93 Leakers

Chapter Nine
LEAKERS
93
A. CAUSES
Leakers are castings that leak gas or liquid through what should be a leak
tight part of a solid casting. This is another form of shrinkage, and a mani-
festation of the solidification process.
The section of the casting that leaks may not have any large voids, in
fact there may not be any visible porosity in the location of the leaks. The
problem is the loose dendritic structure that occurs close to the last point to
solidify. At the last point to solidify there may be some visible shrink
porosity, but not necessarily.
However, surrounding this point is an area of dendritic structure that
has enough space between the dendrites to allow gas or liquid to work
through it. This is shown in Fig. 9.1 and 9.2.
But the shrinkage phenomenon is still at the bottom of the problem, so
the same factors that cause shrinkage porosity also cause leakers. In fact,
if there is visible shrinkage porosity present, then it is certain that the area
around it will be porous. How far the porous section extends will depend
on the shape of the casting, and the temperatures and pressures during
solidification. In one trial, a drilled hole was present in an area with visible
shrink porosity. Filling the hole with die penetrant and pressurizing the
hole caused the penetrant to move from 0.5 in. (12.7 mm) to 1 in. (25.4
mm) into the area around the visible porosity.
It is not the same if the visible porosity is gas porosity. Random gas
bubbles are independent, their presence does not necessarily mean that the
surrounding area is porous. However, as noted in Fig. 9.2, there is often
some gas porosity present in the same location as the shrink porosity; and
sometimes just being at the scene of the crime causes the gas porosity to
get the blame. Correcting the gas porosity is probably a good thing to do,
but it may not have much effect on the leaker problem.
Fig. 9.3 shows the concept in graphic terms.
94 NADCA DIE CASTING DEFECTS
Fig. 9.1. This shows the shrink porosity under the area of the leakage site. The leak path is
through the area between the visible shrink and the surface. These show the loose dendritic
structure in the center of a runner, the solid pieces are pieces of casting skin that was
formed in the shot sleeve.
(Courtesy The Ohio State University)
Fig. 9.2. (a) shows the general area of a leaker, with general porosity present. There is
both some gas and some shrinkage porosity, but the shrinkage phenomenon is of the most
concern for leakers (50x). (b) shows a close up of the same leaker site as in (a left),
showing the as cast surface on the left is connected to the shrink porosity through the loose
structure surrounding the shrink (500x).
(a) (b)
95 Leakers
Fig. 9.3. Drawing of the shape of porosity, showing how shrink porosity differs from gas
porosity as far as leakers are concerned.
The center of the casting is usually the last point to solidify, and this
point will contain some amount of this loose dendritic structure we have
been talking about. The amount of space between dendrites depends on
the temperature differences at the time of freezing and the ability to feed
new metal in during freezing (the static and intensified pressures and the
shape of the casting are the most important things).
Most thin castings freeze quickly without much time for the dendritic
structure to grow, also, there will not be a lot of space for developing a leak
path between the skins. Thicker castings will have a larger porous section
along the neutral thermal axis. The skin is not porous, and will block the
passage of gasses. Thus, thicker castings would allow at least a little gas to
pass the center if it were not for the dense and non-porous skin.
Consequently it takes a break in the skin (usually on both sides of the
casting) to generate a leak through the casting.
A typical situation is shown in Fig. 9.4.
96 NADCA DIE CASTING DEFECTS
The break in the skin that starts the leak can come from a crack or a
drag, a machined area, or because the last point to solidify is quite close to
the surface, as with the sink condition.
When this happens the surface generally gets the frosty appearance
where the skin gets very thin and the dendritic structure starts to show
through. This is a visual clue of where a leak may be located.
A leak path often exists between a machined surface on one side and a
hot spot (or frosty spot) on the other (Fig. 9.5). The casting shape heavily
influences the location of the hot spot, which often is on a die half that is
much hotter than the other. Moving the hot spot away from the surface can
help to reduce the leak by strengthening the skin in that area. This means
trying to move the hot spot more into the center of the casting.
One part of the effort would be to bring the two die halves closer to each
other in temperature (if possible). This is something that should be checked
when leakers are the issue. The temperature difference between die halves
should be kept < 50F (27C), but should not be over 100F (55C).
B. CORRECTIONS
The first correction effort should be to try to minimize the temperature
differences in the casting, and particularly to find a way to develop a
good skin on the casting. If a solid skin can be developed, then the leak
path is stopped.
Increasing pressure can be important. The troubleshooter should check
Fig. 9.4. Schematic showing a possible leak path caused by machining deeply on both
sides of the casting.
THE AREAS MACHINED AWAY
ALLOW A LEAK PATH TO EXIST
BETWEEN THE MACHINED
SECTIONS
LEAK PATH
97 Leakers
GROOVE
MACHINED HERE
HOT SPOTS DUE TO
SHAPE OF THE
CASTING
LEAK PATH
Fig. 9.5. A leak path generated by a hot spot just under the surface on one side and a
machined groove on the other.
factors that would allow an increase in static pressure first try to get it up
to 5000 psi or more. Perhaps this can be done with a change in machine
shot pressure or a smaller plunger size. Adjusting the intensifier pressure
and rise time is also important.
Changing the temperature differences inside the casting may well
spread out any visible porosity but the leak path may still be there; thus,
correcting leakers takes more effort than just eliminating visible poros-
ity. Still, it is worth adjusting the temperature balance to move any vis-
ible porosity, especially when it is moved away from the skin into the
center of the casting.
This moving can be done (sometimes) by cooling the hot spot with
spray, by changing or adding a water line, or changing to one of the high
heat transfer steels in that area.
Slowing the job down is generally not a good idea. Besides being very
expensive, it may not help as much as anticipated. It does cool the whole
casting, and this may help generate a stronger skin, but it does not correct
the temperature imbalance that is the real problem.
Adding radius where possible around the leaker area is a good idea,
but can only help so much adding more than about a 0.18 to 0.32 inch
(4.2 to 8 mm) radius does not help much.
Solder or drags are another factor for leakers, they will break the skin
in a hot location, providing a starting point for a leak path. Keeping the die
in good condition to minimize drags in the leaker area is a good idea.
98 NADCA DIE CASTING DEFECTS
Fig. 9.6. Leak path through a thin wall casting caused by oxide skin in the casting.
When considering pressure options, squeeze pins can work well if the
process is stable and they can be controlled accurately. Moving a feeder
gate near the leaker area can help if the gate and runner design is done
correctly, but watch for a change in temperature balance.
Also check the metal temperature at injection a lower injection tem-
perature can make a significant difference because it will reduce the amount
of total shrinkage. Running the metal temperature at the low end of the
operating window will tend to reduce the amount of shrink porosity, and
may reduce it enough to make a difference in the leaker problem.
However, this can cause problems (such as cold flow or flow poros-
ity), and should be done carefully. Also, when operating at the low end of
the metal temperature operating window, previously acceptable tempera-
ture variations may cause the metal temperature to be too low on occasion.
It is likely that the metal temperature variations will have to be kept in the
5F (3C) range (and the other process variables will have a similarly re-
duced operating window) for a low metal temperature operation to be re-
ally successful.
Other factors that can cause leak paths include oxide skins or cold
flakes. These can float around and land next to or in the skin where they
99 Leakers
Fig. 9.7. Oxide layer, apparently between metal flows, that caused a leak in a brake system.
OXIDE LAYER
BETWEEN
METAL FLOWS
CAUSING A LEAK
will provide a path for the gases to flow. The alloy does not bond with the
oxide material, so there is a small leak path next to surface of the oxide
material.
These types of leakers may be random in location instead of being
located consistently next to a hot area in the casting. They will also not
appear consistently from shot to shot as those caused by shrinkage.
If the leak path seems to be randomly located and does not occur on
every casting, then checking for oxides is a good idea. Fig. 9.6 and 9.7
show leak paths from oxides.
When checking for this cause, it is a good idea to saw to both sides of
the leaker location, then fracture the casting through the leak path. Sawing
or machining will destroy the evidence. Examining the surface with 5 to
30 poser magnification can provide a lot of good information about the
presence of oxide films or cold flakes. Doing this to more than one casting
is a good idea. This will make the shrink porosity, or whatever else may be
causing the problem, more visible.
If it is an oxide skin, then the metal handling procedures should be
reviewed, in particular the methods of cleaning dross from the ladle well.
All other metal handling procedures should be checked to see if there is
some improvement possible. A good practice is to have a filter as close to
the ladle point as possible.