What is sand casting?

Sand casting refers to the production of castings using clay bonded sand as a molding material. It is a long-standing and widely used process method. Speaking of its long history, it can be traced back thousands of years; In terms of its application scope, it can be said that it is used everywhere in the world.

It is worth noting that various chemical bonded sands are flourishing, and clay green sand is still the most important molding material. Its wide applicability and high consumption are incomparable to any other molding material. According to reports, over 80% of steel castings in the United States are made from clay green sand; More than 73% of Japanese steel castings are made from clay green sand. The strong ability to adapt to molding conditions is also a major characteristic of clay green sand.

In 1890, the shock-absorbing molding machine was introduced. The clay wet sand, which had been used for manual molding conditions for a long time, was extremely successful in machine modeling and laid the foundation for the mechanization and automation of subsequent molding operations.

Modern new technologies such as high-pressure molding, injection molding, air impact molding, static pressure molding, and shock free vacuum pressure molding are all based on the use of clay wet sand. The implementation of various new technologies has made the status of clay green sand more important in casting production, and has also posed many new problems to clay green sand, prompting us to continuously strengthen our research and deepen our understanding of clay green sand.

Nowadays, with the rapid development of science and technology, the demand for castings in various industrial sectors is constantly increasing, and at the same time, the requirements for the quality of castings are also increasing. In modern foundries, the productivity of molding equipment has increased to an unprecedented level. If the performance of molding sand cannot be fully adapted to specific production conditions, or if it cannot be effectively controlled to be stable and consistent, the foundry may not be buried in waste for long.

With the development of science and technology, foundries using clay green sand generally have sand treatment systems that are suitable for their specific conditions, including the treatment of old sand, the addition of new sand and auxiliary materials, the mixing of sand, and the monitoring of sand performance.

There are many constantly changing factors in the clay wet sand system. If one or several key performance cannot be maintained within the control range, problems may occur in production. An effective sand treatment system should be able to monitor the performance of molding sand and promptly correct any issues. Due to the different arrangements of sand treatment systems and equipment used in each foundry, it is impossible to develop a universal control method. Here, we intend to propose some widely recognized control points. After carefully understanding these key points, each foundry can determine feasible control methods based on their specific conditions. Moreover, it is necessary to continuously improve the control of the molding sand system with the advancement of technology and the actual capabilities of the factory (including personnel and funds).