EXPERIMENT NO: 4

AIM: To find shatter index of a given green sand sample.

Purpose:
a) Used to measure the surface hardness of the rammed mould.
b) The tester is designed to measure resistance to degeneration and plasticity of clay bonded
sand upon impacting a target at a fixed velocity.
c) Shatter index shows the ability to draw deep pockets during the molding process.
d) It consists of an ejection mechanism to drop a rammed specimen of sand from a fixed
height on to an anvil kept on the stranded sieve.
Apparatus used: Cast iron base, pillar, 1/2 inch mesh sieve, Retaining pan, Anvil, Ejector
mechanism.
Material: Prepared green sand (mixture of base sand, clay and water).
Assembling of the instrument:
 Remove all the parts packed in various boxes. Study the different parts visually.
 Keep the base plate along with leveling knobs on a solid floor.
 Insert the hollow end of the pillar in the projection of the base plate.
 Align with the threaded hole.
 Secure with a screw. Take the top socket with plunger holder assembly fit it on the top of
the pillar.
 Match the mark accurately. Lock it the same position firmly with a locking lever.
 Take the lever assembly with the balance weight and handle.
 Fit the two levers to the top socket with the help of a special hexagon bolt.
 While fitting ensures that the handle is correct in front of the instrument.
 Fit the vertical lever to the plumber holder with special hexagonal bolts.
 All special hexagonal bolts are provided with the instrument.
 Put the pan on a base plate. Insert the sieve in the pan.
 Put the anvil at the center of the sieve. The machine is ready for testing.
Pre-setting:
Level the instrument with the help of the bubble level, by adjusting levelling knobs.
Procedure:
1. Prepare standard sand sample in the stander specimen tube on sand rammer.
2. Note down the weight of sand used to form the sample.
the top position provided below the plunger.
3. Insert the tube with the sand sample in the
4. Pull the handle downward uniformly so that the plunger enters the specimen tube and eject
the sand sample without force.
5. The sand sample will fall on anvil placed on the sieves. The sample will shatter in the
sieves.
6. Carefully transfer the sand which has remained on the anvil to sieves allowing any piece
less than the mesh of sieves to fall through.
7. Remove the anvil and the sieves. Collect the sand or the sieve separately.
8. Weight the sand in the pan.
pa Calculate the shatter index of the sand.
9. Take at least 3 readings and average will give the result.
10. The Shatter Index value, in conjugation with the moisture content and the compression
strength gives a useful guide to the mouldability of sand that is, the kind of lift which can
be obtained when a sand mould is removed from a pattern.

Determination of Shatters Index (Results):

 Weight the sand in the pan.
 Calculate the weight of sand remained on the sieves by subtracting this weight from
the total
otal weight of the specimen.
 The Shatter Index is calculated with the relation given below:

Tabular Column
Serial No. Weight of sand Weight of sand Shatter Index
in pan remained in the
sieves
1
2
3
Precautions:
 Make the assembly carefully.
 Leave the instrument perfectly.
 Lubricate moving parts frequently.
 Clean the sieve unit before and after a test.

Shatter Index Tester (Model-KELSONS)