MOULDING SAND

GUIDED BYANSY A. Asst. Professor Dept. of C.E BMCE

PRESENTED BYROSHNI ROY 10411053

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I take immense pleasure to express my sincere gratitude to Mr. Arun Baby Zachariah, asst. professor and Miss.Veena A Mohan, lecturer for their valuable guidance and constant encouragement that they have rendered as the seminar guides. I am also thankful to Miss. Ansy A., staff in charge, for her assistance during the entire process. I would like to thank to all other staff members for their valuable advice and assistance. I would like to thank Mr. R Rajashekaran Nair, Head of Civil Engineering Department for his valuable help. I am also deeply indebted to Dr. E V Nampoothiri, Principal, Baselios Mathews II College of Engineering, Sasthamcotta, Kollam and Management of the college for the help and facilities rendered towards the completion of this seminar. Last but not the least I thank my parents and all of my friends whose contribution led to the materialization and completion of this seminar. Above all I thank God Almighty for his blessings.

ABSTRACT
Metal foundries use large amounts of sand as part of the metal casting process. Foundries successfully recycle and reuse the sand many times in a foundry. When the sand can no longer be reused in the foundry, it is removed from the foundry and is termed foundry sand. Foundry sand production is nearly 6 to 10 million tons annually. Like many waste products, foundry sand has beneficial applications to other industries. The purpose of this report is to provide technical information about the potential civil engineering applications, types and properties of foundry sand. This will provide a means of advancing the uses of foundry sand that are technically sound, commercially competitive and environmentally safe.

LIST OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ABSTRACT CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 MOULDING SAND 1.2 PRODUCTION 1.3 AVAILABILITY 1.4 USES 1 1 3 4 4 5 5 5 6 6 8 8 10 10 10 10 11 12 13 13 13 14 14 15 15

CHAPTER 2 TYPES OF MOULDING/FOUNDRY SAND

2.1 GREEN SAND 2.2 CHEMICALLY BONDED SAND

CHAPTER 3 PROPERTIES OF MOULDING SAND

3.1 PHYSICAL PROPERTIES 3.2 MECHANICAL PROPERTIES 3.3 MINERALOGICAL AND CHEMICAL PROPERTIES

CHAPTER 4 QUALITY OF MOULDING SAND

4.1 DURABILITY/SOUNDNESS 4.2 CHEMICAL COMPOSITION 4.3 VARIABILITY 4.4 ENGINEERING CHARACTERISTICS 4.5 ENVIRONMENTAL CHARACTERISTICS

CHAPTER 5 APPLICATIONS
5.1 PORTLAND CEMENT CONCRETE 5.1.1 PORTLAND CEMENT CONCRETE DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS 5.2 FLOWABLE FILL 5.2.1 FLOWABLE FILL DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS 5.3 HIGHWAY SUBBASE 5.3.1 HIGHWAY SUBBASE DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS

5.4 EMBANKMENT 5.4.1 EMBANKMENT DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS 5.5 HOT MIX ASPHALT 5.5.1 ASPHALT DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS 5.6 ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES 5.7 FUTURE SCOPE

15 16 16 17 17 18 19 20

CHAPTER 6 CONCLUSION REFERENCE

LIST OF TABLES

[Table 3.1] Physical Properties of Foundry Sand [Table 3.2]Typical Physical Properties Of Spent Green Foundry Sand [Table 3.3]Typical Mechanical Properties Of Spent Foundry Sand [Table 4.1] Foundry Sand Applications By Volume

7 7 8 11

LIST OF FIGURES

[Fig 1.1] Composition of Foundry Sand [Fig. 1.2] Flow Chart for Production of Foundry Sand

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CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION
Moulding sand is high-quality uniform silica sand that is also used to make moulds and cores for ferrous and nonferrous metal castings. It is also known as foundry sand. The metal casting industry annually uses an estimated 100 million tons of foundry sand for production. Over time, foundry sands physically degrade until they are no longer suitable for moulds. Foundry sands typically comprise of greater than 80% high quality silica sand, 510% bentonite clay, 2 to 5%water and less than 5% sea coal. It is reused within the foundry several times until the sand becomes unsuitable for mould construction. Approximately 9 to 10 million tons of foundry sand is discarded yearly. An estimated 28% of discarded foundry sand is reused in primarily construction-related applications. Recycled foundry sand is generally considered as a higher quality material than virgin construction sands. It reduces energy and financial expenses associated with obtaining virgin construction sands. Project managers can promote green construction and gain sustainability points for their projects. A foundry is a manufacturing facility that produces metal castings by pouring molten metal into a preformed mould to yield the resulting hardened cast. The primary metals cast include iron and steel from the ferrous family and aluminum, copper, brass and bronze from the nonferrous family. There are approximately 3,000 foundries in the U.S. The physical and chemical characteristics of foundry sand will depend in great part on the type of casting process and the industry sector from which it originates.

1.1 MOULDING SAND

Moulding sand is high quality silica sand that is a byproduct from the production of both ferrous and nonferrous metal castings. The physical and chemical characteristics of foundry sand will depend in great part on the type of casting process and the industry sector from which it originates. It is also known as foundry sand. A foundry is a manufacturing facility that produces metal castings by pouring molten metal into a preformed mould to yield the resulting hardened cast. The primary metalcast includes iron and steel from the ferrous family and aluminum, copper, brass and bronze from the nonferrous family. 1

Foundries purchase high quality size-specific silica sands for use in their moulding and casting operations. The raw sand is normally of a higher quality than the typical bank run or natural sands used in fill construction sites. The sands form the outer shape of the mould cavity. These sands normally rely upon a small amount of bentonite clay to act as the binder material. Chemical binders are also used to create sand cores. Depending upon the geometry of the casting, sands cores are inserted into the mould cavity to form internal passages for the molten metal. Once the metal has solidified, the casting is separated from the moulding and core sands in the shakeout process. In the casting process, moulding sands are recycled and reused multiple times. Eventually, however, the recycled sand degrades to the point that it can no longer be reused in the casting process. At that point, the old sand is displaced from the cycle as byproduct, new sand is introduced, and the cycle begins again.

BENTONITE 7%

WATER ORGANIC 3% 5%

BASE SAND 85%

Fig. 1.1 Composition of Foundry Sand

1.2 PRODUCTION
Foundry sand is produced by five different foundry classes. The ferrous foundries (grey iron, ductile iron and steel) produce the most sand. Aluminum, copper, brass and bronze produce the rest. The 3,000 foundries in the United States generate 6 million to 10 million tons of foundry sand per year. While the sand is typically used multiple times within the foundry before it becomes a byproduct, only 10 percent of the foundry sand was reused elsewhere outside of the foundry industry in 2001. The sands from the brass, bronze and copper foundries are generally not reused. While exact numbers are not available, the best estimate is that approximately 10 million tons of foundry sand can beneficially be used annually. New Sand Storage Return Sand Storage

Excess Return Sand to Waste

Additives Bentonite Sea Coal

Sand Screen

Waste Sand

Mold Making

Cores from Core Making

Return Sand System Return Sand System

Molten Metal

Cores and Mold Lumps to Mechanical Reclamation

Shakeout

Casting to Cleaning and Finishing

Fig. 1.2 Flow Chart for Production of Foundry Sand

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1.3 AVAILABILITY
Foundries are located throughout the United States in all 50 states. However, they tend to be concentrated in the Great Lakes region, with strong foundry presence also found in Texas and Alabam. Historically, individual foundries have typically developed their own customer base. But over time, foundries have joined together to create regional foundry combination to pool resources and to develop the recycled foundry sand industry. FIRST (Foundry Industry Recycling Starts Today) is a national coalition of member foundries. FIRST focuses on market development of sustainable options for beneficialreuse of foundry industry byproducts.

1.4 USES
Foundries are located throughout the United States in all 50 states. However, they tend to be concentrated in the Great Lakes region, with strong foundry presence also found in Texas and Alabam. Historically, individual foundries have typically developed their own customer base. But over time, foundries have joined together to create regional foundry consortia to pool resources and to develop the recycled foundry sand industry. FIRST (Foundry Industry Recycling Starts Today) is a national coalition of member foundries. FIRST focuses on market development of sustainable options for beneficial reuse of foundry industry byproducts.

CHAPTER 2 TYPES OF MOULDING/FOUNDRY SAND

There are two basic types of foundry sand available, green sand (often referred to as molding sand) that uses clay as the binder material, and chemically bonded sand that uses polymers to bind the sand grains together.

2.1 GREEN SAND

Green sand consists of 85-95% silica, 0-12% clay, 2-10% carbonaceous additives, such as sea coal, and 2-5% water. Green sand is the most commonly used moulding media by foundries. The silica sand is the bulk medium that resists high temperatures while the coating of clay binds the sand together. The water adds plasticity. The carbonaceous additives prevent the burn-on or fusing of sand onto the casting surface. Green sands also contain trace chemicals such as MgO, K2O, and TiO2. Properties of green sands depend on several factorsi) ii) iii) iv) The sand ingredients. The methods of preparing the sand for moulding. The method of moulding employed in using the sand. Variables related to the casting such as weight, shape, kind of casting alloy and gating design.

2.2 CHEMICALLY BONDED SAND

Chemically bonded sand consists of 93-99% silica and 1-3% chemical binder. Silica sand is thoroughly mixed with the chemicals; a catalyst initiates the reaction that cures and hardens the mass. There is various chemical binder systems used in the foundry industry. The most common chemical binder systems used are phenolic-urethanes, epoxy-resins, furyl alcohol, and sodium silicates.It is typically sub angular to round in shape. After being used in the foundry process, a significant number of sand agglomerations form. When these are broken down, the shape of the individual sand grains is apparent.

CHAPTER 3 PROPERTIES OF MOULDING SAND

There are typically the following types of properties for moulding sand. They are: i) Physical properties. ii) Mechanical properties. iii) Mineralogical and chemical properties.

3.1 PHYSICAL PROPERTIES

The grain size distribution of most foundry sand is very uniform, with approximately 85 to 95 percent of the material between 0.6 mm and 0.15 mm (No. 30 and No. 100) sieve sizes. Five to 12 percent of foundry sand can be expected to be smaller than 0.075 mm (No. 200 sieve). The particle shape is typically sub angular to round. Foundry sand has low absorption, although reported values of absorption were found to vary widely, which can be attributed to the presence of binders and additives (Javed and Lovell 1994ab). The content of organic impurities (particularly from sea coal binder systems) can vary widely (Emery 1993). The specific gravity of foundry sand has been found to vary from 2.39 to 2.70. This variability has been attributed to the amount of fines and additive contents in different samples (Federal Highway Administration 2004, Javed and Lovell 1994ab). In general, foundry sands are dry, with moisture contents less than 2 percent. Clay lumps and friable particles are sometimes associated with the moulded sand, and are easily broken up. The variation in hydraulic conductivity is a direct result of the fraction of fines in different foundry sands.Foundry sand has many of the same properties as natural sands. . Pennsylvania foundry sands are classified in two categories: Foundry sand with clay (5%) Foundry sand without clay It is commonly found to be uniform fine sand, with 0 to 12% bentonite or minor additives. The quantity of bentonite or minor additives depends on how the green sand has been processed.Green sands are typically black, or grey, not green! Chemically bonded sand is typically a medium tan or off-white color.
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Table 3.1 Physical Properties of Foundry Sand Property ASTM standard Bulk density (pcf) Moisture content (%) Specific gravity Dry density (pcf) C29 D2216 D854 D698 Standard Proctor Optimum moisture content (%) Permeability coefficient (cm/s) D69 8-12 10-3-10-7 8-10 10-2-10-6 Foundry Sand with Clay (5%) 60-70 3-5 2.5-2.7 110-115 Foundry Sand without Clay 80-90 0.5-2% 2.6-2.8 100-110

D2434

Table 3.2 Typical Physical Properties of Spent Green Foundry Sand Property Specific Gravity Bulk Relative Density, lb/ft3 Absorption, % Moisture Content, % Clay Lumps and Friable Particles,% Hydraulic Conductivity (cm/sec) 10-3-10-7 0.76-6.20 0.1-15 1-44 ASTM C128-07a ASTM D2216-05 ASTM C142-97 AASHTO T 112 ASTM D2434-68 ASTM D5084-03 AASHTO T 215 Plastic Index Non plastic to 12 ASTM D4318-05 Results 2.39-2.7 160 Test Methods ASTM D854-06 AASHTO T 084

3.2 MECHANICAL PROPERTIES

Foundry sandhas good durability characteristics as measured by Deval abrasion(Ontario Ministry of Transportation, 1996) and magnesium sulphate soundness losstests (ASTM C8805). Studies have reported relatively high soundness loss, which isattributed to samples of bound sand loss and not a breakdown of individual sandparticles. The internal friction angle of foundry sand has been reported to be in therange of 33 to 40 degrees, which is comparable to that of conventional sands (Javel and Lovell, 1994). Table 3.3 Typical Mechanical Properties of Spent Foundry Sand Property Micro-Deval Abrasion Loss, %[1] Magnesium Sulfate Soundness Loss, % [2,3] Internal friction angle (drained)[1,4,5,6] Cohesion intercept (drained), lb/ft2 [1,4,5,6] Unconfined compressive strength, lb/ft2 [7] California Bearing Ratio, %[5,7] Resilient Modulus (MR) Regression Coefficients[7] 4 - 20 average 20 K1=122,000248,000 lb/ft2 K2 = 0.44 - 0.56 ASTM D1883-05 AASHTO T-294-94 482-3968 145-585 33 - 43 ASTM D4767-04 ASTM D 3080 ASTM D4767-04 ASTM D 3080 ASTM D 2166 Results Relevant Test Method <2 5-15 ASTM D6928-06 ASTM C88-05

[1] [4] [7]

Goodhue et al (2001),

[2]

American Foundry mens Society (1991),

[5]

[3]

Emery (1992),

Winkler and Bolshakov (2000), Kleven et al (2000)

Javed and Lovell (1994ab),

[6]

Goodhue et al (1998),

3.3 MINERALOGICAL AND CHEMICAL PROPERTIES

Foundry sand consists primarily of silica sand (greater than 80% silicon dioxide), coated with a thin film of burnt carbon and residual binder (Du et al 2002). Loss on ignition in foundry sand has been reported by the American foundry mens Association (1991) to be around 5%. Depending on the binder and type of metal being cast, the pH of foundry sand can vary from approximately 4 to 12 (Johnson, 1981, Emery 1992, Bhant and Lovell 1996, Dayton et al 2010). A pH of 5.5 or less in soil is considered a corrosive condition.Foundry sand often contains trace metals and core material containing partially degraded binder. Foundry sand may contain trace amounts of leachable metals and phenols. Since foundry sand has nearly all the properties of natural or manufactured sands, it can normally be used as a sand replacement. It can be used directly as a fill material in embankments. It can be used as a sand replacement in hot mix asphalt, flowable fills, and Portland cement concrete. It can also be blended with either coarse or fine aggregates and used as a road base or subbase material.

CHAPTER 4 QUALITY OF FOUNDRY SAND

The quality of foundry sand can be quantified by its durability, soundness, chemical composition, and variability. These three characteristics are influenced by various aspects of foundry sand production.

4.1 DURABILITY/SOUNDNESS
Durability/Soundness of foundry sand is important to ensure the long-term performance of civil engineering applications. Durability of the foundry sand depends on how the sand was used at the foundry. Successive moulding can cause the foundry sand to weaken due to temperature shock. At later stages of mould use, this can lead to the accelerated deterioration of the original sand particles. However, in civil engineering uses, the foundry sand will not normally be subjected to such severe conditions. In geotechnical applications, foundry sand often demonstrates high durability.

4.2 CHEMICAL COMPOSITION

Chemical Composition of the foundry sand relates directly to the metal moulded at the foundry. This determines the binder that was used, as well as the combustible additives. Typically, there is some variation in the foundry sand chemical composition from foundry to foundry. Sands produced by a single foundry, however, will not likely show significant variation over time. Moreover, blended sands produced by combination of foundries often produce consistent sands. The chemical composition of the foundry sand can impact its performance.

4.3 VARIABILITY
Reducing the variability of the foundry sand is critical if consistently good engineering products are to be produced. Foundry sand suppliers should understand and control foundry sand variability so that they can provide customers with a consistent product.Methods to ensure foundry sands conform to specifications vary from State to State and source to source. Some States require testing and approval before use. Others maintain lists of approved
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sources and accept project suppliers certifications of foundry sand quality. More and more, foundry sand generators are determining the engineering properties of their sands. The degree of quality control necessary depends on experience with the specific foundry sand and its history of variability. Many purchasers require source testing and a certification document to accompany the shipment. The success of using foundry sand depends upon economics. The bottom line issues are cost, availability of the foundry sand and availability of similar natural aggregates in the region. If these issues can be successfully resolved, the competitiveness of using foundry sand will increase for the foundries and for the end users of the sand.

4.4 ENGINEERING CHARACTERISTICS

Since foundry sand has nearly all the properties of natural or manufactured sands, it can normally be used as a sand replacement. It can be used directly as a fill material in embankments. It can be used as a sand replacement in hot mix asphalt, flowable fills, and Portland cement concrete. It can also be blended with either coarse or fine aggregates and used as a road base or subbase material. Table 4.1 Foundry Sand Applications by Volume Ranking Application 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Embankments/Structural Fills Road base/Subbase Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA) Flowable Fills Soil/Horticultural Cement and Concrete Products Traction Control Other Applications

One of the reasons that bentonite is considered as the perfect inorganic binder is because it can be reused many times (often referred to as a recirculating sand system). It is

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generally understood that 90% of the bentonite and selected additives are readily available to be rehydrated and molded to the desired shape to produce another metal casting.

4.5 ENVIRONMENTAL CHARACTERISTICS

Trace element concentrations present in most clay-bonded iron and aluminum foundry sands are similar to those found in naturally occurring soils. The leachate from these sands may contain trace element concentrations that exceed water quality standards; but the concentrations are not different than those from other construction materials such as native soils or fly ashes. Environmental regulatory agencies will guide both the foundry sand supplier and the user through applicable test procedures and water quality standards. If additional protection from leachate is desired, mechanical methods such as compacting and grading can prevent and further minimize leachate development.In summary, foundry sand suppliers will work with all potential users to ensure that the product meets environmental requirements for the engineering application under consideration. Foundry sand can be used to produce a quality product at a competitive cost under normal circumstances.

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CHAPTER 5 APPLICATIONS
There are many applications for foundry sand in present life. Various applications are given below: 1. Portland Cement Concrete 2. Flowable Fill 3. Hot Mix Asphalt 4. Embankment 5. Highway Sub base

5.1 PORTLLAND CEMENT CONCRETE

The use of foundry sand in Portland cement concrete mixtures is an emerging application area. Published research and case studies on this subject are limited. As such, the use of foundry sand for this application is not well documented, and any use of foundry sand in Portland cement should be considered somewhat experimental. Portland cement concrete is a commonly used paving material that consists of approximately 45 percent coarse aggregate, 25 percent fine aggregate, 20 percent cement and 10 percent water (Federal Highway Administration 2004). Foundry sand has been shown to replace some fine aggregate portion of concrete mixtures (Federal Highway Administration 2004). 5.1.1 PORTLAND CEMENT CONCRETE DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS

Various characteristics of foundry sand can affect the quality of concrete produced. Because foundry sand properties vary depending on the source from which the foundry sand was produced, it is important that adequate testing of the sand is performed.Prior to reuse, foundry sand should be screened and crushed to obtain the desired gradation, and magnetic particles should be separated. These processes will remove deleterious materials preventing technical problems when mixing the cement components. Foundry sand from green sand moulding is black or grey and may cause finished concrete to have a slightly darker greyish/black tint. A 15 percent or less fine aggregate replacement with foundry sand typically produces a minimal colour change.
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Foundry sand can be used in combination with all types of cementatious materials including mixes containing chemical admixtures (Zirschky and Piznar 1988). Retarders and water reducers are compatible with most foundry sands. As with natural sands, any organic material in the foundry sand may affect the dosage and effectiveness of air entraining agents. Sodium silicate binder systems are not desirable in Portland cement. Trial mixtures should be examined for any potential compatibility problems.

5.2 FLOWABLE FILL

ACI defines flowable fill as a cementitious material that is in a flowable state at the time of placement and has a specified compressive strength of 0.3 to 1mpa at 28 days. Flowable fills have been used as backfill for bridge structures including abutments, culverts, and trenches. It has been used for embankments, bases, and subbases. It is commonly used as bedding for slabs and pipes. It has also been used to economically fill caissons and piles, abandoned storage tanks, sink holes, shafts and tunnels. Natural sand is a major component of most flowable fill mixes. Foundry sand can be used as a replacement for natural fine aggregate because foundry sand consists of greater than 80 percent fine uniform silica sand. Foundry sand has been used in flowable fill in the states of New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wisconsin, Tennessee, and Indiana (Smith 1996, Collins and Ciesielski 1994). Pennsylvania has reported successful use of foundry sand as a sand substitute in flowable fill, as well as Ohio where a field demonstration showed performance on par with conventional sand flowable fills (Smith 1996).

5.2.1 FLOWABLE FILL DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS

Structural design procedures for cured flowable fill materials are no different than geotechnical design procedures for conventional earth backfill materials. The same methods and equipment used to mix, transport, and place flowable fill made with conventional aggregates may be used for flowable fill incorporating foundry sand. Additionally, flowable fill made with foundry sand can be produced at a central concrete mixing plant in accordance with ASTM C94 and delivered by concrete truck mixers or using a mobile, volumetric mixer for small jobs.

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5.3 HIGHWAY SUBBASE

Laboratory and case studies have shown that with proper design and construction, compacted foundry sand provides adequate support as a working platform or subbase material in flexible pavement design (Kleven et al 2000, Edil et al 2000). Moreover, foundry sand-based subbase specimens have been shown to resist winter conditions better than specimens of reference materials (Guney et al 2006).

5.3.1 HIGHWAY SUBBASE DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS

Design charts for selecting the equivalent thickness of compacted foundry sand for working platforms are provided by Tanyu et al (2004). The methodology for including the structural contribution of working platforms made from foundry sand or other alternative material is presented by Tanyu et al (2005). An increase in strength in highway subbase using foundry sand can be obtained in the field by compacting the foundry sand-based mixtures using higher compactive efforts. The subbase layer mixture should be compacted at dry of optimum for higher strength (Kleven et al 2000, Guney et al 2006).

5.4 EMBANKMENT
Several states have allowed full use of foundry sand as an embankment material with little or no restrictions, though the majority of states continue to place restrictions on foundry sand use and require some type of encapsulation. Geotechnical performance of foundry sand has been found to be comparable to that of the natural sand. In embankment project, foundry sand had acceptable strength and compressibility with standard penetration N-values ranging from 33 to 54 (Mast 1997). Leachate collected from a demonstration embankment indicated metal concentrations below regulatory reuse criteria and typically below drinking water standards, indicating that foundry sand would not have a negative impact on environmental quality (Partridge et al 1999). The embankment project saved an estimated $145,000 as a result of using foundry sand (Fox and Mast 1998).

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5.4.1 EMBANKMENT DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS

A draft AASHTO standard for incorporating foundry sand into embankment designs is currently being balloted. For design with geosynthetics, interaction coefficients from pullout tests ranged from 0.2 and 1.7 in the normal stress range of 10 to 50 kpa or 209 to 1044 lb/ft 2 (Goodhue et al 2001). Recommended parameters for embankment design with foundry sand and geosynthetics can be found in Goodhue et al (2001).Freeze-thaw tests conducted per ASTM D 560 show that the resistance of foundry sand to winter conditions was generally better than reference material (clayey gravel), except for lime amended mixtures, which were at the verge of disintegration after cycles. The hydraulic conductivity ratio (Kr = Kn/Ki) ranges from 2 to 24 with increasing values for higher cycles. The unconfined compressive ratio (qur = qun/qui) remains nearly constant between the first and eighth cycle after losing 40 to 50 percent of their initial strength after the first cycle (Guney et al 2006).

5.5 HOT MIX ASPHALT

The Federal Highway Administration (2004) reports that in the United States, asphaltconcrete is used to cover over 2 million miles of roadway, accounting for over 94 percent of all pavements. Recycled foundry sand has successfully been used as a partial replacement for aggregate in hot mix asphalt (HMA) in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Tennessee. Pennsylvania DOT allows the use of 8 to 10 percent foundry sand in asphalt mixtures. One asphalt producer in Michigan consistently supplies HMA with 10 to 20 percent recycled foundry sand to replace conventional aggregate. In Tennessee, HMA with 10 percent foundry sand had been reported to compact better and outperform HMA containing washed river sand. A hot mix producer in Ontario, Canada has also used foundry sand since 1994 in both foundation and surface HMA layers (Federal Highway Administration 2004). Super pave performance tests in Wisconsin found a potential for positive performance in using recycled foundry sand. In particular, the stability of mixes with recycled foundry sand can be higher than HMA with conventional sand; moisture resistance was higher than mixes with conventional sand; and some mixes demonstrated increased resistance to rutting (Delange et al 2001).

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5.5.1 ASPHALT DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS

Asphalt mixes containing foundry sand can be designed using standard asphalt mix design methods. The amount of foundry sand used in an asphalt mixture depends largely on the amount of fines in the foundry sand. Studies have shown that foundry sand can be used to replace between 8 and 25 percent of the fine aggregate content in asphalt mixes (Federal Highway Administration 2004). The optimum asphalt content for HMA mixtures containing various amounts of foundry sand is comparable (5-6.2%) to the content of mixes not containing foundry sand (Miller et al 2001, Tikalsky et al 2004). HMA made with foundry sands have been shown to display good durability characteristics with resistance to weathering (Emery 1993).Generally foundry sand should be free of thick coatings of burnt carbon, binders, and mold additives. These constituents can inhibit adhesion of the asphalt cement binder to the foundry sand. Clay clumps can beremoved by screening or washing, while iron and rubbish can be removed with magnets or hand separation. Although recycled foundry sand can be successfully incorporated into asphalt designs, large variability can exist between sands. Each sand should be treated as a unique source of aggregate (Tikalsky et al 2004). Foundry sand containing bentonite can be processed to reduce the fine content that affects performance. Conventional AASHTO pavement design methods are appropriate for asphalt paving incorporating foundry sand as fine aggregate. The same methods and equipment used for conventional HMA pavement are applicable to pavements containing foundry sand. If the foundry sand is dry (less than 5 percent moisture), the sand can be metered directly into a pug mill (batch plants only) or through a recycled asphalt feed (drum plants) where the sand can be further dried, by the already heated conventional aggregates (DAlessandro et al 1990). The presence of bentonite and organic binder materials can increase the time required for drying and can increase the load on the hot mix plant dust collection system. Any coal and organic binders that is present are usually combusted in the process. The same field-testing procedures used for conventional HMA mixes should be used for mixes containing foundry sand.

5.6 ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES

There are several advantages and disadvantages for the moulding sand. The advantages arei) Reused many times.
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ii) High quality material than natural sand. iii) Less control needed. iv) Economical. v) Easily transported. vi) Low energy demand. vii) Bentonite clay a perfect inorganic binder. viii) Smooth casting surface. The disadvantages for the use of foundry sand are also there. The grain size is optimized for moulds and thus may not be optimum for the production of strong bricks.

5.7 FUTURE SCOPE

In the future, foundries will continue to have an increased requirement for greater productivity, higher production speed of molding machines, enlarged mold sizes (capabilities), and environmental friendly products. To achieve this: i) A greater quantity of high grade bentonite will be used and modified for foundry applications. ii) These modified bentonites will partly replace organic additives (e.g. Seacoal) in Greensand moulding systems.

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CHAPTER 6 CONCLUSION

Based on this report it can be concluded that the foundry or moulding sand: i) Decreases water absorption. ii) Increases compressive strength. iii) Smooth casting is produced. iv) Reduces cost. v) Produces Green concrete. The green sand moulding process has been used in the foundry industry for many years. The challenge of this proven foundry methodology is to meet the future requirements of the modern foundries that have to produce a product that meets or exceeds the requirements of the casting consumer. Tomorrows casting consumer is requiring improved dimensional tolerances to the cast part, at a reduced cost, and just in time delivery, to minimize inventory. Simultaneously, the foundry that is producing the cast part is required to improve casting quality, increase production to meet the casting consumer requirements, improve working conditions in the foundry, meet or exceed current and future environmental regulations, and an overall reduction in the cost of metal castings produced.

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REFERENCE

[1].American Foundry Society (AFS). August 2007, www.foundryrecycling.org. [2].Mitchell, J. K., 1993. Fundamentals of soil behavior, Wiley, New York. [3].Pitroda et al., International Journal of Advanced Engineering Technology [4].Website: www.foundrysand.org

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