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Session 1348

Industry and Academia Collaboration for a Thermal Distortion Tester for Sand-Binder Systems

Jorge Rodriguez, Mitchel Keil, Sam Ramrattan and Mary Beth Krysiak Western Michigan University / Georg Fischer-DISA, Inc.

Abstract

The goal of this industry and academia collaboration has been the design and development of a prototype Thermal Distortion Tester (TDT) to be used in the foundry industry. This apparatus measures thermal distortion in chemically bonded foundry sands; thus providing the foundry engineer with proper information to reduce dimensional variations in cast parts as a result of thermal distortion in molds and cores. A concept prototype has already been developed and used for initial testing. The thermal properties for various chemically bond sands have been investigated. The sand-binder mixtures selected for this study demonstrate the capability of the developed tester to deal with diverse combinations. The distinctive results obtained confirm that the tester is a valuable tool that can aid the foundry engineer in predicting the behavior of core and mold material in thermo-mechanical applications, thus helping in dimensional control. It is our belief that this collaboration has been a successful one based on the interest in the prototype TDT shown by foundry practitioners and binder manufacturers.

Introduction

Because of the increasing demands for performance and productivity, interaction between academia and industry is of particular importance nowadays. This interaction should help both sides: academia people have the opportunity to apply their knowledge and experience in a real situation, and industry people get the benefit of having additional knowledge and technology sources available to them. This project illustrates one of such interactions. It started when some academia and industry people recognized a need for the foundry industry and it was decided to work together on such problem. Manufacturing, Graphics, and Design faculty and students at the Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering (IME) at Western Michigan University (WMU), together with technical personnel from the Instruments Division at Georg Fischer-DISA (GF-DISA) have been working on the development of a TDT for chemically bonded sands.

Sand molding is, by far, the most common casting process used in the United States. According to the American Foundrymen’s Society (AFS), close to 90% of the annual castings produced (1) nationwide are sand castings . Such popularity, due in part to the high level of applicability that sand casting offers, has resulted in many technical developments towards a more efficient process. For resin binder processes, which can be classified as: no-bake systems, heat-cured systems and cold box systems, technological advances on the chemicals used for the binders and the catalysts have resulted in very efficient and environmentally friendly processes. At the same time, the metalcasting industry has realized that in order to fulfill customers needs in the future there is one major challenge that must be addressed: near-net shape castings(4). The goal is to

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Keil, M., & Krysiak, M. B., & Ramrattan, S., & Rodriguez, J. (1998, June), Industry And Academia Collaboration For A Thermal Distortion Tester For Sand Binder Systems Paper presented at 1998 Annual Conference, Seattle, Washington. 10.18260/1-2--7185