The inspection of castings normally involves checking for shape and dimensions, coupled with aided and unaided visual inspection for external discontinuities and surface quality. This chapter discusses methods for determining surface quality, internal discontinuities, and dimensional inspection. Casting defects including porosity, oxide films, inclusions, hot tears, metal penetration, and surface defects are reviewed. Liquid penetrant inspection, magnetic particle inspection, eddy current inspection, radiographic inspection, ultrasonic inspection, and leak testing for castings are discussed. The chapter provides information on the procedures involved in the inspection of castings that are limited to visual and dimensional inspections, weight testing, and hardness testing. It also discusses the use of computer equipment in foundry inspection operations.

This article reviews weldability of aluminum alloys and factors that affect weld performance. It first addresses hot tears, which can form during the welding of various aluminum alloys. It then presents comparison data from different weldability tests and discusses the specific properties that affect welding, namely oxide characteristics; the solubility of hydrogen in molten aluminum; and its thermal, electrical, and nonmagnetic characteristics. The article addresses the primary factors commonly considered when selecting a welding filler alloy, namely ease of welding or freedom from cracking, tensile or shear strength of the weld, weld ductility, service temperature, corrosion resistance, and color match between the weld and base alloy after anodizing. A number of factors, both global and local, that influence the fatigue performance of welded aluminum joints are also covered.

This chapter discusses the effect of composition on environmental resistance, machinability, and casting and forging, factors that are often considered when selecting a superalloy.

This chapter explains various aspects of the foundry process that the design engineer should consider when designing steel castings. It discusses special feeding aids, such as tapers, padding, ribs, and chills that may be used by foundry personnel to promote directional solidification. The chapter addresses the design of castings to reduce the occurrence of internal shrinkage. It provides a detailed discussion on design considerations for molding, cleaning, machining, and function.

This article presents six case studies of failures with steel forgings. The case studies covered are crankshaft underfill; tube bending; spade bit; trim tear; upset forging; and avoidance of flow through, lap, and crack. The case studies illustrate difficulties encountered in either cold forging or hot forging in terms of preforge factors and/or discontinuities generated by the forging process. Supporting topics that are discussed in the case studies include validity checks for buster and blocker design, lubrication and wear, mechanical surface phenomenon, forging process design, and forging tolerances. Wear, plastic deformation processes, and laws of friction are introduced as a group of subjects that have been considered in the case studies.

The formation of defects in materials that have been fusion welded is a major concern in the design of welded assemblies. This article describes four types of defects that, in particular, have been the focus of much attention because of the magnitude of their impact on product quality. Colloquially, these four defect types are known as hot cracks, heat-affected zone microfissures, cold cracks, and lamellar tearing.

Steel is broadly classified as plain-carbon steels, low-alloy steels, and high-alloy steels. This chapter begins by describing microconstituents of low- and medium-carbon steel, including bainite and martensite. This is followed by a section discussing the effect of alloying elements on steel. Then, it provides an overview of steel casting applications. Next, the chapter reviews engineering guidelines for steel castings and feeder design. The following section provides information on feeding aids. Further, the chapter describes the elements of gating systems for steel castings. It also describes the alloys, properties, applications, and engineering details of steel. Finally, the chapter explains defects in steel castings and presents guidelines for problem solving with examples.

This appendix provides detailed information on design deficiencies, material and manufacturing defects, and service-life anomalies. It covers ingot-related defects, forging and sheet forming imperfections, casting defects, heat treating defects, and weld discontinuities. It shows how application life is affected by the severity of service conditions and discusses the consequences of using inappropriate materials.

This chapter is a detailed account of various factors pertinent to the development and launch of a product. It begins by describing the five phases in the product launch process, namely product design and development, process design and development, product and process validation, product launch, and continuous improvement. This is followed by sections covering product-process flow diagrams and also the process elements considered for process failure mode and effects analysis. Some of the aspects covered by the engineering specifications to meet the product performance requirements are then reviewed. Details on product validation requirements and definitions of parameters related to the launch process are also provided. The chapter discusses the purpose of manufacturing control plan, along with an illustration of a manufacturing control plan outlined for a safety-critical suspension casting. It ends with an overview of the contents of a program launch manual.