Sand Casting Process
Sand casting is a process that uses sand as a mold. The mold is then poured with a liquid metal to make the casting. This is one of the oldest casting processes in history. It can be used to make metal parts of any size from 1 kg to hundreds of tons to which until now is being used. Statistics show that over 61% of all metal castings are produced by sand casting. The quality of the output is still the same and keeps improving.
In today’s industry, the sand casting process still controls the material options, tolerances, the ability to manufacture complex parts,the variety of sizes
And it has several unique advantages. For the complete process steps of sand casting, let us take a look at this guide for reference.
Step 1 – Place or put mold Pattern in Sand
The first step in sand casting is to place a mold into the sand. The size and shape of the casting are directly dependent on the mold. Therefore most manufacturing companies should craft new molds to create metal products and components for a certain size and shape.
Step 2 – Need to Set Up the Gating System
We all know that most casting processes use the gating system. It is effective for a long time already. The sand casting is also the same.
These consist of an injection funnel and a mold tunnel or “gate” and are used to feed the molten mold into the mold cavity. By placing the mold in the sand, anyone can have a gate system like this one.
Step 3 – Removing the Mold Pattern
The next step is once the gate system is set up, we can now extract mold samples from the sand. Within this stage, the mold template is no longer relevant. Put the mold template inside the sand and then the sand will shape it as is. Then as the result, the mold template can be deleted already.
Step 4 – Pouring the Molten Metal into Mold Cavity
The next thing to do is pour molten metal into the mold cavity. Sand casting supports a variety of metals and alloys including iron, steel, aluminum, bronze, magnesium, zinc, and tin. It all depends on the specific metal or alloy used, so it may require heating from degrees 3000 degrees Fahrenheit. Then when the metal or alloy changes from a solid to a liquid state it is poured into the mold cavity as part of the process.
Step 5 – Patiently Waiting for Metal to Cool
The next thing to do after pouring the molten metal into the mold cavity, we must wait for it to cool. This process takes time and patience and it is one of the vital points in the entire method. Take note that different types of metals take different times to cool down. Then as the molten metal cools, it changes from a liquid to a solid again.
Step 6 – Opening the mold to remove the Metal Casting
The sixth and final step in the sand casting process, to open the mold and remove the finished casting parts.