Experimental Investigation and Optimization of Hardness in Sand Casting Process by Using the Design of Experiments Approach

Casting is one of the most important process in manufacturing environment to develop a product for the customer needs and satisfaction. There is lot of casting process available in industrial world. Among various casting process, sand casting is one of the important process generally used for both ferrous and non ferrous materials. The solidification range of molten metal plays a vital role in sand casting process to decide the quality of the product. During solidification process, the results of casting defects such as shrinkage, porosity and hot tears are eliminated and a standard casting design system is essential which can be achieved by an experimental investigation. Recently, Aluminum (6063) plays a major role in automobile, manufacturing, nuclear and marine industries. In this experimental investigation, crucible furnace is used to melt the material and develop the product through sand casting methods. The important input process parameters such as vent hole angle and vent hole diameter are selected and studied at three different levels according to the recommendation of Design of Experiments Approach. The main objective of this experimental investigation is to find the optimum level of hardness in sand casting process by using Aluminum (6063) material. The hardness quality of test specimen is measured by using the Brinell hardness tester. This experimental results shows that, vent hole diameter plays a crucial role in hardness of sand casting process and the optimum level is recommended for further research