1st International Conference on Recent Trends in
Engineering, Materials, Management and Sciences (ICRTEMMS-2018), SBIT, Khammam, India 25-27 Oct. 2018
EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION ON THE EFFECT OF PREHEATING IN CO 2
MOULDING PROCESS
B.V.S Rao1, P.V. Ravindra Reddy2, Bharath Kumar Mekala3, T. Dinesh Kishore4and B. Meghana5
1
Asst. Professor, M.E Dept. CBIT, Hyderabad, India
2
Professor, M.E Dept. CBIT, Hyderabad, India
345
U.GScholar, M.E Dept. CBIT, Hyderabad, India
1
balivadarao@gmail.com;3mbharath100k@gmail.com;
ACKNOWLEDGMENT:We thank CBIT R&D
Dept. and management for sponsoring this project
and also Hyderabad Malleable Products Pvt. Ltd.
Patancheru for helping us in our research.
ABSTRACT: The sand moulding processes is a
predominant method being followed in the foundry
industry, especially for the castings of metals like
cast-iron and other alloys of steel. It has also become
an inexpensive substitute for dry sand moulding. A
lot of work is done in order to improve the
compression strength of the above moulding process
but the emphasis was only on the parameters like
mixing time, percentage of Sodium Silicate, amount
of CO2 gas supplied and percentage of coal dust
which play an important role in improving the mould
properties. The novel idea of preheating was studied
by previous researchers specifically to check the
collapsibility of moulds. In the present work the
same is extended to other properties. The
experimentation was carried out using Taguchi
technique. Preheating temperature in addition to
mixing ratio is found out to be the most influential
parameter to improve the Compression strength.
In this work experimentation has been carried out
based on L-9 Orthogonal Array suggested by
Taguchi. Optimum value of Compression Strength is
obtained by performing a number of trials. Mean
Response method, Column effective method and
Plotting method are used to find out the most
influential parameters. The study reveals that
Compression strength of the mould increases on
preheating. The analysis reveals that mixing Ratio is
the most significant parameters.
Keywords:CO2moulding, Temperature, Compression
Strength, Taguchi method.
1.0 INTRODUCTION
Casting is a manufacturing process in which a
liquid material is usually poured into a mould, and
then allowed to solidify. Casting materials are
usually metals or various cold setting materials
that cure after mixing two or more components
together; examples
are epoxy, concrete, plaster and clay [1]. It is most
often used for making complex shapes that would be
otherwise difficult or uneconomical to make by other
methods.
Carbon-di-oxide moulding process is one of the
important sand moulding processes. in which the
ISBN No:978-93-5321-384-8
sand is mixed with Sodium-Silicate in various
proportions. Here, Sodium-silicate acts as a binding
agent. When this sand mixture is treated with Co2 gas
by allowing the gas through various nozzles provided
across the mould, at a pressure of about 1.45
Kgf/cm2(142 KN/m2). This reaction helps in
enhancing the strength of the mould. This process is
basically a hardening process for moulds and cores.
The sand used for the process must be dry and free
from clay.
The chemical reaction is:
Na2SiO3 + H2O + CO2 → Na2CO3 + [SiO2+H2O] (1)
The volume of CO2 required can be calculated if
the quantity of sodium silicate present is known with
the help of (1). Around 0.4-0.6 Kg of CO2 for 1 Kg
of Sodium silicate is supplied. Here, the sodium
Silicate reacts with Carbon-di-oxide and forms a jell
which holds the sand mould and is the reason the
mould gains strength. This change of state of sodium
silicate into a jell is the essence of the Co2moulding
process.
Carbon dioxide casting is favored both by the
commercial foundry men for a number of reasons. In
commercial operations, foundry men can assure
customers of affordable castings which require less
machining.
2.0 SELECTION OF PROCESS PARAMETERS
The Carbon-di-oxide moulding process involves
important parameters like Percentage of Sodium
Silicate and amount of CO2 supplied. In addition to
these mixing time and percentage of additives such
as Coal dust also influence the process [2]. Both of
these parameters are not considered in this work, but
their role is negligible compared to percentage of
Sodium Silicate and amount of CO2 supplied [2].
Hence the following parameters are considered for
the present study.
1)Percentage of Sodium Silicate (Mixing ratio-
MR): Generally in industrial practice, the
percentage of Sodium silicate is between 3% to 8%.
Hence, 3-levels of this parameter i.e., 4%, 6% and
8% are considered in this work.
2) Amount of CO2 gas supplied (gassing time-
GT):Since the CO2 gas is supplied into the pressure
cooker through the safety valve (capacity 3 liters).
Hence, it is required to allow enough time for the
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 1st International Conference on Recent Trends in
Engineering, Materials, Management and Sciences (ICRTEMMS-2018), SBIT, Khammam, India 25-27 Oct. 2018

reaction to take place than the conventional method.
Therefore, three levels of gassing time i.e. 1min,
1min 45sec and 2min 30sec are taken.
3) Preheating temperature (T): Since, preheating is
done to the sand sample before treating it with CO2,
the temperature becomes an important parameter.
Three levels of temperatures are taken. They are
60°C, 90°C and 120°C.
4) Pressure inside the cooker (P): Based on the
capacity of the cooker, the 3 levels of pressure
chosen are 1Kg/cm2, 1.5Kg/cm2 and 2Kg/cm2.
A. Selection of Orthogonal Array:
There are many standard orthogonal arrays available,
each of the arrays is meant for a specific number of
independent design variables and levels. The L-9
orthogonal array is meant for understanding the
effect of 4 independent factors each having 3 factor
level values. Hence, L-9 orthogonal array has been
chosen for this work. Table-1 shows the L-9
orthogonal array, table 2 shows the 3-levels of 4
different parameters chosen and table 3 shows L9
orthogonal array after substituting the actual values
chosen.

3.0 LITERATURE SURVEY

M. Venkataramana [2] carried out Optimization of
Process Parameter of CO2 gas cured sodium Silicate
moulding process for better Compression Strength.
Here, mixing time, percentage of Sodium Silicate,
amount of CO2 gas supplied and percentage of coal
dust are optimized. The study of thisinvestigation
helped in understanding the importance of these
parameters and their behavior. Modelling of
CO2moulding process was performed by Dr. M.
VenkataRamana [3] In this work various parameters
like percentage of sodium silicate, gassing time etc.
were optimized to obtain better mould hardness and
permeability. It was clear that Permeability indicates Figure 1. Steps involved in carrying out the present work
venting quality of the sand mould. If the permeability
is low the dissolved gases may not be able to escape Table 1:Standard L-9 Orthogonal Array
and may lead to the formation of defects like gas Experimental Process parameters
porosity. trial no. A B C D
HimanshuKhandelwal’s [3] work on the effect of 1 1 1 1 1
sand grain size, binder percentage and curing time 2 1 2 2 2
(each varied in three levels) on the mechanical 3 1 3 3 3
properties (compression strength, shear strength and 4 2 1 2 3
core hardness) as well as dimensional changes 5 2 2 3 1
(shrinkage) of no-bake chemically-bonded molds and 6 2 3 1 2
cores was studied experimentally.K. Srinivasulu 7 3 1 3 2
Reddy [4] worked on the Effect of Binder and Mold 8 3 2 1 3
parameters on Collapsibility and Surface Finish of 9 3 3 2 1
Gray Cast Iron No-bake Sand Molds which helped in Table 2: Input parameters along with their levels
understanding the effect of Temperature on sand
Parameter Level Level 2 Level
moulds. Retained strength is a measure of
1 3
collapsibility of the mold. As the retained Mixing Ratio(MR) or
compression strength is more collapsibility is less [4]. 4% 6% 8%
(% of sodium silicate)

4.0 METHODOLOGY Temperature (T) 60°c 90°c 120°c

1min 2min
The methodology is presented in the flow chart Gassing time (GT) 1min
45sec 30sec
shown in figure 1. 1 1.5 2
Pressure (P)
kg/cm2 kg/cm2 kg/cm2
Table 3: Orthogonal array of parameters chosen with
actual values
Mixing Tempera- Gassing Pressure
Trail
ratio(%) ture(°c) time (min) (kg/cm2)
1 4 60 1:00 1
2 4 90 1:45 1.5
3 4 120 2:30 2

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 1st International Conference on Recent Trends in
Engineering, Materials, Management and Sciences (ICRTEMMS-2018), SBIT, Khammam, India 25-27 Oct. 2018

4 6 60 1:45 2 3 4 120 2:30 2 2.2 2.8 2.8

5 6 90 2:30 1
4 6 60 1:45 2 4.1 3.8 3.6
6 6 120 1:00 1.5
7 8 60 2:30 1.5 5 6 90 2:30 1 5 6.4 5.5
8 8 90 1:00 2 6 6 120 1:00 1.5 4 4.2 4
9 8 120 1:45 1 7 8 60 2:30 1.5 6.6 7 7.2
B. Experimental procedure 8 8 90 1:00 2 7 7.5 7.2
Standard test specimens are prepared with the 9 8 120 1:45 1 8.4 8.2 8.4
various mixing ratios as per table 3.The mixture is
weighed to 150 grams, and is poured into the Results for compression strength of
specimen tube. Ramming is done with the help of CO2moulding process without preheating are shown
sand rammer.The specimen is removed from the in table-5.
specimen tube slowly.Then it is placed inside the
pressure cooker on a stand provided.Now thecooker
is heated to required temperature using an induction
stove.The temperature is measured with the help of Table 5. Compression strength results without preheating
thermometer as shown in fig. 2. As the required S.N Mixing Press Gassing Compre
temperature is reached the power supply is removed o. ratio (% of ure time ssion
and the Hose pipe is inserted through the safety valve Sodium (kg/c (min) Strength
as illustrated in fig. 3. Now the gas is supplied and Silicate) m2) (Kg/cm2)
the pressure is maintained.Now the specimen from (gms)
the cooker is removed and is allowed to cool down to 01 4 1 1:45 1.2
room temperature.The specimen is placed between 02 6 1 1:45 4
the compression pads in “Universal sand testing 03 8 1 1:45 7
machine” as shown in fig. 4 and the experimentation
is carried out. For each trial, three samples are tested.
6.0 ANALYSIS OF DATA
Analysis of data is carried out using Mean Response
method, Colum Effective Method and Plotting
method.
A. Mean Response method for compression
strength:
Table 6. Mean response method for compression strength
Gassi- Compression
Mixin- Pres
Temp ng strength(Kg/cm2)
Trail g ratio s-ure
(T) time Sample
(MR) (P)
(GT) 1 2 3
1 1 1 1 1 3.2 3 3
2 1 2 2 2 2.2 2.6 2.8
3 1 3 3 3 2.2 2.8 2.8
4 2 1 2 3 4.1 3.8 3.6
5 2 2 3 1 5 6.4 5.5
6 2 3 1 2 4 4.2 4
5.0 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
7 3 1 3 2 6.6 7 7.2
The results obtained for compression strength are 8 3 2 2 3 7 7.5 7.2
shown in the table 4. 9 3 3 1 1 8.4 8.2 8.4
Table 4: Compression strength results with preheating M1 2.733 4.611 4.789 5.678
condition M2 4.511 5.133 4.900 4.511
Mixing M3 7.500 5.000 5.056 4.556
Te Compression
Ratio Gassi Press
mp strength
Tr (percentage ng ure
erat (kg/cm2)
ial of sodium time (Kg/c
ure
silicate) (sec) m2) Sample
(°C)
(%) 1 2 3
1 4 60 1:00 1 3.2 3 3
2 4 90 1:45 1.5 2.2 2.6 2.8

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 1st International Conference on Recent Trends in
Engineering, Materials, Management and Sciences (ICRTEMMS-2018), SBIT, Khammam, India 25-27 Oct. 2018

Fig. 6. Interaction graph between Gassing time and

Temperature
Fig. 5. Graph of Mean response method for compression
strength
By using mean approximation method shown in
table-6, a graph is plotted as shown in Fig.5. It is
observed that the optimal conditions for compression
strength are at 8% mixing ratio (level 3), 900
centigrade of temperature (level 3), 2-minute 30-
seconds supply time of CO2 gas (level 3) and
1Kg/cm2 of pressure (level 1).

B. Column effective method for compression Fig.7. Interaction graph between Gassing time and
strength Pressure
Table 7. Column effective method for compression
strength
Gassi- Compression
Mixin- ng Press strength(Kg/cm2)
g ratio Temp time -ure Sample
Trail (MR) (T) (GT) (P) 1 2 3
1 1 1 1 1 3.2 3 3
2 1 2 2 2 2.2 2.6 2.8
3 1 3 3 3 2.2 2.8 2.8
4 2 1 2 3 4.1 3.8 3.6
5 2 2 3 1 5 6.4 5.5
6 2 3 1 2 4 4.2 4
7 3 1 3 2 6.6 7 7.2 Fig. 8. Interaction graph between Mixing ratio and
8 3 2 2 3 7 7.5 7.2 Temperature
9 3 3 1 1 8.4 8.2 8.4
S1 8.19 13.82 15.45 17.02 From fig 6, fig 7 and fig 8 it can be concluded
S2 13.52 15.39 13.59 13.52 that there is considerable interaction between
S3 22.49 14.99 15.16 13.66 quantity of CO2 and temperature, quantity of CO2
Range 14.30 1.57 1.86 3.50 and Pressure and not much interaction is observed
between mixing ratio and temperature.
By using column effective method shown in table-7,
we can observe that the range is highest for Mixing 7.0 CONCLUSION
ratio, Hence, this shows that mixing ratio has more
effect on the compression strength. The following conclusions are made:
 The compression strength of the preheated
moulds is greater than the moulds without
C. Plotting method for compression stregth
preheating, for the same mixing ratio.
Plotting method is performed to study the effect of  It is observed that Mixing Ratio (percentage of
two parameters at a time excluding the remaining Sodium Silicate) is the most influential
ones. The graphs from fig 6 to fig 8 are pertaining to parameter.
these. Graphs are plotted as shown in these figures for  It is also observed that Compression strength is
3 sets of parameter pairs viz CO2 and Temperature in the highest at Mixing ratio of 8%, preheating
fig 6, CO2 and Pressure in fig 7, Mixing Ratio and temperature of 900 centigrade, Gassing time of 2
Temperature in fig 8. minute 30 seconds and Pressure of 1kg/cm2.

ISBN No:978-93-5321-384-8 201


REFERENCES
[1] Rajendersingh- “Introduction to Basic Manufacturing
Processes and Workshop Technology”.
[2] M. Venkataramana- “Process Parameter Optimization
of Co2 gas cured sodium Silicate moulding process
for better Compression Strength”-Dept. of
Mechanical Engineering, CVR college of
Engineering, Hyderabad, Telangana, India.
[3] Dr. M. VenkataRamana Principal, Vignan Institute of
Technology & Science- “Modeling of CO2 moulding
process”.
[4] K Srinivasulu Reddy- “Effect of Binder and Mold
parameters on Collapsibility and Surface Finish of
Gray Cast Iron no-bake Sand Molds”.
[5] Phillip J. Ross-“Taguchi Techniques for Quality
Engineering” 2nd Edition.
ISBN No:978-93-5321-384-8
1st International Conference on Recent Trends in
Engineering, Materials, Management and Sciences (ICRTEMMS-2018), SBIT, Khammam, India 25-27 Oct. 2018
[6] HimanshuKhandelwal, B. Ravi Effect of moulding
parameters on chemically bonded sand mould
properties, Journal of Manufacturing Processes 22
(2016) 127-133 Elsevier.
[7] AFS (American Foundry Society)-2007. Reporting of
binder chemicals used in Foundries.
[8] K. Srinagesh, “Chemistry of Sodium Silicate as a
Sand Binder “, Cast Metals Research Journal, pp 50-
63 (March 1979).
[9] Ranjith K Roy, “Design of Experiments using
Taguchi Approach “, Proceedings of work shop on
Taguchi technique, JNTU, Hyderabad (2003).
[10] A.D. Sarkar “Mould and core material for steel
foundry”, first edition. Pergamon 1997.
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