MY4130 Lecture 6-Riser Design, Basic Principles

Saturday, September 17, 2016 9:07 AM

Adapted from Notes by J. Kampe

Based on Sections 8.1-8.6 of K. Rundman's Text

Previously on Morning Joe:

We finished deriving the equations for solidification time in both insulating and permanent molds. We identified the fact that the modulus:

is an important geometric factor that can be used to relate judge when certain "bodies" within a mold will solidify relative to one another.
In doing so, we have laid the groundwork for designing risers that will be just large enough to be effective in feeding porosity.

Again, risers are reservoirs of molten metal that feed shrinkage that occurs during solidification. Risers can only be effective if there is a
pathway for the liquid metal to flow from the riser, to the casting. They cannot address solid state shrinkage.

As we saw from lab, if we do not riser our castings properly we end up with:

And on a microstructural level:

Both of which lead to dimensionally scrapped castings, inferior properties, and a very short time in the foundry business if you can't remedy
the problem.

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the problem.

As we found out doing a very simplified FEA, solidification occurs from the mold walls-inward. This means that the pathways between our
molten metal reservoir (our riser), progressively close off over time.

This is demonstrated in the video below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_KtByZdibI

Dendritic solidification accompanies many solidification processes. The growth of dendrites causes a "mushy zone" to develop which is
driven by thermodynamic and kinetic factors. Fluid flow through these mushy zones can greatly influence how effective risers are in
addressing shrink porosity.

Liquid Feeding and Phase Diagrams (Development of the Mushy Zone)

Before today we used the term "melting point" to refer when the molten metal becomes 100% liquid. Actually this is not the proper term
for transformation to 100% liquid in anything but a pure material.

As soon as we add one more element to the system (Al-Si for example), we give the thermodynamic system an additional degree of freedom
(composition of another element). Due to that additional degree of freedom, the material no longer melts/solidifies at a single
temperature. Instead, the alloy solidifies over a range.

The proper term to use for the temperature at which alloys are 100% liquid is: Liquidus (TL)

The proper term to use for the temperature at which alloys are 100% solid is: Solidus (Ts)

The solidification range is thus defined as the difference between liquidus and solidus : TL-Ts

This is a key thermodynamic factor that gives us an idea on how well liquid can flow from the riser to the casting

Some other important terms:

Eutectic: For binary systems, this is an invariant point (at a fixed composition/temperature) where the liquid transforms to two different
solid phases. (L->Solid1+Solid1)

Solvus: Temperature above which a secondary phase dissolves into a matrix phase (the precipitate dissolves into the solid).

In general, the wider the solidification range, the more difficult it is to feed liquid metal through the developing mushy zone. Looking at a
phase diagram:

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Zooming into the region of interest

In the figure, the red line ("V" shaped curve) is the liquidus. The blue (L shaped curve) is the solidus. The green vertical line to the left is the
solvus line for the silicon dissolving into the aluminum.

As we move from 100% Al to the Eutectic Point, the solidification range first goes up, reaching a maximum at the intersection between the
solvus and solidus, then goes down until the eutectic composition is achieved. Again, depending on composition, we can have more or less
difficulty feeding porosity from our risers because of dendritic growth patterns.

The key take away is that each alloy is designed based on a combination of properties and in some cases the properties of an alloy that

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The key take away is that each alloy is designed based on a combination of properties and in some cases the properties of an alloy that
make it appealing in service, may make lead to compositions that are difficult to cast. The same factors that make feeding in risers
difficult can also influence another key factor "fluidity" which will directly impact gating/runner designs.

Types of Shrinkage
There are several types of shrinkage that we've already seen in labs.

Type 1: Macroshrinkage

Can be seen with the unaided eye, no magnification necessary.

Two subtypes:

Internal Macroshrinkage: Voids, large scale porosity

External Macroshrinkage: "Suck down" in the casting

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Unrisered Stepbar from Castings Lab, an example of "suck down"

Typically, with proper riser design, macroshrinkage can be readily addressed.

Type 2: Microshrinkage

Occurs on the microscopic level (we need magnification to see it). It is finely dispersed and occurs between dendrite arms.

Risered casting from lab still exhibiting microporosity

Microporosity is expected in alloys (especially those with large solidification range) due to the tortuous feeding paths that occur in these
systems. Microporosity can occur both internally and externally as shown below depending on the sequence of solidification.

For instance, consider the following sequence of events:

1. Dendrite nucleation from mold walls (heterogeneous nucleation, remember this is more common than homogeneous nucleation)
2. Shrinkage from liquid->solid transformation leads to pressure gradients developing (localized vacuum cells)
3. Liquid flows from high pressure areas to low pressure areas (i.e. towards solidification zones)

If on an external surface, there is no vacuum development and surface microporosity will form. If the liquid cannot reach the low pressure
areas before it is solidified, then porosity will form between dendrite arms.

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Due to the size of the porosity and issues with feeding between dendrite arms, microporosity may be impossible to avoid even with
proper riser design.

Riser Design
Solidification Time

Recall from lesson 4, that we came up with the general expression for the solidification time of an effective riser:

>

Which means,

>

For a riser/casting system surrounded by the same material, this means,

>

And a rough rule of thumb is that

= 1.1

This in terms of solidification time that,

> 1.21

So we could make a very large riser and properly feed our casting,

As we pointed out in lab we must also consider casting yield:

Yield = (weight of metal shipped)/(metal poured)x100

This commonly resided between 40-80% (if you get anything above 70% you are doing really well). Remember in addition to the risers, we
also have runners, sprue, pouring basin, etc. It is important to be as efficient in these designs as possible and still produce castings or the
required quality.

Riser Considerations

1. Blind or Open
a. Blind-completely enclosed in the mold, staying hot longer

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 a. Blind-completely enclosed in the mold, staying hot longer
b. Open-has a free surface open to atmosphere, better for venting, and larger castings
2. Hot or Cold
a. Hot-positioned between the sprue and gate to the casting (i.e. the liquid metal flows through and the last metal from the ladle
will eventually reside within the riser, typically this metal hotter than what has made it into the casting)
b. Cold-riser is positioned at the end of molten metal flow (beyond the casting)
c. Cold risers are generally larger than hot risers, but in cold risers, you may have a better chance to fill intricate details within the
casting itself.
3. Number of risers
a. This is a function of effective feeding distance (Lesson 7)
4. Size and Shape, V/A, consider casting yield
5. Positioning
a. Top or side
6. How is it connected?
7. Riser effect zones (hot spots due to the thermal mass of the riser) (covered more in Lesson 7)
8. Insulation of the riser
a. Higher cost and may not be geometrically feasible
b. Increased Bs of riser area versus the casting allows riser design where MR < MC

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