Research Reports and Memoranda

The first part of this report is devoted to a study of the characteristics of aluminium foundry work on the basis of a comparison with the better‐known technique for casting iron and steel. The author conducts the reader, in theory, through the workshops of an aluminium foundry so that he may become familiar with all the practical aspects of the problem. It is shown that the casting of aluminium frequently entails the use of patterns, feeding methods and arrangements different from those adopted for the casting of iron owing to the absence of contraction on solidification of the latter material. The technique is also widely different from the methods usually employed in the bronze foundry making extensive use of long channels, clusters and local sprues. Long channels and runners are best avoided in casting the light metals. Aluminium is very much more iluid than steel, which facilitates the production of thin parts and owing to its higher thermal conductivity the application of chills is very much extended, compared with the use of heat retaining devices and sprues used with steels.