ME 333 Manufacturing Process I

Lecture 03

Sand Casting Process

• Green Sand Casting Process

• Typical Sand Casting Foundry
• Moulding – composition, characteristics
• Melting Equipment

Course Home Page: http://www.me.iitb.ac.in/~bravi/ME333

© 2006 Prof. B. Ravi, Mechanical Engineering Department, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay.
Sand Casting Process
Sand Casting - Tooling

Parting line
Cope
Draft for easy
pattern removal
MOULD (-) during moulding

PART (+) Drag PATTERN (+)

PATTERN WITH
CORE PRINT

HOLE (-)
COREBOX (-)
CORE (+)
Casting and Mould
Casting and Mould

Casting
Casting and Mould

Mould
(cope)

Casting

Mould
(drag)
Casting and Mould

Mould
(cope)

Casting

Mould
(drag)
Core
Casting and Mould

Feeder Gating

Mould
(cope)

Mould
(drag)
Core
Casting and Mould

Pouring

Mould Filling at 0.5 s

Casting and Mould

Mould Filling at 2.0 s

Casting and Mould

Mould Filling at 4.0 s

Casting and Mould

Mould Filling at 9.5 s

Casting and Mould

Casting Solidification Profile

(White=Hot, Brown=Cool)
Casting and Mould
Cores for Holes

1 2

3
4

1-Part, 2-One cored feature, 3-Joint core feature, 4-Core with print
Sand Casting Foundry

INCOMING INCOMING INCOMING CASTING

CHEMICALS SAND METAL DELIVERY

SAND METAL
ADDITIVES PAINTING
MIXING MELTING

PATTERN METAL HEAT

MOULDING
SHOP HOLDING TREATMENT

CORE MOULD METAL

INSPECTION
MAKING ASSEMBLY POURING

MOULD
FINISHING
COOLING

SHAKEOUT,
FETTLING
CLEANING
Typical Foundry – Pattern Shop
Typical Foundry – Core Shop
Typical Foundry – Moulding Shop
Typical Foundry – Melting Shop
Typical Foundry – Pouring Shop
Moulding Sand - Composition

• Sand:
Silica: most widely available, economical
Zircon: lower expansion, higher refractoriness,
higher thermal conductivity, but more expensive
Olivine, Chromite, Magnesite: intermediate properties

• Additives:
Bentonite clay and moisture: binding, strength, plasticity
Coal dust: improved surface finish by gas evolution
Iron oxide: higher temperature resistance
Dextrin: improved toughness and collapsibility
Molasses: high strength and collapsibility
Sand – Characteristics

• Flowability: For better reproduction of details

• Green strength: Prevent collapse during moulding
• Dry strength: Prevent erosion and collapse
• Refractoriness: withstand melt temperature
• Permeability: allow internal gases to escape
• Collapsibility: for ease of shakeout.

• The requirements for core sand are even higher

since it is surrounded by molten metal.
Melting Equipment

• Cupola: Simplest, economical, for grey iron.

layers of pig iron, coke and flux (limestone)
jot blast, double row tuyers to improve efficiency
• Oil/gas furnaces: graphite crucibles, for non-Fe.
• Rotary furnaces: steel shells lined with refractory,
turning at 1-2 rpm; charging and melt removal.
• Electric arc furnaces: arc between electrodes,
small quantities, composition control.
• Induction furnaces: Cored / coreless
coil > AC > magnetic field > eddy currents > heat.
ease of control, high melt rate, eco-friendly.
Home Exercises

• What is a sand plant? How is sand recycled in a foundry?

• What is the environmental impact of a foundry in terms

of material, energy and pollution (solid, liquid, gaseous)?

• What is casting yield? What are the various stages of metal

loss in a foundry?

• What are the various off-line and on-line quality systems in

a sand casting foundry?

• Estimate the value addition in a ferrous foundry.