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Glossary of Foundry Terms - F

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Fabrication

The joining, usually by welding, of two or more parts to produce a finished assembly. The components of the assembly may be a combination of cast and wrought materials.

Facing

Refractory material applied to the face of a mold. See Mold, Refractory.

Facing Sand

Specially prepared molding sand used in the mold adjacent to the pattern to produce a smooth casting surface. See Molding Sand.

False Cheek

A cheek used in making a three-part mold in a two-part mold.

Fatigue

The loss of load-bearing ability of a material under repeated load application, as opposed to a single load.

Fatigue Crack

A fracture starting from a nucleus where there is an abnormal concentration of cyclic stress, and propagating through the metal. Surface is smooth and frequently shows concentric markings with a nucleus as the center.

Fatigue Limit (Endurance Limit)

Maximum stress that a material will endure without failure for an infinite number of load cycles.

Fatigue Strength

Maximum stress that a material will endure without failure for a specified number of load cycles.

Feed Head

A reservoir of molten metal provided to compensate for contraction of metal as it solidifies, by the feeding down of liquid metal to prevent voids. Also called a riser. See Riser.

Feed Material

The volume of molten metal from which a casting feeds as it shrinks (contracts) during solidification.

Feeder

Sometimes referred to as a riser. A vertical channel in the mould (part of the runner system) which forms the reservoir of molten metal necessary to compensate for losses due to shrinkage as the metal solidifies. See Riser.

Feeding

Supplying additional molten metal to a casting to make up for volume shrinkage during casting solidification. See Solidification.

Ferric Oxide

Red iron oxide, Fe₂O₃, commonly available as hematite ore. Used in ground form in cores and molds to increase hot compressive strength.

Ferrite

Iron practically carbon-free. It forms a body-centered-cubic-lattice and may hold in solution considerable amounts of silicon, nickel, or phosphorus; hence the term is also applied to solid solutions in which alpha or delta iron is the solvent.

Ferritic steels

Steels in which ferrite is the predominant phase. These steels are magnetic.

Ferroalloys

Alloys consisting of certain elements combined with iron, and used to increase the amount of such elements in ferrous metals and alloys. In some cases the ferroalloys may serve as deoxidizers. See Alloy.

Ferromagnetic

The ability to become highly magnetic and have the ability to retain a permanent magnetic moment. The elementary magnetic dipoles inside the domain are all oriented in a direction parallel to each other.

Ferrophosphorus

An alloy of iron and phosphorus containing about 70% iron and 25% phosphorus. See Alloy.

Ferrostatic Pressure

Pressure induced by a head of liquid iron or steel.

Fettle

A British term meaning the process of removing all runners and risers and cleaning off adhering sand from the casting. Also refers to the removal of slag from the inside of the cupola and in Britain to repair the bed of an open hearth. See Casting, Risers, Runners.

Fillet

A concave corner piece, often a preformed strip of leather or wax, used on foundry patterns used at the intersection of two surfaces to round out a sharp corner.

Filter

The filtering out of unwanted gases in the casting, at pouring off portion of making the casting.

Fin

A thin projection of metal from the casting, formed as a result of imperfect mold or core joints. See Casting, Core.

Fines

Sand grain sizes substantially smaller than the predominating grain sized in a molding sand; also material remaining on 200- and 270-mesh sieves and pan after tests for grain size and distribution.

Finish (machine)

Amount of metal allowed for machining.

Finish (verb)

The hand work on a mold after the pattern has been withdrawn. See Mold, Pattern.

Finish Allowance

The amount of stock left on the surface of a casting for machining.

Finish Mark

A symbol (f, f1, f2, etc.) appearing on the line of a drawing that represents the edge of the surface of the casting to be machined or otherwise finished.

Finish Welding

Production welding carried out in order to ensure the agreed quality of the casting.

Finite Difference Analysis (FDA)

A computerized numerical modeling approach for solving differential equations. Used primarily in solving heat transfer and solidification problems.

Finite Element Analysis (FEA)

A computerized numerical analysis technique used for solving differential equations to primarily solved mechanical engineering problems relating to stress analysis.

Firebrick

Brick made of refractory clay or other material which resists high temperatures.

Fireclay

A type of clay which is resistant to high temperatures.

Firecracker Core

See Pencil Core.

Flame Hardening

A surface hardening process involving localized flame heating to above the austenite transformation temperature, Ac3, followed by quenching. See Ac3.

Flaring

Term used in connection with zinc-bearing alloys, particularly manganese bronze, to denote evolution of zinc oxide fumes during melting.

Flash

Thin fin or web of metal extending from the casting along the joint line due to the cope and drag not matching completely or where core and coreprint do not match.

Flask

A metal or wood rigid frame without top and without fixed bottom used to hold the sand of which a mold is formed; usually consisting of two parts, cope and drag. See Cope, Drag, Mold.

Flask Bar

A reinforcing member attached within either half of a flask to assist in holding the rammed sand in position. See Flask, Ramming.

Flask Clamp

A device for holding together the cope, drag, and cheek of a flask.

Flask Pin Guides

Guides used to accurately align the match plate pattern in the flask and flask to flask location.

Flask Pins

Assure proper alignment of cope and drag molds after the pattern is withdrawn. See Cope, Drag, Mold, Pattern.

Flask, Slip

A removable flask which can be stripped vertically from the mold. See Flask.

Flask, Snap

A hinged flask which can be removed from the mold after completion.

Flask, Tight

Flask which remains on the mold. See Flask.

Flat/Knife Gate

Wide gate with narrow opening into the mold. It is used to pour thin, flat castings. See Gate.

Flat Back

A pattern with a flat surface at the joint of the mold. It lies wholly within the drag or cope, and this joint of the mold is a plane surface. See Cope, Drag, Mold, Pattern.

Flowability

Property of a foundry sand mixture which enables it to fill pattern recesses and move in any direction against pattern surfaces under pressure.

Flow-Off

Large vent, usually located at the high point of a mold cavity. In addition to letting air and mold gases escape during a pour, the flow-off fills with metal and is allowed to run or flow during the final stage of pouring. See Mold Cavity.

Fluidity

Ability of molten metal to flow readily; usually measured by the length of a standard spiral casting.

Fluidize

To impart fluid like properties to powders or sands e.g. fluidized beds.

Fluorescent Crack Detection

Application of penetrating fluorescent liquid to a part, then removing the excess from the surface, which is then exposed to ultraviolet light. Cracks show up as fluorescent lines.

Flux

Any substance used to promote fusion. Also any material which reduces, oxidizes, or decomposes impurities so that they are carried off as slags or gases.

Follow Board

A board shaped to the parting line of the mold. See Mold, Parting Line.

Founding

The art and science of melting and casting of metals and alloys into useful objects that serve the needs of industry. It is better known as metal casting.

Foundry (Foundries, plural)

The act, process, or art of casting metals. The buildings and works for casting metals.

Foundry Ladle

A vessel for holding molten metal and conveying it from cupola to the molds. See Cupola, Mold.

Foundry Returns

Metal in the form of sprues, gates, runners, risers and scrapped castings, with known chemical composition that are returned to the furnace for remelting. Sometimes referred to as "revert ".

Foundry Sand

Foundry sand is used in creating cores and molds used in the casting of iron, steel, copper and aluminum products. In construction, steel and iron beams-known as girders-are used in the building of bridges, large office buildings and some homes. Copper pipes, aluminum supports and even the hardware and hand tools used in construction had their origins at the foundry. Foundry sand is the second largest industrial use of sand in terms of tons consumed. See Casting, Core, Molds.

Free On Board (F.O.B.)

This is a historical transportation industry term. It deals with who pays the shipping charges on goods produced. The term is a pricing agreement which does not include the carriage charges, from the seller, to the buyer of a product. The seller absorbs the freight charges, the carriage charges, the destination charges, the shipping charges, etc., whatever you wish to call the expense to move the material from the seller to the buyer. There may well be third party billing of these carriage charges. The seller may well have incorporated these charges in the selling price, but does not invoice the buyer for that fee. Remember..."Free On Board," equates to a remembrance thought factor of ..."Free Onto The Buyer"...or F.O.B. as the early traffic managers so coined the term.

Freezing

Term used to denote the solidification process. See Solidification.

Frictional Wear

The displacement and/or detachment of metallic particles from a surface as a consequence of being in contact with another moving component.

Froude Number

Used in hydraulics as an analog to the Reynolds number. It is the ratio of inertial forces to gravitational forces.

Furans

Generic term for a family of chemical compounds including furfural and furfuryl alcohol sued as binders for core sands.

Fusion

Change from a solid to a fluid state caused by application of heat.

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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