What is Centrifugal Casting? Part 2

Centrifugal casting is one of the best methods for making high quality, round components. There are two main types of centrifugal casting: Vertical and Horizontal. We’ll look at their advantages and limitations, and some common applications of centrifugal casting.

Vertical Centrifugal Casting

As a type of centrifugal casting, the vertical centrifugal casting process has a process in line with the basics covered here. Molten metal is poured into a preheated die that is being rapidly rotated to create centrifugal force. As the mold is spinning, the molten metal solidifies from the outside in, with the less dense impurities making their way towards the inner layers. Once solidification is finished, the process is complete. The casted metal is removed from the die, the impurities are machined away, and then other post-centrifugal casting processes can be performed on the product.

With vertical casting, the mold is often taller than it is wide or long, and the axis of rotation is vertical. One advantage that vertical casting provides is that it saves floor space for metal manufacturers. Another advantage of vertical casting is that inserts can be easily placed into a die. This is helpful for making complex cylindrical shapes with flanges, bosses, or other types of protrusions or indentations. These mold inserts also mean that vertical centrifugal castings do not need to be symmetrical.

One disadvantage of vertical casting is that at a certain point, it can be impractical to have a die of great vertical height. Another limitation is that typically the height of the vertical die cannot be greater than two times its diameter. This is because of the interaction of the gravitational force on the centrifugal force.

Horizontal Centrifugal Casting

Horizontal centrifugal casting also follows the same basics of centrifugal casting in general. The difference from vertical casting being the axis of rotation. With horizontal centrifugal casting, the length or width of the die is much greater than the height, and the axis of rotation is horizontal. However, like vertical casting centrifugal force moves the molten metal to the outside of the die and the impurities toward the center, creating similarly high-quality castings.

An advantage of horizontal centrifugal casting is that the metal products made are generally not limited by a given length, so long as the manufacturing facility has the space for large horizontal dies and the equipment associated with them. This advantage lends itself well towards making seamless tubing. Also, because it is lower to the ground than vertical casting, the molten metal being poured into the die does not need to be lifted as high, reducing the height requirements of the facility.

A disadvantage of this process is the amount of square footage it takes up in a manufacturing facility. Additionally, because dies can be much longer than vertical centrifugal casting, it can make accessing certain portions of the die impractical or impossible, leading to more difficult die repair.

Common Applications of Centrifugal Casting

Because of the excellent mechanical and metallurgical properties that result from centrifugal casting processes, it is often used for machining critical parts and components that are placed in demanding environments. One sector that relies on centrifugal casting is power generation. Some power plant turbine components are often made from centrifugal casting, as are pieces of tubing that are critical for a power plant to run. Another industry is aerospace. Engine turbine components, flanges, and many other round objects are often made with either vertical or horizontal centrifugal casting. Additional application areas include chemical processing, high performance automobiles, and mining components subjected to rigorous environments.

Reference URL’s:
https://3dinsider.com/
https://www.metaltek.com/blog/