Pattern equipment is the tooling utilized to form the mold cavity of a casting. This chapter first discusses the following factors that should be considered for determining the type of pattern equipment: number of castings to be produced, mold processes to be employed, dimensional tolerances required, casting design, and pattern cost. It also discusses the factors that should be considered when engineering a pattern. The chapter then presents the types of materials used for pattern construction. It provides an overview of patternmaker's shrinkage allowance. Finally, the chapter presents the factors that govern the space requirements for pattern storage.

This chapter discusses the processes and guidelines for selecting a supplier and for specifying and purchasing steel castings. It details the information that is most useful to the casting supplier and purchaser.

This chapter defines steel castings, explains when to use steel castings, gives an overview of casting processes, and gives examples of suitable applications for cast steel parts.

Users of steel castings establish performance requirements for specific characteristics of the castings based on the planned use. They express tolerance for variation in those characteristics to the producer of the castings. One issue which should never be taken for granted in considering capability and tolerances is the ability to measure with accuracy and precision (repeatability and reproducibility). This chapter discusses the methods for measuring accuracy and precision. It describes the variation of process characteristics, capability indices in general use, and factors related to process performance and tolerance specification.

This chapter focuses on engineering drawings for casting production, providing information on machining and casting drawings and machining and tooling references.

To a large extent, the induction coil and its coupling to the workpiece determine the precise heating pattern that is developed. However, it is often desirable to modify this pattern in order to produce a special heating distribution or to increase energy efficiency. At other times, the high heating rates of induction are needed for processing nonconductors. This chapter describes broad methods of accomplishing such objectives: modification of the field of magnetic induction, use of devices to prevent auxiliary equipment or certain portions of a workpiece from being heated, and techniques to apply heating to electrically nonconductive materials. These methods make use of devices such as flux concentrators, shields, and susceptors. The chapter provides a description of the materials for these devices and guidelines for their application.

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 chapter assesses the potential impact of neural networks on package-level failure analysis, the challenges presented by next-generation semiconductor packages, and the measures that can be taken to maximize FA equipment uptime and throughput. It presents examples showing how neural networks have been trained to detect and classify PCB defects, improve signal-to-noise ratios in SEM images, recognize wafer failure patterns, and predict failure modes. It explains how new packaging strategies, particularly stacking and disintegration, complicate fault isolation and evaluates the ability of various imaging methods to locate defects in die stacks. It also presents best practices for sample preparation, inspection, and navigation and offers suggestions for improving the reliability and service life of tools.

This chapter discusses the following conventional molding processes for static casting: green sand molding, dry sand molding, vacuum molding, and expendable pattern casting. It also discusses core and mold processes for steel castings. The chapter provides an overview of sand molds for large steel castings and a special sand molding process. It describes the following precision processes for static casting: investment casting, ceramic molding, and centrifugal casting.

After pouring, castings are allowed to solidify and cool. They are later removed from the molds in the shakeout operation. A series of activities then follow, which are generally referred to as finishing and heat treatment. These activities can be broadly categorized as shakeout, abrasive blast cleaning, removal of risers, ingates, and discontinuities, rough inspection, removal of discontinuities, finishing welding, heat treatment, and final visual, dimensional, and NDT inspection. This chapter provides a detailed discussion on these activities.

Molding flasks and other supplementary equipment are essential for molding complex shapes at competitive production rates and costs. This chapter addresses the design aspects of molding flasks and accessories, the features and handling accessories of molding machines, core making machines and innovations for productivity and quality, and automated core-setting aids.

Parts of machines and equipment that have previously been designed as wrought or fabricated parts, or as cast parts of metals other than steel, are often reconsidered as steel castings. This chapter presents bending test data for several junction designs of L and box sections and discusses redesign from fabrication, forgings, and cast iron. The chapter also includes the benefits of redesign.

Most iron and steel castings are produced by casting into sand molds. Sand cores are needed primarily to form hollow cavities in castings for collapsibility and ease of cleaning. This chapter begins with an overview of the classification of molding and core-making systems. This is followed by a section discussing the process involved in shell molding, along with its applications. A brief description of the special casting processes is then presented. Next, the chapter discusses the processes involved in core making. Further, it provides an overview of casting manufacturing. Finally, the chapter provides information on the factors that influence a casting facility layout.

Induction and flame hardening are methods of hardening the surfaces of components, usually in selected areas, by the short-time application of high-intensity heating followed by quenching. These processes are used when gear teeth require high hardness, but size or configuration does not lend itself to carburizing and quenching the entire part. This chapter focuses on the processes involved in the induction and flame hardening, covering the applicable materials, hardening patterns, preheat treatment, quenching, tempering, surface hardness, case depth, hardening problems, dual-frequency process, and applications.

This chapter gives an overview of how steel castings may be effectively adapted to modern concurrent engineering processes. The chapter discusses computer aided design programs, solid modeling, solidification simulation programs, and rapid prototyping.

Electromagnetic induction, or simply "induction," is a method of heating electrically conductive materials such as metals. It is commonly used for heating workpieces prior to metalworking and in heat treating, welding, and melting. This technique also lends itself to various other applications involving packaging and curing of resins and coatings. This chapter provides a brief review of the history of induction heating and discusses its applications and advantages.