WORKSHOP PRACTICE

(THEORY) :ESC-104
LECTURE-4
Presented By:
Jagdip Chauhan
Assistant Professor
Mechanical Engineering Department
Guru Jambheswar University of Science & Technology, Hisar
MOULDING SAND:
• Sand is the most widely used mould material for casting
ferrous and nonferrous metals from a few grams to a few
tons.
• The main reason for this is that the sand fulfills service
requirements at a reasonably lower cost than the other
materials.
• When the Sand is properly mixed with other elements, it
constitutes one of the best materials for the mould.
• The sources of moulding sands are river beds, lakes, the
sea and deserts.
TYPES OF MOULDING SAND:
All types of sands used in the foundry can be grouped as:
1. Natural sand:
• Natural sand can be used directly for making moulds as soon as it
is received from its source.
• It contains binding materials (5 to 20% clay) and needs only water
(5 to 8 %) to mix before making the mould.
• It can maintain moisture content for a long time and also contain a
considerable amount of organic matter.
• This type of sand permits easy patching and finishing of moulds.
• Natural sands are less refractory than synthetic sands and also less
costly.
• Hence, natural sands are used for cast iron and nonferrous casting.
TYPES OF MOULDING SAND:
Synthetic sand :
• Synthetic sand consists of natural sand with or without clay, moisture,
and a binder like a bentonite. Hence, this sand is formulated sand.
• These types of sand are used for steel and another ferrous and non-
ferrous alloy casting.
• Synthetic sand has the following advantages as compared to natural
sand :
o It requires less proportion of binder.
o Higher refractoriness and permeability.
o Properties can be easily controlled.
o Refractory grain size is more uniform.
o It is more suitable in mass production and mechanized foundries.
o It requires less storage space.
TYPES OF MOULDING SAND:
Special sands :
The special sand includes green sand, loam sand, core sand, parting sand, facing
sand, and backing sand.
a. Greensand :
• It is the sand that is in condition and contains 5% of water and 15 to 30% of clay.
• Moulds and cores both can be made up of green sand.
• Green sand moulds are poured in green condition (not dried).
• It is preferred for producing simple, small, and medium-sized casting.
b. Loam sand:
• It contains more clay than other sands, i.e. up to 50%.
• Loam sand dries hard.
• Its ingredients are fine sand, finely ground refractories, clay, graphite, and fibrous
reinforcement.
• It is used for making a mould for heavy and large parts.
TYPES OF MOULDING SAND :
c. Core sand:
• Core sand is different from moulding sand as it has a very low clay content and its
grain size is large to increase the permeability.
• It is silica sand mixed with core oil which is composed of linseed oil, resin, light
mineral oil, and other binding materials.
• Core sand is a suitable sand mixture used to make cores.
d. Parting sand:
• It consists of dried silica sand, sea sand, or burnt sand.
• It is used to keep the green sand from sticking to the pattern and also to allow the
sand on the parting surface of the cope and drag to separate without clinging.
• Its parting compounds may be dry or liquid.
• Dry parting substances are charcoal, ground bone, limestone, ground nutshells,
etc. whereas liquid substances are petroleum jelly mixed with oil, paraffin, and
stearic acid.
TYPES OF MOULDING SAND:
e. Facing sand:
• It is fresh and specially prepared moulding sand which covers the pattern all
around it, thus forming the face of the mould cavity.
• It comes in direct contact with the molten metal being poured; hence it
should possess much improved properties than other sands.
• Its use reduces the mould material cost.
• Various facing materials are plum bags, graphite, talc, molasses, etc.
f. Backing sand:
• It is the sand that backs up the facing sand and does not come in direct
contact with the pattern. This sand has black colour and is hence,
sometimes called black sand. It should be cleaned off foreign matter like
fins, nails, etc. before use.
• It is the floor sand that can be used again and again.
PROPERTY OF MOULDING SAND:
Moulding sand is used to produce sound castings. Hence, it should possess the following
desirable properties:
1. Flow ability or plasticity :
− The moulding sand can get compacted to a uniform density.
− It assists in moulding sand to flow and pack all-around the pattern and take up the
desired shape.
− It increases with the amount of clay and water.
2. Green strength :
− It is the strength of the sand in green or moist conditions.
− A mould that has adequate green strength will retain its shape and does not distort or
Collapse, even after the pattern has been removed from the moulding box.
− It helps in making and handling the moulds.
− If the mould is hardened in contact with the pattern surface with adequate green
strength, then a high degree of dimensional accuracy and stability can be obtained.
PROPERTY OF MOULDING SAND:
3. Dry strength:
− It is the strength of the moulding sand in the dry state.
− A sand must have sufficient dry strength to withstand the erosion of the mould wall sand
enlargement of mould cavity during the flow of molten metal.
− It is related to grain size, binder, and water content.
4. Permeability or porosity :
− Molten metal always contains some amount of dissolved gases which are evolved when the
metal solidifies.
− Also, when the molten metal comes in contact with moist sand, it generates steam or
Water vapour.
− If these gases and the water vapour generated by moulding sand do not find an opportunity to
escape completely through the mould, then they will form gas hole sand pores in the casting.
− Hence, the sand must be porous to allow the gases and steam generated within the
moulds to be removed freely.
− This property of sand is known as permeability or porosity.
PROPERTY OF MOULDING SAND:
5. Refractoriness:
− Moulding sand can withstand high temperatures without fusion, cracking, and buckling,
hence facilitating a clean casting.
− The amount of this property depends upon the metal which is to be cast.
− If sand lacks this property, then it slags on the surface of the mould and a smooth
casting
surface can be obtained.
6. Adhesiveness:
− It is the property of moulding sand because of which it is capable of adhering to the
surface of other materials.
− Also, with this property gaggers can hold bulky sand projections of the
mould.
− Due to this property, the heavy sand mass is successfully held in a
moulding flask and manipulated as required, without any risk of its
falling.
PROPERTY OF MOULDING SAND:
7. Cohesiveness :
− It is the property of the sand due to which sand particles stick together.
− This property helps in withdrawing the pattern from the mould without damaging the mould surfaces and
edges.
− Due to cohesiveness, the mould faces get adequate strength to withstand the pressure of the flowing
molten metal and do not get washed under this pressure.
− This property is similar to the green strength.
− It depends upon the grain size, clay, and moisture content.
8. Thermal stability :
− To avoid breaking, buckling, and flaking off of mould surface at higher temperatures, sand possesses
dimensional thermal stability.
− If not, the casting may have defects like cuts and washes.
9. Collapsibility :
− It is the property due to which the sand mould automatically collapses after freezing of the casting, to
allow the free contraction of the metal.
− If this property of the sand is absent, then the casting will result in tears and cracks.
INGREDIENT OF MOULDING SAND:
The main constituents of moulding sand are :
1. Sand:
− The sand which forms the major portion of the moulding sand is essentially a silica grain.
− It is river sand which is used with or without washing.
− The shape of the grains may be round, subangular, angular, or very angular.
− The shape and size of these grains greatly affect the properties of the moulding sand.
− The grains of the moulding sand may be coarse or fine.
− The coarse grains have more void space between the grains which increases
permeability, whereas a fine grain lowers the permeability.
− Silica sand, with rounded grains, gives much better compatibility as compared to angular
grains because sand with rounded grains has the greatest degree of close packing of
particles.
INGREDIENT OF MOULDING SAND:
2. Binder:
− Moulding sand binders are less refractory as compared to moulding sand.
− Binders produce cohesion between the moulding sand grains in the green or dry
conditions.
− They give strength to the moulding sand so that it can retain its shape as a mould cavity.
− If the amount of binder increases, the permeability of moulding sand decreases.
− The most commonly used binders are as follows :
O Organic binders o Inorganic binders
− Organic binders are mostly used for core making. The common binders in this group are:
a. Linseed oil b. Dextrin c. Molasses d. Pitch
− Commonly used inorganic binders are clay, sodium silicate, and Portland cement.
− Clay binder which is most widely used has the following types:
a. Bentonite b. Fire clay c. Limonite d. Ball clay e.
Kaolinite
− Out of these all clay binders, bentonite is most commonly used.
INGREDIENT OF MOULDING SAND:
3. Additives:
− The basic constituents of moulding sand mixture are sand, binder, and water.
− Materials other than the basic ingredients are also added to the moulding sand mixtures
in small quantities for the following purposes :
− To enhance the existing properties.
− To develop certain other properties like resistance to sand expansion defects, etc.
− The most commonly used additives are as follows:
a. Coal dust:
− It is mostly used in the sand for the grey iron casting.
− It reacts chemically with the oxygen present in the sand pores and thus, produces a
reducing atmosphere at the mould metal interface and prevents oxidation of the metal.
− It reduces the cohesiveness and strength of the sand.
INGREDIENT OF MOULDING SAND:
b. Sea coal:
− It is a finely ground soft coal and lt is widely used in sands for grey; iron castings.
− It restricts the movement of the mould wall and improves surface finish.
− It reduces the hot strength and permeability of the mould and requires more amount of
water in the sand.
c. Corn flour or cereals :
− It promotes wall movement of the mould by being volatilized by heat and reduces
expansion defects.
− It improves the strength, toughness, and collapsibility and reduces the permeability and
flow
ability of the sand.
− Its proportion in the sand varies from 0.25 to 2.0 %.
INGREDIENT OF MOULDING SAND:

d. Silica flour:
− It increases hot strength and decreases metal penetration into the mould.
− It reduces expansion defects and improves surface finish.
− It may be added up to 35 %.
e. Wood flour:
− It promotes wall movement of the mould.
− It reduces expansion defects; increases collapsibility; improves surface
finish and
thermal stability of the mould.
− It may be added from 0.5 to 2.0 %.
INGREDIENT OF MOULDING SAND:
f. Fuel oil :
− It is added to reduce the requirement of free water in the sand.
g. Dextrin and molasses:
− Its addition increases the dry strength of the mould.
− It is almost similar to corn flour.
4. Water:
− The amount of clay added to the moulding sand will not give the required strength and bond until a suitable
quantity of water is mixed with it.
− The amount of water may vary from 1.5 to 8.0 %.
− Water added to the sand mixture partly gets absorbed by clay and partly remains free, which is called free
water.
− The free water acts as a lubricant and affects the following properties:
o It increases plasticity.
o It improves mouldability.
o It reduces the strength of the sand mixture.
− Forgiven the amount of clay and its types, there is an optimum requirement for the water.
− If the amount of water is less, it does not develop proper strength and plasticity, whereas if the water content
is more, then it results in excessive plasticity and dry strength.
 Q&A

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