In the Green Sand Casting the molten metal is poured in molds. The metal is melt by utilizing induction furnaces. The molds are made of wet sand mixed with bentonite clay or organic binders. The molds can be easily created in automated assembly lines. The ability to quickly make molds through automated machines makes green sand casting economical and popular for making medium to high volume castings since the automated processes allows for a lot of molds to be quickly made at an affordable cost. Besides the low cost, the method is suitable for manufacturing very large castings up to 3 tons. GSC is the most widely used casting method for small volume components. On the other hand green sand molds for casting don’t have tight dimensional tolerance and thus when precise dimensions are required or smooth surfaces the components should be further processed by machining and surface finishing.
Advance stirring methods (e.g. ultrasonication. Electromagnetic stirring) will lead to enhance NPs distribution in melt. A Melt-on-demand continuous batch processing route by induction heating will be followed as based on EXOMET project treatment of smaller quantities (e.g. melts ups to 10- 15 gr) results also in NP enhanced distribution. Use of cover gases will result in safer operation with Mg alloys. Utilization of green bonding systems for sand dies preparation. The materials that will be processed in the GSC pilot line are:
Al MMC reinforced with TiO2 presenting photocatalytic activity expressed as anti-bacterial and selfcleaning properties
Mg MMC reinforced by carbon nanoparticles, presenting reduced weight compared to aluminium products and high fatigue strength
Al MMC reinforced with SiC presenting high fatigue and wear resistance properties.
Objects produced in this PL also utilize dies; however, in this case the dies are horizontally aligned
The Pilot Test Bed Facility for wire AM at AIMEN uses the Laser Metal Deposition (LMD)
