Glossary and Terms of the Foundry Industry

SFSA: Glossary of 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 Sand: Specially prepared molding sand mixture used in the mold adjacent to the pattern to produce a smooth casting surface.
Fatigue: The loss of load-bearing ability of a material under repeated load application, as opposed to a single load.
Fatigue Crack or Failure: A fracture starting from a nucleus where there is an abnormal concentration of cyclic stress. The fracture surface is smooth and frequently shows concentric (sea shell) markings with a nucleus as a 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.
Feeding: The process of supplying molten metal to compensate for volume shrinkage while the casting is solidifying.
Ferrite: A solid solution of one or more elements in the body-center-cubic phase of iron or steel.
Ferritic Steels: Steels in which ferrite is the predominant phase. These steels are magnetic.
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.
Fettle: 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.
Fillet: A concave corner piece used on foundry patterns, a radius joint replacing sharp inside corners.
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.
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.
Flash: A thin section of metal formed at the mold, core, or die joint or parting in a casting due to the cope and drag not matching completely or where core and coreprint do not match.
Flask: A metal frame used for making or holding a sand mold. The upper part is the cope and the bottom half is the drag.
Flask Bar: A reinforcing member attached within either half of a flask to assist in holding the rammed sand in position.
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.
Flat Back: A pattern with a flat surface at the joint of the mold. It lies wholly within the drag and the joint of the cope is a plane surface.
Flow-Off (Pop-Off): A large vent, usually located at the high of the mold cavity. In addition to letting air and mold gases escape as metal fills the mold cavity, the flow-off fills with metal and acts to relieve the surge of pressure near the end of the pouring.
Fluidize: To impart fluid like properties to powders or sands e.g. fluidized beds.
Fluidity: The ability of molten metal to flow. Common devices used to measure fluidity are: spiral casting and the Chinese Puzzle.
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 ".
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.

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