Experiment #3

To determine the AFS grain fineness number (GFN) of the foundry sand by performing sieve
analysis.

Objective :

 Calculate Grain Fineness Number.

 Determine the grade of sand grains by Boswell’s classification.

Principle :

To determine the number for a given sand sample, it is customary to use a standard sieve set
which contains several sieves one above the other, having a varying but known number of
meshes. The coarsest sieve is placed at the top and finest at the bottom.

Theory :

Grain Fineness Number is expressed as GFN. Grain fineness number is a system developed by
AFS for rapidly expressing the average grain size of given sand. It approximates the number of
meshes per inch of that sieve that would just pass the sample if its grains of uniform size. It is
approximately proportional to the surface area per unit of weight of sand.
Apparatus:

 Weighing balance
 Sieve set of different mesh no.
 Sieve shaker
 Stopwatch
 Sand

Procedure

Sand is washed (to remove clay), dried and then tested for grain fineness either by mechanical
sieving method or by any other standard method. In standard AFS (American Foundry men’s
Society) grain-fineness test, the mechanical sieving apparatus consists of eleven sieves each of 8
inch diameter and with their standard numbers and sizes of openings. Each empty sieve was
being weighed. After that, dry-sand sample of 500 grams is placed in the uppermost sieve and
shaken in sieve shaker for about 15 minutes. Due to the varying size of openings, certain amount
of sand is retained by each sieve which when multiplied by 2 will express the weight of grain of
various sizes as the percentage of original 500 gram sand sample.

Observations and Calculation

Sr. no Mesh No. Amount of % wt. Multiplier Product

sand retained retained by factor
by each sieve each sieve
(g)
1 6 0 0 3 0
2 12 10 2 5 10
3 20 16 3.2 10 32
4 30 21 4.2 20 84
5 40 81 16.2 30 486
6 50 82 16.4 40 656
7 70 114 22.8 50 1140
8 100 101 20.2 70 1414
9 140 39 7.8 100 780
10 200 10 2 140 280
11 270 16 3.2 200 640
12 Pan 10 2 300 600
13 total ….. 100 …… 6122

Calculations :

Total product
AFS grain fineness number =
Total % wt.retained by different sieves

= 6122/100

AFS grain fineness number =61

Result:

The Grain fineness number of sand under test is 61

Discussion:

It has been seen form the result that the grain fineness number of silica sand is 61. Grain
fineness number basically tells us about the quality of sand. In AFS grain fineness, the value of
61 lies in medium sand. So, silica sand is of medium grade and can be used for casting process
in foundry. In casting process, the sand should be of medium grade because it has porosity that
helps the gases and moisture to escape out during casting and it also does not affect the
surface of pattern while coarse sand make the surface of pattern rough. Fine sand has very less
porosity and has no vacant space for the escape of gases and moisture during casting. So the
pattern become defective having air bubbles trapped in it. So the medium sand is suitable for
casting and silica is one of them.