Sand Casting
Sand Casting
Sand casting is used to produce a wide variety of metal components with complex geometries. These parts can vary greatly in size and weight, ranging from a couple ounces to several tons. Some smaller sand cast parts include components as gears, pulleys, crankshafts, connecting rods, and propellers. Larger applications include housings for large equipment and heavy machine bases. Sand casting is also common in producing automobile components, such as engine blocks, engine manifolds, cylinder heads, and transmission cases.
Sand casting is able to make use of almost any alloy. An advantage of sand casting is the ability to cast materials with high melting temperatures, including steel, nickel, and titanium. The four most common materials that are used in sand casting are shown below, along with their melting temperatures.
Materials Melting temperature
Aluminum alloys 1220 °F (660 °C)
Brass alloys 1980 °F (1082 °C)
Cast iron 1990-2300 °F (1088-1260 °C)
Cast steel 2500 °F (1371 °C)
The material cost for sand casting includes the cost of the metal, melting the metal, the mold sand, and the core sand. The cost of the metal is determined by the weight of the part, calculated from part volume and material density, as well the unit price of the material. The melting cost will also be greater for a larger part weight and is influenced by the material, as some materials are more costly to melt. However, the melting cost in typically insignificant compared to the metal cost. The amount of mold sand that is used, and hence the cost, is also proportional to the weight of the part. Lastly, the cost of the core sand is determined by the quantity and size of the cores used to cast the part.
Advantages:
Can produce very large parts
Can form complex shapes
Many material options
Low tooling and equipment cost
Scrap can be recycled
Short lead time possible
Applications:
Engine blocks and manifolds, machine bases, gears, pulleys, agriculture parts,marine parts,medical parts,hardware, automobile parts,ect.
Sand casting is able to make use of almost any alloy. An advantage of sand casting is the ability to cast materials with high melting temperatures, including steel, nickel, and titanium. The four most common materials that are used in sand casting are shown below, along with their melting temperatures.
Materials Melting temperature
Aluminum alloys 1220 °F (660 °C)
Brass alloys 1980 °F (1082 °C)
Cast iron 1990-2300 °F (1088-1260 °C)
Cast steel 2500 °F (1371 °C)
The material cost for sand casting includes the cost of the metal, melting the metal, the mold sand, and the core sand. The cost of the metal is determined by the weight of the part, calculated from part volume and material density, as well the unit price of the material. The melting cost will also be greater for a larger part weight and is influenced by the material, as some materials are more costly to melt. However, the melting cost in typically insignificant compared to the metal cost. The amount of mold sand that is used, and hence the cost, is also proportional to the weight of the part. Lastly, the cost of the core sand is determined by the quantity and size of the cores used to cast the part.
Advantages:
Can produce very large parts
Can form complex shapes
Many material options
Low tooling and equipment cost
Scrap can be recycled
Short lead time possible
Applications:
Engine blocks and manifolds, machine bases, gears, pulleys, agriculture parts,marine parts,medical parts,hardware, automobile parts,ect.