ALUMINIUM CASTING PROBLEMS

MASTER CYLINDER CASTING

1.M16x1.5 AND M10x1 PORT THREAD CRACK AND THREAD

WASHOUT

2.INCLUSIONS AND POROSITY OVER MACHINED ARED

WHELL CYLINDER CASTING

1.MICRO PIN HOLES POROSITY/INCLUSIONS/BLOW HOLES 1

2.THREAD PORT DAMAGE/WASHOUT
 AL CASTING REJECTION TREND STATUS

60000

50000 49404

41935

40000
34971
PPM

30996
30000

22285

20000

11716 11389
10000

3254 2547
1448
2687
1587
0
JAN'02 FEB'02 MAR'02 APR'02 MAY'02 JUN'02
2
Series1 Series2
 MASTER CYLINDER SHIFT&OPERATOR WISE DATA
30

28

25
3rd shift

20

15
3rd shift
12
11
10

8 8 8
6
5 5 5 5
4
3 3
2 2 2
1 1 1
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
DATE XBD0 XBD0 XBD0 XBD0 XBD0 XBD0 XBD0 XBD0 XBD1 XBD1 XBD1 XBD2 XBD2 XBD2 XBD2
CODE 1 2 3 5 6 7 8 9 0 3 4 2 3 4 8

Operator code 8 0 5 11 5 1 3 6 4 3 1 2 0 28 12 0 38
Operator code 4 0 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 5 2
 AL REJECTION REDUCTION TREND
400000

361676
350000

300000

250000 247565
PPM

200000
190385
178519
162966
150000
140258
132584

100000
89624

50000 50000

0
OCT'01 NOV'01 DEC'01 JAN'02 FEB'02 MAR'02 APR'02 MAY'02 JUN'02
4
Series3 361676 247565 190385 178519 89624 162966 140258 132584 50000
 W/CYL.REJECTION REDUCTION TREND

18
17
16 15

14 13 13

12
% OF REJ

10

8 7

6 5

0
1st WEEK 2nd WEEK 3rd WEEK 4th WEEK MAY'02 JUN'02
WEEKLY 5
 TYPES OF ALUMINUM CASTING PROCESS

1.SAND CASTING

2.GRAVITY DIE CASTING OUR PROCESS

3.LOW PRESSURE CASRTING

4.HIGH PRESSURE CASTING

6
MASTER ALLOY/MOTHER ALLOY
An alloy containing a high concentration of one or more elements used to
make convenient and accurate additions when alloying.

ALLOYING: Adding elements to adjust the chemistry of the melt to match a

specification

INGOT:An alloy cast into a simple shape and suitable for remelting.

AS CAST:Condition as removed from mould, before any heat treatment

DEGASSING:A Process carried out to remove dissolved hydrogen from the

molten metal

7
DIE:A Metal mould used repeatedly to make many identical castings

PATTERN: A replica of the required casting made from wood or other easily
formed material around which a sand mould is formed

MOULD: The metal, sand or refractory form that contains the cavity into
which molten metal is poured when making a casting

DROSS: Mixture of metal and oxide

FLUX: An additive used to clean, protect and treat molten metal

GRAIN REFINER: Improve feeding during solidification and improve

mechanical properties and reduce more unevenly distributed shrinkage porosity

8
GAS POROSITY: Holes in the casting caused by hydrogen bubbles formed as the
metal solidifies.

INCLUSION: An unwanted particle, object or film in a casting

HOT TEAR: A crack in a casting due to stress caused by contraction on cooling.

REFRACTORIES : Materials able to withstand the high temperatures associated

with molten metal

MICROSTRUCTURE: A magnified view of the structure of the solid casting viewed

by using a microscope

GRAIN : An individual crystal of the metal forming the casting

HEAT TREATMENT: Improving the strength of the casting by heating it to a certain

temperature for a period of time
9
 INGOT INSPECTION
Red color
OK
- Cut and color check
- Porosity
- Shrike

- K- Mould test

<30 dots ok
>30 not ok
10
 MELTING FURNACE
Melting / Tilting furnace operated by Oil (Temp control difficult)
Ingots 60% and Cut pieces 40%(But some time not followed)
Melting / Tilting furnace temperature700~720C(Observed 758C)
Temperature not checking at melting stage and no flux treatment
No slag removal

Recommendations
Ingots70% and Cut pieces 30%(Record should be maintained )
Temp should be controlled 72010 C and buzzer to be provided
Melting furnace temperature should be controlled by auto recorder
sheet for better temp. control(automatically 24hour)
Flux treatment in melting furnace and slag removal continuously
11
 SOLUBILITY OF HYDROGEN IN ALUMINIUM MOLTEN METAL

2.4

2.2

1.8

1.6

1.4
H2

1.2

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

0
500 510 600 650 660 700 725 750 800 12
900

TEMP
 HOLDING FURNACE
Best Cast Mando
Temp 720~750C (Actual 757C) Temp.72020C
Temp. recording(1/2hour) Auto temp recording sheet
Flux treatment & close the door Flux treatment
Some time slag/dross removal Dross/slag removal continuous
1/2 hour waiting No waiting
100g Magnesium adding No Magnesium
Grain refiner 500g No Grain refiner
Degassing (GBF) GBF Treatment
Ingots directly at Holding furnace No Ingots at holding 13
Recommended for the Holding furnace

Auto temperature recording sheet

After transferring molten metal to holding furnace slag
removal then GBF treatment
Not use Grain refiner (This very dancer to casting)
Rotor should go to bottom of the furnace(Calculate depth
and maintain)
After 30 min killing time Pouring should start .

14
 Degassing(Gas bubbling Facility)
Best cast Mando
Gas N2 Dry gas N2 Liquid gas
Flow control No Yes
Flow 2Bar 15 ~ 25L/min
Rotor RPM 725 400~500
Furnace bottom ~
to rotor height
Time 20~25Min 5Min
Dross/slag removal Dross /Slag removal continuous
Killing time 10 ~20min Killing time 30 min 15
Recommended for the GBF Process
Slag/Dross removal after transferring to holding furnace
Gas bubbling facility (GBF) Process - 8min
Flux treatment
Slag removal continuous
GBF Process - 8min
Slag removal
Killing time - 30min
Pouring..Mass production

TEMPERATURE AUTO RECORDING VERY IMPORTENT 16

DIE AND POURING METHOD
Best cast Mando
Once in shift Once in shift
Die cote 140 white for Insulation Die cote 140white
Uniform coating Step by Step coating
2~3mmby finger
3~5times
2 times
1 time
Die cote 11 Black for mould easily No Black coating
Asbestos coating per Raiser Foseco insural paste Japan
raiser
Manually spray using hose pine Spray gun for mould spray
17
with air& Not monitoring Mould temp 200~250C
 Best Cast Mando
Tilting type mould 80degTilting type mould
Tilting time 15~18sec Tilting time 10~12sec
No gap between mould & mould plate Gap available

Mould Mould

Mould plate

Mould plate

Mould more thickness & plate less Mould less thickness& plate
more
18
 Best cast
Mould Temp.275C
Mould temp.not checking
First mould remove then
Lower core remove
Air vent at M10 boss center
Mando
Mould temp 200~ 400C
Temp. checking by T/couple
100% Display
First lower core then mould by
ejecting pins(For shifting Hot spot)
Hot Spot
Air vent M10 boss corners 19
 Recommendations for mould and pouring method
Tilting time reduce to 15sec(Bowel M/cyl.type)
Tilting first slow then rapid movement
Only white coating step by step(bottom 1time ,middle
2times , top 3~5 times with mask and raiser area 2 ~3mm by
finger application
Black coating not to use that is danger to process
Gap between mould and mould plate
While die coating die temp should be 200 ~ 250C

20
Process Problem Strength Porosity Inclusion
Ingots Quality problem

Melting - Over heating >750C

furnace Slag removal / Flux

Holding - Over heating

furnace - GBF - Flux -GBF
Slag removal

Degassing - Liquid N2 Gas

Rotor working condition

Pouring -Core removal first

- Tilting starting slow then rapid
1/3 -1 time coating
1/3 - 2times coating
1/3 - 4~5 times coating
Raiser area by finger 2~3mm
Black coating

Mould Gap between die and dia plate

Mould temp 200~400C
Pre-heating upto 250C 21
Very critical Critical Minior
Visit Report - M/s Best Cast Ltd. Dt 17.04.02
I Ingot Preparation
Temperature control in oil rotary furnace , No record available

Flux treatment in oil furnace is being done but no record.

Cleaning is not being done in fixed frequency.

Scrap control is difficulty due to many types of specification of raw

material are being used.

In some occasion recycled metal only used for ingots without virgin
metal as against agreed mixing spec 60% ingots metal & 40%
recycled metal. ( In future, it has been suggested 70% ingots
metal & 30 % recycled metal are to be used.)
22
 Many slag & drass are found on surface of ingots.

Ingot chemistry analysis is being carried out in Spectrometer but

No printed report available. Manual report only available. Supplier
have given assurance that printer will be made ready by June-02.

II Ingot Melting & Flux Treatment

Melting furnace maximum temperature not controlled so far. It
has been observed upto 758c. Supplier has advised to maintain
700 ~ 740c. (Mando spec.)

Melting furnace temperature that is being monitored manually

supplier has informed to put printer and automatic temperature
control unit for melting furnace like Mando.
23
 In some occasion ingots directly used in holding furnace. For
example on 18/03/02, raw material directly used in holding furnace
since melting furnace under breakdown. This has been avoided
in future.

Maximum temperature not controlled in holding furnace

temperature to be maintained to 700 ~ 740c.

Metal pouring dia. & cooling time, fixture tilting time to be

monitored and recorded.
III General Discipline & Operator Training
WIP Materials are not stored properly in trolleys & no
identification.

Rejection & rework to be kept properly with identification.

24
 Trained Operator what they should do before starting their works
and how do make ok components.
IV Heat Treatment (M/s Atmosphere)
Every half an hour aging and solution treatment temperature to be
monitored and recorded. In future automatic machine record to
be done.

Once in a week mechanical strength test & metal structure

analysis to be done for first 3months & after established this can
be reduced to every month & report to be forward to MBSI
& Best cast.

Material loading basket to be modified as explained by

Mr.K.W.Lee.

During power of condition time to be noted accordingly process

time has to be adjusted. 25
Temperature Achieving Details - Solution Furnace

510c
Dipping in water for within 15 ~ 20sec.
4 hours

2.5 hours

Temperature Achieving Details - Ageing Furnace

165c Air cool in Room Temperature

6 hours

3 hours

Structure

Good Not Good 26

Temperature Achieving Details - Solution Furnace
Actual
510c work

1hour 20minutes

Temperature Achieving Details - Ageing Furnace

Actual
165c work

40 minutes

27
 Clearance between the basket to furnace wall to be conformed to
150 ~ 200mm.

Furnace temperature in different location to be established and

conformed as shown in figure. Same thing to be monitored once in
6 months.

Furnace - Solution Furnace - Ageing

Recorder & Recorder &

Printing Printing

28
 Solution Treatment - Maximum water temperature to be controlled
& monitored.

Comparison between Mando & Atmosphere

1) Temperature in Solution
510 3c 510 5c

2) Ageing Furnace Temperature

160 1.5 165 5

3) Continuous Automatic Movement baskets- manual Handling

4) Each basket loading -

M/Cyl. - 400 nos. 100 nos.
W/Cyl. - 1000 nos. 250 nos. (Every 1hour basket move)

5) Automatic Recording Manual recording. 29

Furnace - Figure

150 ~ 200mm

30
Ageing Furnace - Details
Fan

Tray 1

Tray 2
This clearance to
be improved 31