Summary

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
It is essential to test the foundry sand for its properties, to achieve the best quality of the casting.
In this experiment the objective is to learn the procedures followed in conducting a basic
physical test of moulding sand. In this experiment we are determining the moisture content, clay
content and the grading of moulding sands.

2. Materials and methods

1. Sample Preparation.

To prepare moulding sand, there are various ingredients to be mixed with sand manually or
mechanically. Mullers are used the mixing process. (Mulling is a form of intensive mixing
utilizing the application of controlled pressure and agitation through unique compression.
Muller is the machine used for this process.)

2. Moisture content test.

Determining the moisture content involves the following steps.

• Carefully measure 50g of moulding sand.

• Dry the sand tray at 105-110℃.

• Measure the weight of sand again and calculate mass difference. - It gives the weight
of the moisture in the sand.

• Calculate the moisture weight percentage.

3. AFS clay content test.

AFS clay content is also called the “particle which fails to settle. One inch per minute when
suspended in water”. Diameter of these particles are usually less than 20 microns. Eg:- Fine
silica or slit, clay minerals.

We calculate the total percentage of these particles and call it the AFS clay content of sand.

The procedure that we need to follow is as follows,

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 • Take 50g of dried moulding sand and mix with 475ml water and 25ml caustic soda
solution.

• Agitate for 5 minutes with a mechanical shaker. And dilute with water to a height of 6
inches mark.

• Keep it for 10 minutes.

• Siphon off 5 inches of water and dilute again with water up to 6 inches mark.

• Keep it for 5 minutes to settle down and siphon it again and dilute again.

• Repeat the above step until the solution turns clear.

• Dry and measure the weight of the sample remaining in the beaker.

• Calculate the weight loss of the sample.

• Multiply it with 2 and it gives the AFS clay percentage in the sand.

4. AFS sieve analysis

• Add 50g of dry sand to the top sieve in a series of sieves.

• Shake it for about 15 minutes.

• Measure the weight of sand remaining in each sieve.

• Calculate the percentage of the measured sand weight according to the sieve number.

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

• AFS standard rammer is used to prepare specimens 2” in diameter and 2” in height.

• Fill the sample holders with sand and ram it three times until the indicator of the
rammer gets to zero. If it is below zero, fill more sand and ram it again. If the
indicator is above zero, remove the sand and ram it again.

• Take out the sample from the specimen holding cylinder.

6. Permeability

This test is performed by using the Ridsdale-Dietert electric permeability meter. The
procedure followed is as below,

• Turn on the Ridsdale-Dietert electric permeability meter and put the side lever
forward. Then the indicator is going to the zero sides.

• Rotate the adjusting knob and coincide the zero mark.

• Keep the testing apparatus on the standard specimen and push the side lever back.

• The indicator starts to move and settles down at a value. Then the reading the
permeability value should be taken.

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7. Shatter Index

The apparatus used to measure the shatter index is called the Ridsdale shatter index tester.

• Make a standard specimen.

• Keep the specimen on the Ridsdale Shatter Index tester.

• Allow falling the specimen for 6ft onto the steel anvil.

• By measuring the degree of disintegration of the specimen (using a 13.2mm mesh

sieve) the shatter index can be calculated.

• Shatter index = (weight of the sand remaining on the sieve/ total weight of the
specimen) x 100.

8. Strength

A spring balance sand testing machine is used to perform this test.

• Keep the standard specimen at the testing stage of the spring balance testing
apparatus and apply compression stress until fracture.

• Measure the highest stress that the sample can hold without fracture with the help of
the driven indicator.

• Strength can be read directly from this machine.

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 3. Observations and Calculations
1. Moisture Content Test
Weight of initial sand sample = 50g
Weight of the sand sample after drying = 49.47g
(50−49.47)
Moisture content = ∗ 100 = 1.06 %
50

2. AFS Clay Content Test

3. Permeability Test
Amount of water added Permeability
10ml 260 units
20ml 300 units

Note: In the actual conditions at 10ml, permeability should be higher. Therefore, : – experiment
error.
4. Strength test
Amount of water added Strength of specimen

10ml 0.225kg/cm2
20ml 0.180kg/cm2

5. Sieve test
Sieve size in Weight (g) percentage
micrometres
250 25.23 50.46%
150 14.48 28.96%
106 4.73 9.46
75 0 0
53 3.5 7%
Less than 53 0.97 1.94%
Total 48.91

Note: The sum of the sands at different sieves do not total to 50g due to experimental errors.

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4. Discussions and conclusions
I. Grain fineness test.
This test is also called the sand sieve analysis. The procedure for this test is discussed above
under AFS sieve analysis. By performing this test, we understand the different sizes of grains
and their distribution.
The equipment used for this test is called the sieve. This has a series of sieves with different
sieve sizes. The sieves with big holes are at the top and the hole size decreases when coming
down the equipment. Therefore, when the shaker vibrates the sand particles which are smaller
than the holes move down the sieve and the others remain.
.

II. Permeability test

In this test we measure the amount of air that will pass through a standard sand specimen at a
certain pressure. So, this testing machine Ridsdale-Dietert electric permeability machine creates
a very small low pressure inside and suck air through the specimen.
There are mainly two machines used,
1. Ridsdale-Dietert electric permeability meter
2. Ridsdale-Dietert AFS permeability meter
Both these machines measure the same permeability value, but the Ridsdale-Dietert AFS
permeability meter takes more time to give out the reading and is more accurate.
Permeability value becomes less or high according to the moisture content as water between
sand particles block the air flowing through the sand mould this permeability value become less
when moisture content is high and vice versa.
But in the experiment we conducted, the sample with 10ml of water had 260 units of
permeability and the sample with 20ml of water had 300 units of permeability. This can be due
to some experimental errors. One possible reason for this is that the space between the suction
device and the specimen may not have been sealed on the event of testing and there can be other
reasons too.

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III. Sand mould strength
Referring to the sand mould strength measurement, the maximum compression stress that a
standard sand specimen can bare without fracture is obtained using a machine called the spring
balance sand testing machine.
There is another machine called the universal sand strength machine which is widely used to
measure the strength of a sand specimen.
The types of sands that are tested are green sand, dry sand or core sand.
In green sand, the strength generally varies in the range 30 to 160 KPa. And in dry sand, the
strength generally varies in the range 140 to 1800KPa.
Therefore, the strength of the sand moulds is inversely proportional to the moisture level of sand.
So, the green sand has low strength and dry sand has a higher strength.

We can observe this clearly in the experiment carried out as the sample with 10ml of water has
0.225kg/cm2 strength and the sample with 20ml of water has 0.180kg/cm2.

Spring balanced machine and Universal strength testing machine

Image credit: https://docplayer.net/48043585-Foundry-sand-testing-equipment.html
https://www.utmchina.net/Electronic_UTM/435.html

IV. Clay content strength.

In this test we measure the amount of clay in the sand sample by washing the sand with water
and dissolving the clay and removing it with water. Finally, the clay content in the sand sample
can be determined. The amount of clay influences many properties of sand such as permeability
and many more moulding properties as it acts as a bonding agent for the sand particles.

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V. Hardness test
This test is done after the required mould or core is made by using a type of sand.
The hardness test involves two aspects. They are,
1. Mould hardness test
2. Core hardness test
Here, lets consider only the mould hardness test.
The device used here is called the hardness tester. This device looks like a small dial of a
wristwatch and has a tip in the bottom side. When the mould is kept, this tip(indenter) penetrates
into the mould. A spring loaded shaft inside the hollow body of this device measures a numeric
value for the hardness of the mould and a reading is shown on the dial attached at the top.
In the same way, the core hardness test also can be carried out.
As we know, different hardness values are needed for moulding sand and core sand. The sand
that is used for cores are more harder. Therefore, the hardness test should be carried out for the
mould and the core as well.

What is sand conditioning? Explain why sand conditioning is important in sand casting.

Sand conditioning is preparing sand to a level which is suitable for moulds and cores
independent from the binder to be used. These moulds should undergo various loads in the
process of casting. Therefore, in sand conditioning factors such as properties of raw material
available, equipment provided, specific characteristics of production process are taken into
account. Preparing a sand sample suitable to all those conditions is simply called as sand
conditioning.
Bentonite, which is a bonding material is mixed with sand. Sand conditioning is done to obtain
constant characteristics in the sand. This is also called as homogenization.

5. References