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Seminar - 7 Casting Defects
CASTING DEFECTS
INTRODUCTION
Casting in dentistry is even more of an art today than
science. For this reason the skill of the casting technician is
critical in the fabrication of dental casting.
The transition of casting techniques in dentistry from those
based on empirical research to those based on sound scientific
principles can help eliminate uncertainties about the soundness
of the castings and ensure that individual skill is not an overriding
factor.
CAUSES OF DEFECTIVE CASTING:
Defects in castings can be classified under four headings:-
i) Distortion
ii) Surface roughness and irregularities
iii) Porosity
iv) Incomplete or missing detail
A) Distortion:-
- Any marked distortion of the casting is probably related to
the distortion of wax pattern.
- Distortion of the wax pattern occurs due to thermal changes
and the relaxation of stresses that are caused by
contraction on cooling, occluded air, molding, carving,
removal and the time and temperature of storage. (Waxes
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like other thermoplastics tend to return partially to their
original shape after manipulation due to property known as
Elastic Memory).
- The setting and hygroscopic expansion of the investment
may produce a non-uniform expansion of the walls of the
pattern (proximal walls).
- The general margins are forced apart by the mold
expansion, where as the solid occlusal bar of wax resists
expansion.
- The configuration of the pattern
Type of wax Distortion
Thickness of pattern
For e.g. Distortion increase as the thickness of the pattern
decreases.
- This accounts for some of the inaccuracies that may occur
in small castings.
B) Surface Roughness, Irregularities and Discoloration:-
- Surface Roughness:- Defined as relatively finely spaced
surface imperfections whose height, width and direction
establish the predominant surface pattern.
- Surface irregularities:- These are isolated imperfections
such as Nodules that are not characteristic of the entire
surface area.
- Excessive roughness or irregularities on the outer surface of
the casting necessitate additional finishing and polishing
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whereas irregularities on the cavity surface will prevent
proper seating of the casting.
- The surface roughness of the casting is invariably greater
than that of the wax pattern from which it is made.
- The difference is probably related to particle size of the
investment and its ability to reproduce the wax pattern in
microscopic detail.
- With proper manipulation technique, the normal increased
roughness in the casting should not be a major factor in
dimensional accuracy.
- Generalized casting roughness may indicate a breakdown of
the investment from excessive burnout temperature
2. Air Bubbles: (Nodules)
Small nodules on the castings are caused by air bubbles
that become attached to the pattern during or subsequent to the
investing procedure.
These nodules if present on the margins or on internal
surface might alter the fit of the casting, if removal of these
irregularities is attempted. But if they are present in some non-
critical area they can be removed easily.
The best method to avoid air bubbles is to use the Vacuum
Investing Technique.
If manual method is used:-
i) Use of mechanical mixer with vibration both before and after
mixing should be practiced.
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ii) Wetting agent may be used (surfactant). Wetting agent should
be applied in thin layer and air-dried because any excess
liquid dilutes the investment, possibly producing surface
irregularities.
- Castings with phosphate bonded investments are more
prone to such imperfections.
- They can be removed with ¼ or ½ round bin. A binocular
microscope is extremely helpful in detecting and removing
them.
- If there is
i. Large Nodule:- Air trapped during investing procedure.
ii. Multiple Nodules:-
Inadequate vacuum during investing
Improper brush technique
Lack of surfactant
iii. Nodules on occlusal surface:- due to excessive vibration
iv. Nodules on underside:- Prolonged vibration after pouring
2. Water Films:-
- Wax is a repellent to water, if the investment becomes
separated from the wax pattern in some manner, a water
film may form irregularly over the surface.
- This type of irregularity appears as minute ridges or veins
on the surface.
- This condition occurs:-
i) If the pattern is slightly moved, paired or vibrated after
investing
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ii) If there is no intimate contact of the investment and the
pattern
iii) Too high a liquid/powder ratio may also produce these
irregularities
- Use of Surfactant help prevent such irregularities
3. Fins:-
- Fins are caused by the cracks in the investment that have
been filled with molten metal.
Causes of Fins:-
i. Weak mix of the investment i.e. high water/powder ratio
ii. Improper positioning of the pattern in investment i.e.
pattern placed to near the edge of the investment.
iii. Too rapid heating
iv. Premature heating
v. Excessive casting force
vi. Rough handling of the ring after investing
vii. Liner flushed with the end of the ring
4. Rapid Heating Rates:-
- May result in Fins or Spines in the casting
- Sometimes a characteristic surface roughness may also be
evident because of the flaking of the investment when the
water/ steam pours into the mold.
- Furthermore, this water/steam may carry some of the salts
used as modifiers into the mold and these salts are left as
deposits on the walls as the water evaporates.
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- Ideally, 60 min should elapse during the heating of the
investment filled ring from room temperature to 7000C.
- The greater the bulk of the investment, the more slow it
should be heated.
5. Liquid-Powder Ratio:-
- The higher the liquid/powder ratio, the rougher the casting
(the investment becomes weak and develop cracks).
- If too little water is used the investment
unmanageably thick cannot be properly applied to the
pattern in vacuum investing air may not be sufficiently
removed.
6. Pattern Position:-
- If the pattern placed too near the edge of the investment
causes fins.
- Positioning of several patterns too close and in the same
plane in the mold should be avoided. Because, “The
expansion of the wax is much greater than that of the
investment, causing breakdown or cracking of the
investment if the spacing between patterns is less than
3mm”.
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7. Underheating:- (Low temperature investment
technique)
- Incomplete elimination of wax residues (too short heating
time/ insufficient air available in furnace)
- Voids/ Porosities due to gasses formed when hot alloy
comes in contact with carbon residues.
- Occasionally, casting may be covered with tenacious carbon
coating that is virtually impossible to remove by picking.
8. Prolonged Heating:-
When high heat casting technique is used
Prolonged heating of the mold
Cause disintegration of gypsum bonded investment
As a result, walls of the mold are roughened
Furthermore, products of decomposition are sulphur compounds
that contaminate the alloy to the extent that surface texture is
affected
Such contamination do not respond to pickling
- When thermal expansion technique is employed, the
mold should be heated to casting temperature – never
higher – and the casting should be made immediately.
9. Temperature of the alloy:-
- If alloy heating to too high temperature before casting
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Surface of the investment will get affected causing
surface roughness
- If alloy heated with GAS-AIR torch will not be overheated
- Other fuels – colour emitted by gold alloy No lighter than
light orange.
10. Casting Pressure:-
- Too high pressure during casting -> causes fins.
- A gauge pressure of 0.10 to 0.14 Mpa in an air pressure
casting machine. Or
3 to 4 turns of the spring in an average type of centrifugal
casting machine is sufficient.
11. Composition of the Investment:-
- Ratio of binder/ quartz
Influences surface texture (A coarse silica causes surface
roughness)
- If the investment meets ANSI/ADA specification No.2, the
composition not a factor in the surface roughness.
12. Foreign Bodies:-
- Presence of foreign bodies
i. Surface roughness
ii. Incomplete castings
iii. Surface voids
iv. Surface discolouration
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- Any casting that shows sharp, well defined deficiencies
indicate the presence of some foreign particles in the mold,
such as;
i. Pieces of investment
ii. Bits of carbon from flux
- A rough crucible former with bits of investment clinging to it
may roughen the investment on its removal so that small
particles of investment are carried into the mold with molten
alloy.
- Surface discolouration result from sulphur contamination
either from investment breakdown or high sulphur content of
flame torch.
Interaction of molten alloy with sulphur black/Grey layer on
the surface of gold alloys that is brittle that is brittle and does
not clean readily during pickling.
- Inclusion of flux shows bright concavities.
13. Impact of Molten Alloy:- (Direction of the sprue)
- Direction of the sprue former
Such that molten alloy does not strike a weak portion of the
mold surface.
- Such an abraded area in the mold reflects as a raised area
on the casting often too slight to be noticed but at the same
time large enough to prevent complete seating of
investment.
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- This type of irregularities can be avoided by proper spruing
so as to prevent direct impact of molten alloy at an angle of
900 to the investment surface.
- A glancing impact is likely to be less damaging at the same
time an undesirable turbulence is avoided.
14. Carbon Inclusions:-
- Carbon as from A crucible
An improperly adjusted torch
Carbon-containing investment
Can be absorbed by the alloy during casting.
May lead to formation of carbides or even create
visible carbon inclusions
15. Other Causes:-
- Certain surface discolourations/ roughness may not be
evident when the casting is complicated but may appear
during service.
- For e.g. If a new amalgam restoration is placed adjacent to
high noble alloy restoration there may be chances of
contamination of the alloy by mercury.
- Mercury penetrates rapidly into alloy and causes loss in
ductility and greater susceptibility to corrosion.
- Dissimilar metals form Galvanic cell that can lead to
breakdown of anode (Amalgam) relative to that of cathode
(noble alloy).
C) Porosities:-
- Porosities in noble metal alloy casting can be classified as:-
Solidification Trapped Gases Residual Air
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* Localized shrinkage * Pinhole porosity (Back pressure Porosity porosity)
* Micro-porosity * Gas inclusions * Subsurfac porosities
* Localized Shrinkage Porosity: (Shrink-Spot Porostiy)
- Cause -> premature termination of the flow of metal during
solidification.
- Linear contraction of noble metal alloys in changing from
liquid to solid – 1.25% therefore continual feeding of molten
metal through the sprue must occur to compensate for
casting shrinkage i.e. shrinkage during solidification.
- If the sprue solidifies before the casting it usually results in
localized shrinkage porosity.
- Occurs usually near the sprue-casting junction.
- If can be avoided by:-
i. Using sprue of correct thickness
ii. Attaching the sprue at the thickest portion of the
wax pattern
iii. Flaring the sprue at the point of attachment
iv. Placing the reservoir close to the wax-pattern
Suck-Back Porosity:-
- Localized shrinkage may also occur in the interior of crown
near the area of the sprue, if a hot spot has been created by
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the hot metal impinging from the sprue channel one point
of the mold wall.
- The hot spot causes the local region to freeze last and
results in suck back porosity.
- Occurs often on occlusoaxial/ incisoaxial line angles that are
not well rounded.
- The entering metal impinges on to the mold surface at this
point (i.e. occlusoaxial/ incisoaxial line angle) and creates a
higher localized mold temperature at this region known as
“Hot Spot”.
- A hot spot may retain a localized pool of molten metal after
other areas of the casting have solidified. This in turn
creates a shrinkage void or suck back porosity.
- These porosities can be eliminated:-
i. By flaring the point of sprue attachment
ii. Reducing the mold melt temperature differential i.e.
lowering the casting temperature by about 300.
Microporosity:-
- Occurs from solidification shrinkage but is generally present in
Fine Grain Alloy Castings when the solidification is too rapid for
the microvoids to segregate to the liquid pool.
- Microporosity voids are irregular in shape
- Such phenomena occurs from rapid solidification if mold or
casting temperature is too low.
- This defect is not detectable unless casting is sectioned.
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Pinhole and Gas Inclusion Porosity:-
- Both these porosities are related to the entrapment of gas
during solidification.
- Both these are characterized by spherical contour but size is
varied i.e. gas inclusion larger in size compared to perihole.
- Many metal dissolve or occlude gases in their molten state e.g.
Both copper and silver dissolve O2 in large amount in liquid
state.
- On solidification, absorbed gases are expelled resulting in
pinhole porosities.
- The larger voids i.e. gas inclusion porosity are caused by gas
that is mechanically trapped by the molten metal in the mold
or by gas that is incorporated during the casting procedure.
- O2 is dissolved by some metals like silver in the alloy when
they are in molten state.
During solidification gas expelled forms blebs and pores
in metals.
- Castings that are severely contaminated with gasses are
usually black when removed and do not clean easily on
pickling.
- The porosities that extend to the surface area usually in the
form of pin point holes.
- Large spherical porosities also caused by gas occluded from
poorly adjusted torch flame or by use of mixing or oxidizing
zone of flame rather than reducing zone.
- These can be minimized by premelting the gold alloy on
graphite crucible or a graphite block, if the alloy has been used
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before and by correctly adjusting the torch flame during
melting.
Subsurface Porosity:-
- Caused by simultaneous nucleation of solid grains and gas
bubbles at the first moment that the alloy freezes at the mold
walls.
- Can be minimized by controlling the rate at which the molten
metal enters the mold.
Black Pressure Porosity:-
- Also known as entrapped air porosity
- Can produce large concave depression
- Caused inability of air to escape through pores of
investment or by pressure gradient that displaces air towards
end of the investment via molten sprue and button.
- Found frequently on cavity surface of crown or mesio-
occlusodistal casting.
- Occasionally found on the outer surface of casting when the
casting or mold temperature is so low that the solidification
occurs before the entrapped air can escape.
- The incidence of entrapped air has increased by use of:-
i. Dense modern investment
ii. Increase in mold density (vacuum investing)
iii. By tendency of mold to clog with residual carbon
when low heat technique is used.
- These factors tend to slow the venting of gases from the mold
during casting.
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- Proper burnout, an adequate mold and casting temperature, a
sufficiently high casting pressure and proper L/P ratio can help
to eliminate entrapped air porosity.
- Thickness of investment between the tip of pattern and end of
the ring should be not more than 6mm.
Incomplete Casting:-
- Incomplete casting when due to some reason molten alloy is
prevented from completely filling the mold.
- Causes:-
i. Insufficient venting of mold:-
Directly related to back pressure exerted by the air in mold.
If air not vented molten alloy does not fill the mold before
solidifying. Now, if insufficient casting pressure is applied
the back pressure cannot be overcome, therefore pressure
should be applied for 4 seconds.
(The mold is filled and the alloy solidifies in 1sec, yet it is
quite soft during early stages therefore pressure should be
maintained for few seconds beyond this point).
ii. Incomplete elimination of wax residue:-
Too many products of combustion remain in the mold,
the pores of the investment become full and air cannot
be vented properly.
Contact of molten metal with wax or moisture produces
an explosion that may produce sufficient back pressure
to prevent the mold from being filled. Castings seen are
generally shiny with rounded defects.
iii. High Viscosity of Fused Metals:-
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An incomplete casting resulting from too great a
viscosity is attributed to insufficient heating.
Temperature of the alloy should be raised higher than its
liquid temperature so that its viscosity and surface
tension are lowered and so that it does not solidify
prematurity as it enters the mold.
iv. Inadequate metal
v. Cool mold or melt
vi. Wax pattern too thin
vii. If there is marginal discrepancy due to wax pattern
distortion and uneven expansion.
If short rounded margins with lumpy/ rounded button alloy
not hot enough/ inadequate casting force.
If short rounded margins with sharp button – Pattern too far
from the end of ring. If casting is shiny Incomplete Burnout.
CONCLUSION:
Good technique pays off !
These are the words of Wisdom. Good technique demands
everyone involved give adequate attention to all details for safe
and efficient operations.
A great force working against good technique is the habit of
taking short cuts which are risky attempts to save time by
modifying proven procedures.
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