Effect of Magnetic Field on Casting Parameters

Abstract

Abstract

The casting process is one of the oldest manufacturing methods involving squeezing / jolting the green sand used as moulding material, and further was developed with use of binders such as clay/organic resins. The constants search for newer moulding material lead to the magnetic mould involving steel shots and application of magnetic field. The preliminary trials on one of the process parameters i. e. Magnetic field was carried out and the input parameters for the magnetic mould were optimized. In this work, aluminum 6061 has been used for melting casting route using an electric resistance furnace and the molten metal is poured into a magnetic mould containing steel shots with three levels of magnetic field in terms of Gauss (500 G, 750 G and 1000 G). The application of magnetic field applied is in the range 500-1000 G less reported in the literature. Hence this work gains importance from the point of producing Al Castings in magnetic mould and also the adoption of high magnetic field ( ̴1000 G) for enhanced mechanical property (tensile strength, % of elongation hardness, etc.). The Al 6061 castings produced from the magnetic mould were subjected to mechanical tests viz., hardness, strength, % of elongation and microstructure, and the data was compared with the castings of the same composition made in sand and die moulds. It was observed that the tensile strength of Al 6061 was found to be 147.1 N/mm², 160.7 N/mm² and 167.5 N/mm² for 500 G, 750 G and 1000 G respectively with 500 G, 750 G and 1000 G being the intensity of magnetic field, used for compaction of mould material. The corresponding % of elongation and hardness were 4.2, 9.6, 15.0 and 93.7, 100.1, 121.0 respectively. The tensile strength, % of elongation and hardness obtained for aluminum casting made in sand and die moulds are 72.6, 89.9 and 3.5, 5.4 respectively. The microstructure and these samples revealed fine grain structure in magnetic mould compared to sand and die moulds. The results suggest that the casting of magnetic mould material will have higher properties and refined grain structure has compared to conventional sand and die mould material. The design and development magnetic mould assembly has been carried out in-house and it is preliminary trails in respect of molding method and eliminating EPS pattern with refractory coating involving permanent shell and ecofriendly.

Keywords: Magnetic mould, magnetic flux intensity, sand casting, dies casting, properties 

Cite this Article

Basavarajappa VN, HB Niranjan, Manjunatha AR. Effect of Magnetic Field on Casting Parameters. Journal of Materials & Metallurgical Engineering. 2018; 8(3): 30–35p.