CASTINGS

Dr. Mohd Hasbullah Idris

Dept. of Manufacturing and Industrial
Engineering
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering
Pattern Allowance
Castings are always smaller in dimensions than
the pattern from which they are made. The excess in
dimensions is referred to pattern allowance.

There are 3 allowances included in a pattern:
1. Shrinkage allowance
2. Machining allowance
3. Draft allowance

Shrinkage Allowance
Shrinkage allowance is provided to compensate the
contractions of a casting. The contraction of a casting
takes place in 3 stages.

1. The contraction of the liquid from the pouring
temperature to the freezing temperature
2. The contraction associated with change of phase
from liquid to solid
3. The contraction of the solid casting from freezing
temperature to the room temperature
Shrinkage Allowance (cont)
However, only the last stage of the contraction
will be considered in pattern making. Incorporation
of contraction allowance was done by using a
specially engraved rules known as the contraction
rules.

Contraction allowance: 1 in 75 for aluminium alloys
1 in 96 for iron castings
Shrinkage Allowance (cont)
Predicting casting contraction can never be precise.
Examples;
1. Rigidity of the mould. When iron castings are
made in green sand moulds, the mould walls move
under pressure of the liquid metal, causing the
expansion of the mould cavity, thus compensating for
some of the metal contraction
2. Restriction by the core. Cored castings may not
contract as much as expected, because the presence
of a strong core may restrict movement of the casting
as it is cooling.
Shrinkage Allowance (cont)
3. Expansion of core binder. Some core binders
expand with the heat of the cast metal causing the
casting to be larger than otherwise expected.

For these reasons, and others, it is only possible to
predict contractions approximately. Precise
contraction allowances can be built into the patterns
based on experience.
Machining Allowance
Normally, a cast surfaceis rough to be used for the
final product. Machining is therefore required to
obtain the final surface texture or dimensions.

The total machining allowance depends on the
material and the overall dimension of the job.
Machining Allowance (cont)
Draft Allowance
At the time of withdrawing the pattern from the sand
mould, the vertical faces of the pattern are in
continual contact with the sand, which may damage
the mould cavity. To reduce the chances of this
happening, vertical faces of the pattern are always
tapered from the parting line. This provision is called
draft allowance.
In general, inner details of the pattern require higher
draft than outer surfaces
Draft Allowance (cont)