ABSTRACT

Casting is one of the versatile and most commonly used production methods in industry. The traditional casting has certain disadvantages like poor strength due to hot tears and shrinkage. The property of casting process mostly depends on the microstructure after solidification. Providing mold vibration during casting is one of the latest techniques employed in order to get a better structure of casting. Mold vibration during casting gives less chance of hot tear, better morphology, surface finish, and reduced amount of shrinkage. In this research work, the effect of mold vibration during solidification of A356.0 ANSI (UNS-A13560) alloys for different wavelengths of mold vibration and at a fixed pouring temperature was investigated to understand the changes in microstructure and mechanical properties of casting. The A356.0 casting has been prepared in a graphite mold with and without vibrations. The frequencies are varied from 0 to 20 Hz during mold vibrated casting process. A casting has been made without vibration as well to compare the results of casting with vibration. The experimental result showed significant grain refinement and remarkable improvement in compression strength and hardness of mold vibrated casting.