This article discusses some of the factors that are linked directly to the casting design of ductile iron castings. It reviews the choice of molding process, application of draft, and patternmaker's allowance that should be taken into consideration in designing castings. The article describes the solidification shrinkage associated with the volume change that occurs during solidification, as well as strength and stiffness of ductile iron castings. It concludes with a discussion on the thermal deformation and residual stress in ductile iron castings.

This article provides a detailed discussion on the causes of formation of shrinkage porosity and gas porosity along with the methods involved in eliminating them. It discusses the process of porosity formation and the factors affecting porosity formation, including alloy composition, external pressure, and cooling conditions.

The role of an engineer in designing risers is to make sure that risers provide the feed metal in the right amount, at the right place, and at the right time. This article addresses feed metal volume, riser location, and duration of liquid feed metal. It discusses the three types of feeding systems used in riser design: riser sleeves, topping compounds, and breaker cores.

This article discusses issues that impact a good casting design. The focus is on the casting design in general, and on sand and permanent mold aluminum casting in particular. The article examines the casting design process from a variety of design and processing perspectives. It summarizes several strategies for improving the traditional casting design process. The article also proposes some possible approaches for implementing these strategies. It presents a vision for the development of comprehensive casting design guidelines along with specific development objectives.

Castability of alloys is a measure of their ability to be cast to a given shape with a given process without the formation of casting defects. This article describes the factors that limit fluidity as well as experimental methods for measuring fluidity of various alloys. Various tests designed for measuring the hot tearing tendency in alloys are discussed. The article also discusses the temperature dependence, criteria, and modeling of hot tearing.

Macrosegregation refers to spatial compositional variations that occur in metal alloy castings and range in scale from several millimeters to centimeters or even meters. This article presents a derivative approach for understanding the mechanism of macrosegregation induced by flow of the liquid and movement of the solid with examples.

Castability is a complex characteristic that depends on both the intrinsic fluid properties of the molten metal and the manner in which the particular alloy solidifies. This article discusses the practical aspects of solidification important to aluminum foundrymen. The primary focus is on the chemical segregation that occurs during freezing, because it determines the castability of the alloy. The article describes the two types of segregation, namely, microsegregation and macrosegregation. It discusses the effect of freezing range on castability of an alloy. The article lists the freezing range of a number of important alloys. It concludes with a discussion on castability of 2xx, 3xx, 4xx, 5xx, and 7xx alloys.

Semisolid metal (SSM) processing, also known as semisolid metal casting, semisolid forming, or semisolid metal forging, is a special die casting process. This article discusses the origin and advantages of the SSM processing. It describes three major semisolid processing routes: thixocasting, rheocasting, and thixomolding.

Casting offers a great amount of component design flexibility. This article discusses six casting design parameters that drive the geometry of casting design from a process standpoint. It provides information on the design of junctions and addresses considerations of secondary operations in design. The article describes the factors that control casting tolerances and presents specific tips for designing castings with uniform wall thickness, unequal sections, thin sections, economical coring, functional packaging, and core design. The article provides a framework for analyzing all manners of manufacturing as possible conversion candidates for casting. It concludes with a discussion on different metalcasting design projects.

There is a need for models that predict the percentage and size of porosity formed during solidification in order to effectively predict mechanical properties. This article provides an overview of equations that govern pore formation. It reviews the four classes of models, highlighting both the benefits and drawbacks of each class. These classes include criteria functions, analytical models, continuum models, and kinetic models. The article also tabulates the criteria functions for porosity prediction.