This article discusses the methods, equipment, and theory for pouring, solidifying, and stripping steel ingots. It describes the two basic types of pouring methods: top pouring and bottom pouring. The equipment includes hot tops, ingot molds, and stools. The design of the ingot is dictated by the application and type of steel involved. The article concludes with information on the applications of solidification simulation.

The crucible induction furnace is growing as an alternative melting unit to the cupola furnace due to its low specific power and reduced power consumption during solid melting material. This article details the process engineering features of the crucible induction furnace. It discusses the various processes involved in melting, holding, and pouring of liquid melt in crucible induction furnaces wherein the holding operation is carried out in channel furnace and pouring operation in pressure-actuated pouring furnaces. The article examines the behavior of furnace refractory lining to defects such as erosion, infiltration, crack formation, and clogging, and the corresponding preventive measures to avoid the occurrence of these defects. It elucidates the overall furnace operations, including commissioning, operational procedures, automatic process monitoring, inductor change, and dealing with disturbances.

Crucible furnaces, as compared to electric arc furnaces, are increasingly deployed in various melting practices due to their environmental and workplace friendliness and their process benefits. This article focuses on the application of induction crucible furnaces for melting and pouring operations in small-and medium-sized steel foundries, including aluminum, copper, and zinc industries. It also provides information on the process engineering benefits of melting and pouring operations.

Various types of furnaces have been used for cast iron melting. In terms of tonnage, the primary melting methods used by iron casting facilities are cupola and induction furnaces. This article describes the operation and control principles of cupola furnace. It discusses the advantages of specialized cupolas such as cokeless cupola and plasma-fired cupola. Melting in iron foundries is a major application of induction furnaces. The article describes the operations of two induction furnaces: the channel induction furnace and the induction crucible furnace. It explains the teapot principle of pressure-actuated pouring furnaces and provides information on the effect of pouring magnesium-treated melts.

The combination of high strength-to-weight ratio, excellent mechanical properties, and corrosion resistance makes titanium the best material choice for many critical applications. This article begins with a description of the historical perspective of titanium casting technology. It discusses the types of molding methods, such as rammed graphite molding and lost-wax investment molding. The article provides information on the casting design, melting, postcasting, and pouring practices. It describes the microstructure and mechanical properties of Ti-6AI-4V alloy. The article examines the product applications of titanium alloy castings. The tensile properties, standard industry specifications, and chemical compositions of various titanium alloy castings are tabulated.

This article reviews the production stages of iron foundry casting, with particular emphasis on the melting practices, molten metal treatment, and feeding of molten metal into sand molds. It discusses the molten metal treatments for high-silicon gray, high-nickel ductile, and malleable irons. Foundry practices are also described for compacted graphite, high-silicon ductile, and high-alloy white irons.

Horizontal centrifugal casting is used to cast parts having an axis of revolution. This article discusses the operations of various horizontal casting machines, such as flanged shaft machine, horizontal roller-type machine, and double-face plate machine. It describes the types of molds, such as expendable molds and permanent molds, used for centrifugal casting. The article also discusses the steps in casting process, namely, pouring, solidification, and babbitting. It provides information on the applications of the horizontal centrifugal casting.

Vertical centrifugal casting machines, installed below the ground level for maximum operator safety, are used for producing bushings and castings that are relatively large in diameter and short in length. This article discusses the mold design for different types of sand molds and permanent molds and their production considerations. It describes the speed of rotation, mold speeds curves, and pouring techniques that are considered in the operation of vertical centrifugal casting machines.

This article presents a discussion on the melting, pouring, and shakeout practices; composition control; molds, patterns, and casting design; heat treatment; and applications of different classes of nickel-chromium white irons and high-chromium white irons.

Sand mold and permanent mold castings are the major methods for shape casting of steels, with production closely split among green sand, chemically bonded sand, and permanent mold processes. This article describes the steel solidification characteristics, melting practices, melt treatment, and feeding of the molten steel into the mold used in steel foundries. It discusses the features of the melting furnaces used in direct arc melting, induction melting, and boiling. The article describes the sand casting and permanent mold casting of steel. The process design and castings of thin sections are also discussed.

This article focuses on the variety of alloys, furnaces, and associated melting equipment and on the casting methods available for manufacturing magnesium castings. The casting 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.

Foundry practices critical to the production of cast irons include melting, alloying, molten metal treatment, pouring, and the design of feeding systems (gating and risering) to allow proper filling of the casting mold. This article reviews these production stages of iron foundry casting, with particular emphasis on the melting practices, molten metal treatment, and feeding of molten metal into sand molds. It discusses the castability factors, such as fluidity, shrinkage, and resistance, of gray iron. Typical cupola charge compositions and the final analyses for class 30 and class 40 gray iron castings are presented in a table. The article describes the induction melting and arc furnace melting used in gray iron foundries. It also reviews the inoculation methods such as stream inoculation and mold inoculation, of gray iron.

Thin-wall gray cast iron (TWGCI) can be seen as a potential material for the preparation of lightweight castings in automotive engineering applications. This article discusses the most important challenges for TWGCI: cooling rate, solidification, macrostructure, microstructure, and chilling tendency. It reviews the tensile properties and thermophysical properties of gray cast iron. The article describes the variables that influence molten iron preparation: charge materials, melting furnace thermal regime, chemical composition, modification and inoculation treatment, holding time/pouring procedure, mold properties (mold temperature, thermophysical properties of mold and mold coating), and casting design.

This article introduces filling and feeding concepts from the general perspective of what constitutes good casting practice. It briefly reviews concepts that may help clarify and quantify objectives for more effective mold-filling designs. The article describes the preprimed filling system through various partial solutions to the prepriming approach. The naturally pressurized filling system is characterized by the narrowness of its flow channels. The article discusses the six individual parts of the naturally pressurized filling system, namely, offset stepped pouring basin, sprue, sprue/runner junction, runner, gates, and feeding via feeders. It also lists key features of the naturally pressurized filling system.

This article outlines the advantages of the steel continuous casting, along with its developments and challenges for improvement. It describes the process of the steel continuous casting. The article provides a description of the design and layout of a steelmaking facility for continuous casting of steel. It reviews the trends in the steel industry, such as near-net shape casting, the use of tundish metallurgy, and pouring stream protection. The article discusses the use and capabilities of different molds for steel continuous casting. These include thin-wall tube-type molds, solid molds, and plate molds. The article explains the operations for productivity improvements and quality improvements in steel continuous casting. It reviews the applications of horizontal continuous casting in casting steel. An emphasis on the development of continuous casting depending on control systems and automation, with the objective of maintaining high quality and high productivity, is also provided.

High-pressure die casting is a fast method for net shape manufacturing of parts from nonferrous alloys. This article reviews the automation technologies for the different stages or steps of the process. The steps include liquid metal pouring, injection, solidification, die open, part extraction, die lubrication, insert loading, and die close. Some manual aspects of the operations together with automation options are discussed. The article describes finishing steps, such as finish trimming, detailed deflashing, shot blast cleaning, and quality checks. Automation of the postcasting process is also discussed.

Nickel-base alloy castings are widely used in corrosive-media and high-temperature applications. This article begins with a discussion on the compositions of corrosion-resistant nickel-base casting alloys and heat-resistant nickel-base casting alloys. It describes the effects of aluminum and titanium on the structure and properties of nickel-base alloys. The article provides information on the melting, foundry, and pouring practices for nickel-base alloys. It describes the welding and heat treatment of the nickel-base casting alloys. The article concludes with information on the numerous applications of cast heat-resistant nickel-base alloys.

This article discusses various molten-metal treatments, namely fluxing, degassing, and molten-metal filtration. It focuses on various molten-metal handling systems for transporting, holding, or delivering molten metal to the mold/die system. These include launders, tundishes, holding furnaces or transport crucibles, molten-metal transfer pumps, teeming ladles, and dosing and pouring furnaces.

Thin sections save weight and thus contribute to a more favorable strength-to-weight ratio. By requiring a smaller volume of metal, thin walls may also lower casting costs, particularly when an expensive alloy is being poured. This article discusses the design problems in thin-wall steel sand castings, thin-wall aluminum and magnesium castings, thin-wall permanent mold castings, and thin-wall investment castings, with schematic illustrations.

ASTM specification A 48 classifies gray irons in terms of tensile strength. The usual microstructure of gray iron is a matrix of pearlite with graphite flakes dispersed throughout. Section sensitivity effects are used in the form of a wedge test in production control to judge the suitability of an iron for pouring a particular casting. Mechanical property values obtained from test bars are sometimes the only available guides to the mechanical properties of the metal in production castings. Gray iron castings are used widely in pressure applications such as cylinder blocks, manifolds, pipe and pipe fittings, compressors, and pumps. Where high impact resistance is needed, gray iron is not recommended. The machinability of most gray cast iron is superior to that of most other cast irons of equivalent hardness, as well as to that of virtually all steel. Gray iron is used widely for machine components that must resist wear.