Abstract
A good sand mold is an indispensable prerequisite to obtaining a good metal casting. Although sand casting is one of the oldest metal forming technique known to humans, it still has a lot to discover. In a bid to meet the ever-growing demand for quality, economics and increasing environmental restrictions, research is still ongoing to optimize for example the process of making the sand mold. This paper presents a comparative study of six different foundry sands for flowability using simple inexpensive apparatus and some quality parameters achieved by these sands when used with three different types of binder, two organic and one inorganic. The study aims to facilitate the choice of mold materials with a more extensive outlook into their characteristics through a serious of sand and mold tests. A good comparison of already existing materials provides a good reference point when novel materials are investigated. All the sands exhibited ‘good’ flow property according to the simple flowability tests done. However, not the same consensus for flowability rank is reached by all the flow tests. The mold quality tests reveal the strength, loss on ignition and permeability values achieved with each of the binder and sand combination which can also be used in mold material selection.
Highlights
Casting is one of the oldest metal manufacturing technique known to humans [1]
This paper presents a comparative study of six different foundry sands for flowability using simple inexpensive apparatus and some quality parameters achieved by these sands when used with three different types of binder, two organic and one inorganic
The tests here were done with virgin sands, the behavior is expected to change if the sands are mixed with any portion of the binder systems or with any other additives, for example in 3D printing the sand could be mixed with the activator/coreactant first and binder is selectively deposited on the premixed sand
Summary
Casting is one of the oldest metal manufacturing technique known to humans [1]. Among the many variants of casting, sand casting is the most prevalent worldwide because of the economics, flexibility and range of alloys it offers [2]. Sand casting technology has evolved throughout time, the combination of sand and binder used for making of sand molds is still an open area of research. The aim in general is to find materials which allow for better mold qualities, improved manufacturing process, finished casting quality, more economical, sustainable process, etc. Replacement of silica sands with other naturally occurring or synthetic sands can be reasoned with mold-metal interactions, aimed at improving casting quality. The repeated deposition of subsequent layers of sand in 3D printers require sand that flows better and interacts in a predictive manner with the binder. All these developments have intensified the research for the sand and the binders used. A good comparison is warranted for different binders too
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