Gating design
Gating system elements
Design variables (Pouring time, Choke area, Sprue,
Gating ratios, Slag trap systems ,etc.)
Types of gating system
Gates
Risering design
Types of risers
Methods of risering design
Elements of risering design ( riser location, mold
dilation, feed metal volume ,etc.)
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Chapter 4 Gating System& Risering
One of the key elements to make a metal casting of high quality is
the design of a good gating system.
The gating system refers to channels through which the metal
flows from the ladle to the mold cavity.
The main objective of a gating system is to lead clean molten
metal poured from ladle to the casting cavity, ensuring smooth,
uniform and complete filling;
The use of a good gating system is even more important if a
casting is produced by a gravity process.
If poor gating techniques are used, invariably, lower casting
quality is achieved, because of damage on the molten metal
received during the flow through the gating system.
Introduction
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Importance of gating technique
1.The rate and direction of metal flow must be such as to ensure
complete filling of the mould before freezing.
2. Flow should be smooth and uniform, with minimum
turbulence. Entrapment of air, metal oxidation and mould erosion
are thus avoided.
3. The technique should promote the ideal temperature
distribution within the completely filled mould cavity, so that the
pattern of subsequent cooling is favourable to feeding.
4. The system can incorporate traps or filters for the separation
of non-metallic inclusions, whether dislodged in the gating
system or introduced with the metal.
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Modes of solidification in flow
channel-I
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Modes of solidification in flow
channel-II
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Modes of solidification in flow
channel-III
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Gating system elements
A simple gating system for a horizontally
parted mold
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Principal features of a gating system
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Devices for separation of nonmetallic inclusions
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Strainer cores and screens
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Typical ceramic filters
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Requirements, purpose or function of the gating
system
Requirements of the gating system:
A gating system should:
1. Fill the mold cavity completely before freezing:
2. Introduce the liquid metal in to the mold cavity with low velocity and
little turbulence, so that mold erosion, metal oxidation and gas pick
up is prevented;
3. Help to promote temperature gradients favorable for proper
directional solidification;
4. Incorporate traps for the separation of non metallic inclusions which
are either introduced with the molten metal or dislodge in the gating
system;
5. Regulate the rate at which the liquid metal enters in to the mold;
6. Be practicable and economical to make;
7. Consume least metal- the metal solidified in the gating system
elements should be minimum.
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Requirements, purpose or function of the gating system
For proper functioning of the gating system, the following
factors need to be controlled:
Type of pouring equipment such as ladles, pouring basin etc;
Temperature/fluidity of molten metal;
Rate of liquid metal pouring;
Type and size of sprue;
Type and size of runner;
Size , number and location of gates connecting runner and
casting;
Position of mold during pouring and solidification.
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Requirements, purpose or function of the
gating system
Functions:
To trap contaminants;
To regulate flow of molten metal;
To control turbulence;
To establish directional solidification.
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Pouring basin:
The pouring basin or bush or cup is a circular or rectangular pocket
that accepts
the molten metal
from
the ladle;
The
members
of
the
gating
Pouring basins that contain a well deeper than their depth at the
system
sprue junction to effectively absorb the impact of the arriving
stream, and flow velocity will be governed by sprue height only;
Another advantage of this design is that pouring may start out
slowly without molten metal entering the sprue;
Once the proper location of the ladles lip has been established, fast
pour and sprue filling begins with minimum slag entry;
A liquid metal is poured in to the pouring basin ,which acts as a
reservoir from which it moves into the sprue smoothly;
Reduces turbulence and vortexing at the sprue entrance;
Helps separating dross and slag before entering to the sprue;
Pouring basin may be cut directly in to the cope portion or
separately from dry sand.
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Contd
Basic components of a simple gating system
for a horizontally parted mold
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Contd
Sprue:
Circular cross sections are being used most commonly;
Tapering the sprue downwards is always a good practice;
Straight or nearly straight sprue may be used in all pressurized
systems;
Chocked at the bottom (or sprue basin) of the sprue must be used in a
non-pressurized gating systems.
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Contd
Runner.
A straight runner is the best choice of space permits it. If bending the
runner is unavoidable, it should be done with as large radius as space
permits, because curvatures introduce additional turbulence;
A minimum distance of 50 mm between the end point of the runner
and the next gate us recommended;
The cross section of the runner is almost always rectangular with
thickness to height ratio of 1:2 in a pressurized system.
The runner system is fed by the well and is the path that the gates are
fed from;
The Runner path should promote smooth laminar flow by a balanced
volumetric flow, and avoiding sharp or abrupt changes in direction;
The "Runner Extension" is a "Dead-End" that is placed after the last
gate;
The R-Ext acts as a cushion to absorb the forward momentum or
kinetic energy of the fluid flow. The R-Ext also acts as a "Dross/Gas
Trap" for any materials generated and picked-up along the flow of
the runner.
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Contd
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Sprue runner junction
The first rule in shaping the sprue-runner junction is that it must
not locally decrease the calculated sprue bottom cross-section
area;
If then, the sprue cross section is largely in any dimension than
the horizontal section of the runner,
the sprue bottom should extend to the bottom of the runner.
Gates:
Gates are the most delicate members of the system, Gates should
be thin and correspondingly wide, and should be easy to
removed. The optimum gate cross section is rectangular with a
little draft as condition permit.
The Gates (in this case) accommodate a directional change in the
fluid flow and deliver the metal to the Casting cavity.
The design objective is to promote laminar flow, the primary
causes of turbulence are sharp corners, or un-proportioned
gate/runner sizes. The optimum gate cross section is rectangular
with a little draft as condition permit.
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Runner-gate Junction
A gate must never be placed in straight continuation of the
runner;
Gates must branch off the side(s) of the runner at near
right of the runner, which forms a relationship to the
choke or base of the sprue area;
The issue of sharp corners (both inner and outer) create
turbulence, low & high pressure zones that promote
aspiration of mold gases into the flow, and can draw mold
material (sand) into the flow;
None of this is good, by providing curved radius changes
in direction the above effects are still at play but at a
reduced level. Similarly sharp angles impact the
solidification process and may inhibit "Directional
Solidification" with cross-sectional freezing.
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Gate-Casting junction
The gates need to join the thinnest sections of the casting
as much as layout limitations permit;
The aim is to equalize cooling rate between the different
segments of the casting;
If delicate cores or soft mold wall would be damaged by
the impact of entering stream of metal, gates may be flared
out or their cross section increased nearing the casting.
Such precaution is seldom used because it increases
cleaning room cost, and the reduction in linear velocity is
not significant.
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Contd
Major elements of a gating system
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Types of gating system
Horizontal gating systems: are suitable for flat castings filled
under gravity. They are widely used in sand casting of ferrous
metals, as well as gravity diecasting of non-ferrous metals;
Vertical gating systems: are suitable for tall castings. They are
employed in high-pressure sand mold, shell mold and diecasting
processes, where the parting plane is vertical;
Top gating systems: in which hot molten metal enters at the top
of the casting, promote directional solidification from bottom to
top of the casting. These are however, suitable only for flat
castings to limit the damage to metal as well as the mould by free
fall of the molten metal during initial filling;
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Contd
Bottom gating systems: have the opposite characteristics:
the metal enters at the bottom of the casting and gradually
fills up the mold with minimal disturbances. It is
recommended for tall castings, where free fall of molten
metal (from top or parting gates) has to be avoided;
Parting gating system: Molten metals enters through the
sprue and reaches the parting surface where the sprue is
connected to the gate in a direction horizontal to the casting
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Contd
Type of bottom gates
Type of parting gates
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Contd
According to the hydrodynamics of flow of metal Gating
system are divided into open and closed:
Pressurized (Closed):
Closed or pressurized gating system are characterized by
gradually decreeing cross sectional areas of the sprue, slag traps
and runners;
The total cross sectional area decreases towards the mold
cavity;
Back pressure is maintained by the restrictions in the metal
flow ;
Flow of liquid (volume) is almost equal from all gates;
Back pressure helps in reducing the aspiration as the sprue
always runs full;
Because of the restrictions the metal flows at high velocity
leading to more turbulence and chances of mold erosion;
SA > RA >GA
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Contd
Better separation of slag, the metal enters the mold cavity with
a high linear velocity, which can lead to splashing and
oxidation of the molten metal, capture of air, and washout of
the mould walls;
Closed gating systems are especially popular in the
manufacturing of Cast Iron castings.
Open or non-pressurized gating system are characterized by
gradually increasing cross sectional areas of the sprue, slag
traps and runners,sprue: runner :gate SA < RA < GA
Open gating systems are used in casting of steels, aluminum,
magnesium and other easily oxidable alloys;
The total cross sectional area increases towards the mold cavity;
Restriction only at the bottom of sprue;
Flow of liquid (volume) is different from all gates;
Aspiration in the gating system as the system never runs full;
Less turbulence.
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Gating ratio
Gating Ratio is given by As:Ar:Ag where As , Ar , Ag are
the cross-sectional areas of sprue exit, runner(s) and
ingate(s);
If multiple runners and ingates are present, the total area
(of all runners, or all ingates, respectively) must be
considered;
A converging diverging system, where the ingate area is
more than the sprue exit area, is to be preferred;
This ensures that the metal slows down (thereby reducing
turbulence-related problems).
A non-pressurized gating system, wherein the area of
runners and gates is larger than that of the sprue i.e.. 1:2:2
or 1:4:4, offers a rapid filling, the low velocity metal
stream resulting in materially reduced mold erosion.
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General Principles of Hydraulic Flow
On the timeline of a cast product, mould filling is a mere
dot. Yet, it has the greatest influence on casting quality, both
internal and external. The flow of molten metal after being
poured is a transient phenomenon which is accompanied by
turbulence, splashing, separation of streams near change of
sections, branching off and rejoining of streams, changes in
melt properties such as density, viscosity and surface tension
and the onset of solidification.
To obtain understanding of the fundamentals of metal flow
in gating systems, two basic fluid flow equations are of
interest. The first of them is the Law of continuity and
the second one is Bernoullis Theorem.
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Law of Continuity
The law of continuity states that the flow rate must be the
same at a given time in all portions of a fluid system. It
may be written as:Q = A1V1 =A2V2 ; Where:
-Q = metal flow rate in cu.ft/sec
-A1 & A2 = cross-sectional area of flow
channel at two
different points 1 & 2 in sq.ft.
-V1 & V2 = metal velocity at points 1 & 2 in ft/sec.
This would mean that if the flow channel narrows down to
half its original cross-section, the metal velocity would be
double, and vice versa.
The law of continuity, therefore, can be used to predict
quantitatively the effect of variation in channel size on the
metal velocities and flow rates in a gating system.
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Bernoullis Theorem
Bernoullis theorem states that the energy of a liquid at a
given point can be separated into three parts: energy of
velocity (v2/2g), energy of pressure (P1/) and energy of
position, (h). In the ideal case ( with no energy loss ), when
liquid moves from point 1 to point 2, it neither gains nor
looses energy. Thus, setting the energies equal for two
positions, yields the equation as below: (V212g) + (P1) + h1 = (V222g) + (P2) + h2
where V1 & V2 ~ metal velocity at two different points 1 & 2, in
ft/sec.
g ~ acceleration due to gravity.
P1& P2 ~ static pressure in the liquid at points 1 & 2 in lb/sq,in.
h1 & h2 ~ height of liquid at points 1 & 2 in ft.
~ density of liquid in lb/ cu.ft.
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Contd
As mentioned earlier, Bernoullis theorem can only be
employed to calculate velocity in ideal fluid system
i.e.. in systems in which the fluid suffers no energy
losses.
In real gating systems, besides losses due to friction,
energy losses occur at all entrances and exits, bends,
enlargements and contractions.
The exit velocity and flow rates obtained by the
above equation would, therefore, be somewhat higher
than those found in actual practice.
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Reynold's Number
Nature of flow in the gating system can be established by
calculating Reynold's number
Re = VD /
RN = Reynold's number;
V = Mean Velocity of flow;
D = Diameter of tubular flow;
= Kinematics Viscosity/ Dynamic Viscosity;
= Fluid density.
Re is usually between 2000 and 20000.
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Contd
When the Reynold's number is less than 2000 stream line
flow results and when the number is more than 20000
turbulent flow prevails.
As far as possible the turbulent flow must be avoided in
the sand mold as because of the turbulence, sand particles
gets dislodged from the mold or the gating system and
may enter into the mould cavity leading to the production
of defective casting.
Excess turbulence causes:
Inclusion of dross or slag;
Air aspiration into the mold;
Erosion of the mold walls.
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Contd
Re is usually between 2000 and 20000
For Re above 20000
dross formations occur caused by air and gases
Scum on top can get mixed with alloys
Elimination techniques
Avoid sudden changes in fluid flow
Avoid sudden changes in cross section
dross can be reduced by filters ( ceramic, mica)
Also with proper pouring basin and gating system
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Fluidity
Fluidity is capability of the molten metal to fill the mold
cavities;
Gating system design strongly depends on knowledge of
fluid flow;
A measure of the capability of a metal to flow into and fill
the mold before freezing. (Inverse of viscosity);
Factors affecting fluidity:
Viscosity: Increasing viscosity and sensitivity to temperature
reduces fluidity;
Surface tension: High surface tension reduces fluidity;
Inclusions: Insoluble particles reduce fluidity;
Pouring temperature, Metal composition, Heat transfer to
the surroundings, Heat of fusion and Solidification are the
factors;
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Design of gating system
A number of methods for calculating gating systems are
available in technical literatures today.
The method consist of calculating the optimum pouring
time of the casting, which is cross checked with minimum
rate of rise of metal in the mould.
The next step is to determine the total ingate area, from
which the size of the individual gate, runner and sprue are
derived, depending upon the gating ratio being used.
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Pouring Time
For determination of pouring time, the following
empirical formula can be used:t=S3VG
Where: t- is pouring time in seconds,
S -is time-coefficient for castings
V- is mean section thickness of casting.
G- is weight of casting and risers.
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Contd
Pouring cup
Cut into cope
Large enough to keep the sprue full
Skim core to provide clean metal
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Choke Area
The gating system can be designed to fill a given casting
in a predetermined time, by keeping a constant level of
liquid metal in the pouring basin during pouring, to
achieve a controlled rate of flow through the choke;
- The choke is the smallest cross-section in the gating
system that controls the flow rate of molten metal;
- The element (sprue exit, runners or ingates) with the
smallest value in the gating ratio is considered the choke;
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Choke area (Ac)
Where: Ac=choke
area, mm2;
W= casting mass including gating elements, kg ;
= mass density of molten metal, kg/mm3;
g= acceleration due to gravity, mm/s2=980mm/s2 ;
C= efficiency factor which is a function of gating
system use=0.9 for single runner;
H=effective sprue height
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Design of Sprue
Where: A1= cross-sectional area of the sprue at
the top;
A2= cross-sectional area of sprue at the
bottom;
h1 &h2 are the height differences at
point 1 and 2.
As the liquid flows down the cross section of the fluid
decreases. So the taper is provided in the sprue;
Liquid loses contact if sprue is straight-causes Aspiration.
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Risering:
Risers are reservoirs of molten metal that are used to feed
the casting during solidification;
The shrinkage occurring during solidification causes
voids unless more molten metal can be fed to the potential
problem spots;
Risers are designed to solidify last and to draw the
shrinkage voids out of the casting;
Risers also serve as exits for gases and dross entrapped in
the metal and as pressure heads to feed thin sections.
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Risers Rule
1. Risers are located near thick sections of the casting;
2. Side risers are usually located on top of the gates. Use of side
risers is common for thin-walled castings. Since the first metal to
enter the casting will warm the bottom of the side riser and cool
down, and side risers will be filled with hot metal, use of side
risers promotes sequential solidification;
3. Top risers are located on bosses, away from the gates;
4. If the casting is bottom-gated, fast filling of the mold with more
gates, use of insulated or exothermic risers, and chilling the gate
area are safe practices to cure unfavorable temperature gradients.
In the case of open risers, hot metal can also be poured into the
riser after solidification starts;
5. Risers are sized by the volume fed. In the case of multiple
risering, each riser is considered to be feeding a part of the
casting and is sized according to the volume of that part in
question;
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Contd
6. Risers should be large enough to provide at least as much feed
metal as the shrinkage volume of the section it feeds (4 to 6%);
7. If the top of the riser is not open to atmospheric pressure, the
height: diameter ratio of 1:1 to 3:1 should be maintained for a
cylindrical riser;
8. Top risers should be located on flat, accessible surfaces so that
they can be easily;
9. External risers are preferred to internal ones because of easy
removal and cleanup after production;
10. Risers should have greater volume: area ratios than the part
itself, so that the part will solidify before the risers. In the
calculation of this ratio, the area used does not include the area
between the part and the riser or the area between the part and
the gates. This rule is suggested by Chvorinov and has been
applied to practice by most workers:
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Types of Risers
Open and Closed (according to form of construction);
Direct ,which connected as a rule at the upper surface of
casting and side, which is located to the vertical or inclined
surface of castings.( according to the location relative to the
par to be filled);
Round, cylindrical, ball type, half ball, ring type, half ring,
combined ,flat(rectangular and square) and shaped
(according to the geometric shape);
Heated type with exothermic mixture or external heating
source( electrical, gas, chemical (according to method of
cooling);
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Contd
Cutting or easily removable (according to method of
removal from the casts);
Individual, and group (according to number of parts to be
filled);
Gas is removed easily and good quality casting is the
product especially thin walled section long castings can
be produced, filling process is improved easy to construct
usually better for light metal castings that closed one as
heat lose;
Most commonly used riser is open one ,which is used for
small, large and medium type castings.
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Risering design
Risering is a process designed to prevent shrinkage voids
that occur during solidification contractions:
Criteria for Riser design:
Riser must remain molten until casting is completely
solidified;
Riser should have enough liquid metal to feed casting;
Riser should be kept at proper distance from the casting;
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Contd
Chvorinovs rule can be expressed in inverse form as the following:
Ariser A part
Vriser V part
Or, assuming that a cylindrical riser is used,
A part
r 2 2rh
V part
r 2 h
Where r is the radius of the riser and h is the riser height;
simplifying the above Equation gives:
A part
r 2h
rh
V par
or
A part
1
2
h
r
V part
The height obtained using the Equations above is usually multiplied with a factor of
safety of about 1.2 on parts that have cylindrical bosses, the radius of the riser
selected is slightly less than that of the boss to ease the removal of the riser from the
part after solidification.
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Riser volume= a x (casting volume),
Where 'a' is
the ratio of the riser volume to casting volume
Contd
Naval research method is essentially a simplification of
the chain's method, defines a shape factor to replace the
freezing ratio.
The shape factor is deified as:
Using naval research method of the graph, determine the
value of a which is corresponding to the shape factor.
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