Moulding Sands

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Kerem Altuğ GÜLER

• Sand: Mineral grain (Grain size: 0.05 – 2 mm)
• In sand mould casting, for 1 ton cast part
production average sand requirement is 4-5 tons.

The refractory moulds used in casting consist of a

particulate refractory material (sand) that is bonded
together to hold its shape during pouring. Although
various sands can be used, the following basic
requirements apply to each.
• Dimensional and thermal stability at elevated
temperatures
• Suitable particle size and shape
• Chemically unreactive with molten metals
• Not readily wetted by molten metals
• Freedom from volatiles that produce gas upon
heating
• Economical availability
• Consistent cleanliness, composition, and pH
• Compatibility with binder systems

Many minerals possess some of these features, but

few have them all.
Moulding sand mixtures

Natural sands
• Includes natural clay as binder and used as
extracted. In case of some bentonite addition its
called semi synthetic sand.
• Natural sands do not have regular properties, they
are variable.
Synthetic sands
• Washed (cleaned) and sized sands. Clay content is
decreased to very low levels with washing.
• Used with bentonite addition for green sand
moulding.
Types of sand binders

• Inorganic binders (generally for moulds)

- Clay (Natural Clay, Bentonite, Fire Clay)
- Inorganic resins (Sodium silicate + CO2)
- Cement

• Organic binders (for moulds and cores)

- Air set (No bake) resins
- Heat cured (Hot box) resins
- Gas set (Cold box) resins

Green sand  Sand + Clay + Water

(Temper water+ free water)
Types of sands
• Silica sand (SiO2)
• Zircon sand (FeSiO4)
• Chromite sand (FeCr2O4)
• Olivine sand (MgFe2SiO4)
• Aluminium silicate sand (Al2SiO5)

Synthetic sands are preferred because of:

• More uniform grain size
• Higher refractoriness
• Need less water
• Need less binder
• Need smaller storage places
• Properties can be controlled easily
Silica sand Zircon sand Chromite sand

Olivine sand Aluminium silicate sand

Thermal expansion characteristics of zircon, chromite and olivine sands
compared with silica sand.
Silica Sands
Most green sand moulds consist of silica sands
bonded with a bentonite-water mixture. (The term
green means that the mould, which is tempered with
water, is not dried or baked.) The composition, size,
size distribution, purity, and shape of the sand are
important to the success of the mould making
operation.
Zircon
Zircon is zirconium silicate (ZrSiO4). It is highly
refractory and possesses excellent foundry
characteristics. Its primary advantages are a very low
thermal expansion, high thermal conductivity and
bulk density (which gives it a chilling rate about four
times that of quartz), and very low reactivity with
molten metal. Zircon requires less binder than other
sands because its grains are rounded. The very high
dimensional and thermal stabilities exhibited by
zircon are the reasons it is widely used in steel
foundries and investment foundries making high-
temperature alloy components.
Olivine
Olivine minerals (so called because of their characteristic
green color) are a solid solution of forsterite (Mg2SiO4)
and fayalite (Fe2SiO4). Their physical properties vary with
their chemical compositions; therefore, the composition
of the olivine used must be specified to control the
reproducibility of the sand mixture. Care must be taken to
calcine the olivine sand before use to decompose the
serpentine content, which contains water. The specific
heat of olivine is similar to that of silica, but its thermal
expansion is far less. Therefore, olivine is used for steel
casting to control mould dimensions. Olivine is somewhat
less durable than silica, and it is an angular sand.
Chromite
Chromite (FeCr2O4), a black, angular sand, is highly
refractory and chemically unreactive, and it has good
thermal stability and excellent chilling properties.
However, it has twice the thermal expansion of zircon
sand, and it often contains hydrous impurities that
cause pinholing and gas defects in castings. It is
necessary to specify the calcium oxide (CaO) and
silicon dioxide (SiO2) limits in chromite sand to avoid
sintering reactions and reactions with molten metal
that cause burn-in.
Aluminum Silicates
Aluminum silicate (Al2SiO5) occurs in three common
forms: kyanite, sillimanite, and andalusite. All break
down at high temperatures to form mullite and silica.
Therefore, aluminum silicates for foundry use are
produced by calcining these minerals. Depending on
the sintering cycle, the silica may be present as
cristobalite or as amorphous silica. The grains are
highly angular. These materials have high
refractoriness, low thermal expansion, and high
resistance to thermal shock. They are widely used in
precision investment foundries, often in combination
with zircon.
Grain shape
• Grain shape is defined in terms of angularity and
sphericity. Sand grains vary from well rounded to
rounded, sub-rounded, sub-angular, angular and
very angular. Within each angularity band, grains
may have high, medium or low sphericity. The
angularity of sand is estimated by visual
examination with a low power microscope and
comparing with published charts.
• The best foundry sands have grains which are
rounded with medium to high sphericity giving
good flowability and permeability with high
strength at low binder additions. More angular and
lower sphericity sands require higher binder
additions, have lower packing density and poorer
flowability.
 Size distribution
The size distribution of the sand affects the quality of the
castings. Coarse grained sands allow metal penetration
into moulds and cores giving poor surface finish to the
castings. Fine grained sands yield better surface finish but
need higher binder content and the low permeability may
cause gas defects in castings. Most foundry sands fall
within the following size range:
 Chemical purity

Acid demand
The chemical composition of the sand affects the acid demand
value which has an important effect on the catalyst
requirements of cold-setting acid catalysed binders. Sands
containing alkaline minerals and particularly significant amounts
of sea-shell, will absorb acid catalyst. Sands with acid demand
values greater than about 6 ml require high acid catalyst levels,
sands with acid demand greater than 10–15 ml are not suitable
for acid catalysed binder systems.
Clays
Bonds in green sand moulds are produced by the
interaction of clay and water. Each of the various clays
has different properties, as described below.
Bentonites
The most common clays used in bonding green sand
moulds are bentonites, which are forms of
montmorillonite or hydrated aluminum silicate.
Montmorillonite is built up of alternating tetrahedra of
silicon atoms surrounded by oxygen atoms, and
aluminum atoms surrounded by oxygen atoms. This is a
layered structure, and it produces clay particles that are
flat plates. Water is adsorbed on the surfaces of these
plates, and this causes bentonite to expand in the
presence of water and to contract when dried.
 There are two forms of bentonite: Western (sodium)
and Southern (calcium). Both are used in foundry
sands, but they have somewhat different properties.
Sodium bentonite has higher dry and hot strength
while calcium bentonite has higher green strength.

Structure of montmorillonite. Large closed circles are aluminum, magnesium, sodium, or

calcium. Small closed circles are silicon. Large open circles are hydroxyls. Small open circles
are oxygen
Fireclay
Fireclay consists essentially of kaolinite, a hydrous
aluminum silicate that is usually combined with
bentonites in moulding sand. It is highly refractory,
but has low plasticity. It improves the hot strength of
the mould and allows the water content to be varied
over greater ranges. Because of its high hot strength
potential, it is used for large castings. It is also used
to improve sieve analysis by creating fines whenever
the system does not have an optimum wide sieve
distribution of the base sand. However, because of
its low durability, its use is generally limited. In
addition, the need for fireclay can usually be
eliminated through close control of sand mixes and
materials.
Properties of moulding sands

Main properties
• Green strength
• Dry strength
• Permeability
• Moisture content
• Clay content
• Grain size and distribution
Other properties
Hot strength, sinter point, thermal stability, flowability
and plasticity, collapsibility, ability of reuse
Green strength: Strength of the moulding sand just
after addition of tempering water.
Factors effects green strength:
Permeability: Passing ability of air, gas and vapour
through the mould wall.
Factors control permeability:
Moulding sand additives

• Silica powder. Increase hot strength.

• Iron oxide (Grounded hematite ore (Fe2O3).
Increase hot strength. Iron oxide loose oxygen
during casting and decrease volume and stress.
• Fuel oil. Decrease free water content and improve
moulding ability.
• Cereals (Corn flour, dextrine, and other starches).
Act as binder and increase green and dry strength.
• Pulverized coal. Prevent sintering of sand grains,
generates gas barrier between sand grains.
Saw dust (wooden). Burns and increase thermal
stability.
Graphite. Increase moulding ability and surface
quality.
Pearlite. It is a kind of aluminium silicate based
mineral used for increase thermal stability.
Typical green sand properties for a iron foundary.
Flow diagram for a typical green sand plant Sand mixer
Sand reclamation
Reclamation is treatments which are carried out for
return properties of used sand to its original form.
Reclemation of sand is easiest when only one type of
chemical binder is used. Generally sphericity of
reclamated sands are increase and angularity
decrease.

Binder shell layers around the used sand grain

Types of sand reclamation
• Dry reclamation
• Wet reclamation
• Thermal reclamation (650-850 °C)
• Dry or wet reclamation + thermal reclamation

Dry and green reclamations remove clay binder shell but

organic and carbon based residues cannot be removed.
Thermal reclamation removes organic and carbon based
materials however it is not effective on clay shell cover.