Aluminum Sand Casting:

Green sand which is new or regenerated sand mixed with natural or synthetic binders, is the most
commonly used material for making aluminum expendable molds. Green sand molds get their name
from the fact that they are still moist when the molten metal is poured into them.

The sand mold has two or more parts, the upper part is known as the cope while the bottom one is
called the drag.

Recipe:

To make green sand

1. Silica Sand
2. Bentonite
3. Water

Aluminum sand casting defects to look out for are residual oxide film, inclusion, core erosion, gas holes
and shrinkage porosity.

Molding Sand Properties:

Strength

The ability of the sand mold to hold its geometric shape under the conditions of mechanical
stress.

Moisture Content

Moisture content affects a mold’s strength and permeability: a mold with too little moisture may
break apart, while a mold with too much moisture can cause steam bubbles to be entrapped in the
casting.

Flowability

The capacity of the sand to fill small cavities in the pattern. High flowability creates a more
precise mold, and is therefore useful for detailed castings.

Grain Size

The size of the individual particles of sand

Grain Shape

This property evaluates the shape of the individual grains of sand based on how round they are.
Generally, three grain categories are used in foundry sand:
 1. Rounded Grain sands provide relatively poor bonding strength, but good flowability and surface
finish.
2. Angular Grains have greater bonding strength because of interlocking, but poorer flowability
and permeability than rounded grain sands.
3. Sub-angular Grains are the middle road. They possess better strength and lower permeability
relative to rounded grains, but lower strength and better permeability than angular grains.

Collapsibility

The ability of the sand mixture to collapse under force. Greater mold collapsibility allows the
metal casting to shrink freely as it solidifies, without the risk of hot tearing or cracking

Refractory Strength

The mold must not melt, burn, or crack as molten metal is poured into it. Refractory strength
measures the ability of molding sand to withstand extreme heat

Reusability

The ability of molding sand to be reused (after sand conditioning) to produce other sand castings
in subsequent manufacturing operations

Parts of a Sand Casting Mold

A core is a sand shape inserted into the mold to shape the casting interior, including features
such as holes or passages. Cores are usually made out of molding sand so they can be shaken out
of the casting.

A core print is a region added to the pattern, core, or mold to locate and support the core within
the mold

A riser is an extra void within the mold designed to contain excess metal. It prevents shrinkage
voids from forming in the main casting by feeding molten metal to the mold cavity as it solidifies
and shrinks.

The entire sand mold is contained in a box called the flask. In a two-part mold, which is typical
of sand castings, the upper half (containing the top half of the pattern, flask, and core) is called
the cope. The lower half is called the drag. The parting line is the line or surface that separates
the cope and drag

How to Make a Sand Casting

Sand casting involves four basic steps: assemble the sand mold, pour liquid metal into the mold,
allow the metal to cool, then break away the sand and remove the casting. Of course, the process
is more complex than it sounds.
The first step of mold assembly is to partially fill the drag with sand. The pattern, core print,
cores, and gating system are placed near the parting line. The cope is then assembled to the drag.
Additional sand is poured on the cope half until the pattern, core, and gating system are covered,
and then the sand is compacted by vibration or mechanical means. Excess sand is removed with
a strike off bar.

Reference: The complete Handbook of Sandcasting

By C.W. AMMEN

55
Grain size
12%
Clay content-
13%
Moisture content
2
Number of ramming’s
Reference-
Experimental Study of Sand Mold Process Parameters on Al-Alloy Sand Castings Using DoE
(IOSR Journal of Mechanical and Civil Engineering (IOSR-JMCE) e-ISSN: 2278-1684,p-ISSN: 2320-334X,
Volume 11, Issue 6 Ver. VI (Nov- Dec. 2014), PP 01-06 www.iosrjournals.org)
 90%
Sand
5%
Bentonite-
5%
water
Reference-
Optimization of Molding Sand Composition for Casting Al Alloy
(International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Applications
2017; 5(3): 155-161
http://www.sciencepublishinggroup.com/j/ijmea)

MCP New Sand Al New Sand

Permeability-9.3,10.1 Permeability-59
Total Clay(%)-0.4 Total Clay(%)-1.48
AFS Number-65.99 AFS Number-43.21

Al Molding Sand
Depend on Design complexity there are two sand castings method exiting in
Mold & Jig Department

For Simple Design Requirement,

Green Sand Molding is used to make mold.
There is a sand bed where approximately per year Coal dust, Natural clay is mixed
with Sand.
Mixing recipe as per experience.
Ramming is done only 1 Time.
The prepared mold is pre- heated.
Riser Compound is added in riser during metal pouring.

For Complex Design Requirement,

Sodium silicate is mixed with sand with a mixture ratio of 1: 10.
It will dry so fast and creates a hard mold that’s why mold is not broken during
metal pouring.

Notes:
Green sand casting for non-ferrous metals does not use coal additives, since the
CO created does not prevent oxidation.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sand_casting

Both Castings process have machining allowance 5-10mm.