25 Production of Iron Castings 25.1. GRAY IRON CASTINGS Introduction 1, Gray cast iron possesses excellent casting characteristics, availa- bility and favourable cost. 2. The production of gray iron castings is a large industry that twice «ts much gray iron is cast annually as all other cast metals combined. 3. Much of the engineering and mechanisation which developed in foundry was the result of improvements in order to meet the production demands for gray iron castings. Molding Techniques — Gray iron castings are produced by (i) Green sand molding. (ii) Dry sand molding. (iii) Shell molding. (iv) High pressure sand molding (similar to jolt-squeeze molding). (v) CQ) molding. (vi) Permanent molding. However, Green sand molding technique is most commonly used for uuaking gray iron castings. The different processes listed above have been discussed under ‘hapterg 10 and 23. Molding Sand Mixtures — Characteristics (i) High green compressive and shear strength. (ii) Sufficient clay to absorb expansion. (iit) Sufficient moisture to activate clay. (iv) Sufficient permeability. — Molding sand mixture consists of: System sand and new sand.reo S40, 7 FOUNDRY TECHNOLOG' Clay binder (Southern bentonite, Western bentonite or a combina: tion thereof), Sea coal (It produces reducing atmosphere to reduce burn-in in the} mold cavity). Sand stabilizer (wood flour, cereals, oat hulls etc.), (A typical mixture) — Silica sand AFS 60 to 75 ...500 kg Clay 40 to 42 kg Sea coal 35 kg Wood flor 4kg Water 18 to 20 kg This sand mixture possesses: Green compressive strength 1.2 to 1.35 kg/cm? Green shear strength 0.34 to 0.408 kg/cm? Moisture content 3.5 to 4% Permeability (AFS unit) 80 to 100 Volatile combustible matter 5.25 to 6.0% Mold wall movement may occur while making castings in green sand molds. This can be prevented by controlling rammed sand hardness at 90 to 93 (AFS) and green strength at 1 kg/cm?, Patterns for Green Sand Moding —— Small (scale) production: A simple wood pattern on a follow board will do. — Medium (scale) production (of small to medium sized cast- ings): A match plate pattern. — Mass (scale) production: Cope and drag pattern, — Pattern shrinkage allowance 2.5 to 4 mm per 300 mm For pattern details refer Chapter 3 Shell molding (refer Chapter 23) — Shell molding has been employed for producing gray iron castings weighing even up to about 500 kg: however normal castings made by this process weigh less than 50 kg. — As compared to green sand molding, shell molded gray iron castings possess better surface finish and greater dimensional accuracy, — Shell molding proves to be economcial for gray iron castings when overall cost (i.e., including machining costs also) of the finished product is taken into consideration. Permanent mold casting (refer Chapter 23) — Permanent mold casting technique is employed for producing small sized gray iron castings (weighing lesé than 15 kg) in rela- tively huge quantities.PRODUCTION OF IRON CASTINGS st — Rapidly cooled castings such as those of compressor and hydra lic cylinders made in permanent molds Prove to be very good during service. — Permanent molds for producing gray iron castings are designed for vertical parting and are gated into the bottom of the mold cavity. — Casting cycle: Setting cores, Depositing lamp black. Pouring the iron, Ejecting the casting. Cleaning mold with compressed air or by brushing. Cores: Different types of cores uscd for making cavities etc. , in gray iron castings are (i) Oil sand cores (refer Chapter 9). (i) Hot box, (iii) CO, (refer Chapter 9). (iv) Cold set cores. Small size oil sand cores are least costly. (v) Hot box process: — It makes use of a core box of cast iron, steel, or aluminium provided with vents and ejectors and heated Up to temperature in the range of 180-260°C. — Sand mixtures based on liquid resin binders (in which curing is accomplished by heating in the presence of a catalyst) is blown into the corebox and curing takes place at such a rate that the core is ejected from the corebox within a fraction of a minute; the curing completes by residental heat in the core, Silicone parting fluid is used to assist in core stripping. — Hot box process is used for the mass Production of cores of section up to 70-100 mm thickness (i) Cold set process: — Cold set process makes use of an acid accelerator, i.e, an addition to the binder at the time of mixing the core sand mixture, — As soon as the mixture is rammed in the corebox, curing begins and continues until the core is strong enough to be stripped from the corebox. Melting Furnaces Furnaces used for melting gray cast iron have been discussed in Chapter 2B.