9.

MOLD MATERIAL

 Casting can be made with permanent metal molds or molds with refractory materials (for example, silica
sand). However, the use of permanent metal molds has limitations in which costs can be covered if mass
production of castings.
 In addition metal molds are only appropriate for metals with low liquid temperatures which are lower than
the liquid temperatures of permanent mold metals.
 Therefore, sand molding is still a fairly wide-ranging method for its use in addition to being remade, capable
of being used for casting metals with high liquid temperatures.
 So that the preparation of materials for sand molds and mold cores, their properties and tests need to be
known in order to be able to do metal casting with sand molds well.

9.1 Functional Requirements of Mold Material

 A mixing of casting molds through four main production stages namely: preparation and distribution, mold
and core production, casting and cleaning and reclamation / recycling.
 The main properties needed at the mold making stage are flowability and green strength of the mold.
 Flowability is the ability of a material to be made solid with uniform density. High flowability can be made
with ramming action from a molding machine where compaction energy must be transmitted to the entire
mass of sand.
 The need for green strength from sand molds arises when patterns are drawn from the mold, so the mold
must be able to hold its shape independently without distortion or collapse.
 The stress experienced by a mold depends on the level of lift of the mold, removal of the pattern and iron
core and the shape and dimensions of the compact.
 In many cases, dimensional stability and high accuracy can be achieved without adequate green strength,
as long as the mold or core is hardened when in contact with the pattern surface and usually uses a bonding
system.
 In the pouring process, many molds are poured in a green state. However for heavy casting such as steel,
the mold is hardened to obtain high rigidity when under pressure and erosive force from molten metal.
 Mold hardening can be done by drying high temperatures on sand reinforced by clay or burning the mold
core which can all be chemically hardened.
 In other words, at the pouring stage, dry strength (strength of hardened mold or in dry conditions) is
significant. In addition, the mold needs to be dried before pouring so that the mold does not decay into
powder again (friability).
 Another requirement is refractoriness or the ability of mold material to withstand high temperatures without
experiencing combustion or other physical changes. This property is very important for the manufacturing
 process of alloys with high liquid temperatures such as steel. As for alloys with low liquid temperatures,
refractoriness can be replaced with other more important requirements such as fineness of sand etc.
 Another condition of casting is the presence of gas involved or replaced by molten metal in the mold. Most
gas can be carried out through airways and vents but for large volumes of castings, air must be able to be
carried out by the pores of the mold. This problem is very serious for mold greensands and coresands.
 Each evaporation of 1% moisture molding green sand can produce 30 times the volume of steam, this is
parallel for other types of sand.
 Therefore, permeability (the ability to provide a path for escaping gas from a mold) is an indispensable trait
to protect castings from blows and similar defects.
 Fineness is needed to prevent metal penetration and produce a smooth molding surface. Considering that
permeability and fineness are functions of grain size and distribution, these two characteristics are common
conflicts and there must be a compromise in making sand molds.
 Fineness can be achieved by using fine mold sand by continuous sifting. However, it will reduce
permeability. An alternative approach to using materials with high permeability and obtaining a smooth
surface is to use mold coating.
 Mold materials also require advanced quality that does not need to be measured by standard tests. Like,
bench life, the ability to maintain the quality of sand when stored or left alone. Then, durability, which
shows the capacity of the mold system to survive under conditions of repeated heating and cooling cycles
in an integrated sand system.

9.2 Mold Making and Special Requirements for Coresands

Sand mold making practice:
1. Clay binder involves low material costs and avoids the cost of hardening the mold either chemically or
thermally.
2. Turning of the mold box and the smooth mold and fast casting cycle are advantageous in the mechanization
system.
3. Sand can be reconditioned due to the small dehydration of clay bonds.
4. Greensands have lower compressive strength, which offers less resistance to contraction than hardened
molds so that the risk of hot tearing can be reduced.
5. The mold can be connected closed, leaving a small flash for cleaning by cutting.
6. The process is environmentally friendly.

9.2 Mold Making and Special Requirements for Coresands

The practice of making hardened or drysand molds:
1. Hardened molds offer maximum resistance to distortion due to metallostatic pressure and to mold erosion
during longer pouring. Therefore, this mold is suitable for casting with very large dimensions and provides
 accuracy with high standards. In particular cast iron production, mold stiffness contributes to dimensional
accuracy.
2. Ventilation problems can be reduced due to the absence of vapors produced by mold moisture.
3. The impregnable mold surface can be made because sand with low permeability can be used, if necessary
by coating.
4. The surface with a chilled structure can be reduced a lot, because the mold can facilitate the flow of molten
metal in thin sections.
5. The problem of further drying during the delay in casting which can make the surface fall into powder can
be avoided.

Hardening Mold
 Chemical hardening can be done either with reagent liquid or gas.
 Liquid reagents are generally applied in cold conditions and mixed into the sand during the mixing stage.
In some cases the mold hole is mixed, so that it is not in a separate hardening operation.
 Hardening with gas or steam is done after compaction and is usually done on smaller cores or components.
 For fully dried molds, stoves or openings are used to dry them at 200 -400 ° C.
 Surface drying can also be taken out using a gas burner or drying with hot air.
 Surface hardening can be improved by initial treatment using a hardener mixture spraying or mold coating
with unburned substances such as graphite etc.
 Requirements for sand core (core sand)
 Although the technique of making a mold core is in principle similar to the way of making a mold, the core
and mold conditions are different during mold closure and casting.
 The practice of making molds with greensand or drysand is applied to make molds. For, the mold core
usually uses drying or hardening techniques to produce high core strength according to the situation.
 The core often has a complex structure, and must be handled in a separate process without support from
the mold box.
 High dry strength is also required in foundries to be able to withstand stresses in the core and are often
surrounded by molten metal. Greensands core is required in some special cases but handling it when closing
the mold is more difficult.
 The mold core must have minimum resistance to contraction.

9.3 Mold Sand Testing

 Mold sand testing needs to be done to maintain the quality of mold sand so that molds are obtained that
produce maximum castings.
 Testing of mold sand has long been made and started by H.W. Dietert from the American Foundrymen
Society, BCIRA and individual researchers and organizations written in the publication of reports,
handbooks and papers and many are still relevant.
 The solid properties of aggregates are sensitive to small variations in the conditions of mixing and specimen
preparation so that rigid standardization is needed at all stages.
a. Specimens for Bulk Testing
 Certain mechanical properties and characteristics are determined by specimens which are compacted
to bulk density similar to the results of presses in rammed mold wells.
 Many molds use 2 in x 2 in AFS cylinders specimens or equivalent 50 mm x 50 mm DIN which is
prepared by giving a load to the sand by beating several times by rammer standards and channeled on
the piston to pound the molding sand in a cylindrical mold.
 The rammer image can be seen in the picture next to this.
 Sand rammer for specimen preparation.
 The weight of the sand is adjusted to the need to make a specimen for permeability testing, or dry
strength testing such as tensile, compressive and shear strength.
 From the collision process with this rammer we can know the compatibility or flowability of the sand
to fill the existing mold.
a. Green and dry strength testing
 The principle is to measure the stresses that cause damage to the mold sand under conditions
of constant loading speed.
 Usually testing is done with simple equipment and is operated manually, with spring loading.
 But many are using universal testing machines (universal testing machines) as shown below.
 Universal sand strength testing machine
 Universal sand strength testing machine for molding sand with higher strength
 Load conditions in strength testing for mold material a) compression, b) shear, c) tension, d)
transverse
b. Other green strength tests for mold quality
Compactability and Flowability
 Compactability tests are widely accepted as a simple method that is directly related to the
behavior of sand in the machine, especially when squeeze compaction is carried out.
 With the volume being kept pressed with the standard conditions then measured the volume
reduction which is the volume reduction as a parameter of compactability. The higher the
reduction the higher the compactability.
 Testing can use a standard sand rammer: cylindrical specimen tubes filled with sand to the brim
then given ram blow three times. The reduction volume is usually between 33 - 55%, although
this reduction is influenced by the clay and water content.
  With this information, it can be used as a basis for estimating the amount of sand needed for
satisfactory mold production.
c. Other green strength tests for mold quality
Compactability and Flowability
 Flowability is tested using standard rammer but based on the reduction movement between the
fourth and fifth punch in the preparation of the test specimen.
 Sand that has high flowability can be fully compacted at the start of a beating.
 The results of this flowability measurement are influenced by the shape of the grains and the
distribution of the basic sand, as well as the clay and water content.
 Differences in sand flow properties can be seen from solid density measurements, which have
a density of 0.60 - 0.75 x 103 kg / m3 for unpressured sand. Whereas sand which has been
pressed for a long time with rammer has a density of 1.6 - 1.7 kg / m3.
d. Mold Sand Permeability Testing
 Permeability is determined by measuring air flow velocity through specimens that are
compacted to standard conditions.
 The standard followed is AFS with a cylindrical shape obtained from the rammer tube.
 The permeability meter has an air cylinder 2 liters above water. Then, by loading the air flows
through the 0-seal on which there is a molded sand specimen. The time needed to spend 2 liters
of air is measured.
 Permeability Number, P is the air volume cm3 / minute that passes through a 1 cm long
specimen and 1 cm2 cross section under 1 cm water gauge pressure difference.
Permeability meter (Ridsdale & Co. Ltd.)
Another meter permeability tool that measures permeability directly with scale.
Or it could be with standard tools and techniques, permeability can be calculated by the equation
below, where t is the time in seconds.
Compact direct reading permeability meter (Ridsdale-Dietert electric Permmeter, Ridsdale & Co.
Ltd.)
The relationship between strength and curing time / recovery for a type of pasite mold bound to a
cold resin. Point A shows the bench life, B is the setting time and C is the time to develop into
maximum strength (Institute of British Foundrymen)
e. Mold Sand Impact Penetration Testing
Impact penetration tester with internal spring loaded hammer (Ridsdale & Co. Ltd.)
f. Hot Distortion Testing
Hot distortion testing scheme (from Morgan and Fashamm, American Foundrymen's Society)
Example of the time voltage curve for the hot distortion test results. Stage: 0-A: expand upward against
the load; A-8: thermoplastic softening; 8-C: thermosetting; C-D: breakdown and collapse (from
Morgan and Fashamm, American Foundrymens's Society)
The chemical composition of several Sand Mold
The results of the chemical analysis of several types of molded sand for casting
Mold Sand Distribution
Cumulative grade curves for coarse and fine sand
Effect of grain size on the strength of the molded sand
The effect of grain size on the strength of the mold sand bound by clay (Davies, British Steel
Corporation)
Effect of grain size on mold sand density
Effect of granular form on solid density of mold sand bound by oil (Davies, British Steel Corporation)
The influence of the binder content is the strength of the mold sand
Effect of binder content on the strength of molding sand (silica sand bound by Wyoming bentonite /
clay. Optimum moisture properties; clay-water ratio 2.0-4.0) (Grim and Cuthbert)
Effect of water content on the strength of the mold sand
Effect of water content on green strength and dry strength of mold sand (bentonite-bonded silica sand)
The effect of water and clay content is the strength of the mold sand
Effect of water content on clay on green strength of mold sand (Grim and Cuthbert, American Ceramic
Society)
Effect of C02 flow on the strength of the mold sand
Effect of carbon dioxide flow on compressive strength, illustrated by the reduction in strength due to
overgassing. Mold sand has a varied mesh with a binder content of 4% (Haley and Leach) (American
Ceramic Society)
The behavior of the strength of sand molding at high temperatures
Strength at high temperatures for molding sand bound with sodium silicate (Taylor) (American
Foundrymen's Society)
Addition to mold sand to improve the quality of mold sand
Special Additional Table for Mold Sand Blends
Various Types of Sand Mold without Silica Content
Refractory sand without silica content
The thermal expansion properties of some molding sand at various temperatures
Thermal expansion for refractory molds (Middleton, Institute of British Foundryman)
Some materials can be made for molding sand, especially in cavity walls
Tables Molds that are refractory coated

Thank you to the Author of this Book for reference in this course:
Peter Beeley, Foundry Technology 2nd Edition, Butterworth Heinemann

Thank you for your attention and Happy Taking Notes and Studying Well