High Carbon Ferro Chrome Slag – Alternative Mould Material for Foundry Industry

High silica sand is commonly used in foundry industry for sand moulds making. Various efforts are being made to use the industrial wastes as an alternate molding material in foundry to conserve the natural resources; and effective utilization of the industrial waste to sustain the industrialization. Ferro chrome (Fe-Cr) slag has many of the same attributes of the sand. In this paper investigations were carried out on comparative mould and casting properties of high silica sand and Fe-Cr slag for foundry applications. A series of sand tests were carried out on silica sand, Fe-Cr slag individually and various combinations of these two. The process parameters considered for this investigation were % of Sodium silicate, CO 2 gassing time, and mould setting time. Two types of moulds were made with 100%Fe-Cr Slag and 100% Silica Sand individually with 8%Sodium Silicate and 15Seconds CO 2 gassing time. AA2024 Aluminium alloy cylindrical castings were made through these two moulds; castings were investigated for its microstructure and hardness studies. Results reveal that standard samples with Fe-Cr slag can be prepared; these shows smooth surface finish and accurate dimensions on par with the sand samples. The mould permeability, compression and shear strength results showed Fe-Cr Slag will be a suitable candidate for either partial or full replacement of molding sand. Enhanced mould properties were observed for Fe-Cr slag than silica sand. Good surface finish castings with enhanced mechanical properties and fine grain microstructures were produced by Fe-Cr slag moulds.