mold

A casting mold , casting mold or short form is in the casting of a hollow body in which the liquid melt is poured, there solidifies and thus then assumes the inner contour as the outer shape. A distinction is made between lost forms and permanent forms:

• Lost forms are destroyed in order to remove the castings . The material they are made of is called molding material . Mostly it is sand ( sand casting process ), with precision casting also ceramics. The lost forms are built with models .
• Permanent forms are cast several times. They are often made of steel ( molds ). But ceramics are also used. Important casting processes with permanent molds are permanent mold casting , die casting , continuous casting , thixocasting , squeeze casting , centrifugal casting and low-pressure casting .

Molds can be open on one side, e.g. for ingots, completely closed for casting or open on both sides for continuous casting and centrifugal casting. Completely closed molds usually consist of two mold halves. In the case of permanent molds, they are separated after the casting has solidified in order to remove it. Sand molds are divided so that the model can be removed. The division is also necessary in order to be able to insert cores before casting , with which hollow cast parts can be manufactured. Molds in investment casting are undivided.

literature

• Stephan Haase (Ed.): Giesserei Lexikon , 18th edition, 2001, Schiele & Schön, Berlin, keywords "Form", "Permanent form" and "Kokille".