Bob Temple - Manufacturing Flashcards
What are the things to think about when choosing manufacturing processes
Cost
Shape (can you make it?)
Materials (can u process them?)
Quality (can u achieve required tolerance, surface finish, integrity
Production quantity (can you produce required quantity? Automation? )
What is casting and what materials is it used with?
1) pour molten material into mould
2) allow it to solidify
3) remove part from the mould
Used with metal, polymers, ceramics
What are the disadvantages of casting?
Dangerous – heat
Skill intensive – must be trained
Prone to errors – if cooled wrong get wrong properties
May not provide suitable material properties
What are the Advantages of casting
Capable of complex shapes with internal cavities
Capable of making large parts in one piece
Capable of processing material is not possible by other means or too expensive
Competitive with other manufacturing processes
Near net shape manufacturing process
Can make repeatable parts easily
What are the two types of casting and what is the difference between them
Expendable mould and permanent mould
A pattern is used to create the cavity in an expendable mould - They can handle larger and more complex parts
In permanent moulds cavity is machined into the mould they are used for high-volume production
What are the factors affecting casting
The mould Filling of the mould Material shrinkage Material cast structure Defects Removal and finishing of the part
What are the different parts of the mould and what do they do
The pattern creates a mould cavity in the shape of the desired casting
The flask is the outer container (Upper half is the cope and lower half is the drag)
Cores are used to create hollow features
What is the parts that is removed from the mould
A rough casting
It requires finishing operations to obtain the final product
What are the main features of the mould
The mould is designed to allow escape of gases and take account of material shrinkage
- The molten metal is poured in through a spray which leads to a narrow gap called the gate that ensures uniform metal flow into the mould through the runners
- A riser is used to allow air to escape indicate a full mould and supply molten metal as solidification shrinkage because event may also be used to allow small amounts of Excess gas to escape
Which features of the mould are removed from the casting during finishing
Risers and the gates
What are the factors in complete filling the mould
Fluidity of the metal
Metal fills mould before it solidifies
Air in the mould can escape as the liquid metal pushes it out
Evolve gases from the liquid metal can escape mould - don’t want slag in the mould
What is the fluidity index of a metal
The length it will flow and a standard spiral passage before solidifying
This depends on the thermal properties of the mould and metal
How can dissolved gases be removed
What’s the difference between gases in solids and in liquids?
Flushing with An inert gas
Melting and pouring under vacuum
More soluble in liquid metals than solid
How does the mould deal with material shrinkage?
Cavity is usually slightly oversized
Risers supply extra metal as it shrinks in the mould avoiding porosity
Casting strength is low when hot- vulnerable to heat tears - mould should not restrain the casting too much as it shrinks
What affects the mechanical properties of the casting?
Metal structure
What influences the metal structure obtained?
Metallurgy of alloy
Thermal properties of alloy and mould (sand takes a while to cool)
What is the structure of a pure metal casting?
Grains nucleate at mould walls (cool)
Chill zone there contains fine, multi-axed grains
Slower cooling rate= coarser grain structure
Bulk grain structure is columnar
Solidification front moves away from the walls with time
Where is the solidification front thinner?
Thinner at concave (corners pointing in) features, thicker at convex features (corners points outside)
What is the mushy zone?
Where the solid component of the alloy forms as dendrites (tree-like) surrounded by liquid
What is the advantage and disadvantage if grey cast iron?
Poor mech properties but easy to cast (high fluidity)
What effect does cooling rate have on the structure of castings?
What else affects the grain structure formed
Slow- coarse grain structure
Fast- finer grain structure
Alloy composition also affects grain structure
What affects the cooling rate of castings?
Mould material (metal is faster)
What properties occur when grain size decreases?
Strength and ductility increase
Microporosity decreases
Tendency to crack during cooling decreases
Lack of uniformity in grain structure causes anisotropic mechanical properties
How can the equiaxed zone of a casting be extended? How does this work?
Using an inoculant
Works by proving nucleation sites throughout the liquid metal