Casting Alloy Characteristics

Based on various studies, the most favorable composition of alloys used in for casting applications, exhibits improved mechanical and physical characteristics. Since the casting alloys show excellent mechanical and physical feature, however, it is difficult to make out whether these casting alloys could be used for die casting applications effortlessly.

The physical and metallurgical features forming the nature of casting alloy, during process of casting are known as casting characteristics of an alloy. The alloy characteristics that are influential in the process of die-casting are the affinities of the alloy towards the process of die-soldering, procedure of hot-tearing, development of sludge formation, the fluidity nature of casting alloys, machinability of the components, formation of pours and macro segregation.

Castability of Alloys

Properties of alloys that influence the nature of the process of casting are defined as Castabilty  of an alloy. Being cast with preferred features, an alloy must consist of multiple varied characteristics. In some cases, during the process of production of casting, the alloy’s performance following to metal casting is defined as a metal casting characteristic like the alloys easiness of machining, fusing the jobs, and process of anodization. A varied casting process involves the casting alloy to possess varied casting characteristics.

A specific feature of the alloy may be of importance only to limited casting process or it possesses varied level of significance in different kinds of casting processes. For example, a good soldering resistance influences the process of pressure die-casting, while that quality is not significant in sand casting process. This study is based primarily on those metal casting features that are specifically essential to the process of pressure die-casting, namely, tendency of forming sludge, die soldering capability, fluidity of the alloy, and machinability.
Alloy expansion and depiction of metallurgical and mechanical features offers the foundation for new artifact’s advancement throughout the decades that pursued. Casting processes were initially formed to broaden the competencies of foundry industries in latest profit-making and industrial applications. The methodology of processing molten metals, their solidification, and product enhancement has been highly developed to support the foundry engineers with the means of efficient and dependable fabrication of components that constantly meet desired requirements.

Alloys are further classified into two categories:

·         The ones which are appropriate for gravity casting by any manufacturing process and

·         The others, which are used in, pressure die-casting processes.

Alloys appropriate for permanent mold applications and others for gravity processes vary from each other in reference to finer differences. By advancements of foundry techniques, and material constraints, which are used to limit the design engineer’s choices of alloy, once a casting process had been finalized, are gradually becoming vague. In the similar way, process assortment is also less constrained today.

Characteristics of Alloys:

Following are the important characteristics of alloys, which affect the casting design:

·         Die soldering tendency-When molten metal sticks to the die material' surface and stays there till the ejection of the component; process of die soldering is completed. It results in considerable economic and production losses in the casting industry, and is a major quality hindrance.

·         Sludge formation tendency

·         Fluidity- Three groups have been designed to calculate the fluidity of the casting alloys. The first group is based on calculation of the distance, second group identifies calculation of the volume of flow and the third is based on estimating the loss of pressure in between two or more points located at a given distance along the flow path of the molten metal. 4.Alloy machinability- machining technique is related to the machining features of the casting alloy to a greater extent. Thus, the specific casting characteristics and machining features, under which an investigation is conducted, are required to be specified when evaluating an alloy’s machinability.

·         Alloy machinability- machining technique is related to the machining features of the casting alloy to a greater extent. Thus, the specific casting characteristics and machining features, under which an investigation is conducted, are required to be specified when evaluating an alloy’s machinability.