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10.10: Summary

  • Page ID
    31415
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    There are 4 main ways of casting metals; sand casting, die casting, continuous casting and investment casting. Each has advantages and disadvantages, and is suited for producing different components or using different materials.
    The Biot number predicts how a casting will solidify, and is equal to

    \[\frac{h}{K / L}\]
    where: h = heat transfer coefficient
    L = length of the casting
    K = thermal conductivity

    Commonly 3 zones form as the casting solidifies;

    • Chill zone – small crystals form on mould wall.
    • Columnar zone – larger grains growing in optimum crystallographic orientations.
    • Equiaxed zone – small grains that solidified early but detached and moved back into the liquid.

    Going further

    Books

    Manufacturing with Materials by Lyndon Edwards, Mark Endean Butterworth-Heinemann Limited, ISBN 0750627549 (0-7506-2754-9)
    Chapter 2 is an excellent coverage of casting

    Websites

    Continuous Casting
    This site contains more information about continuous casting, and a very advanced simulation of the process.

    Prof. H.K.D.H. Bhadeshia's teaching pages


    This page titled 10.10: Summary is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Dissemination of IT for the Promotion of Materials Science (DoITPoMS) via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform; a detailed edit history is available upon request.

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