AFS CLAY IN FOUNDRY SAND

Novei Almane A. Gorres

MET E 169: ADAPTIVE METALLURGY LABORATORY

ABSTRACT
AFS clay test is a procedure which determines the clay content of a sand sample. Essentially, the clay paired with
moisture decides the binding capacity of the sand. It is however recommended that the clay be of sufficient amount
to enable evacuation of gases during moulding process.

INTRODUCTION
Casting operations use foundry sand in making molds
(U.S. Department of Transportation, 2004). Foundry
sand is high quality silica sand with variable physical
and chemical characteristics depending on the casting
process it will be utilized. Aside from silica, it is also
consist of minute amount of clay. The presence of
clay in the foundry sand is both essential and
detrimental. Its main function is to bind the mold
shape together while at the same time promoting
evacuation of gases formed during the moulding
process. In conjunction, an excess in clay content will
make the mold impermeable which results to gas
holes in the castings (Strobl, 2000). As such, one of
the tests employed in foundry sand is AFS clay test to
determine the clay content of a foundry sand sample
(Michigan Department of Environmental Quality
Geological Survey Division, 2001). AFS clay test
establishes the weight percent of articles with less
than 20 microns present in the sand. This percentage
includes live and dead clay, silt and some organic
materials which implies that the result of this test can
be misleading but can be considered negligible. It is
performed by washing a sample of molding sand to
remove the clay, drying and reweighing the sample to
determine the percent loss (Jain, 2003). In this
activity, sand used in construction sites were utilized.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

This experiment aims to familiarize students with the
procedure for the determination of AFS Clay Test of
a given sand sample.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

Clay content have large influence on major properties
of the moulding sand. There exists an optimum
amount for clay of not more than 12% to obtain
maximum binding capacity without the formation of
holes.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The materials used were one piece standard oven pre-heated at 110C, one piece Mettler balance, one
piece stirring rod, one piece aspirator, one piece 500
ml graduated cylinder, one piece 1000 ml volumetric
flask, one piece metal pan, one piece 1 liter beaker,
one piece ruler, NaOH, distilled water and foundry
sand.
Approximately a 50-gram sand sample was obtained
using a standard sampling method. It was dried for
one hour in the oven at 110C. While the sample was
being dried, the standard NaOH solution was made
by dissolving 30 grams of NaOH in distilled water to
a total volume of 1000 ml.
After drying, the dried sand was weighed and was
placed in a one liter capacity beaker. A 475 ml of
distilled water and a 25 ml of the prepared standard
solution were added to the one liter capacity beaker.
The mixture was mixed for five minutes using a
stirring rod to liberate clay particles from the sand
grains. The sand on the stirrer was washed into the
beaker and it was filled with distilled water to a
height of six inches above its bottom. The sand
particles were allowed to settle for 10 minutes and
were siphoned off five inches of the supernatant
water. After siphoning, distilled water was added
again filling a 6-inch height. The sediments on the
bottom of the beaker were stirred. After stirring, an
allowable time of five minutes for settling was given.
After settling for exactly five minutes, five inches of
water were siphoned off. The process of 5-minute
settling and siphoning were repeated until the water
was clear to a depth of five inches at the end of the 5minute period.
The remaining grains in the beaker were dried and
weighed. The AFS clay was obtained by getting the
difference between the weight of the dried grains and
that of the original sand sample. The AFS clay was
expressed as a percentage of the 50-gram sample.

AFS CLAY IN FOUNDRY SAND. Submitted to Prof. Myra V. Cabatingan, Instructor.

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RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

As reflected in table 1, there is a decrease in the
weight of the samples upon drying which indicates
the elimination of moisture in the system. It is
important to remove moisture before proceeding to
the next development to establish an appropriate
baseline upon comparison of the weights. Suffice to
say, to ascertain that the change in weight in the next
step is due to the removal of clay particles and not of
the moisture.
Table 1. Data procured from the experiment.

Trial

Initial
Weight (g)

Dried
Weight (g)

Moisture
Content
(%)

50.06

49.30

1.52

50.06

48.93

2.26

50.05

49.26

1.58

A further decrease in weight can be observed after

performing the AFS clay test implying the removal of
particles. Using equation 1, the AFS clay present in
the sample has been determined to be ranging from
2.88-3.08%.
(Eqn 1)

% AFS Clay =

weight after 1 st dryingweight after 2 nd drying

original weight of sample

% AFS Clay =

49.3047.76
x 100
50.06

% AFS Clay = 3.08%

Trial

1
2
3

Dried Weight
After Siphoning
(g)
47.76
47.49
47.82

AFS Clay
Mass (g)
1.54
1.44
1.44

CONCLUSION
Using the AFS Clay test, it has been determined that
the sand sample contains an acceptable amount of
clay ranging from 2.88-3.08%. However, before the
sample can be used in castings, other properties shall
be determined. One of these is the optimum water to
be used with such clay content present in the sample.
A balance of water and clay will prevent gas holes
from forming during castings (Rao, 2007).
It shall be noted that the AFS Clay test includes all
particles with size less than 20 microns. This implies
that the result is inaccurate and misleading. Also,
there is a possibility that some of the sand sample
have been siphoned off whilst doing the experiment
(Krysiak, 1994).

REFERENCES
Jain, P. (2003). Principles of foundry technology (4th
ed., pp. 58-59). [New York]: McGraw Hill.
Krysiak, M. (1994). A basic green sand control
program. - Free Online Library. Thefreelibrary.com.
Retrieved 15 December 2014, from
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/A+basic+green+sand+
x 100
control+program.-a016044348
Michigan Department of Environmental Quality
Geological Survey Division,. (2001). Geological
Study of Sand Deposits in the State of Michigan (pp.
3). Lansing, Michigan: DEQ GSD.
Rao, P. (2007). Manufacturing Technology (2nd ed.,
pp. 98-99). New Delhi: McGraw-Hill Companies.

AFS Clay
Content
(%)
3.08
2.88
2.88

Since the recommended clay content ranges from 012% then the sample can be used in castings if based
solely on its clay content (U.S. Department of
Transportation, 2004).

Strobl, S. (2000). The Fundamentals of Green Sand

Preparation and Control (1st ed., pp. 2-4). Illinois,
USA: Simpson Group. Retrieved from
http://www.simpsongroup.com/tech/rpt-salesFundamentals%20of%20Sand%20Control.pdf
U.S. Department of Transportation,. (2004). Foundry
Sand Facts for Civil Engineers (pp. 1,
5). Washington D.C.: Foundry Industry Recycling
Starts Today.

AFS CLAY IN FOUNDRY SAND. Submitted to Prof. Myra V. Cabatingan, Instructor.

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