Sand casting is the most widely used metal casting process in manufacturing. Almost all casting metals can be sand cast. Sand castings can range in size from very small to extremely large. Some examples of items manufactured in modern industry by sand casting processes are engine blocks, machine tool bases, cylinder heads, pump housings, and valves, just to name a few.
Sand:
Sand: Product of the disintegration of rocks over long periods of time.
Most sand casting operations use silica sand (SiO2). A great advantage of sand in manufacturing applications is that sand is inexpensive. Another advantage of sand to manufacture products by metal casting processes, is that sand is very resistant to elevated temperatures. In fact, sand casting is one of the few processes that can be used for metals with high melting temperatures such as steels, nickel, and titanium. Usually sand used to manufacture a mold for the casting process is held together by a mixture of water and clay. A typical mixture by volume could be 89% sand, 4% water, 7% clay. Control of all aspects of the properties of sand is crucial when manufacturing parts by sand casting, therefore a sand laboratory is usually attached to the foundry.
Use Of Binder In Sand Casting:
A mold must have the physical integrity to keep its shape throughout the casting operation. For this reason, in sand casting, the sand must contain some type of binder that acts to hold the sand particles together. Clay serves an essential purpose in the sand casting manufacturing process, as a binding agent to adhere the molding sand together. In manufacturing industry other agents may be used to bond the molding sand together in place of clay. Organic resins, (such as phenolic resins), and inorganic bonding agents, (such as phosphate and sodium silicate), may also be used to hold the sand together. In addition to sand and bonding agents, the sand mixture to create the metal casting mold will sometimes have other constituents added to it in order to improve mold properties.
Types Of Sand Used In Sand Casting:
There are two general types of sand used in the manufacturing process of sand casting.
Naturally Bonded- Naturally bonded sand is less expensive but it includes organic impurities that reduce the fusion temperature of the sand mixture for the casting, lower the binding strength, and require a higher moisture content.
Synthetic Sand- Synthetic sand is mixed in a manufacturing lab starting with a pure (SiO2) sand base. In this case, the composition can be controlled more accurately, which imparts the casting sand mixture with higher green strength, more permeability, and greater refractory strength. For these reasons, synthetic sand is mostly preferred in sand casting manufacture.
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