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Glossary of Foundry Terms - S

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SAE Specifications

A set of materials specification issued by the Society of Automotive Engineers, Inc.

Sag

A decrease in metal section in casting due to sagging of the cope or core. See Core, Cope.

Salamander

A heating device, usually of drum shape, in which fuel is burned in the open air by natural draft. Iron material which has collected in the bottom of a blast furnace during a blow. See Blast Furnace, Blow.

Salt Bath

A bath of molten salts used for heating steels, for hardening or tempering.

Sand

In metalcasting, a loose, granular material high in SiO₂, resulting from the disintegration of rock. The name sand refers to the size of grain and not to mineral composition. Diameter of the individual grains can vary from approximately 6 to 270 mesh. Most foundry sands are made up principally of the mineral quartz (silica). Reason for this is that sand is plentiful, refractory, and cheap; miscellaneous sands include zircon, olivine, chromite, CaCO₃, black sand (lava grains), titanium minerals and others.

Sand Blast

Sand driven by a blast of compressed air (or steam). It is used to clean castings, to cut, polish, or decorate glass or other hard substances, and also to clean building fronts, etc.

Sand Casting

Metal castings produced in sand molds. See Casting.

Sand Conditioning

Preparation of used molding sand for reuse, which includes additions of bond, additives, moisture, etc.

Sand Control

Procedure whereby various properties of foundry sand, such as fineness, permeability, green strength, moisture content, etc., are adjusted to obtain castings free from blows, scabs, veins, and similar defects. See Foundry Sand.

Sand Control Equipment

Testing instruments such as moisture determinators, permeability air-flow apparatus, etc., for determining the various physical properties of sands.

Sand Dryer

Apparatus for removing moisture from sand.

Sand Holes

Cavities of irregular shape and size whose inner surfaces plainly show the imprint of granular material.

Sand Inclusions

Cavities or surface imperfections on a casting caused by sand washing into the mold cavity. See Mold Cavity.

Sand Molding

Process in which moist sand is compressed into a hollow form. Molten metal is then poured into the form to fill the cavity. When the metal has solidified, the sand is broken away by vibration leaving the metal casting.

Sand Muller

A machine for mixing sand by kneading and squeezing. See Muller.

Sand Mulling

A method of evenly distributing the bond around the sand grain by a rubbing action.

Sand Plow

A bladed device used to divert sand from a belt conveyor into a sand hopper.

Sand Porosity

Volume of the pore spaces or folds in a sand. (Not synonymous with permeability).

Sand Reclaimer

Equipment for removing extraneous material from used sand and reconditioning it for further use.

Sand Reclamation

Processing of used foundry sand grains by thermal, attraction or hydraulic methods so that it may be used in place of new sand without substantially changing current foundry sand practice. See Foundry Sand.

Sand Slinger

Molding machine which throws sand into a flask or corebox, by centrifugal action. See Flask, Core Box.

Sand Tempering

Dampening and cutting over or otherwise mixing sand to produce uniform distribution of moisture, and allowing time for migration of water molecules.

Sand Toughness

Indication of molding sand workability, particularly with reference to ramability, because the tougher the sand, the harder it is to ram tightly against the pattern. It is usually given as a number obtained by multiplying deformation by green compressive strength times 1000. See Molding Sand.

Sand Wall

Temporary independent wall separated from a slag pocket wall; facilitates slag removal and protects permanent wall.

Sand, Backing

Sand in a mold back of the facing.

Sand, Bank

Sand from a bank or pit.

Sand, Blast

Sand used in an abrasive blasting machine for cleaning castings.

Sand, Core

Sand used in making cores.

Sand, Facing

Prepared sand used next to the pattern.

Sand, Floor

Sand used in floor molding.

Sand, Heap

Sand prepared on foundry floor.

Sand, Lake

Sharp sand from vicinity of lakes.

Sand, Molding

Sand used to make molds.

Sand, Natural

Naturally bonded sand as distinguished from that which is formed synthetically. See Naturally Bonded.

Sand, Open

Sand through which gases can pass freely.

Sand, Silica

Sand composed of almost pure silica.

Sand, Synthetic

Molding sand prepared by adding clay or other bond to the sand which is practically free of those materials. See Natural Sand.

Scab

A blemish on a casting caused by eruption of gas from the mold face.

Scaling (Scale)

Surface oxidation, partially adherent layers of corrosion products, left on metals by heating or casting in air or in other oxidizing atmospheres.

Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM)

An instrument used for obtaining microstructure images using an electron beam. The micrographs obtained give depth perception of the metal being observed.

Scarfing

Cutting off surface projections such as gates and risers from casting by means of gas torch.

Scrap

Any scrap metal melted, usually with suitable additions, to produce castings.

Scrap Metal

Metal to be remelted; includes scrapped machinery fabricated items such as rail or structural steel and rejected castings (metal to be re-melted, castings that have to be re-melted).

Screen Sand

A sieve or riddle with openings of definite size used to separate one gain size from another or to remove lumps from sand.

Screen Analysis (Sieve Analysis)

Distribution of particle size sand expressed in terms of the percentage of weight retained on each of a series of standard screens decreasing in mesh size and the percentage passed by the screen of finest mesh.

Scrubbers

See Wet Scrubbers.

Sea Coal

Term applied to finely ground bituminous coal which is mixed with sands for foundry uses.

Sealed Source

Any radioactive material that is encased in and is to be used in a container in a manner intended to prevent leakage of the radioactive material.

Seam

A surface defect on a casting related to but of lesser degree than a Cold Shut; a ridge on the surface of a casting caused by a crack in the mold face. See Cold Shut.

Segregation

A concentration of alloying elements at specific regions, usually as a result of the primary crystallization of one phase with the subsequent concentration of other elements in the remaining liquid.

Selenium

A metalloid melting 220°C (428°F) added to stainless steel to improve machinability.

Separator

A mechanical unit which separates or grades ground materials into constituent parts, used in the foundry to remove fines from the system sand and dust from the air.

SG Iron

Term used in Britain and continental Europe for ductile or nodular iron. SG means spherulitic or spheroidal graphite.

Shakeout

The process of separating the solidified casting from the mold material. The stage in the casting process where the sand from the mold is cleaned off of the newly formed castings through vigorous vibration. See Casting, Molds, Vibrator.

Shakeout Machinery

Equipment for mechanical removal of castings from molds.

Shank

The handle attached to a small ladle. See Ladle.

Sharp Sand

Sand free from binders, i.e., new, clean sand of angular shape. The term does not refer to grain shape. See Binder.

Shaw (Osborn-Shaw) Process

A precision casting technique in ceramic molds which do not require wax or plastic investment. See Lost Wax Process, Investment Casting.

Shear

A type of deformation in which parallel planes in the metal crystals slide so as to retain their parallel relation.

Shear Modulus (G)

In a torsion test, the ratio of the unit shear stress to the displacement caused by it per unit length in the elastic range. Units are Pa or psi.

Shear Strain

Elastic displacement produced by pure shear loading.

Shear Strength

Maximum shear stress a material is capable of withstanding without failure.

Shear Stress

Load per unit area parallel to the plane of contact.

Shell Molding

A process for forming a mold from resin-bonded sand mixtures brought in contact with pre-heated (300°F - 500°F) metal patterns, resulting in a firm shell with a cavity corresponding to the outline of the pattern. See Cavity, Pattern.

Shell Process

Process in which clay-free silica sand coated with a thermosetting resin or mixed with resin is placed on a heated metal pattern for a short period of time to form a partially hardened shell. The bulk of the sand mixture inside the resulting shell is removed for further use. The pattern and shell are then heated further to harden or polymerize the resin-sand mix, and the shell is removed from the pattern. Frequently, shell cores are made using the Hot Box process. See Hot Box Process.

Shewed Tolerances

Tolerances which are non-symmetrically distributed about the design parameter.

Shift

A casting defect resulting form a mismatch of cope and drag. Sometimes there is a Core Shift, which also produces defective casting. See Core Shift.

Shortness (Hot)

Brittleness in a metal at an elevated temperature.

Shot

Metallic abrasive commonly used for cleaning casting surfaces. In die-casting, it is the phase of the die-casting cycle when molten metal is forced into the die.

Shotblasting (Shot peening)

Casting cleaning process employing a metal abrasive (grit or shot) propelled by centrifugal or air force.

Shrink

The difference in volume between liquid metal and solid metal or the void (shrink hole) left in a casting because of it.

Shrink Hole

A cavity in a casting due to insufficient feed metal. See Cavity.

Shrink Rule

Patternmaker's rule graded to allow for metal contraction.

Shrinkage

Difference in volume between liquid metal and solid metal in a given cavity. Contraction of metal in the mould during solidification. The term is also used to describe the casting defect, i.e. shrinkage cavity. This results from poor design, insufficient metal feed, or inadequate feeding.

Shrinkage Cracks

Cracks that form in metal as result of the pulling apart of grains by contraction before complete solidification. See Solidification.

Shrinkage, Centerline

Shrinkage occurring in the center of casting sections, particularly with platelike or barlike contours, which solidify simultaneously from two faces and cut off feeding in the central portion.

Shrinkage, Patternmakers

A linear scale or ruler, typically in inches or millimeters which has been lengthened by the percentage of linear shrinkage by which liquid metal contracts during solidification and cooling. See Solidification.

Sieve

A device with meshes of wire or other material for separating fine material from coarse material.

Sieve Analysis

See Screen Analysis.

Silica

Silicon dioxide, SiO₂, occurring in nature as quartz, opal, etc. Molding and core sands are impure silica. The prime ingredient of sand and acid refractories.

Silica Brick

Refractory material of ganister, bonded with hydrated lime, and fired at high temperature.

Silica Flour

Silica in finely divided form.

Silica Gel

A colloidal form of silica used as a drying agent.

Silica Sand

Sand with a minimum silica content of 95% used for forming casting molds.

Silica Wash

Silica flour mixed with water and other materials to form a brushable or sprayable facing material.

Silicon

An abundant element, chemically classed as a nonmetal, metallurgically a metal, used extensively in ferrous and nonferrous alloys; melting point 1423ƒC (2593.4ƒF).

Silicon Brass

A series of alloys containing 0.5-6% silicon, 1-19% zinc and a substantial amount of copper. See Alloy.

Silicon Bronze

A series of alloys containing 1-5% silicon, 0.5-3% iron, under 5% zinc, under 1.5% manganese, and the remainder being substantially copper.

Silicon Carbide Briquets

Silicon carbide in briquet form used as an inoculant and deoxidizer in cupola-melted gray iron.

Silicon-Aluminum

An alloy of 50% silicon and 50% aluminum used for making silicon additions to aluminum alloys; also called an intermediate or hardener alloy. Melting point is 1070ƒF. See Alloy.

Silicon-Copper

An alloy of silicon and copper, used as a deoxidizer and hardener in copper-base alloys, which is available in tow types containing 10 and 20% silicon.

Silvery Iron

A type of pig iron containing 8-14% silicon, 1.50% carbon max., 0.06% sulfur max., and 0.15% phosphorus max. See Pig Iron.

Simultaneous Engineering

Refers to the process where user/designer and producer interact to reduce lead time and improve the efficiency of a part. This process is faster and more efficient than the traditional sequential process of design and manufacture.

Sintering

The bonding of adjacent surfaces of particles of a mass of powder or a compact by heating to a suitable temperature and cooling.

Sintering Point

That temperature at which the molding material begins to adhere to the casting, or in a test when the sand coheres to a platinum ribbon under controlled conditions. Also, the temperature at which sand grains begin to adhere to one another.

Sizing

A primary coating of glue applied to the end grain of wood to seal the pores.

Skeleton Pattern

A framework representing both the exterior and interior of the shape of the casting.

Skim Bob

Small upward bulge in the grating system, near the casting cavity, which functions as a dirt trap.

Skim Core (Skimmer)

A flat core or tile placed in a mold to skim a flowing stream of metal. Commonly used in pouring basins, it hold back slag and dirt while clean metal passes underneath to the downsprue.

Skim Gate

A gating arrangement which changes the direction of flow of molten metal and prevents the passage of slag and other undesirable materials into the mold cavity. See Mold Cavity, Slag.

Skimmer

A device or tool for removing slag and dross from the surface of molten metal. See Dross, Slag.

Skimming

Removing or hold back dirt or slag from the surface of the molten metal before or during pouring.

Skin

A thin surface layer different chemically or structurally from the main mass of a metal object. The surface of a mold or casting. See Casting, Mold.

Skin-Drying

Drying the surface of the mold by direct application of heat.

Slab Core

A plain flat core.

Slag

A fused nonmetallic material used to protect molten metal from the air and to extract certain impurities. The nonmetallic covering on molten metal resulting from the combination of impurities in the initial charge like ash from fuel, and any silica and clay eroded from the refactory lining. It is skimmed off prior to pouring the metal.

Slag Inclusions

Casting surface imperfections similar to sand inclusions, but containing impurities from the charge materials, silica and clay eroded from the refractory lining, ash from the fuel during the melting process. May also originate from metal-refractory reactions occurring in the ladle during pouring of the casting. See Inclusions.

Slag Trap

An enlargement, dam or protrusion in the gating or runner system in a mold for the purpose of preventing molten slag particles from entering the mold cavity. See Dirt Trap.

Slicking (Sleeking)

Smoothing the surface of molds.

Slip Casting

In ceramics, a pouring slip, a water suspension of finely ground clay, into a plaster of Paris mold. After it hardens it is dried and fired.

Slurry

A flow able mixture of refractory particles suspended in a liquid. Thin watery mixture such as the gypsum mixture for plaster molding, the molding medium used for investment casting, core dips, and mold washes. See Dip Coat.

Slush Casting

Casting made by pouring an alloy into a metal mold, allowing it to remain sufficiently long to form a think solid shell, and then pouring out the remaining liquid metal. See Alloy, Casting.

Smelter

An individual or firm which wins metals from cores, or which melts, treats or refines scrap metals and alloys for further use.

Smelting

A metallurgical thermal process in which a metal is separated in fused form from nonmetallic materials or other undesired metals with which it is associated.

Smoke

A type of emission resulting from incomplete combustion and consisting predominantly of small gas borne particles of combustible material present in sufficient quantity to be observable independently of the presence of other solids in the gas stream.

Snag

Removal of fins and rough places on a casting by means of grinding. See Casting, Fins, Grinding.

Snap Flask

A flask that has hinges and latches so that it may be removed from the mold prior to the pouring.

Soaking

Prolonged heating of a metal, furnace or ladle at a selected temperature.

Sodium Silicate (CO₂ Process)

Molding sand is mixed with sodium silicate and the mould is gassed with carbon dioxide gas to produce a hard mold or core. See Water Glass.

Softening

A process used to soften metals through annealing or tempering. See Annealing.

Sold

That material which has a tendency to resist any attempt to change its size or shape.

Soldering

Joining metals by fusion of alloys that have relatively low melting points- most commonly, lead-based or tin-based alloys, which are the soft solders. Hard solders are alloys that have sliver, copper, or nickel bases, and use of these alloys with melting points higher than 800°F (426.7°C) is generally termed brazing. The sticking or adhering of molten metal to portions of a die.

Soldiers

Wooden pegs used to reinforce a body of sand or hold it in place.

Solid Contraction

Shrinkage or contraction as a metal cools from the solidifying temperature to room temperature.

Solid Solution

A single solid homogeneous crystalline phase containing two or more chemical species.

Solidification

Process of metal (or alloy) changing from the liquid to the solid state.

Solidification Range

Only pure metals solidify or freeze at one definite temperature. Alloys contain different constituents which solidify at different temperatures, and the various temperatures from that of the first constituent to solidify to that of the last to constituent to freeze is called the solidification range. See Solidification.

Solidification, Shrinkage

The decrease in size accompanying the freezing of a molten metal.

Solidifying Contraction

Shrinkage or contraction as metal solidifies. See Shrinkage.

Solidus

Temperature at which freezing is completed. Below that temperature all metals are completely solid.

Sonic Testing

Using sound waves above audible frequency via a supersonic reflectoscope to measure time sound waves take returning from opposite sides of casting. Defects return the waves in more or less time. See Defects.

Sorbite

Tempered martensite that has a micro-structure of distinctly granular appearance. Further tempering causes the appearance of clearly resolvable carbide particles (spheroidite).

Spalling

Buckling or flaking off of the surface material.

Spary Quenching

After solution heat treating, a mode of quenching in which a spray of water is directed upon material just removed from the furnace.

Specific Gravity

A numerical value representing the weight of a given substance as compared with the weight of an equal volume of water at 39°F (3.9°C), for which the specific gravity is taken as 1,000 kg/m³. See Density.

Specific Heat

Equivalent to thermal capacity, or the quantity of heat required to produce a unit change in the temperature of a unit mass.

Specific Volume

Volume of one gram of a substance at a specific temperature, usually 68°F (20°C).

Spect-O-Graph

Optical instrument for determining the concentration of metallic constituents in a metal (or alloy) by the intensity of specific wavelengths generated when the metal or alloy is thermally or electrically excited.

Spectography

Process for determining the concentration of metallic constituents in a metal or alloy by the intensity of specific wavelengths generated when the metal or alloy is thermally or electrically excited.

Spheroidite

A cementite aggregate of globular carbide and ferrite.

Spheroidized Vementite (Divorced Pearlite)

The globular condition of iron carbide after a spheroidizing treatment.

Spiegeleisen (Spiegel)

Alloy of iron and manganese used in basic and acid open hearth steelmaking practice A high manganese pig iron containing 15-30% manganese and used in bessemer and open-hearth steel production. See Pig Iron.

Spiral Test

A method of interpreting the fluidity of an alloy by pouring molten metal into a mold with a long narrow channel. The length of such casting, under standardized conditions, is taken as the fluidity index of that alloy.

Splash Core

A core of tile placed in a mold to prevent erosion of the mold at places where metal impinges with more than normal force. Splash cores are commonly used at the bottom of large rammed pouring basins, at the bottom of long downsprues, or at the ingates of large molds.

Split Pattern

A pattern that is parted for convenience in molding.

Spongy Casting

A casting in which the metal is porous and dendritic.

Spout

A trough through which the metal flows from the furnace to the ladle.

Sprue

A vertical passageway that takes the molten metal from the pouring basin to the runner. See Runners.

Sprue (Downsprue Downgate)

(1) The channel, usually vertical, which the molten metal enters: so-called because it conducts metal down into the mold. (2) The vertical channel connecting the pouring basin with the runner system and terminates in the sprue well at the bottom. See Runners.

Sprue Base (or well)

Rectangular or cylindrical block that receives metal from the Sprue, reduces the velocity of the falling stream of metal and provides the transition from the vertical to the horizontal and send the metal into the runner system. See Runners.

Sprue Bottom

A print attached to the top or squeeze board of a mold to make an impression in the cope indicating where the sprue should be cut. See Cope, Molds.

Sprue Cutter

A metal tool used in cutting the pouring aperture, the sprue hole.

Sprue Hole

The opening through which the metal is poured into the cope to run into the casting cavity. See Cope.

Sprue Pin

In die-casting, a tapered pin with a rounded end projecting into a sprue hole, acting as a core that deflects the metal and aids in removal of the sprue from the die-casting. See Core, Sprue Hole.

Sprue Plug

A tapered metal or wood pin used to form the sprue opening in a mold. Also a metal or other stopper used in pouring basin to prevent molten metal from flowing into the sprue until a certain level has been reached. It prevents entry of dirt and dross. See Dross.

Spruing

Removing gates and risers from castings after the metal has solidified.

Squeeze Board

A board used on the cope half of the mold to permit squeezing of the mold.

Squeeze Head

In certain type of molding machines, a stationary or movable plate against which a filled mold is compressed, in order to complete the compacting of the sand.

Squeeze Pressure

The pressure applied by a molding machine to press the flask and contained sand against the fixed squeeze head or board on a molding machine.

Squeezer Machine

A power-operated, usually pneumatic, device used to pack sand into a flask. See Flask.

Stack Molding

Molding method in which the half-mold forms the cope and drag. They are placed one on top of the other and poured through a common sprue. Cavities on the bottom side of one half-mold rest on the flat side of the half-mold beneath. When the cavities are in both sides of the half-molds, the method is called multiple molding. See Multiple Mold.

Stainless Steel

A wide range of steels containing chromium or chromium and nickel, exhibiting high resistance to corrosion.

Standard Deviation

A statistical quantity used to describe the variation of a measurable attribute about some average value.

Standard Pattern

A pattern of high-grade material and workmanship in daily use or at frequent intervals. A pattern used as a master to make or check production patterns.

Standard Samples

A sample of know composition used to calibrate an instrument or method of analysis.

Standard Shapes

Refractory units stocked by manufacturers or made from stock molds.

Stave Construction

Attaching staves to polygonshaped heads in the building of cylindrical bodies; also, standard method used in making semicircular core boxes.

Steel

An alloy of iron and carbon, containing no more than 1.74% carbon. It must be malleable at some temperature while in the as-cast state. See As-Cast.

Steels, SAE

Common designation for the standard grades of steel approved by the Society of Automotive Engineers.

Steeped Construction

In patternmaking, the courses of material that when fastened together resemble steps. See Pattern.

Stellite

Proprietary name of a group of complex alloys retaining their hardness strength and resistance to oxidation at high temperatures; contains W, Co, Cr and C.

Step Gate

A vertical sprue containing a number of side branches or entries at different levels into the casting cavity. See Cavity, Gates, Sprue.

Stereolithography Apparatus (SLA)

Equipment used for computerized building of three-dimensional models and patterns. Enables the data representation of a CAD solid model to be directly converted into a plastic model of a casting.

Sticker

A lump on the surface of a casting caused by a portion of the mold face sticking to the pattern. Also, a forming tool used in molding.

Stock Allowance

Material added to a part to allow for surface preparation or precise dimensioning by machining.

Stock Cores

Standard cores of common diameters which are kept "in stock" for general use. See Cores.

Stool

Device used on molding machine to hold pattern plate or refractory block used to support a crucible in a crucible furnace. See Crucible, Crucible Furnace.

Stool Plate

Plate on a mold machine on which stools are mounted.

Stooling

Supporting green sand cores in machine molding while pattern is being withdrawn. See Green Sand, Core.

Stop Off

To shorten or change a mold.

Stop Off Strip

Reinforcing members on frail patterns. Impressions later filled with sand.

Stopper Head

A refractory shape at the end of a stopper rod, usually clay and graphite, seated in a ladle's nozzle.

Stopper Rod

A device in a bottom-pour ladle for controlling the flow of metal through the nozzle into the casting. The stopper rod consists of a steel rod, protecting sleeves, and a graphite stopper head. It may also be a single piece manufactured from graphite.

Stopping Off

Closing off a part of the mold that is not wanted to be cast.

Strained Casting

A phrase used to describe the result when molten metal is poured into the mold at too fast a rate or under too great metallstatic pressure, causing the cope to rise slightly from the drag and resulting in an oversize casting. See Casting, Cope, Drag, Mold.

Strainer Core

A perforated core placed at the bottom of a sprue or in other locations in the grating system to control the flow of the molten metal. To some extent, it prevents coarse particles of slag and dross from entering the mold cavity. See Core Strainer.

Strains, Casting

Strains produced by internal stresses, resulting from unequal contraction of the metal as the casting cools.

Streamline Flow

Steady flow of liquid without turbulence. Generally, not experienced in metal casting.

Strength, Baked

Compressive, shear, tensile, or transverse strength of a molded sand mixture when baked at a temperature above 230°F (110°C) and then cooled to room temperature.

Strength, Compressive

See Compressive Strength.

Strength, Impact

See Impact Strength.

Strength, Retained

Compressive, shear, tensile, or transverse strength attained by a sand mixture after being subjected to a cycle or cycles of heating and cooling which approximate foundry practice.

Strength, Shear

See Shear Strength.

Strength, Tensile

See Tensile Strength

Strength, Yield

See Yield Strength.

Stress Raisers

Factors such as sharp changes in contour or surface defects which concentrate stresses locally. See Defects.

Stress, Relieving

A heat treatment to reduce residual stresses followed by sufficiently slow cooling to minimize development of new residual stresses. See Heat Treatment.

Stress, Residual

Those stresses setup up in a metal as a result of nonuniform plastic deformation or the unequal cooling of a casting.

Stress-Corrosion Cracking

Spontaneous failure of metals by cracking under combined conditions of corrosion and stress, either residual or applied.

Strike Off (noun)

A straight edge, or metal bar, to cut the sand level with the top of the drag or cope flask. See Cope, Drag, Flask.

Strike Off (verb)

Operation of removing excess sand from top of core box or flask. See Core Box, Flask.

Stripper Pins

On certain molding machines, a series of pins (usually four in number) which support the rammed flask-half at the parting surface so that the mounted pattern may be drawn by lowering.

Stripping

Removing the pattern from the mold or core from core box. See Core, Core Box, Mold, Pattern.

Stripping Machine

A device for removing the pattern from a mold or a core from the core box.

Stripping Plate

A plate, formed to the contour of the pattern, which holds the sand in place while the pattern is drawn through the plate.

Stripping Time

In oil-oxygen and nobake mixture, the moment when the core box may be satisfactorily drawn from the core, or pattern from the sand.

Structure (Cast Structure)

The size and disposition of the constituents of a metal as cast.

Styroform Pattern

Expendable pattern of foamed plastic, especially polystyrene, use in manufacturing casting by the Full Mold process.

Subcutaneous Blowhole

Blowholes at or near the surface of solidified metal, covered with a thin layer of metal. May also be called pinhole porosity.

Subzero Treatment

Refrigeration of steel to promote transformation of retained austenite.

Sulfur

A nonmetallic chemical element, with a melting point of 444°C (831.2°F) occurring as an undesirable tramp (trace) element in most ferrous alloys.

Sulfur Prints

A macrographic method of examining for the distribution of sulfide impurities, in which a sheet of wet acidified bromide paper is placed on the polished surface to be examined.

Superalloy

An alloy developed for very high temperature use where relatively high stresses are encountered and where oxidation resistance is needed. See Alloy.

Supercooling

Lowering the temperature of a molten metal below its liquidus during cooling. See Liquidus.

Superduty Fireclay Brick

Having pce above 33 with less than 1.0 percent linear shrink in the 1599°C (2910°F) reheat test, and less than 4.0 percent loss in panel spalling test preheated at 1649°C (3000°F).

Superheat

Any increment of temperature above the melting point of a metal; sometimes construed to be any increment of temperature above normal casting temperatures introduced for the purpose of refining, alloying or improving fluidity.

Superheating

Theoretically, the temperature above the liquidus. In practice, it usually means temperature above the usual pouring range. See Liquidus.

Supersaturated

Metastable solution in which the dissolved material exceeds the amount the solvent can hold in normal equilibrium at the temperature and under the other conditions that prevail.

Supersonic Reflectoscope

An instrument for sending, receiving, and measuring sound waves over 20,000 cycles per second.

Supramor

An electromagnetic flaw detection ink for the rapid detection of subcutaneous and surface flaws in ferrous metals.

Surface Finish

Condition or appearance of the surface of a casting.

Surface Hardening

Conferring a superficial hardness to a steel while maintaining a relatively soft core. See Hardening.

Surface Protection Air Liquide (SPAL)

The use of liquid argon, liquid nitrogen, or carbon dioxide snow to minimize the reaction of air and molten metal that normally occurs in an induction furnace. The liquid or snow is fed onto the surface of the molten metal where it vaporizes, displacing the air thus reducing slag and oxygen levels.

Surface Texture

The roughness, waviness, lay or other characteristics of the surface of a part.

Surfacing

Depositing a filer metal on a metal surface by any method to obtain certain desired properties or dimensions.

Sweep (verb)

To form a mold or core by scraping the sand with a form sweep having the desired profile. See See Core, Mold.

Sweep or Skree (noun)

A board shaped to a required profile. It is used to remove excess material from a mold or core. See Core, Mold.

Sweep Work

Forming molds or cores by the use of jigs or templates instead of patterns. See Core, Jigs, Mold, Patterns.

Swell

A casting defect consisting of an increase in metal section due to the displacement of sand by metal pressure. See Defect.

Swing Frame Grinder

A device for grinding large castings where the work remains stationary. This grinder, too large to be hand lifted, is usually suspended from a hoist.

Synthetic Molding Sand

Any sand compounded from selected individual materials which, when mixed together, produce a mixture of the proper physical and mechanical properties from which to make foundry molds. See Molding Sand, Natural Sand.

Synthetic Sands

Synthetic mixture of silica sand and exact proportions of binders and additives instead of using natural sands. See Natural Sand.

System Sand

Foundry sand used in making molds and which eventually becomes the bulk of the sand used in the mechanical system or mechanized unit. See Sand.

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If you would more information about Atlas Foundry Company and the Gray Iron Casting and other services we provide, please call us at (765) 662-2525, fill out our Information Request Form , or email Sales.

Atlas Foundry Company, Inc.
601 N. Henderson Avenue
Marion, IN 46952-3348
Telephone: (765) 662-2525 • Fax: (765) 662-2902
Email: Atlas Foundry • Sales: Email Sales