Moulding sands

 Moulding sands are the medium most

commonly used to make all type of moulds
irrespective of whether they are used for
producing castings of ferrous metals or non-
ferrous metals.
 These sands are refractory in nature and can
withstand temperature of the metal being poured,
without fusing.

 Do not mix with molten metal when poured and

therefore can be used repeatedly.

 Have a high degree of permeability and thus

allow the gases formed during pouring to escape.

 The strength, permeability and hardness of sand

can be varied by changing the structure or
ingredients of sand.
1. Silica sand
2. Clay

3. Water and

4. Additives.
1. Silica sand:

• Silica sand is a refractory and is used for its ability to

withstand temperature of the molten metal.
• It is essentially SiO2 and accounts for about 50 to 95 percent
of the sand mix. It has a high softening temperature and good
thermal stability.
• the various sands used for moulding are characterized on the
basis of:
1. Grain texture.
2. Chemical composition.
3. Refractoriness and thermal stability.
I. Grain texture:
• Sand grains differ in shape depending upon their geological
history.
• Shape and size of grains have considerable effect on the
processing properties of sand.
• Sharp, irregular shaped grains are usually preferred because of
their ability to interlock and add strength to moulds.
• The size of grains is designated in terms of an average fineness
number which is the sieve size through which all sand grains
will pass if they were of the same size.
• Sand grains of uniform grain size permit better permeability
compared to irregular grains.
• Coarser sands have greater permeability than finer sands.
• Finer sand produce better surface finish with reduced
permeability and pack better.
• As the size of the casting increases, the grain size used should be
coarser to permit ready escape of larger amount of gases
produced.
 Silica sand chosen from different sources vary in
composition.
 They contain varying proportions of iron oxide, alkali
oxides, lime and other metallic oxides as impurities
along with base SiO2.
 Excessive amounts of these impurities tend to reduce
the refractoriness and thermal stability of sand.

Iron oxide(RUST)
 A sand bulk of 99.8% SiO2 is considered to be
most refractory and thermally stable.
 The refractoriness of sand is also a function of
its grain size. Finer grains are more easily fused
than coarser ones.
 Clay is present from 2 to 50% in moulding sands.
 It provides plasticity and strength.
 Several types of clays are used for the purpose. The common
ones are bentonite, kaolinite(fire clay) and illite.
 A clay coating on the sand grains imparts many of the clay
properties to sand.

illite
kaolinite
bentonite
 Water in moulding sands activates clay making
the mix develop plasticity and strength.
 Water proportions vary from 1.8 to 8%.
 Water up to a limited extent is absorbed by clay
and develops strength.
 Excess water reduces strength but can act as a
lubricant and make the sand more plastic and
workable.
 It is necessary to control the amount of water
depending upon the moulding process.
1. Greensand
 It is the sand used in wet condition for making
the mould. It is a mixture of silica sand with
15-25% clay and 6-8% water.
 Greensand mould are not dried and metal is
poured in them in the wet condition.
 Used for producing small to medium size
moulds which are not very complex.
2. Dry sand:
 It is the green sand that has been dried and
baked after preparing the mould.
 Drying the sand gives strength to the mould
so it can be used for the larger castings.
3. Loam sand:
 Loam sand is sand containing up to 50%
clay which has been worked to the
consistency of the builders mortar.
 This sand is used for making very heavy
casting with the help of skeleton and sweep
pattern.
 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 consist of fine grained clay free dried
silica sand, sea sand or burnt sand with some parting
compounds.

Parting sand
which is white
in colour
 Facing sand is the sand which covers all
pattern around it. The remaining box is filled
with ordinary floor sand.
 It 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 from silica sand and clay without the
addition of any used sand.
 Graphite, plumbago, coke dust, sea coal,etc.
may be added to the facing 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 consist 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.
Backing sand which is generally
black in colour due to addition
of coal dust .
7. System sand:
 This is the sand used in mechanized foundry for
filing the entire flask.
 No separate facing sand is used in a mechanized
foundry.
 Used sand, cleaned and reactivated by the addition
of water and binders is used to fill the flask.
8. Core 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 consist 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.
  In general, moulding sands should have a combination
of properties to allow easy moulding and to produce
defect free castings.
 The properties of most obvious importance are the
following:

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 it possible to
prepare and handle the mould.
 The strength of the sand that has been dried or
baked is called dry strength.
  Strength of the moulding sands depend 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 goes down if moisture content is
higher than an optimum value.
2. Permeability:

 It is the natural porosity of sand which will permit steam and

other mould gases to escape.
 The moisture, binders and additives present in the sand
produce steam and other gases when the molten metal is
poured.
 Though most of these gases escape through vents and open
feeding spaces, some amount of these gases do tend to pass
through the pore spaces of moulding sand.
 If the sand lacks porosity the casting will contain gas holes
and pores.
 Permeability will be higher if clay content is less and vice-
versa.
 Larger grain sizes lead to higher permeability.
 Soft ramming improves permeability but decreases strength.
 Increase in silica leads to lower permeability.
3. Thermal stability:(Hot Strength?)
 The sand adjacent to the metal is suddenly heated and
undergoes expansion. If the mould wall is not
dimensionally stable under rapid heating, cracks,
buckling and flaking off of sand may occur.
4. Refractoriness:
 The sand should be able to withstand the temperature
of the liquid metal.
 If the refractoriness is lacking, sand will burn onto
the casting resulting in poor surface finish and
difficult in machining.
 Refractoriness is measured by sinterpoint of the sand.
Refractoriness is particularly important when
producing castings of high melting temperature alloys.
5. 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 increases as clay and water content are
increased.
6. Sand texture:
 The texture of sand is defined by its grain size and
grain size distribution.
 The texture chosen for an application should allow the
required porosity, provide enough strength and
produce the desired surface finish on the casting.
7. Collapsibility:
 The sand should collapse after the casting has
solidified.
 Hard interior sand may hinder contraction of the
cooling metal resulting in internal stresses and cracks
called hot tears.
 The property is very important for core sands which
form the interior details of casting.

8. Reusability:
 Since large quantity of sand are used in foundry it is
very important that the sand be reusable otherwise
apart from cost it will create disposal problems.
9. Ease of preparation and control:
 Sand should lend itself to easy preparation and
control by mechanical equipment.

10. conductivity:
 Sand should have enough conductivity to
permit removal of heat from the castings.
  Standard testing procedures have been established
for quantitative determination of the properties of
sand described above. The tests performed include
the following:

1. Refractoriness test.
2. Sand texture test.
3. Clay content test.
4. Moisture content test.
5. Permeability test.
6. Flowability test.
 The refractoriness of sand is determined by
investigating its sintering temperature i.e. temperature
which produce first sign of grains sticking together.
 The test is performed in sintering furnace which is
electrically heated tube furnace which automatic
temperature control.
 The sand sample is loosely filled in porcelain receptacle
and inserted into the heating tube of the furnace after
preheating the furnace to about 1000⁰C.
 The tube mouth is then sealed and temperature rise in
steps of 100⁰C up to 1300⁰C and of 50⁰C above that
temperature.
 At each temperature step the temperature is held
constant for 3 minutes and then the sample is taken out
and cooled. After cooling the sand sample is examined
under a magnifying glass or a microscope.
 If the sand is refractory up to this temperature, the
individual sand grains can be loosened by scrapping
and are clearly distinguishable under microscope.
 The test is then continued to the next step. If the grains
have fused the sintering temperature is reached and
the test is stopped. At full sintering the grain surface
has a glossy appearance.

Sintering
furnace
 Sand texture test is used to determine the grain shape,
average grain size and grain distribution in the sand.
 The shape of the grain can be observed easily under a
good magnifying glass or a microscope.
 The average size and the size distribution are
determined by sieving a totally dry and clay free sand
sample in a laboratory sifter. Generally the sand grains
remaining after the clay content test are used for this
test.
 The sifter consist of a series of sieves arranged one
below the other in decreasing order of mesh size to pan
at the bottom.
 The no. of sieves in the sifter varies depending on the
standards used. The sieves set used to determine A.F.S
( American Foundrymens’ Society) grain fineness no.
has 11 sieves as shown in table.
Sieves
 To carry out a fineness test a dried sample of 50
gms of sand is placed on the top sieve and shaken
for 15 minutes.
 After this period the sand retained on each sieve
and on the pan is weighted and the weights are
expressed as percentage of the gross weight.
 This data can be used to determine the sand size
distribution and the average fineness of the sand.
 The average grain size is determined by
multiplying the weight of sand retained on each
sieve and pan by the standard multiplying factor
of sieve, adding the products and dividing the sum
by the total sum of % of sand retained on each
sieve or pan.
A.F.S grain fineness
σ 𝑏𝑖∗𝑧𝑖
number=
100

Where,

bi = the percentage weight of sand

retained on sieve or pan.
zi = the standard multiplication no. of the
sieve or pan.
 A sand is called coarse when it contains more than 50%
grains coarser than 0.210 mm.
 It is called medium when more than 50% grain are
coarser than 0.105 mm.
 It is called fine when more than 50% grain are smaller
than 0.105 mm.

Sand is placed on
top sieve

Different grain
sizes after sand
retained
 For testing purposes clay content is defined as all substances
which settle at a rate less than 25 mm per minute when
suspended in water.
 These particles have a size less than 20 microns.
 Defined in this way, clay in sand consist of not only binding
clay minerals but also fine sand and slit particles less than 20
microns in size.
 For conducting the test, a 50 gm. sample of sand is taken and
dried for about an hour at 105⁰C.
 The sample is placed in a 600 cc glass jar and 400 cc of water is
added to it followed by a few drop of NaOH.
 The liquid is then boiled for 3 to 4 minutes and agitated in a
sand washer or mechanical stirrer for about 10 minutes.
 The sand and clay particles adhering to the stirrer paddles are
rinsed into the glass jar and the glass jar is removed.
 The jar is filled to about 150mm from bottom of the jar with
a strong jet of water which helps in further separation of
clay from sand.
 The liquid is now left to stand for 7 to 8 minutes allowing
time to the sand particles to settle.
 After the setting period the clay slurry is drained by
siphoning to a level 25mm above the sand.
 The jar is again half filled with water, agitated in the
mechanical stirrer or sand washer, filled and agitated with
jet of water to 150 mm above jar bottom.
 After a standing period of 10 min. the clay slurry is again
siphoned off.
 This procedure is repeated with 5 min. standing periods till
the standing water is clear.
 This ensures that all clay substances has been removed.
 The sand in the jar is now dried in a suitable drier like a core
baking oven or a rapid infrared drier at 105⁰C until the
weight remains constant.
 The weight between the original weight of the sample and
this weight gives the clay substance in the sample which can
be expressed in %.
 The moisture content is determined by drying 50
gm. Of moist sand to constant weight between 105
to 110⁰C in a uniformly heated oven, cooling to
room temperature in a descicator and weighing the
dry sample.
 The difference in weight gives the moisture
content of the sample which can be expressed in
percentage.
 Drying of sand takes about 30 minutes at a
temperature of 105⁰C for a 50 gm. sample in a core
baking oven.
 Commercially available moisture content
determination meters called moisture tellers can
also be used for finding % of moisture.
  Permeability is the porosity of sand which permits mould
gases to escape.
 The permeability number is the amount of air in cubic
centimeters that passes through remmed sand one square
centimeter c/s, 1 cm high under a pressure of 1 gm./sq. cm.
in 1 minute. Mathematically, this may be expressed as
𝑉ℎ
P=
𝑝𝑎𝑡
Where, P= permeability number.
V= volume of air passing through the standard
sample , cc.
h= height of the specimen, cm.
p= pressure of air, gm/cm².
a= c/s area of the sample, cm².
t= times in minutes for complete air to pass through.
 It must be pointed out that permeability is not only
sensitive to difference in sand composition and
ingredient characteristics but is also sensitive to
the extent of compacting or ramming.
 Therefore, it is necessary to standardize the
method and extent of ramming for testing and
comparison of permeability of sand mixes.
 A measured amount of sand is filled in the
specimen tube.
 The sand is rammed by three blows of a standard
weight 6.35 to 7.25 kg freely falling from a height
of 50.8± 0.125 mm to produce a sand specimen of
standard dimension.
 For permeability test and for some strength tests
the standard cylindrical mould would require
about 145 to 175 grams of sand.
 Specimen rammer

Ramming
Plunger weight
lifting
ram
pedestal

Precision specimen
tube
Fig. shows a permeability meter
 The permeability meter works on the principle
of a gasometer.
 It has a water sealed air container with a
floating drum which forces air under a given
pressure through the sand specimen.
 For this purpose a pipe connects the air
container with the specimen through a stop
valve.
 2000 cc of air is made to pass through the
specimen and values of p and t are recorded.
 The permeability number can then be easily
calculated from equation.
Application

Green sand brass and bronze castings 5 to 30

Dry sand brass and bronze castings 15 to 20

Green sand gray iron castings 15 to 30

Dry sand castings for machine 40 to 50

members
Green sand aluminium castings 20 to 40

Green sand steel castings Greater than 50

Core sands depending on size of cores 50 to 200

 Sand flowability is an indication of the ability of the
sand to flow and fill complicated moulds.
 Flowability of sand is tested by ramming sand into
standard moulds.
 Two types of moulds are used; a straight cylindrical
mould and a stepped mould.
 The sand flowability is considered 100 if for the
same weight both the specimen have the same
volume for a standard ramming.
 Flowability would be zero if the step annular is
not filled at all.
 For a flowability between 0 and 100 the
stepped specimen would register a height in
between heights corresponding to flowability
zero and 100.
 Flowability can be determined from the
relationship.
ℎ𝑜−ℎ𝑥
F= *100%
ℎ𝑜−ℎ100
 Moulding sands are usually tested for their
compression strength, shear strength, binding strength,
tensile strength and deformation.
 A universal strength testing machine built for the
purpose is used for these tests. The machine is supplied
with various auxiliaries to be able to load standard
specimens in various modes.
 The specimen ramming methods and specimen
dimensions have to be standardized for meaningful
comparison of strengths of different sand samples.
 When conducting a green strength test on sand, it is
important that the sand specimen after being taken out
of the specimen tube is tested immediately otherwise
its strength may change due to drying.
 The universal sand strength testing machine is built as
a horizontal hydraulic press.
• A piston moved by a hand operated spindle
produces the pressure acting on the specimen.
 When selecting sand for a given application it is
necessary to select a proper average size and also a
proper distribution.
 Grain size also affects the refractoriness of sand.
 Finer grains have lower fusion temperature compared
to coarse grains.
 Presence of impurities like iron oxide, feldspar or
limestone also tend to lower refractoriness of the sand.
 Effect of grain size and moisture content on
permeability and green strength of sand as shown.
various Grain shapes
 The effect of clay content is shown in fig.

 The strength of the moulding sand increases with

amount of clay.
 The optimum amount of water and maximum strength
available are function of the type of clay used.
 Water in moulding sand activates the bonding action
of clay.
 When water is added to the sand, it forms a microfilm
around the surface of clay particles.
 The bonding action of clay depends upon the film of
water.
 Addition of water up to an optimum level facilitates
the silicon-water-clay-silica bond and improves green
strength of sand but if the quantity of water added is
more than optimum, the bonding action is reduced and
the strength of the mould decreases.
 The maximum strength sands are known as clay sands
and are used in cast iron foundries.
Effect of moisture and clay content on green
strength
 The passages for the flow of liquid metal into the
mould should be designed to provide smooth non
turbulent flow of metal, effective trapping of slag and
proper directional solidification.
 There should be a proper risering system in the mould
to provide sufficient extra metal to account for the
liquid and solidification shrinkage.
 The mould material and moulding process should be
such that cleaning of castings is facilitated.

cope
Two box mould
drag
 Three box mould
 A large no. of hand tools are required in the foundry for
making a mould. Some of the most common are shown:
 Riddles:
 Riddles are used for sieving sand over the surface of the
pattern when starting a mould. They are designated by
the mesh number.
 Fine riddles are used for sieving sand for castings
required good surface finish.
 Rammers are used for compacting sand in the mould.
 The peg or pin rammer applies force downwards as well
as side ways and is used for primary ramming.
 The butt rammer applies force downwards and is used
for finish ramming.
 The rammers may be operated by hand or with
pneumatic pressure.
 A trowel consist of a metal blade fitted with a wooden
handle.
 The metal blade may be round or square at the end.
 Trowels are used for making joints or for finishing or
smoothening of the mould surfaces.
 Vent wires are thin rigid steel strips or wires used for
making vents in the mould.
 Draw spikes are eye bolt, screws or rods threaded at
one end. They are used for withdrawing the pattern
from the mould.
 It is a thin strip of metal straight at one end and bent to
an L shape at the other.
 It is used for repairing corners in moulds and lifting
loose sand from restricted portions of the mould.
 It is a sheet metal piece bent to a semicircle at one end.
It is used to cut metal passage ways in the mould.
 These are cylindrical tubes used to cut spures in copes.
 Bellows are air blowers used to blow off loose sand
from the moulds. Wherever available, compressed air
is used for the purpose.
 A swab is a sort of brush made of camel hair or jute
threads.
 It is used for applying small quantity of water on the
sand around the pattern to facilitate its withdrawal
from the mould.
 Swabs are used for applying water preparatory to
mould repair and for applying wet blacking coat on
dry moulds.
 A smoother is a small handy wooden piece with a flat
used for smoothening mould surface.
 These are tapered wooden pieces with circular section
in assorted end diameters and lengths. They are used
for making runner and riser spures in moulds.
Mould making process is Hand
Moulding using Furan Sand
system.
1. Bench moulding
2.) Floor moulding:
o When the size of the casting increases, it
becomes difficult to do moulding work on the
bench.
o The moulding is then done on the foundry
floor and is known as floor moulding.
o For all medium and large size castings.
3.) Pit moulding:
o Very large moulds that cannot be made in
boxes are made in pits below the foundry floor.
This process is called as pit moulding.
o The pit acts as the drag of the mould while
cope is used above it.
o The sides of the pit are lined with bricks while
its bottom is covered with a thick layer of
cinders.
o Pit moulding greatly reduces the effort and
cost of moulding very large castings.
o The coke bed at the bottom of the pit has to be
connected with atmosphere by vertical vent
pipes to provide an outlet to the gases.
4.) Machine moulding:

o Machines are sometimes used in large size foundries to

do some of the tiring manual operations during
moulding. This reduce operator fatigue and improves
efficiency.
o Machine moulding is faster and provides better
dimensional accuracy of the castings produced.
o Machine moulding can also be done with operators
who are comparatively less skilled than those
employed for hand moulding.