Development of a device for dynamical measurement of the load on casting and the contraction of the casting in a sand mold during cooling

To predict and control the residual stress present in sand castings manufactured via CAE (Computer Aided Engineering), the mechanical interaction between the casting and the sand mold during cooling must be determined experimentally. A device was developed in this study to determine the load on the casting caused by the resistance of the mold and the contraction of the casting during cooling. Our device consists of two modules that work simultaneously: a module containing a load cell, for measuring the load on the casting during cooling and a module containing an LVDT (Linear Variable Differential Transformer) for measuring the contraction of the casting during cooling. In performance verification testing, the device enabled the simultaneous measurement of the load on the sand casting and the contraction of the casting. This measurement was performed dynamically during the cooling process. Additionally, for the case where the contraction of the casting was hindered by the sand mold, the permanent deformation of the casting after shake out (which leads to residual stress in the casting) was successfully measured using our device. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.