MY 4130 Lecture 1

Monday, August 28, 2017 2:41 PM

Adapted from Notes by J. Kampe

Introductions
Syllabus
Brief "Big Picture" look at casting and Metal Casting Annual Census 2015

Based on Sections 1.1-1.4 of the Rundman Text

I. Mold Parts (Please Refer to the Handout Posted Separately on Canvas) or in this
document. It is important that we all speak the same language and metal casting, like
any other specialty, has its own jargon.
Terms to know:

Flask Ladle
Cope Pouring Basin
Drag Sprue
Parting Line Runner
Core Riser
Chaplet Mold Cavity
Cheek Pattern
Draft

Fun with words: I've tracked down the roots of some of the more vague terms below.
Best I can find, "cope" has an archaic use to mean "sky" or a priest's cloak. Regardless
it appears to have come from something that "goes on top" of something.
Entertainingly, "sprue" can mean a disease or tumor. This may relate to the fact that
sprues, while useful, are not typically shipped with the casting, meaning they are an
"extra growth" on the casting itself.

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II. Mold Materials (cope and drag, cheek)

A. Each material used for molding has its advantages and disadvantages. We should always begin
designing our casting process with a set of application oriented goals in mind. What material do
we want to cast? What properties do we want it to have? Etc. Depending on the answers to these
questions we may choose vastly different molding materials and casting processes.

A major physical property that differentiates various molding materials is the thermal
conductivity, K, of that material.

For the common permanent mold materials iron and copper:

KFe= 72 W/(m*C)
KCu= 390 W/(m*C)

For insulating molds (like sand)

Ksand= 1.5 W/(m*C)

As the conductivity K of the mold increases then we get:

Faster solidification ->lower cycle time/high productivity

Less segregation (separation of alloying elements) ->Improved properties
Finer grain structure ->Improved properties

So why use sand?

B. Sand Advantages

1. It is cheap. ($10/ton)

2. It is refractory meaning it can resist high temperatures and is thermally stable. This is important
for high melting point metals like cast iron and steel.

3. It's low thermal conductivity can be an advantage. Cooling too fast in some alloy systems
results in the formation of brittle phases (Fe3C in cast iron). The low thermal conductivity of sand
helps promote slower cooling and promotes ductility in these systems.

C. More About Sand Than Many Want to Know (but need to for this class)

1. Most sand used in casting is silica (SiO2) other types (Olivine, Chromite, Zircon, etc.) can be used
for special applications .

2. Particle Size Distribution

-Effects packing/compactibility
-Influences mold permeability (ease of entrapping gas or aspiration)
-Influences designation as a respiration hazard (d < 10m is respirable and hazardous)
-We may start out with non-respirable distributions, but fines are generated because of the
casting process (thermal shock, applied stress during molding/shakeout, etc).

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3. Green Sand
-Black in color
-Mixture of sand, clay, and water
-Called "green" because of moisture content (think green wood)
-Clay is mostly montmorillonite
Al2Si5O5(OH)2 + adsorbed Na+1 or Ca+2
For Na+1 the clay is called Western Bentonite
For Ca+2 the clay is called Southern Bentonite
-The clay takes up water (~3 wt.% max) and expands to fill the voids in between the sand
grains
-At low moisture content (< 3 wt.%) the bonds between the sand and clay are polar
-At higher moisture content (> 3 wt.%) the bonds between the sand and clay are ionic and
the adsorbed cations (Na+1 or Ca+2) form chemical bridge bonds with the sand.
-Bonding helps resist shear stresses during the molding process, but adding too much
moisture can have negative consequences as well.
-It is important that as we mix water into our sand, we have some process controls in place
to ensure we have optimal molding characteristics.
-Note: Because of the small batch sizes in our foundry, our sand properties can change very
drastically in short amounts of time.

4. Sand Properties
a. Compactibility-Ability of the clay bonded sand to be packed around a pattern (We use this
in lab as a "quick" check)

Screen clipping taken: 8/30/2017 12:05 PM

b. Strength (Shear, Compressive, etc.)-Conducted on "Standard Rammed Sample"

-Shear strength is ~1/4 compressive strength

-Tensile strength is tough to measure
-Max compressive strength occurs at about 3 wt.% moisture
-If you depart from the "standard" ram number of three, both shear and compressive
strength will increase with the number of rams

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c. Permeability-ability of gases to escape "through" the sand/clay mixture

-Gases can include:
Air in the mold
Water vapor from wet sand
Burnt clay gases (decomposition)
Chemical binders from cores
Air pulled into the casting cavity due to poor gating design (more to come on
this later)
-Permeability is measure by pulling air through a standard rammed sample
-Generally speaking, permeability is inversely proportional to the number of rams, and
percent moisture in the sand/clay system.

d. Tensile strength and other factors as a function of wt.% moisture

Screen clipping taken: 8/30/2017 12:24 PM

Even though the maximum strength is achieved at 3 wt.%, the adsorbed cation bonding that
occurs beyond this point can be important for wet/warm strength of the sand layers away
from the cast part.

5. Petrobond Sand
-93% silica sand (120 grade), generally finer than green sand, gives better surface finish
-5% petrobond "clay" (organophilic as opposed to hydrophilic like Bentonite)
-2% 30 weight non-detergent oil

Advantages:
-Fine features in cast part
-Less gas/fewer related defects
-Higher stability (less evaporation than moisture, properties are more consistent)

Disadvantages:
-Only good for low melting point metals (e.g. aluminum)
-Fume generated are an environmental issue
-Oil costs more than water

Next Time: Melting, solidification, heat transfer, and volume change. Read Sections 2.1-2.4 of

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Next Time: Melting, solidification, heat transfer, and volume change. Read Sections 2.1-2.4 of
the Rundman Text.

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