Metal casting is an interesting field to study and follow in its development. Here, we will explain the fun and interesting facts about metal casting.
1. Doctor wanna be
Metallic materials have various physical and mechanical properties that can be identified using metallographic techniques. This metallographic process can reveal metal defects or damage, differences in composition, shape, and size of metal crystals, and the metal’s heat treatment process. The metallographic process consists of the following steps:
- Cutting: i.e. removing samples to be examined. A saw, high-pressure plasma, or abrasive disc can be used to cut.
- Mounting: which consists of coating the sample with organic substances (eg bakelite, expoxin resin).
- Grinding: involves leveling the sample’s surface with abrasive materials such as alumina silicon carbide.
- Polishing: this is the process of polishing the surface of the sample to remove scratches and make it look like a mirror.
- Etching: or polishing the surface of a sample with chemical reagents (and so on) to produce the appearance of specific microstructures. Each metal has a unique etchant reagent; steel and cast iron use nital or picral reagents, which can produce a pearlite phase.
- Washing and drying: the samples to be examined must be cleaned of dirt and chemical reagents with water and alcohol. Furthermore, the sample is dried until it is completely dry; any remaining water can cause incorrect interpretation during observations.
An engineer, like a doctor who knows a patient’s disease through X-rays, can find defects in metal based on the results of this metallographic observation.
2. Full of Challenges
Drawing, patterning, molding, melting and pouring, finishing, and quality control are the six stages of the metal casting process. With the following formula, the result of the six stages must be 1:
design x pattern x print x assembly x smelting x finishing = 1, so 1 x 1 x 1 x 1 x 1 x 1 = 1.
And if there is a value of 0 in the process, the result is 0 indicating that the cast object is defective.
Every foundry worker faces a challenge in achieving a single result at each stage.
3. Unusual Profession
The third reason metal casting is fun and interesting is that the profession of metal casting is relatively rare. There are only two universities in Indonesia that offer metal casting studies: Bandung Manufacturing Polytechnic and Ceper Manufacturing Polytechnic. Each year, the two universities produce a maximum of 80 graduates.
While the metal foundry work itself necessitates a large number of people. Because the number of metal foundry graduates is insufficient to meet the field’s human resource needs, the profession of metal casting can be described as a rare one.
4. Masculine Jobs
Metal smelting requires extremely high temperatures, ranging from 1200° C to 1500° C. At such high temperatures, there is no doubt about how hot things are. Then there is a dust-producing grinding process in the finishing process. Furthermore, goods produced through metal casting are heavy in weight. Men’s work is defined by the heat, dust, and heaviness of these cast metal items.
However, this does not preclude women from working in the metal foundry industry. Women can become metal casting experts if they have the ability and desire.
5. Multifunctional
People with experience in the metal casting sector have the opportunity to work in a variety of other fields, such as materials, automotive, and mining. As a result, this metal casting science can be applied in a variety of fields other than metal casting.
Here are five facts that prove metal casting is fun and interesting. Are you interested in learning metal casting if you are unfamiliar with it? And, for those who are already in the metal casting industry, are you prouder to be a part of it?