ABSTRACT

Modernizing Foundry with Lost Foam

Casting Process and Vacuum Process
Moulding Process creates a Pollution
Free Environment in the Foundry
and Increases Profit Margins.

GD Mishra

FOUNDRY
MODERNIZATION
V-LFC & V-Process Moulding Process in Foundries
 Lost Foam Casting
(LFC) and Vacuum
Process Casting
(VPC, V-Process) -
their Need Acceptance
and Limitations for
Foundry Modernization in
India
GD Mishra1, steel@gdmtechnics.com
CEO, General Dynamic Multi Technical
Consultancy LLP
1
A Mechanical Engineer and MBA having 30 years of diversified
experience in Product Application and implementing new
Concepts and Project in India. Liquid Helium, Brewpubs, Lost
Foam Castings(v-LFC) and V-Process (VPC) are few of the Products
and Processes introduced in India by his efforts.
What would be an ideal foundry today?
The foundry which can use all its resources efficiently,
with minimal wastage and pollution to environment,
would be an ideal foundry today. Other than
Power/Energy the most important input in any of the
sand casting foundries is Sand.
threatening disease called Silicosis to the manpower
exposed to it and often wrongly diagnosed by Doctors
as Tuberculosis. All these adds to cost to the foundry
owner and the society at large. But world over now
Sand is being considered as a perishable natural
resource and various Governments have started
putting restrictions to its use; and after use studies are
being conducted.
LFC, VPC, HPML and other such High Energy
Efficient Modern Moulding Lines are the answers
to these above issues.
LFC & VPC needs no sand binders. The Mould strength
is achieved by vacuuming in specially designed flasks
or boxes. Adequately designed vacuum arrangement
guarantees equal mould hardness in horizontal as well
as vertical walls of the mould. In both LFC and VPC
system, after pouring and cooling of casting, there is
no vigorous effort & time consuming Knockout
Process, just topple the flask, the free-flowing sand
goes into the sand cooler and back to hopper for
moulding.
Lost Foam Casting
Today, Vacuum Assisted Lost Foam Casting (v-LFC)

In conventional sand
foundries, be it
Green Sand Process,
Resin Sand Process or
Shell Sand, sand
needs binders to
serve our needs to
make various types
of moulds. The sand
from these moulds
after use is to be
reclaimed. Most of
the smaller resin
sand foundries do
not have Sand
Reclamation units
because of Capital Process is finding a great acceptance in foundries in
Investment and its Operational & Maintenance Costs. China which have more than 3500 LFC foundries with
Of Course, these binders are also Pollutants to some different variants as shown in Fig.1. Recently
degree in the Shop Floor as well as when thrown out foundrymen in India have generated interest into this
as waste. The process of reclamation is prone to process which is quite economical and reduces the
breakage of sand grains which lead to suspension of
fine fibrous silica dust in the air, leading to life
foundry variants to about 40%. v-LFC uses
Free-flowing sand without any binders and
sand is re-used after cooling and removal of
dust if any. The cost of production by v-LFC is
also reduced between 18- 35% depending
upon the casting, its profile, need of cores and
metallurgy.

How, LFC is most Economical

Moulding Process today
1. Most economical moulding process for
20 kg to 350 kg castings. Any size & shape
weighing between 10-12 tons is also
possible.
2. A kg of EPS (Expanded
Polystyrene)/STMMA (styrene methyl-
methacrylate) can produce 250-300 kg of
casting.
3. Intricate parts can be cast
4. No Core, so no Core cost
5. No Rejections due to Core Shifting
6. No Fins so almost nil fettling
7. Faster Delivery, Satisfied Customers,
Lesser Opportunity Cost.
8. Very good Surface Finish upto 200 RMS
can be achieved, without big efforts,
better surface finish upto 150 RMS can
also be achieved.
9. Machining work minimized, 1.5-2 mm
12. Environmentally friendly and Pollution Free
max at tool point.
workshop.
10. Sand reused with only 2% wastage
11. Steel, Ductile Iron & Grey Iron, Non-ferrous all can
be cast very successfully v-LFC Process Diagram
Acceptance of v-LFC
v-LFC Process has been successfully adopted for Grey
Iron, Ductile Iron, Mn-Steel, Carbon Steel and recently
expertise is being developed in special Alloy Steels too.
Quite a few successful Aluminium Foundries by LFC
are operating in China. Castings of Magnesium &
Titanium Alloy castings is being practiced in Europe.
Generally, when we work out the viability for adoption
of this process we ask for present yield, casting weight,
moulding sand weight, core-weight, the higher it is,
higher is the margins for savings. But the most
important aspect is the technical viability in all cases
and the acceptable levels of rejections under various
test condition. If similar castings have not been
successfully achieved elsewhere in the world by v-LFC
we should refrain in the earlier stages of adaptation of
the LFC process in our foundry.
Another important aspect for adaptation of LFC is lack
of trained manpower in India. Buying good reliable
equipment specially fine tuned for LFC Process is 40%
of the job done, the next 40% assignment is training of
manpower and finally the last 20% is confidence of the
management and executives on the process.
Energy Savings in LFC Process
1. Sand reclamation, the primary attrition and
the secondary attrition to achieve 75%
reclamation level and the thermal attrition to
achieve total 95% reclamation level needs lots
electricity and gas; while the Lost Foam
Technology only needs sand cooling and
recirculation.
2. Because the LFC process sand does not stick to
the casting surface and there are no fins, so no
energy by way of hammering, grinding and
chipping is needed for knockout and fettling of
castings. Saves, time too.
3. Machining allowances of 1-1.5 mm at tool
point so less machining needed, saves Energy
and Time.
4. The overall weight of the casting is reduced
needing less molten metal, so Energy is saved.
 **** Step 9: After cooling, the vacuum is released and free-flowing
sand drops away leaving a clean casting, with no sand
V-Process (VPC) or Vacuum Process Casting lumps. The sand is cooled for re-use.
Benefits of V-Process
This is yet another moulding process which doesnt need
any chemical or organic binders in the sand for moulding.
1. Reduction in Sand Consumption 98%
One of the foundry which adopted VPC in India could 2. No water, no binder and no additives in Sand
envisage to double its moulding capacity in 2 years time, 3. Cost reduction by about < 20%
after all his process cost had become economical by 20-25% 4. Very Smooth Surface Finish 120 RMS
by adopting this process. 5. Excellent Dimensional Accuracy
Foundries which are into Railway Castings in India making 6. Zero Draft
7. Thin Wall Sections Possible
Side Frames, Bolsters for Casnub Bogies, Coupler etc and
8. Excellent Reproduction of Details
CMS Crossings should immediately target to reduce sand
9. Increased Pattern Life (no wear of pattern)
cost and shop-floor related pollution in their foundries.
10. Very Easy Knock-out, within no time.
Foundries making large wear resistant Mn-Steel castings
11. No sand sticking or inclusion
like Jaw Plates, Blow-Bars, Cone and Mantel should reduce 12. No toxic fumes from burning the binders
their cost of resin sand usage and cost of Primary, 13. Excellent sand permeability
Secondary Attrition and Thermal Reclamation and related 14. Moisture related casting defects is zero.
manpower and maintenance costs. 15. Yield increases.

V-Process Steps:
Examples by V-Process

Step 1: The pattern (with vent holes) is placed on a hollow

carrier plate.
Step 2: A heater softens the 0.07 to .0.2 mm EVA (ethylene-
vinyl acetate) plastic film. EVA Plastic has good
elasticity and a high deformation ratio.
Step 3: Softened film drapes over the pattern with 0.03 to 0.05
MPa vacuum acting through the pattern vents to draw
it tightly around the pattern.
Step 4: The flask is placed on the film-coated pattern. Flask
walls are also a vacuum chamber with the outlet
shown at right.
Step 5: The flask is filled with dry, un-bonded sand. A slight
vibration compacts sand to maximum bulk density.
Step 6: A sprue cup is formed, and the mould surface levelled.
The back of the mould is covered with unheated plastic
film.
Step 7: Vacuum is applied to the flask. Atmospheric pressure Thus, both LFC & VPC today have very promising
then hardens the sand. The vacuum is released, future in Indian foundries, where because of various
pressurized air is introduced into the carrier and the types of pollutions now young capable engineers
mould is stripped.
Step 8: The cope and drag assembly form a plastic-lined refrain to join. These options are win-win situation for
cavity. During pouring, moulds are kept under Foundry Owners and Executives. Sooner the better
vacuum. Foundries should do an audit towards adaptation of
these modern moulding technologies.