Archives of Foundry Engineering

This paper presents practical capabilities of a system for ceramic mould quality forecasting implemented in an industrial plant (foundry). The main assumption of the developed solution is the possibility of eliminating a faulty mould from a production line just before the casting operation. It allows relative savings to be achieved, and faulty moulds, and thus faulty castings occurrence in the production cycle to be minimized. The numerical computing module (the DEFFEM 3D package), based on the smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) is one of key solutions of the system implemented. Due to very long computing times, the developed numerical module cannot be effectively used to carry out multi-variant simulations of mould filling and solidification of castings. To utilize the benefits from application of the CUDA architecture to improve the computing effectiveness, the most time consuming procedure of looking for neighbours was parallelized (cell-linked list method). The study is complemented by examples of results of performance tests and their analysis.

The research paper presents the results of testing the strength and technological properties of molding sand with gypsum binder, the bonding process proceeded: naturally or conventionally. The tests included mass containing (parts by weight): 78 pbw. Grudzeń-Las quartz sand, 22 pbw. plaster gypsum "Dolina Nidy” and 9 pbw. water. Measurements of compressive strength, shear, tensile and bending as well as permeability and looseness were carried out on standard cylindrical samples kept in the air for 1 - 96 hours or dried at 110 oC for 1 - 8 hours. The results of the analysis were analyzed in connection with the mass structure and construction binding bridges warp grains observed with a scanning microscope (SEM). The influence of drying intensity on the bonding process and related mass properties has been demonstrated, especially from the point of view of the possibility of selection and / or intensification of a specific curing method for use in the production of gypsum binger molds and cores.

APNB (alkaline phenolic no bake), widely known as Alphaset is one of the major sand binder systems used in foundries to make molds and cores without application of heat or gas. This is a two part system comprising of a phenol-formaldehyde resin in alkaline medium as binder and range of esters of dibasic acids and/or polyhydric alcohols as hardeners.

Resin performance varies depending upon formulations. Major variables in formulations are mole ratio of phenol: formaldehyde, total alkali content, ratio of two alkalis (NaOH & KOH) and molecular weight of polymers i.e. chain length.

In present work, one mole ratio of phenol & formaldehyde has been chosen to prepare 8 resins with following details.

Table 1.

Physical and chemical properties of eight (fresh) resins, A to H

Properties of these 8 formulations have been studied for strength and viscosity over a period of 12 weeks in 4 week interval.

Attempt has been made to develop a simple test for simulating hot & retained strength of molds in laboratory. Process followed for chasing hot and retained strength is described under clause 2.

With more and more understanding of the chemistry of alphaset system in last three & half decades it has been possible to identify role of variables contributing towards specific properties vis a vis developing tailor made formulations to fulfill requirements of individual foundries right from mold making to de coring.

Surface phenomena play a major role in metallurgical processes; their operation results, among others, from the surface tension of liquid oxidic systems. One of the methods of determining surface tension of oxidic systems is performing calculations with Butler’s method. Surface tension was calculated for two- and three-component liquid oxidic systems typical of metallurgical processes. The determined dependence of surface tension in FeO-SiO2 at temp. 1773 K and CaO-SiO2 at temp.1873 K showed that with the growing participation of SiO2 surface tension decreased. Analogous calculations were performed for three-component systems: CaO-Al2O3-SiO2 and MnO-Al2O3- SiO2. The results of calculations of surface tension were determined for temp. 1873 K and compared with the results obtained by T. Tanaka et al. [19]. In both cases the increase of Al2O3 content resulted in a growth of surface tension. The simulation results were higher than experimental result, as compared to the literature data.

The paper presents results of a study on the effect of passage of time on magnesium content in iron alloys and the effect of magnesium content on the number of vermicular graphite precipitations per unit surface area and value of the longitudinal ultrasonic wave velocity for two different vermicularization methods. The study was carried out with the use of inspection bar castings. For specific production conditions, it has been found that in case of application of both the cored wire injection method and the method of pouring liquid metal over magnesium master alloy on ladle bottom, the satisfactory level of magnesium content in the bottom-pour ladle, for which it was still possible to obtain castings with vermicular graphite, was 0.018% Mg. In case of the cored wire injection method, the “time window” available to a pouring station at which castings of vermicular cast iron are expected to be obtained, was about 5 minutes. This corresponds to the longitudinal ultrasonic wave velocity values exceeding 5500 m/s and the number of graphite precipitations per unit surface area above 320 mm–2. In case of the master alloy method, the respective “time window” allowing to obtain castings of vermicular cast iron was only about 3 minutes long. This corresponds to the longitudinal ultrasonic wave velocity value above 5400 m/s and the number of graphite precipitations per unit surface area above 380 mm–2.

This article is devoted to basalt reprocessing together with magnetite concentrate in order to obtain ferrous alloy and calcium carbide. The studies have been based on thermodynamic simulation and electric smelting in arc furnace. The thermodynamic simulation has been performed using HSC-5.1 software based on the principle of minimum Gibbs energy. The blend was smelted in arc furnaces. On the basis of the obtained results of combined processing of basalt, it has been established that under equilibrium conditions, the increase in carbon content from 36 to 42 wt % of basalt and concentrate mixture makes it possible to increase the aluminum extraction into the alloy up to 81.4%, calcium into calcium carbide – up to 51.4%, and silicon into the alloy – up to 78.5%. Increase in the amount of lime to 32% allows to increase the content of calcium carbide to 278 dm3/kg. Electric smelting of the blend under laboratory conditions in the presence of 17-32% of lime makes it possible to extract ferrous alloy containing 69.5-72.8% of silicon, 69.1-70.2% of aluminum, and to obtain ferrous alloy containing 49-53% of ΣSi and Al and calcium carbide in the amount of 233-278 dm3/kg. During large-scale laboratory smelting of blend comprised of basalt (38.5%), magnetite concentrate (13.4%), lime (15.4%), and coke fines (32.7%), the ferrous alloy has been produced containing 48-53% of ΣSi and Al, calcium carbide in amount of 240-260 dm3/kg. Extraction of Si and Al into the alloy was 70.4 and 68.6%, respectively; Ca into carbide – 60.3%; Zn and Pb into sublimates – 99.6 and 92.8%, respectively.

The paper presents the properties of plastics under the trade names of PMMA and Midas, and of Formowax, Romocast 305 and Romocast 930 casting waxes. Their effect on the quality of foundry patterns used in the manufacture of ceramic moulds for precision casting is also discussed. From the selected materials for foundry patterns, samples were made for testing using the following methods: (i) 3D printing in the case of plastics, and (ii) conventional method based on tooling in the form of metal moulds (dies) in the case of casting waxes.

The most important physico-mechanical properties of materials for foundry patterns were determined, i.e. linear shrinkage, softening temperature, relative elongation and coefficient of thermal linear expansion. Bending tests were carried out on samples of patterns printed and made in metal moulds, including determination of the surface roughness of patterns.

After the process of melting out patterns from the cavities of ceramic moulds in an autoclave, the degree of their melting out was visually assessed (i.e. the residues from pattern removal were evaluated). The ash content after burning out of foundry patterns was also determined. The conducted tests allowed comparing the important parameters of materials used for foundry patterns and assessing the suitability of selected plastics as a material for foundry patterns used in the manufacture of high-quality precision castings.

Recyclability is one of the great features of aluminium and its alloys. However, it has been typically considered that the secondary aluminium quality is low and bad. This is only because aluminium is so sensitive to turbulence. Uncontrolled transfer and handling of the liquid aluminium results in formation of double oxide defects known as bifilms. Bifilms are detrimental defects. They form porosity and deteriorate the properties. The detection and quantification of bifilms in liquid aluminium can be carried out by bifilm index measured in millimetres as an indication of melt cleanliness using Reduced Pressure Test (RPT). In this work, recycling efficiency and quality change of A356 alloy with various Ti additions have been investigated. The charge was recycled three times and change in bifilm index and bifilm number was evaluated. It was found that when high amount of Ti grain refiner was added, the melt quality was increased due to sedimentation of bifilms with Ti. When low amount of Ti is added, the melt quality was degraded.

This article is a description of the progress of research and development in the area of massive large-scale castings - slag ladles implemented in cooperation with the Faculty of Foundry Engineering of UST in Krakow. Slag ladles are the one of the major castings that has been developed by the Krakodlew (massive castings foundry) for many years. Quality requirements are constantly increasing in relation to the slag ladles. Slag ladles are an integral tool in the logistics of enterprises in the metallurgical industry in the process of well-organized slag management and other by-products and input materials. The need to increase the volume of slag ladles is still growing. Metallurgical production is expected to be achieved in Poland by 2022 at the level of 9.4 million Mg/year for the baseline scenario - 2016 - 9 million Mg/year. This article describes the research work carried out to date in the field of technology for the production of massive slag ladles of ductile cast iron and cast steel.

The paper presents an example of the application of vibratory machining for castings based on the results of visual testing. The purpose of the work is to popularize non-destructive testing and vibratory machining as finishing process, especially in the case of cast objects. Visual testing is one of the obligatory non-destructive tests used for castings and welded joints. The basic requirements concerning the dimensional accuracy and surface texture of cast components are not met if visible surface flaws are detected. The tested castings, which had characteristic traces of the casting process, were subjected to vibratory machining. The machining with loose abrasive media in vibrating containers is aimed at smoothing the surface and reducing or completely removing flashes. To complement the visual testing were also conducted research on the contact profilometer Taylor Hobson PGI 1200. Particular attention was focused on measuring the height of flashes and changes in the surface of smoothed details based on BNIF No. 359 touch-visual patterns. Based on the work, it can be concluded that vibratory machining allows for removal flashes and smoothing of the surface of aluminum alloy cast objects.

The series of experiments was performed on commercial polymeric composite material MultimetalStahl 1018. Strength tests were performed to determine the yield point of the material. The composite had the highest hardness at a temperature of 20°C. Hardness and microhardness were determined in further experiments. The adhesiveness of the material to metal surfaces and impact strength were also analyzed. The scanning electron microscopy and X-ray microanalysis methods were used for analyzing the microstructure of the material. Chemical composition of selected areas was analyzed, which allowed for a preliminary identification of metallic elements content in the composite. The microstructure of composite is highly non-homogeneous and particular phases are highly elongated and angular. The analyzed phase was enriched with silicon, aluminium, magnesium, iron and vanadium other phases enriched with metallic elements, e.g. molybdenum, titanium, vanadium and also oxygen as well as traces of cadmium and chromium. The results were presented in the form of photos and illustrations. The results confirmed the applicability of the composite as a binder for fixing mechanical and foundry devices.

The paper discusses issues related to the technology of melting and processing of copper alloys. An assessment was made of the impact of titanium and iron introduced in the form of pre-alloy - Ti73Fe master alloy on the microstructure and selected properties of pure copper and copper-silicon alloy. There are known examples of the use of titanium and iron additive to the copper alloy. Titanium as an additive introduced to copper alloys to improve their properties is sometimes also applicable. In the first stage of the study, a series of experimental castings were conducted with variable content of Ti73Fe master alloy entering copper in quantities of 5 %, 15 %, 25 % in relation to the mass of the metal charge. In the second stage, a silicon additive was introduced into copper in the amount of about 4 % by weight and 0.5 % and 1 % respectively of the initial Ti73Fe alloy. Thermodynamic phase parameters were modelled using CALPHAD method and Thermo-Calc software, thus obtaining the crystallization characteristics of the test alloys and the percentage of structural components at ambient temperature. Experiments confirmed the validity of the use of Ti73Fe master alloy as an additive. The pre-alloy used showed a favourable performance, both in terms of addition solubility and in the area of improvement of strength properties. Changes were achieved in the microstructure, mainly within the grain, but also in the developed dendrites of the solid solution. Changes occur with the introduction of titanium with iron into copper as well as to two-component silicon bronze.

Production waste is one of the major sources of aluminium for recycling. Depending on the waste sources, it can be directly melted in furnaces, pre-cleaned and then melted, or due to the small size of the material (powder or dust) left without remelting. The latter form of waste includes chips formed during mechanical cutting (sawing) of aluminium and its alloys. In this study, this type of chips (with the dimensions not exceeding 1 mm) were melted. The obtained results of laboratory tests have indicated that even chips of such small sizes pressed into cylindrical compacts can be remelted. The high recovery yield (up to 94 %) and degree of metal coalescence (up to 100 %) were achieved via thermal removal of impurities under controlled conditions of a gas atmosphere (argon or/and air), followed with consolidation of chips at a pressure of minimum 170 MPa and melting at 750 oC with NaCl-KCl-Na3AlF6 salt flux.

The study presents a concept of generation of micro-cracks (or cracks) in metal specimens in order to assess their material with respect to the thermal shock resistance. Both the method of conducting the experiment and the criteria of the assessment of the material resistance to the rapid temperature changes are discussed. The schematic diagram of the research stand used for repeated heating and rapid cooling of specimens, constructed in the Foundry Institute of the Częstochowa University of Technology, is presented. The proposed solution enables to maintain constant conditions of the experiment. The tests were held for flat specimens 70 mm long, 20 mm wide, and 5 mm thick, tapered over a distance of 15 mm towards both ends. The specimens were induction heated up to the specified temperature and then, in response to the signal produced by a pyrometer, dipped in the tank containing the cooling medium. The thermal shock resistance of the material can be assessed on the basis of either the total length of the micro-cracks arisen at the tapered parts of a specimen after a specified number of heating-and-cooling cycles, or the number of such cycles prior to the total damage of a specimen, or else the number of thermal cycles prior to generation of the first crack. The study includes an exemplary view of the metal specimen after the thermal shock resistance tests, as well as the illustrative microstructure of the vermicular cast iron which reveals a crack propagating from the edge towards the core of the material.

Understanding the influence of iron impurity on the formation of the structure and the properties of hypereutectic aluminum-silicon alloys are important for achieving the required quality of castings, especially those obtained from secondary materials. In the present work, the influence of different iron contents (0.3, 1.1, and 2.0 wt.%) on the crystallization process, microstructure and mechanical properties of the Al-15% Si alloy was studied. It is shown that the presence of iron impurity in the Al-15% Si alloy leads to increasing the eutectic crystallization time from 6.2 to 7.6 s at increasing the iron content from 0.3 wt.% to 1.1 wt.%, changing the structure of the alloy eutectic in the solid state. The primary silicon and β-Al5SiFe phase coexist in the structure of the Al-15% Si alloys at a temperature below 575 °C in the range of iron concentrations from 0 to 2 wt.% in equilibrium conditions. In the experimental alloys structure, the primary crystals of the β-phase were metallographically detected only in the alloys containing 1.1 and 2 wt.% of iron impurity. Increase of the iron content up to 2 wt.% significantly reduces the mechanical properties of the Al-15% Si alloy due to the formation of large platelet-like inclusions of β-Al5SiFe phase.

The paper presents the results from a study on the impact of the cooling rate in the eutectoid transition on the abrasive wear of the as cast Zn-4Al alloy. The microstructure of the researched material consists of dendrites of the η solid solution and an (α+η) eutectic structure. During the eutectoid transformation at 275oC the distribution in the eutectic structure was transformed and fined. Heat treatment was carried out for this alloy, during which three cooling mediums were used, i.e. water, air and an furnace. For the research material obtained in this way, metallographic examinations were performed using the methods of light and scanning electron microscopy, as well as hardness measurements. It was found that faster cooling rate promoted the fragmentation of structural components, which translates into higher hardness of the material. This also had effects in the tribological wear of the tested alloy. As part of the tests, an abrasive wear test was carried out on a standard T-07 tester.

The objective of this study was to deposit directly chromium with diamond nanoparticles (ND) on aluminum alloys and investigate the coating surface. The chromium coatings on aluminum alloys were obtained by electrochemical deposition. The coatings were doped with ND. The diamond nanoparticles were obtained by detonation synthesis. Chromium coatings were deposited on aluminum alloys with a silicon content of 7 % and 10 %. The ND concentration in the electrolyte was 25 g/l. The surface analysis was performed by means of Atomic force microscopy. The surface of the coating of chromium with ND on Al10Si is twice more even than that on Al7Si. The microstructure and microhardness were examined with a metallographic microscope and a microhardness tester. The microhardness of the coated samples is 9163 MPa compared to 893 MPa of uncoated aluminum samples. The thickness of the chromium coatings doped with diamond nanoparticles is between 45 – 55 μm. The coatings are dense, continuous and uniform with good adhesion to the substrate material.

Production of near net shape thin strips using vertical twin roll casting method has been studied. In a typical VTRC process, the simultaneous action of solidification and rolling makes the process quite attractive as well as complicated. An industrially popular alloy A356 has been chosen for the VTRC processing. It is challenging to identify VTRC processing parameters for the alloy to produce thin strips because of its freezing range and complex composition. In the present work processing parameters of VTRC like roll speed, roll gap, melt superheat and the interface convective heat transfer coefficient have been investigated through modelling of the process. The mathematical model was developed which simultaneously solves the heat transfer, fluid flow and solidification, using commercial software COMSOL Multiphysics 5.4. VTRC sheets of alloy A356 were produced in an experimental set up and attempts were made to correlate the microstructures of VTRC A356 alloy to that predicted from the numerical studies to validate the model.

Copper have always been an important material and incorporation of elements into copper for property enhancement. Bronze is a relevant cuprous alloy which is important for many industrial and automotive applications like bearings and machineries. The present research is directed towards the fabrication and tribological analysis of regular bronze (Cu-6Sn) and metal matrix composites reinforced with varying particle sized SiC ceramic reinforcement (30, 35 and 40 μm). The developed specimens were subjected to wear analysis according to ASTM standards, to identify the tribological properties utilizing a pin on disk tribometer. It was noted that the wear rates of developed MMC’s phenomenally decremented with an increase in size of SiC particle reinforcement. Also, the test parameters were influential in altering the wear rates to notable margins. The standard scanning electron microscopy techniques aided in identifying the influence of adhesive wear on the specimen surface.

The magnesium alloy investment castings have greater potential for automobile and air-craft applications due to the higher strength to weight ratio of magnesium alloys and capability of the investment casting process to produce near net shape complex castings. The interfacial-mould metal reactions during investment casting of magnesium alloy inhibit successful production of quality castings. This paper presents the investigation done on the reactions at corners of AZ91 magnesium alloy cast part produced through investment casting. The stepped shape geometry of casting was selected to study the reactions at convex and concave corners of the cast part. The reacted surfaces were characterised using the SEM-EDX and XRD. The formation of oxides was observed on cast surface from characterisation. The temperature profile recorded at corners were helpful to understand the heat dissipation during the solidification of metal at corners. It was observed that the reactions occurred at the concave corner were more as compared to the convex corner of the cast part.

As part of the studies conducted in the field of broadly understood casting of non-ferrous metals, selected results on the impact of variable additions of copper and silicon in aluminium were presented. A series of melts was carried out with copper content kept constant at a level of 2% (1st stage) and 4% (2nd stage) and variable contents of silicon introduced into aluminium. The crystallization characteristics of the examined alloys and the percentage of structural constituents at ambient temperature were obtained by modelling the thermodynamic parameters of individual phases with the CALPHAD method. The microstructure of the obtained alloys was examined and microhardness was measured by the Vickers-Hanemann method. The alloy properties were assessed based on the results of mechanical tests, including ultimate tensile strength (UTS), hardness (BHN) and elongation (E). The machinability of the tested alloys was analyzed in a machinability test carried out by the Keep-Bauer method, which consisted in drilling with a constant feed force.

The obtained results clearly indicate changes in the images of microstructure, such as the reduction in grain size, solution hardening and precipitation hardening. The changes in the microstructure are also reflected in the results of mechanical properties testing, causing an increase in strength and hardness, and plasticity variations in the range of 4 ÷ 16%, mainly due to the introduced additions of copper and silicon. The process of alloy strengthening is also visible in the results of machinability tests. The plotted curves showing the depth of the hole as a function of time and the images of chips produced during the test indicate an improvement in the wear resistance obtained for the tested group of aluminium alloys with the additions of copper and silicon.