Aim of the Project The aim of the project is to reduce the material handling cost in foundry.

Since material handling cost

is directly proportional to the distance traveled & time; the aim is to reduce these two factors. Research Methodology: 1.
To study the whole process of metal casting 2. Analyzing the process flow. 3. Study of time taken & distance traveled by
the material. 4. Eliminating unnecessary movement of material & suggesting new method. Proposals: 1. Transferring the
castings to fettling section using gravity. 2. Improving the process of fettling of small castings by using mechanical
devices. 3. Automation of the pouring process.

PROJECT REPORT
FOUNDRY PROJECT
To improve the material handling in foundry.
Aim of the Project
The aim of the project is to reduce the material handling cost in foundry. Since material handling cost is directly
proportional to the distance traveled & time; the aim is to reduce these two factors.
Research Methodology:
1. To study the whole process of metal casting
2. Analyzing the process flow.
3. Study of time taken & distance traveled by the material.
4. Eliminating unnecessary movement of material & suggesting new method.
Casting Process:
Casting is a manufacturing process by which a molten material such as metal or plastic is introduced into a mold,
allowed to solidify within the mold, and then ejected or broken out to make a fabricated part. Casting is used for making
parts of complex shape that would be difficult or uneconomical to make by other methods, such as cutting from solid
material.
Casting may be used to form hot, liquid metals or melt able plastics (called thermoplastics), or various materials that
cold set after mixing of components such as certain plastic resins such as epoxy, water setting materials such as
concrete or plaster, and materials that become liquid or paste when moist such as clay, which when dry enough to be
rigid is removed from the mold, further dried, and fired in a kiln or furnace.
Sand casting
This process accounts for about 80% of the total output of casting products. The sand moulds may be single or
multipiece casting moulds and are completely destroyed for taking out the casting, after the metal has solidified in the
mould cavity. The moulding material is sand, which is mixed with small amount of other materials and water to improve

the cohesion strength and mould ability of sand. For making a mould, the moulding material will have to be consolidated
and contained around the pattern.
Basically the foundry shop of the industry is for the production of the G.S. Automotives. The output of the foundry shop
is forwarded into the automotive industry, Automotive deal with on the manufacturing of casting chassis components.
But the foundry shop is maintained in area of G.S. Autos, so we have visited a foundry shop. The various processes are
made for the production of casting components, which are discussed as follow:Process Flow Sequence of Casting Process of Components:
1.Inspection of mild steel scrap
2.Inspection of alloys and chemicals
3.Charge mixing
4.Sand testing
5.Molding
6.Core making
7.Core fitting
8.Melting of scrap
9.Pouring
10.Shake out
11.Fettling
12.Shot-blasting
13.Grinding
14.Removal of extra material
15.Hardness & destruction testing
Important points to be considered while doing the project :
Sand preparation

Sand is prepared for the moulds by mixing the many type of sand as ration given as follow:Ratio of old and new sand
3.2%
Bentonite
5.7%
Coal dust
.5-1%
Lustrone
.2-.5%
Mulling time
20.25min
Moisture
Winter
Summer
Rainy Day
3-3.5%
3.5-45
3.5-3.8%
Table no.-14
Sand testing
Various sand Tests are:
1. Permeability test

2. Determination of compression of stage

3. Determination of moisture test
4. Grain size test
After that sand (Green sand) is put on the cope on drag which is placed on the match plate which is further placed on
the molding machine then gate, runner, user and hole done on the mould.
Moulding sand
The principle material used in foundry shop molding is the sand. The principle ingredients of the molding sand are:
1. Silica
2. Clay
3. Moisture
4. Lime stone
5. Magnesia, potassium etc
Mainly green sand is used for molding purposes. It is a mixture of silica with 18-30 % clay, having total water from 6-8
%. The clay and water furnish the bond of green sand. It is fine, soft, light and porous.Cast dust is added in molded
sand, which gives the black appearance. The additional coal dust tends to make sand more porous and helps to cool
the mold after it has been prepared.
Core making
To provide the holes in the casting components cores are separate placed which are made of special core sand that is
generally required to form the hollow interior of the casting or a hole through the casting. These rae placed after the
mould preparation.
Core sands:
The ingredients of core sands are sands & binders. Core sands are usually silica. Sands that contain more than 5 %
clay cannot be used for cores. Core sand has no natural bond. Hence some other materials are added to sand before &
after the cores are baked. The binder used in the foundry is molasses. Core making consists of following processes:
Core moulding:
Cores are made manually. Normally a core box is required for the preparation of core. Green sand cores are made by
ramming the sand mixture into the boxes the interiors of which have the desired shapes & dimensions.

Core baking: After the cores are prepared & placed on to metal plates or core carriers, they are baked to remove
moisture & develop the strength of binder in the core ovens at a temperature of 150- 400 C. Batten type ovens are
used for this purpose.
Core finishing: After the baking operation the cores are smoothened. All rough edges, unwanted fins are removed by
filing. After this the core dressing is done by applying a thin layer of refractory coating to the surface.
Melting
Melting electric furnaces have been employed in this industry. The principle of induction based on that of a transformer.
It has a primary coil about which a alternating is set up. With the magnetic lines of forces of definite density, an
alternating current is passed through the coil. The magnetic filed induces alternating eddy current in the secondary
circuit, which comprises of a crucible containing a melt charge. The eddy current heats up and melt metal. The induction
furnace operates on an alternating current with a frequency of 500-2500 Hz.
Pouring
Pouring equipment used are pouring ladles, which are use to carry molted metal from the furnace to the molding box.
The most commonly used ladles in the shop is shank ladles, it resembles a bucket with long removable handle shank. It
is handled by two men, it holds from 30-150 kg of molten metal.
Shake Out
After the molten metal has been poured into the mold, it is permitted to cool and solidify for a short time period and
when the casting has solidified it is removed from the mould box. This operation is called shakeout.
Fettling
The operation of removing unwanted parts, cleaning and finishing the casting is called as fettling. In the fettling first
cores are removed from the casting surface. After this the gates, risers, and runners are removed. The cleaning of
casting surface is done by using hand methods and mechanically. In hand methods wire, brushes and wires are used. In
mechanical method a shot-blasting machine is used.
Shot blasting:
Shot blasting consists of attacking the surface of a material with one of many types of shots. Normally this is done to
remove something on the surface such as scale, but it is also done sometimes to impart a particular surface to the
object being shot blasted, such as the rolls used to make a 2D finish. The shot can be sand, small steel balls of various
diameters, granules of silicon carbide, etc. The device is spinning paddles which hurl the shot off their blades.
Proposals:
1. Transferring the castings to fettling section using gravity.

2. Improving the process of fettling of small castings by using mechanical devices.

3. Automation of the pouring process.
Proposal 1.
Material handling using gravity methods
Considering the present system of material handling in the foundry shop, it is observed that the castings are first of all
pulled out of mould boxes & then are dumped on the ground. After that these are loaded on to a trolley which shifts them
to fettling section. This process takes a large amount of time & also sand is scattered all over the place. Improvement
can be done by using some system based on gravity which will reduce time consumption & hence reduce the cost.
Present system of shakeout:
When the casting in the mould gets solidified, the shakeout is carried as follow :
The mould assembly is dumped on the ground after disintegrating the mould boxes with help of a lever. The moulds are
dumped upside down. The castings are pushed on to the ground. Casting is pulled out of sand with the hook bar by
striking against the sand with the help of metal rod. Castings are transferred to trolley manually, which is time
consuming.
Improved system of shakeout:
The casting assembly can be directly moved to the trolley without being dumped on the ground. This can be done by
using inclined plane from conveyer to the trolley. The pieces from conveyer can be directly attached to the trolley by this
inclined plane. After disintegrating the mould boxes the casting assemblies can be pushed to the trolley without
scattering of sand.
Advantages :
Reduction in time of shake out process:
The process is now completed in less time than before by elimination of the unnecessary movement of casting
assembly to ground & then to the trolley.
Reduction in the number of workers: In the present system two men are engaged in disintegrating the molding boxes by
levers, two push the boxes on the ground & then put the castings in the trolley. The trolley also comes to the fettling
section after moving around from the conveyer which is time consuming. By the new system workers are required only
for disintegration & putting the casting on the inclined plane.
Collection of used sand at one place: The sand which is used in casting can now be collected at the place for fettling
without being scattered near the conveyer.

Proposal 2:
Mechanization of shakeout process:
Considering the present scenario, the shakeout/ fettling process of smaller castings is done by using manual methods.
The castings are transferred to fettling section where they are struck by sledge hammer blows. This process is laborious
& time consuming. Instead of this, some modern technique should be applied.
The foundry here is a production type foundry, which is capable of producing a large number of castings/day. Also
different castings are produced. It is better to mechanize the process to get more out of it.
How the process can be mechanized:
In the present conditions it is observed that the castings are handled in the fettling section purely by manual methods.
The method suggested is discussed in detail as follows:
The shake out process can be carried out by placing the mould boxes on a vibration platform. A vibration platform
consists of a perforated plate or tray attached few inches away from the moulding box holder. The whole arrangement
can be shaken using mechanical power. So by this method the sand can be removed from the casting by vigorous
shaking. The perforated tray will allow the sand grains to pass through it which can be collected in a container by using
a belt conveyer. To make the process more efficient, a magnetic pulley can be used which collects the iron particles
mixed in the sand.
When the sand gets removed from the castings, then the castings can be separated from each other by using a powerpress. This will need only one worker to separate out the castings from each other which are joined due to gates.
Advantages:
The labor of striking the castings with the sledge hammer will be saved. Also less time will be consumed due to
mechanization of shakeout process.
The iron particles can be separated from the sand by magnetic pulley. This will result in less number of laborers which
use large sieves to separate sand & iron particles. This process is manual & hence time consuming. By the new method
both the time & labor can be saved.
Proposal 3:
Automation of pouring process:
Considering the present methods of pouring, it is observed that the raw material or scrap is pushed into the tilting type
induction furnace. The metal is allowed to melt completely & then it is transferred to a big ladle of one ton capacity. From
this big ladle the molten metal is poured into smaller shank ladles. These ladles are carried by two workers each. Then
the metal is poured manually into the moulds placed on conveyer.
Same process is carried out on the other conveyer which is of smaller size & capacity. This conveyer holds the moulds

of smaller castings like threaded rings.

It is seen that the process of pouring the metal into the moulds is manual, which is laborious & time consuming, hence
increases the cost also.
How the pouring process can be mechanized:
The process can be mechanized by using two monorails for both the conveyers. Two ladles of half ton capacity can be
mounted by the help of trolley on these two monorails. The ladles can be raised or lowered by a hand wheel. A lever is
attached to the ladle which helps in pouring the metal into the moulds. The moulds on both the conveyers can be filled
with metal almost simultaneously. Also the induction furnace which is of one ton capacity can be emptied by these two
ladles. This means that the frequency of metal melting will also increase.
Advantages:
In the existing system there is a big ladle used in which the molten metal is poured. The metal is then poured into shank
ladles by this ladle. The new method will completely eliminate the use of big ladle.
The number of workers will be reduced. In the present method the number of workers is more than ten. Two maneuver
the big ladle & rest carry the small shank ladle to the moulds. By the new method the workers required will be three for
one conveyer. Two workers will tilt the furnace to pour the metal into hanging type ladles. One worker will get the ladle
towards the mould-conveyer & will also do the job of pouring the metal into the moulds by using the hand lever.
Conclusion:
There will be a reduction in the number of laborers involved, hence reduction in labor cost. The melting frequency of the
metal will also increase, thereby increasing the process efficiency. The new method will result in saving of time & thus
reducing the production cost.