PRACTICAL NO: 6

SAND TESTING 1

INSTRUCTED BY: Mr. LALANTHA P.D.R. GROUP MEMBERS: MADUANKA G.L.D MADUSHAN M.D MANORAJH A. INDEX NO NADARAJA N GROUP NADEESHKA W.H.M.A.C PABASARA K.W.K PATHIRANA W.P.S.G DATE OF PER DATE OF SUB :20-12-2012 :03 -01-2013 :M 2.1 :100334D NAME COURSE : MAPA M. H. H. G. : B.Sc. ENGINEERING

INTRODUCTION It is very important that the foundry sand to be tested for its properties to achieve the optimum quality of the casting. The objective of this experiment is to learn the procedures employed in conducting some basic physical tests of moulding sand. The experiment involves the determination of the moisture content, clay content and the grading of moulding sands.

MATERIALS Moulding sand Water Caustic Soda

APPARATUS

Electrical balance Spring balance machine Ridsdale shatter index tester Ridsdale-Dietert AFS permeability meter Sieves of the sizes 1.7mm,1mm,355m,250m,150m,75m Electrical sieve Glass bottle with level marking Electrical mixture Copper tube (use as a small hose) Electrical oven Ceramic plates Cylindrical tubes ASF standard rammer

THEORY

PROCEDURE

1. Sample Preparation The pre-prepared mixture of sand is sieved so that the larger particles can be removed Then 500g is weighed and 20ml of water is added Both sand and water is mixed thoroughly by hand

2. Moisture content A sample of 50g of moulding sand is weighed Then it is dried in a furnace at a temperature 105 - 110 0C for about 3 hours After that the dried weight of the sample is measured 3. AFS Clay content 475ml of water and 25ml of Caustic Soda is added to a sample of 50g of dry sand The mixture is well stirred for 5 minutes Then it is left to settle down for 10 minutes Then the water above the sediments is removed and a similar amount of water is added This process is repeated 4 times Then the sediments are placed in the furnace for about 3 hours and the dry weight is measured

4. AFS Sieve analysis 50g of dry sand is placed on top of a series of sieves mounted on a mechanical shaker The sample is shaken for about 15 minutes The sand remaining on each sieve and the bottom pan is weighed separately

5. Preparation of standard test specimens using the AFS standard rammer

Sand mixed with water is packed in a cylindrical tube of diameter of 2 inches Then the weight of the rammer is allowed to drop on the specimen thrice Process is repeated until the required height is achieved after the thumps

6. Permeability

This is directly measured using the Ridsdale-Dietert AFS Permeability Meter

7. Shatter index Total weight of the specimen is measured Then it is allowed to fall down on to the steel anvil After that the sand remaining on the sieve is weighed

8. Strength The specimen is placed in the Universal Sand Strength testing machine Then a force is applied on it and increased until cracks are visible

CALCULATIONS

AFS Sieve Analysis

Diameter of mesh (

Weight (g)

Percentage weight

1700 1000 710 500 355 150 Pan(below 150)

0 0.1 0.4 10.7 15.6 0.2 21.7

0% 0.2% 0.8% 21.4% 31.2% 0.4% 43.4%

AFS sieve analysis

25

20

15

10

0 0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800

Moisture content = = 5.4%

AFS clay percentage = = 10.4%

- 5.4%

Permeability = 320ml/min

Shatter Index =

= 0.276

= 27.6%

Ultimate compressive strength = 45KGS

DISCUSION Moisture content

The amount of water as a percentage in a particular sample of sand is called its moisture content . Low moisture content affects strength whereas high moisture content decreases permeability. The compressive strength of the model increases with the moisture content up to some point but when increased further it causes reduction of strength.

AFS clay content

Addition of clay enhances strength and permeability. It is used for bonding sand particles together. If the clay content is inadequate the mould will have less strength and if it is too high it increases shatter index. Sometimes high clay content cause high moisture content too. Permeability

Permeability is the amount of air that is able to pass through some material under a particular pressure. This is a significant feature because when molten metal is poured into the mould apart from the vents used dissolved gases expel through the mould itself too. For a simpler product only the risers and the vent would be enough but when casting more complex ones permeability plays an important role. Size of the sand also influence permeability.

Strength Strength is the compressive stress required to rupture the sand specimen. Mostly

strength depends on the moisture and clay content of the mixture. Strength is an important factor because during cooling of the object, density of the metal increases and it gets contracted causing residual stresses on the mold and the mould should be able to withstand these stresses.

ASF sieve analysis

This is used to analyze the size of sand particles in the sample. It is a must to have a sound understanding of the quality of the sand used, especially when complex objects are cast because the sand used is required to cater lots of detail on the product. Otherwise it can affect the surface roughness and the packing of sand in the mould. Therefore it is quite important to have a sand sample with different sizes of sand particles so that the mold gets packed perfectly. Further by using sands with fine particles, we can accomplish good surface finish eventually reducing the machining and finishing processes.