Expendable mold casting

Expendable mold casting is a generic classification that includes sand, plastic, shell, plaster, and investment (lost-wax technique) moldings. This method of mold casting involves the use of temporary, non-reusable molds.

Waste molding of plaster:-

A durable plaster intermediate is often used as a stage toward the production of a bronze sculpture or as a pointing guide for the creation of a carved stone. With the completion of a plaster, the work is more durable (if stored indoors) than a clay original which must be kept moist to avoid cracking. With the low cost plaster at hand, the expensive work of bronze casting or stone carving may be deferred until a patron is found, and as such work is considered to be a technical, rather than artistic process, it may even be deferred beyond the lifetime of the artist.

Sand casting:-

Sand casting is one of the most popular and simplest types of casting that has been used for centuries. Sand casting allows for smaller batches to be made compared to permanent mold casting and at a very reasonable cost. Not only does this method allow manufacturers to create products at a low cost, but there are other benefits to sand casting, such as very small size operations. From castings that fit in the palm of your hand to train beds (one casting can create the entire bed for one rail car), it can all be done with sand casting. Sand casting also allows most metals to be cast depending on the type of sand used for the molds.

Sand casting requires a lead time of days for production at high output rates (1-20 pieces/hr-mold) and is unsurpassed for large-part production. Green (moist) sand has almost no part weight limit, whereas dry sand has a practical part mass limit of 2300-2700 kg. Minimum part weight ranges from 0.075-0.1 kg. The sand is bonded together using clays (as in green sand) or chemical binders, or polymerized oils (such as motor oil). Sand can be recycled many times in most operations and requires little additional input.

Plaster casting (of metals):-

Plaster casting is similar to sand molding except that plaster is substituted for sand. Plaster compound is actually composed of 70-80% gypsum and 20-30% strengthener and water. Generally, the form takes less than a week to prepare, after which a production rate of 1-10 units/hr-mold is achieved, with items as massive as 45 kg and as small as 30 g with very high surface resolution and fine tolerances. Parts that are typically made by plaster casting are lock components, gears, valves, fittings, tooling, and ornaments. Plaster casting is an inexpensive alternative to other molding processes due to the low cost of the plaster and the mold production. It may be disadvantageous, however, because the mold quality is dependent on several factors, "including consistency of the plaster molding composition, mold pouring procedures, and plaster curing techniques." If these factors are not closely monitored, the mold can result in distorted dimensions, shrinking upon drying and poor mold surfaces.

Once used and cracked away, normal plaster cannot easily be recast. Plaster casting is normally used for non-ferrous metals such as aluminium-, zinc, or copper-based alloys. It cannot be used to cast ferrous material because sulfur in gypsum slowly reacts with iron. The plaster itself cannot stand temperatures above 1200^oC, which also limits the materials to be cast in plaster. Prior to mold preparation the pattern is sprayed with a thin film of parting compound to prevent the mold from sticking to the pattern. The unit is shaken, so plaster fills the small cavities around the pattern. The plaster sets, usually in about 15 minutes, and the pattern is removed. The plaster is dried at temperatures between 120^o and 260^oC. The mold is preheated and the molten metal poured in.

Plaster casting represents a step up in sophistication and requires skill. The automatic functions are easily handed over to robots, yet the higher-precision pattern designs required demand even higher levels of direct human assistance

Casting of plaster, concrete, or plastic resin:-

Plaster itself may be cast, as can other chemical setting materials such as concrete or plastic resin - either using single-use waste molds as noted above or multiple-use piece molds, or molds made of small ridged pieces or of flexible material such as latex rubber (which is in turn supported by an exterior mold). When casting plaster or concrete, the finished product is, unlike marble, relatively unattractive, lacking in transparency, and so it is usually painted, often in ways that give the appearance of metal or stone. Alternatively, the first layers cast may contain colored sand so as to give an appearance of stone. By casting concrete, rather than plaster, it is possible to create sculptures, fountains, or seating for outdoor use. A simulation of high-quality marble may be made using certain chemically-set plastic resins (for example epoxy or polyester) with powdered stone added for coloration, often with multiple colors worked in. The latter is a common means of making attractive washstands, washstand tops and shower stalls, with the skilled working of multiple colors resulting in simulated staining patterns as is often found in natural marble or travertine.

Shell molding:-

Shell molding is also similar to sand molding except that a mixture of sand and 3-6% resin holds the grains together. Shell molding also uses sand with a much smaller grain than green-sand. Set-up and production of shell mold patterns takes weeks, after which an output of 5-50 pieces/hr-mold is attainable. Aluminium and magnesium products average about 13.5 kg as a normal limit, but it is possible to cast items in the 45-90 kg range. Shell mold walling varies from 3-10 mm thick, depending on the forming time of the resin. The molds are made in two pieces that are clamped together for the molding process. They have on them a sprue, a gate, and a runner. The machine that is used for this process is called a shell molding machine, which heats the metal in the pattern, applies the resin and sand mixture and also bakes the pattern. It may also require a box to hold the molds, which can be packed with backing material to help support the molds.

Shell molding is used for small parts that require high precision. Some examples include gear housings, cylinder heads and connecting rods. It is also used to make high-precision moulding cores. This process makes it so complex parts can be cast with less labor. The reduced cost in labor what can offset the cost of the machines and the cost to run them. The process can be fully mechanized so the safty for the process can be better than others.

There are a dozen different stages in shell mold processing that include:

1. Initially preparing a metal-matched plate
2. Mixing resin and sand
3. Heating pattern, usually to between 505-550 K
4. Inverting the pattern (the sand is at one end of a box and the pattern at the other, and the box is inverted for a time determined by the desired thickness of the mill)
5. Curing shell and baking it
6. Removing investment
7. Inserting cores
8. Repeating for other half
9. Assembling mold
10. Pouring mold
11. Removing casting
12. Cleaning and trimming.

The sand-resin mix can be recycled by burning off the resin at high temperatures

Investment casting:-

Investment casting (known as lost wax casting in art) is a process that has been practised for thousands of years, with the lost-wax process being one of the oldest known metal forming techniques. From 5000 years ago, when bees wax formed the pattern, to today’s high technology waxes, refractory materials and specialist alloys, the castings ensure high-quality components are produced with the key benefits of accuracy, repeatability, versatility and integrity.

Investment casting derives its name from the fact that the pattern is invested, or surrounded, with a refractory material. The wax patterns require extreme care for they are not strong enough to withstand forces encountered during the mold making. One advantage of investment casting is that the wax can be reused.

The process is suitable for repeatable production of net shape components from a variety of different metals and high performance alloys. Although generally used for small castings, this process has been used to produce complete aircraft door frames, with steel castings of up to 300 kg and aluminium castings of up to 30 kg. Compared to other casting processes such as die casting or sand casting, it can be an expensive process, however the components that can be produced using investment casting can incorporate intricate contours, and in most cases the components are cast near net shape, so requiring little or no rework once cast.

Unbonded sand processes:-

Unlike the sand casting processes that use various binders to hold the sand grains together, two unique processes use unbonded sand as the molding media. These include the lost foam process and the less common V-process.

Lost Foam Casting—In this process, the pattern is made of expendable polystyrene (EPS) beads. For high-production runs, the patterns can be made by injecting EPS beads into a die and bonding them together using a heat source—usually steam. For shorter runs, pattern shapes are cut from sheets of EPS using conventional woodworking equipment and then assembled with glue. In either case, internal passageways in the casting, if needed, are not formed by conventional sand cores but are part of the mold itself.

The polystyrene pattern is coated with a refractory coating, which covers both the external and internal surfaces. With the gating and risering system attached to the pattern, the assembly is suspended in a one-piece flask, which then is placed onto a compaction or vibrating table. As the dry, unbonded sand is poured into the flask and pattern, the compaction and vibratory forces cause the sand to flow and densify. The sand flows around the pattern and into the internal passageways of the pattern.

As the molten metal is poured into the mold, it replaces the EPS pattern, which vaporizes. After the casting solidifies, the unbonded sand is dumped out of the flask, leaving the casting with an attached gating system.

With larger castings, the coated pattern is covered with a facing of chemically bonded sand. The facing sand is then backed up with more chemically bonded sand.

V-process—In the V-process, the cope and drag halves of the mold are formed separately by heating a thin plastic film to its deformation point. It then is vacuum-formed over a pattern on a hollow carrier plate.

The process uses dry, free-flowing, unbonded sand to fill the special flask set over the film-coated pattern. Slight vibration compacts the fine grain sand to its maximum bulk density. The flask is then covered with a second sheet of plastic film. The vacuum is drawn on the flask, and the sand between the two plastic sheets becomes rigid.

The cope and drag then are assembled to form a plastic-lined mold cavity. Sand hardness is maintained by holding the vacuum within the mold halves at 300-600 mm/Hg. As molten metal is poured into the mold, the plastic film melts and is replaced immediately by the metal. After the metal solidifies and cools, the vacuum is released and the sand falls away.