CORE

A core is a body of material, usually sand, used to produce a

cavity in or on a casting for which no provision has been made in
the pattern.
Cores are required to create the recesses, interior and
undercuts in castings.
Cores are generally made separately from the sand mould and
are then baked to facilitate handling.
An example of a core in a casting is one forming the water
jacket in a water cooled engine block: an example of a core on a
casting is forming the air space between the cooling fins of an
air cooled cylinder.

FUNCTIONS (PURPOSES) OF CORES

Cores provide the means for producing hollow castings and internal
cavities.
Cores may provide external undercut features.
Cores are employed to improve the mould surface.
Cores are used to achieve deep recesses in the castings.
Cores are used to form the gating system of large size moulds.
Cores are also used to strengthen the mould.
Sometimes, a mould is completed by the assembly of a large number
of cores and core pieces.

TYPES OF CORES
Cores can be classified as follows:
According to the Condition of the
Core
(!) Green sand core
ii) Dry sand core.
According to Shape and Position of
the Core
I.Horizontal core
II.Vertical core
III.Balanced core
IV.Drop core
V.Hanging core

GREEN SAND CORES

Green sand cores are made by green sand containing moist
condition about 5% water and 15-30 % clay.
It imparts very good permeability to core and thus avoids defects like
shrinkage or voids in the casting.
Green sand cores are not dried. They are poured in green condition
and are generally preferred for simple, small and medium castings.
The process of making green sand core consumes less time. Such
cores possess less strength in comparison to dry sand cores and
hence cannot be stored for longer period.

DRY SAND CORES

Dry sand cores are produced by drying the green sand cores to about
110C.
These cores possess high strength rigidity and also good thermal
stability.
These cores can be stored for long period and are more stable than
green sand core.
They are used for large castings. They also produce good surface
finish in comparison to green sand cores. They can be handled more
easily. They resist metal erosion.
These types of cores require more floor space, more core material,
high labor cost and extra operational equipment.

Core sand properties

Core sand must possess the following properties: Adequate green strength to retain its shape after the
removal from the core box and transportation before baking.
High dry strength and hardness after baking.
Good refractoriness to withstand the effects of high
temperature of molten metal.
Adequate permeability to allow easy escape of gases
generated during and after pouring of molten metal.
Core sand should be able to impart good smoothness and
finish to the core surface.
Core sand should possess good falliability so that the core
crumbles and falls apart when it is to be removed from the
casting.

Core should generate minimum amount of gases

during the pouring of molten metal.
It should possess good collapsibility so that the core
gives away easily as the casting cools and shrinks. It
avoids cracks and hot tears in castings.
Core sand must be capable of retaining its properties
during storage.
It must be capable of resisting the effects of molten
metal like erosion and thermal shock.
The above properties are imparted to cores by addition
of the proper type and amount of binders, additives and
water, followed by baking of the core.

CORE SAND
The main constituents of the core sand are pure silica sand
and a binder. Silica sand is preferred because of its high
refractoriness.
For higher values of permeability sands with coarse grain
size distribution are used.
The main purpose of the core binder is to hold the grains
together, impart strength and sufficient degree collapsibility.
Beside these properties needed in the core sand, the
binder should be such that it produces minimum amount of
gases when the molt metal is poured in the mould.

CORE SAND INGREDIENTS

The various ingredients most commonly used for core making are:
I.Refractory materials
II.Core binders
III.Water
IV.Special additives
(I) Refractory Materials: Refractory material may be defined as that
material which can withstand high temperatures. Silica, olivine and
carbon are the commonly used refractory materials, but silica is mostly
used. Coarse white silica sand is used in steel foundries and lake sand
for cast iron foundries.

(ii) Core Binders: The functions of a core binder are to give strength to
a core and hold the sand grains together. Binders also resist breaking
of cores and impart collapsibility to cores after use. The commonly
used core binders are:
(a)Inorganic binders: Inorganic binders are finely pulverized materials
used to provide green strength, hot strength and baked strength to a
core. Fireclay, bentonite. limonite. silica flour and iron oxide, etc. are
inorganic binders. They are generally very fine powders and act as
binding materials after baking of the cores.
(b) Organic binders: They are classified as:
Cereal binders
Molasses ,dextrin.
Core oils(Linseed oil ,Whale oil, mineral oils)
Protein binders.

CORE MAKING
Core making basically is carried out in four stages namely core sand
preparation, core making, core baking and core finishing. Each
stage is explained as under.
Core Sand Preparation
core sands are generally mixed with the help of any of the following
mechanical means namely roller mills and core sand mixer.
for getting better and uniform core sand properties using proper sand
constituents and additives.
Core Making Process Using Core Making Machines
The process of core making is basically mechanized using core
blowing, core ramming and core drawing machines.

Core blowing machines

The basic principle of core blowing machine comprises of
filling the core sand into the core box by using compressed
air.
The velocity of the compressed air is kept high to obtain a
high velocity of core sand particles, thus ensuring their
deposit in the remote corners the core box.
On entering the core sand with high kinetic energy, the
shaping and ramming of core is carried out simultaneously
in the core box.
The core blowing machines can be further classified into
two groups namely small bench blowers and large floor
blowers.

Core ramming machines

Cores can also be prepared by ramming core sands in the core boxes
by machines based on the principles of squeezing, jolting and slinging.
Out of these three machines, jolting and slinging are more common for
core making.
Core drawing machines
After ramming sand in it, the core box is placed on a core plate
supported on the machine bed. A rapping action on the core box is
produced by a vibrating vertical plate. This rapping action helps in
drawing off the core from the core box. After rapping, the core box, the
core is pulled up thus leaving the core on the core plate.

Core baking
Cores cannot be used directly after removal from core boxes as they
are too soft and practically have no strength.
The main purpose of baking is to drive away the moisture and harden
the binder, thereby giving strength to the core.
They are baked in a baking ovens or furnaces. Core baking is done
between 350 to 430CC for several hours, depending upon the shape
and size of the core.
Care should be taken that the core is properly baked. An under baked
core will generate a huge amount of gases, producing blowholes in the
die casting, whereas an over baked core has little strength and is just
like loose sand.

Types of ovens
Continuous type ovens
Continuous type ovens are preferred basically for mass production. In
these types, core carrying conveyors or chain move continuously
through the oven. The baking time is controlled by the speed of the
conveyor. The continuous type ovens are generally used for baking of
small cores.
Batch type ovens
Batch type ovens are mainly utilized for baking variety of cores in
batches. The cores are commonly placed either in drawers or in racks
which are finally placed in the ovens. The core ovens and dielectric
bakers are usually fired with gas, oil or coal.

CORE FINISHING
The cores are finally finished after baking and before they
are finally set in the mould.
The fins, bumps or other sand projections are removed
from the surface of the cores by rubbing or filing. The
dimensional inspection of the cores is very necessary to
achieve sound casting.
Cores are also coated with refractory or protective
materials using brushing dipping and spraying means to
improve their refractoriness and surface finish. The coating
on core prevents the molten metal from entering in to the
core.
Bars, wires and arbors are generally used to reinforce core
from inside as per size of core using core sand.

core box
A core box is a type of pattern being used for making cores.
it made of wood, brass, aluminum or any suitable material.
In core boxes, sand is rammed or packed to form the cores and thus
impart the desired shape to them.
A core box should be very accurate with all the allowances as
needed for construction of a pattern and must conform to the size of
core print given on the pattern.

CORE PRINTS
Core Prints are extra projections provided on the pattern
that form a seat in the mould when a pattern is embedded in
the sand for making a mould.
Core prints are of various designs and are used to support
all types of cores in the mould,
. Though the core prints are a part of the pattern, yet they
do not appear on the cast pan.