MOLDING SAND

 The general sources of receiving molding sands are the

beds of sea, rivers, lakes, granular elements of rocks,
and deserts.
 The common sources of molding sands available in
India are as follows:
 1 Batala ( Punjab)
 2 Damodar and Barakar (Bengal- Bihar Border)
 3Londha (Bombay)
 4 Gigatamannu (Andhra Pradesh)
 5 Avadi and Veeriyambakam sand (Madras)
 Kanpur,Jabalpur,Rajkot,Guntur.
 Molding sands may be of two types namely natural or
synthetic.
 Natural molding sands contain sufficient binder.

 Whereas synthetic molding sands are prepared

artificially using basic sand molding constituents
(silica sand in 88-92%, binder 6-12%, water or
moisture content 3-6%) and other additives in proper
proportion by weight with perfect mixing and mulling
in suitable equipments.
CONSTITUENTS OF MOLDING SAND

1. Silica sand
 Silica sand in form of granular quarts is the main
constituent of molding sand having enough refractoriness
which can impart strength, stability and permeability to
molding and core sand.
 Silica sand contains from 80 to 90 per cent silicon dioxide

 It is a product of the breaking up of quartz and feldspar

 But along with silica small amounts of iron oxide, alumina,

lime stone, magnesia, soda and potash are present as
impurities.
 The silica sand can be specified according to the size (small,
medium and large silica sand grain) and the shape
(angular, sub-angular and rounded).
2. Binder
 In general, the binders can be either inorganic or organic
substance.
 The inorganic group includes clay, sodium silicate and port land
cement etc.
 In foundry shop, the clay acts as binder which may be Kaolonite,
Ball Clay, Fire Clay, Limonite, Fuller’s earth and Bentonite.
 Binders included in the organic group are dextrin, molasses, cereal
binders, linseed oil and resins like phenol formaldehyde, urea
formaldehyde etc.
 Organic binders are mostly used for core making.
 Among all the above binders, the bentonite variety of clay is the
most common.
 However, this clay alone can not develop bonds among sand grains
without the presence of moisture in molding sand and core sand.
3. Moisture
 The amount of moisture content in the molding sand varies
generally between 2 to 8 percent.
 This amount is added to the mixture of clay and silica sand
for developing bonds.
 This is the amount of water required to fill the pores
between the particles of clay without separating them.
 This amount of water is held by the clay and is mainly
responsible for developing the strength in the sand.
 The effect of clay and water decreases permeability with
increasing clay and moisture content.
 The green compressive strength first increases with the
increase in clay content, but after a certain value, it starts
decreasing.
4 Additives
 Additives are the materials generally added to the
molding and core sand mixture to develop some special
property in the sand.
4.1 wood powder /saw dust-used for porosity property of
moulding sand.
4.2 Coal powder- to increase the refractoriness of
moulding sand
4.3 Starch/ Dextrin -to improve strength or resistance to
deformation
Above additives is added up to maximum 2% each.
MOULDING SAND/ FOUNDRY SAND
 Moulding Sands:
 Most sand casting operations use Silica sand (SiO2).
Usually sand used to manufacture a mould for the
casting process is held together by a mixture of water
and clay. A typical mixture by volume could be 89%
sand, 4% water, 7% clay.
TYPES OF MOULDING SANDS
 Classification of moulding sands:
1. Green sand:
 It is sand used in the wet condition for making the
mould. It is mixture of silica sand with 18-30 per cent
clay and 6-8 per cent water
 It is fine,soft,light, and porous

This sand is used for

producing small to medium
sized moulds which are not
very complex
2. Dry sand:
 Dry sand is the green sand that has been dried or
baked after preparing the mould.
 Drying sand gives strength to the mould so that it can
be used for larger castings
 3. Loam sand:
 Loam sand is high in clay, as much as 50 per cent and
dries hard.
 This sand is used for loam sand moulds for making
very heavy castings usually with the help of sweeps
and skeleton patterns.
 4. Parting sand:
 This sand is used during making of the mould to ensure that
green sand does not stick to the pattern and the cope and
drag parts can be easily separated for removing the pattern
without causing any damage to the mould.
 Parting sand consists of fine grained clay free dried silica
sand, sea sand or burnt sand with some parting compounds.
 The parting compounds used include charcoal, ground bone
and limestone, groundnut shells, talc and calcium phosphate.
 5. Facing sand:
 Facing sand is the sand which covers the pattern all
around it. The remaining box is filled with ordinary floor
sand.
 Facing sand forms the face of the mould and comes in
direct contact with the molten metal when it is poured.
 High strength and refractoriness are required for this
sand.
 It is made of silica sand and clay without the addition of
any used sand.
 Thickness of the sand layer varies from 20 to 30 mm.
 6. Backing sand:
 Backing sand is the bulk of the sand used to back up the
facing sand and to fill up the volume of the flask.
 It consists mainly of old, repeatedly used moulding sand
which is generally black in colour due to addition of coal
dust and burning on contact with hot metal.
 Because of the colour backing sand is also sometimes
called black sand.
 The main purpose for the use of backing sand is to reduce
the cost of moulding.
 7. System sand:
 This is the sand used in mechanized foundries for filling
the entire flask.
 No separate facing sand in used in a mechanized
foundry.
 Sand is cleaned and reactivated by the addition of water
and binders is used to fill the flask. Because of the
absence of any fresh sand, system sand must have more
strength, permeability and refractoriness compared to
backing sand.
 8. Core sand:
 Core sand is the sand used for making cores. This is
silica sand mixed with core oil. That is why it is also
called oil sand.
 The core oil consists of linseed oil, resin, light mineral oil
with some binders.
 For larger cores, sometimes pitch or flour and water
may also be used to save on cost.
IMPORTANT CHARACTERISTICS ARE:

 1. These sands are refractory in nature and can

withstand temperature of the metal being poured,
without fusing.
 2. The moulding sands do not chemically react or
combine with molten metal and can therefore be used
repeatedly.
 3. The sands have a high degree of permeability and
thus allow the gases formed during pouring to escape.
 4. The strength, permeability and hardness of the sand
mix can be varied by changing the structure or
ingredients of sand.
PROPERTIES OF MOULDING SANDS:

 1. Strength
 2. Permeability
 3. Grain Size and Shape
 4. Thermal stability
 5. Refractoriness
 6. Flow ability
 7. Collapsibility
 8. Adhesiveness
 9. Reusability
 10. Easy of preparation and control
 11. Conductivity
1.STRENGTH:

 The sand should have adequate strength in its green, dry

and hot states
 Green strength is the strength of sand in the wet state and
is required for making possible to prepare and handle the
mould.
 If the metal is poured into a green mould the sand adjacent
to the metal dries and in the dry state it should have
strength to resist erosion and the pressure of metal.
 The strength of the sand that has been dried or basked is
called dry strength.
 At the time of pouring the molten metal the mould must be
able to withstand flow and pressure of the metal at high
temperature otherwise the mould may enlarge, crack, get
washed or break
STRENGTH OF THE MOULDING SAND DEPENDS ON:

 1. Grain size and shape

 2. Moisture content

 3. Density of sand after ramming

 The strength of the mould increases with a decrease

of grain size and an increase of clay content and
density after ramming.

 The strength also goes down if moisture content is

higher than an optimum value.
 2. Permeability:
 The moulding sand must be sufficiently porous to
allow the dissolved gases, which are evolved when
the metal freezes or moisture present or generated
within the moulds to be removed freely when the
moulds are poured.
 This property of sand is called porosity or
permeability.
 3. Grain size and shape: Grain fineness no
 ·The size and shape of the grains in the sand
determine the application in various types of foundry.
These are three different sizes of sand grains.
 1. Fine

 2. Medium

 3. Coarse

 Fine sand is used for small and intricate castings.

 Medium sand is used for benchmark and light floor

works.
5. Refractoriness:
 Refractoriness is the property of withstanding
the high temperature condition moulding sand
with low refractoriness may burn on to the
casting.
 It is the ability of the moulding material to resist
the temperature of the liquid metal to be poured
so that it does not get fused with the metal.
 The refractoriness of the Silica sand is highest.
 6. Flowability:
 Flowability or plasticity is the property of the sand to
respond to the moulding process so that when
rammed it will flow all around the pattern and take
the desired mould shape. High flowability of sand is
desirable for the sand to get compacted to a uniform
density and to get good impression of the pattern in
the mould.

Flowability is also
very important in
machine moulding
Flowability of sand
increases as clay and
water content are
increased.
 7. Collapsibility:
 The moulding sand should collapse during the
contraction of the solidified casting it does not
provide any resistance, which may result in cracks in
the castings.
 Besides these specific properties the moulding
material should be cheap, reusable and should have
good thermal conductivity
 8. Adhesiveness:
 The sand particles must be capable of adhering to
another body, then only the sand should be easily
attach itself with the sides of the moulding box and
give easy of lifting and turning the box when filled with
the stand.

Cohesiveness
9. Reusability:
 Since large quantities of sand are used in a foundry it is
very important that the sand be reusable otherwise apart
from cost it will create disposal problems

10. Easy of preparation and control:

 Sand should lend itself to easy preparation and control by
mechanical equipment

11. Conductivity:
 Sand should have enough conductivity to permit removal
of heat from the castings.
SAND TESTING METHODS AND SAND TESTING EQUIPMENT

 1. Moisture content test

 2. Clay content test
 3. Permeability test
 4. Strength test
 5. Refractoriness test
 6. Mould hardness test
1. MOISTURE CONTENT TEST:
 Moisture is the property of the moulding sand it is
defined as the amount of water present in the
moulding sand.
 Low moisture content in the moulding sand does not
develop strength properties.
 High moisture content decreases permeability.
 Procedures are:
 1. 20 to 50 gms of prepared sand is placed in the pan
and is heated by an infrared heater bulb for 2 to 3
minutes.
 2. The moisture in the moulding sand is thus
evaporated.
 3. Moulding sand is taken out of the pan and
reweighed.
 4. The percentage of moisture can be calculated from
the difference in the weights, of the original moist and
the consequently dried sand samples.
 Percentage of moisture content = (W1-W2)/(W1) %

Where, W1-Weight of the sand before drying,

W2-Weight of the sand after drying.
2. CLAY CONTENT TEST
 Clay influences strength, permeability and other
moulding properties.
 It is responsible for bonding sand particles
together.
PROCEDURES ARE:
 1. Small quantity of prepared moulding sand was dried
 2. Separate 50 gm of dry moulding sand and transfer to wash bottle.
 3. Add 47cc of distilled water + 25cc of a 3% NaOH.
 4. Agitate this mixture about 5 minutes with the help of sand stirrer.
 5. After the sand etc., has settled for about 5 minutes, most of the
solution on top is siphoned off and discarded, removing the clay which
fail to settle.
 6. This operation is repeated until the water is clear after 5 minutes
settling period
 7. Dry the settled down sand.
 8. The clay content can be determined from the difference in weights of
the initial and final sand samples.

Percentage of clay content = (W1-W2)/(W1) * 100

Where,
 W1-Weight of the sand before drying,
 W2-Weight of the sand after drying.
3. PERMEABILITY TEST:
 The quantity of air that will pass through a standard
specimen of the sand at a particular pressure condition
is called the permeability of the sand.

 Following are the major parts of the permeability test

equipment:
 1. An inverted bell jar, which floats in a water.

 2. Specimen tube, for the purpose of hold the equipment

 3. A manometer (measure the air pressure)

Steps involved are:
 1. The air (2000cc volume) held
in the bell jar is forced to pass
through the sand specimen.
 2. At this time air entering the
specimen equal to the air
escaped through the specimen
 3. Take the pressure reading in
the manometer.
 4. Note the time required for
 Where,
2000cc of air to pass the sand
 V-Volume of air
 5. Calculate the permeability
 H-Height of the specimen
number
 A-Area of the specimen
 6. Permeability number (N)
= ((V x H) / (A x P x T))  P-Air pressure
 T-Time taken by the air to
pass through the sand
4. SAND TEXTURE TEST:
 Sand texture used to determine
 Grain shape
 Avg grain size
 Grain distribution

Steps involved are:

1. Dried sample of 50 gm sand in placed in top sieve. Shaken 15
min ( 11 sieves and pan)
2. Sand retained on each sieve is weighed.
3. Avg grain size Sbizi/100
1. bi-% weight retained on sieve and pan
2. Zi – standard multiplication factor
5. REFRACTORINESS TEST

 The refractoriness is used to measure the ability

of the sand to withstand the higher temperature.

Steps involved are:

1. Sand specimen inserted in heating tube of furnace (1000 deg)
2. Temp in raised in steps of 100 deg upto 1300 deg & 50 deg
above that.
3. At each step temp held constant for 3 min sample taken out
cooled and examined under microscope.
4, if sand refractory individual sand grains can be loosened by
scraping and clearly distinguish under microscope & test
continues
5. If grains fused test stopped
6.MOULD HARDNESS TEST
 Hardness of the mould surface can be tested with the help
of an “indentation hardness tester”. It consists of indicator,
spring loaded spherical indenter.

The spherical indenter is penetrates into the mould

surface at the time of testing. The depth of
penetration w.r.t. the flat reference surface of the
tester.
Mould hardness number = ((P) / (D – (D2-d2))
Where,
P- Applied Force (N)
D- Diameter of the indenter (mm)
d- Diameter of the indentation (mm)
ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF SAND CASTING

 Advantages of sand casting

 Low cost of mold materials and equipment.

 Large casting dimensions may be obtained.
 Wide variety of metals and alloys (ferrous and non-
ferrous) may be cast (including high melting point
metals).
 Disadvantages of sand casting

 Rough surface.
 Poor dimensional accuracy.
 High machining tolerances.
 Coarse Grain structure.
 Limited wall thickness: not higher than 0.1”-0.2” (2.5-
5 mm).
Advantages: Can produce very large parts
Can form complex shapes
Many material options
Low tooling and equipment cost
Scrap can be recycled

Disadvantages: Poor material strength

Poor surface finish and tolerance
Secondary machining often required
Low production rate
High labor cost

Applications: Engine blocks and manifolds, machine bases,

gears, pulleys, crankshafts, connecting rods,
and propellers, cylinder heads, and
transmission cases
SAND PREPARATION
 Sand mixing
 Mixing Silica sand with other constituents
 Clay,Lime, Magnesia, potash,soda, horse manure,
sawdust, cowdung, coaldust, clay etc
 Sand tempering
 Adding water and cutting thoroughly
 Sand conditioning
 Uniform distribution of binder around sand grains
 Elimination of foreign particles
 Control of moisture content
 Molding Tools

 1. Riddle:
 It is used for removing foreign materials like
nails, shot metal, splinters of wood etc from the
moulding sand.
 2. Rammer:
 It is a wooden tool used for
ramming(Compacting) or packing the sand in
the mould. Rammers are made in different
shapes.
 3. Strike-off bar:
 It is a cast iron or wrought iron bar with a true
straight edge. It is used to remove the surplus sand
from the mould after the ramming has been completed.
 4.Shovel:
 It is just like rectangular pan fitted with a
handle. It is used for mixing the moulding sand
and for moving it from one place to the other.
 4. Trowel:
 It contains of a flat and thick metal sheet with upwards
projected handle at one end. It is used for finishing flat
surface of a mould.
 5. Vent wire:
 It is a mild steel wire used for making vents or
openings in the mould.
 6. Gate cutter:
 It is sheet metal piece used to cut metal passage ways
in mould.
 6. Sprue cutter:
 Cylindrical tubes used to make holes(Sprue) in cope.
7.Bellows:
 Air blowers used to blow off loose sand in mould
8.Swab:
 It is a brush

 It is used for applying water to the mould around the edge of

the pattern.
 9. Spirit level:
 It is used to check that the sand bed, moulding box or
table of moulding machine is horizontal.
 10. Clamps:
 Clamps are used to hold the cope and drag of the
complete mould together so that the cope may not float
or rise when the molten metal is poured into the mould.
 11. Moulding box:
 Sand moulds are prepared specially constructed boxes
called the moulding boxes or flasks.

Moulding flasks
 12. Slick:
 Slick is a small double ended tool having a flat on
one end and
a spoon on the other end.
 Different types of slicks are used for repairing and
finishing moulds.