Aluminum casting alloys are among the most versatile of all common foundry alloys and generally have high castability ratings. This article provides an overview of the common methods of aluminum shape casting. It discusses the designations of aluminum casting alloys categorized by the Aluminum Association designation system. The article summarizes the basic composition groupings of aluminum casting alloy and discusses the effects of specific alloying elements and impurities. The characteristics of the important casting processes are summarized and compared in a table. The article presents the advantages and disadvantages of green sand casting, permanent mold casting, semipermanent mold casting, and high-pressure die casting. A discussion on other casting processes, such as investment casting, lost foam, plaster mold casting, pressure casting, centrifugal casting, and semisolid casting, is also included.

Shell molding is used for making production quantities of castings that range in weight from a few ounces to approximately 180 kg (400 lb), in both ferrous and nonferrous metals. This article lists the limitations or disadvantages of shell mold casting. It describes the two methods for preparation of resin-sand mixture for shell molding, namely, mixing resin and sand according to conventional dry mixing techniques, and coating the sand with resin. Shaping of shell molds and cores from resin sand mixtures is accomplished in machines. The article discusses the major steps in producing a mold or core and describes the problems most frequently encountered in shell-mold casting. The problems include mold cracking, soft molds, low hot tensile strength of molds, peelback, and mold shift. The article concludes with information on examples that provide some relative cost comparisons between shell molding and green sand molding.

Green sand molding and chemically bonded sand molding are considered to be the most basic and widely used mold-making processes. This article describes the sand system formulation, preparation, mulling, mold fabrication, and handling of green sand molds. It lists the advantages and disadvantages of green sand molding. The article discusses the primary control parameters for the sand system formulation. It describes two basic types of green sand molds: flask molds and flaskless molds. The article provides a discussion on molding problems, including springback and expansion defects. It considers a variety of sand reclamation systems, including wet washing/scrubbing and thermal-calcining/thermal-dry scrubbing combinations.

This article focuses on the variety of alloys, furnaces, and associated melting equipment as well as the casting methods available for manufacturing magnesium castings. These methods include sand casting, permanent mold casting, die casting, thixomolding, and direct chill casting. The article discusses the flux process and fluxless process for the melting and pouring of magnesium alloys. It describes the advantages and disadvantages of green sand molding and tabulates typical compositions and properties of magnesium molding sands. The article provides information on the machining characteristics of magnesium and the applications of magnesium alloys.