Vacuum Casting: Part One

For those who work closely with the aerospace industry, the term vacuum casting will likely be interpreted as the use of a vacuum during the melting of metal material. Many of the complex alloys and superalloys, such as titanium and nickel-based, used in this industry are reactive with atmospheric oxygen or nitrogen. Melting these alloys in a vacuum, under an oxygen-free atmosphere, limits the formation of nonmetallic oxide and nitride inclusions in the metal.

Advantages of vacuum melting include:

Without this process of melting, production of many superalloy and complex alloy castings would be extremely difficult or impossible. Vacuum melted alloys are normally poured into investment molds which are positioned within the vacuum melt chamber or the adjacent evacuated vessel.

In many cases, casting metal in the natural environment produces quality results, but in some instances metal casters have figured out how to act against nature in order to achieve optimal properties from their cast components. By using a vacuum to evacuate air in an enclosed area, either to produce a mold, pour castings or melt metal, metal casters can successfully produce complex, difficult castings.

Because a vacuum is used in various ways during different steps of the metal casting process, the term “vacuum casting” can be unclear. An aerospace engineer may associate vacuum casting with the method of melting high-alloy or superalloy material under a vacuum to avoid oxidation of the highly reactive elements.

But an engineer working with pumps and impellers may think of the mold-filling method using differential pressure caused by a vacuum to draw metal into the mold cavity.

This article will take you through a few of the vacuum casting methods used in a range of molding processes. From thin walls to dimensional accuracy, vacuums can use the unnatural to make certain metal castings possible.

Vacuum-Assisted Casting

In this method, molten metal is drawn into the mold, like soda climbing up the walls of a straw, for a more controlled, less turbulent fill of the mold cavity.

This type of vacuum casting offers dimensional accuracy, a clean appearance and good mechanical properties in a near-net shape package.

How It Works

While the process may differ slightly from facility to facility, the basics of vacuum-assisted casting are generally the same. The mold is encapsulated in a housing that is sealed and placed above the furnace of molten metal.

The sprue or gating, or some form of spout, which is located at the bottom of the mold in the housing, is submerged into the metal. A vacuum is then applied to the housing, which evacuates the atmosphere in the housing to create differential pressure between atmosphere pressure above the melt and inside the mold. This differential pressure is what forces the molten metal from below the surface into the mold cavity.

While gravity pouring has its advantages, within some geometries it can result in a turbulent metal flow that can lead to entrained gas. The objective of vacuum casting is to control the metal flow as much as possible for a tranquil mold fill. For metal castings that call for a sound, consistent integrity, vacuum casting may deliver.

The following advantages of vacuum casting lend the process to precision applications:

This method of vacuum casting is used in the permanent mold, die casting, investment casting and sand casting processes. Choosing the molding method for vacuum casting usually follows the same guidelines as choosing the molding method for typical gravity pouring.

Aurora Metals has been utilizing a vacuum to draw metal into a mold since the 1940s. Historically, the facility only had been able to use its process with copper-base alloys and some other nonferrous alloys because the firm was using steel molds. But, two years ago, the metal caster began developing a method to use its vacuum casting equipment to accommodate sand molds and now Aurora Metals can vacuum-cast stainless steel components.

Countergravity for Investment Casting

Vacuum or vacuum-assisted casting is sometimes referred to as countergravity casting. Countergravity casting can be performed using low pressure, electromagnetic pumping or a vacuum.

Ideal castings for the highly automated countergravity-poured investment casting process have thin walls and are of high volume. Markets include automotive, aerospace, golf clubs, military, land-based gas turbines and medical applications.

After the casting is filled and the gates are solidified, the vacuum is released, causing the metal in the sprue and gating to return to the furnace. This results in a better metal yield with less gating to cut off.

The disadvantage of the vacuum in this method is that the vacuum must be left on until the gating has solidified.

V-Process

V-process molds, which often are gravity poured, are given their shape with the use of a vacuum. This method, which was brought to the U.S. from Japan in the 1970s, involves the use of a vacuum to hold unbonded sand in place in the mold as the casting is poured.

How it Works

The V-process starts with a urethane/plastic pattern placed in a hollow carrier. A thin sheet of plastic film is heated and vacuum-fitted to the pattern, covering it. A flask is placed around the film-covered pattern and filled with a fine, dry unbonded sand. Vibration compacts the sand to fill in the crevices and reach maximum bulk density.

A second sheet of plastic film is placed on top of the mold, and the vacuum is released from the pattern and applied to the flask containing the sand. The flask is stripped of the pattern, ready for pouring.

The other half of the mold is produced in a similar manner, then aligned with the first half. The cope and drag assembly remain under vacuum while the molten metal is poured. The plastic film melts and is replaced by the metal. After the metal has solidified, the vacuum is released and the sand falls away from the casting.

Advantages of the V-process include: