Overview of Metal Casting

These flashcards cover essential vocabulary and concepts related to the metal casting process, advantages, defects, and types of molds.

Casting

A manufacturing process where material is heated to a liquid state, introduced into a mold, and allowed to solidify.

Advantages of Casting

Low cost, quick manufacturing, ability to produce intricate shapes and parts in one piece.

Equivalent Grains

Grains that grow approximately equally in all directions due to large amounts of undercooling near the mold's wall.

Permanent Molds

Molds usually made of metal used for repeated castings, maintaining strength at high temperatures.

Sprue

A vertical channel through which molten metal flows downward in the mold.

Castability

Describes the ease with which a metal can be cast to obtain a part with good quality.

Fluidity of Molten Metal

Characteristics influencing how easily a molten metal can flow during the casting process.

Casting Defect

Characteristics that create a deficiency or imperfection contrary to the quality specifications imposed by the design.

Dendrites

Tree-like structures that form during solidification of metals, specific to the solid crystallization of alloys.

Core

A structure used to form interior cavities in cast parts, typically made with similar techniques as sand molds.