Effect of Input Parameters on The Mechanical Properties of Green Sand Mould

Among all the methods of metal forming, green sand moulding is the most commonly used method due to its low cost and high speed of work. Main constituents of green sand mould are sand, water, coal dust and binder. Mechanical properties like permeability, green compressive strength, mould hardness, compactibility and moisture content of green sand directly affects the quality of castings produced. This research is done to investigate the effect of input parameters (bentonite, garcolap powder, water) on the mechanical properties of green sand mould. Three levels of each input parameter were considered, and the experiments were designed using design expert software version-13. The regression analysis was performed on the experimental results using Minitab software version-21 to evaluate the effect of bentonite, garcolap powder and water on mechanical properties of green sand mould. Twenty experiments were designed by the software. Values of mechanical properties of green sand like compactibility, permeability, mould hardness, green compressive strength and moisture content were measured by performing experiments on specimen prepared from green sand in accordance with the IS: 1918-1966. Measured values were compared with the standard for validation. Results of this research clearly indicate that bentonite is the only input parameter which has the highest effect on mechanical properties of green sand mould.