J. Babu Rao

Investigations were carried out to use Granulated Blast furnace (GBF) slag as mould material for either full or partial replacement of existing silica sand in foundry industry. Nishiyama process was adopted for evaluating the same. A series of sand tests were carried out on sand and slag individually and also combinations of these two. Three types of moulds were made with sand, slag individually and combination of these two. Both laboratory and industrial castings of ferrous and non ferrous materials were performed. Results of mould permeability, compression and shear strength of GBF slag reveal that is a suitable candidate for either partial or full replacement of molding sand. During casting of both laboratory and industrial, neither fuse, dripping nor collapse of the mould walls was observed; this is true for both ferrous and non ferrous castings. Castings with good surface finish, no surface defects and porosity were made by slag moulds.

Investigations were carried out to ensure the granulated blast furnace (GBF) slag as an alternative mould material in foundry industry by assessing the cast products structure property correlations. Sodium silicate-CO₂ process was adopted for preparing the moulds. Three types of moulds were made with slag, silica sand individually and combination of these two with 10% sodium silicate and 20 seconds CO₂ gassing time. A356 alloy castings were performed on these newly developed slag moulds. The cast products were investigated for its metallography and mechanical properties. Results reveal that cast products with good surface finish and without any defects were produced. Faster heat transfers in slag moulds enabled the cast products with fine and refined grain structured; and also, lower Secondary Dendrite Arm Spacing (SDAS) values were observed than sand mould. Slag mould casting shows improved mechanical properties like hardness, compression, tensile and impact strength compared to sand mould castings. Two types of tensile fracture modes, namely cleavage pattern with flat surfaces representing Al−Si eutectic zone and the areas of broken Fe-rich intermetallic compounds which appear as flower-like morphology was observed in sand mould castings. In contrast, GBF slag mould castings exhibit majority in dimple fracture morphology with traces of cleavage fracture. Charpy impact fractured surfaces of sand mould castings shows both transgranular and intergranular fracture modes. Only intergranular fracture mode was noticed in both GBF slag and mixed mould castings.

In the present investigation, efforts are made to use Ferro Chrome (Fe-Cr) slag as a mold material for the replacement of silica sand in the foundry industry. The sodium silicate-Fe–Si process is adopted for evaluating the same. The process parameters considered for this investigation are % of sodium silicate, % of Fe–Si powder as a binder, and mold setting time. A series of sand tests are carried out on sand, slag individually, and for various combinations of these two. Three types of molds are made with sand, slag individually, and combination of these two with 6% sodium silicate and 1.5% Fe–Si. Various ferrous and non-ferrous castings are performed on these newly developed slag molds. The results reveal that the Fe-Cr slag with mold permeability, compression, and shear strength is a suitable candidate for either partial or full replacement of silica sand. During casting neither fusing, dripping, nor collapse of the mold walls is observed in slag molds; this is true for both ferrous and non-ferrous castings. Castings with good surface finish and no surface defects are made by slag molds. Faster heat transfer in slag molds enable to obtain castings with enhanced metallurgical and mechanical properties.