An Experimental Examination on Ice Pattern for Casting Process

Abstract

The casting process has come to wide range of use in manufacturing process. Wooden, aluminum and wax are mostly used materials for pattern in the casting. However, it contains some limitations such as expansion of wax pattern, cracks in ceramic, complexity limitation in wooden pattern and removal of wooden pattern from sand mold etc., in the light of this, the work attempts to use ice pattern for mold making and sublimating ice pattern to create cavity in the mold for pouring. Ice pattern can be produced with aid of rapid freeze prototyping (RFP) or by traditional ice mold method. Integration of RFP/Traditional ice mold method with sublimated ice in casting process allows the quick creation of complex metal parts. Here, mold is produced by ice pattern and then ice pattern is removed by sublimation process (sublimation is the process of direct conversion of solid phase to vapor phase of matters) to create cavity. The advantages of no parts geometric complexity problems , No need of parting line design, less complex limitation, sound casting, clean and less cost of process operation, and better performance. This paper will present our creation study on sublimation of ice pattern in greensand for mold making for casting, and results of the cast piece obtained from sand casting process.