxygen in the
molten state.
On cooling, the alloys liberate the absorbed gases but some remain trapped when the
alloy becomes rigid.
This type of porosity may affect all parts of the casting.
Its effects can be reduced by avoiding overheating of the alloy
Casting in the atmosphere of an inert gas or vacuum.
SUBSURFACE POROSITY
Caused by the simultaneous nucleation of solid grains and gas bubbles at the first
moment that the alloy freezes at the mold walls.
This type of porosity can be diminished by controlling the rate at which the molten
metal enters the mold.
BACK PRESSURE POROSITY
Inability of air or other gases within the mould to escape, making way for the alloy.
Permeability of investments varies with particle size distribution, but generally it
decreases in the order of gypsum-, phosphate- and silica-bonded.
When using silica-bonded or fine-grained, phosphate-bonded investments a vent, 0.5
mm in diameter, should be provided to allow escape of gases towards the crucible end
of the mould.
A casting which has been subjected to back pressure is rounded at the edges and
lacking in detail.