Snam Alloys. The Global Leader. Newsletter_July_D.pdf · Snam Alloys. The Global Leader. ... The...

www.snam.co.in

Volume - 2 I Issue - 5July, 2015

Private Circulation only

Snam Alloys. The Global Leader.• Trusted for over 25 years • Over 75 products • 400 leading customers

• 6 continents • 46 countries • World class R&D centre • Caters to automobile, engineering, electrical, construction equipment, foundries etc.

3

Snam Alloys Private Limited

SNAM News

SNAM participated in the GIFA 13th International Foundry Trade Fair with Technical Forum, at Düsseldorf, Germany, conducted from 16-20 June 2015. Our Stand C 39 in Hall 13 gathered unprecedented footfall and was a resounding success. Foundrymen from the world over, engaged with the team, discussed the product offerings from SNAM, our advanced capabilities and commitment to the foundry industry.

SNAM QuickNod, with the advanced auto-calibration feature, wherein the customer can generate correlation curves for their metal for more realistic and consistent nodularity predictions, was also demonstrated at the fair.

SNAM Melt Mate is a user-friendly, melt trim calculator for accurate base metal composition and consistent metallurgical quality. Look forward to the launch of this innovative tool from SNAM soon.

Did You Know?

2


Pig iron is an important charge material for cast & ductile iron production. The term “pig iron” arose from the old method of casting blast furnace iron into moulds arranged in sand beds such that they could be fed from a common runner. The group of moulds resembled a litter of sucking pigs, the ingots being called “pigs” and the runner the “sow.”

Snam Alloy’s new partner in CanadaSnam is proud to partner with

M/s Asbury Wilkinson, Canada for its products and services

in the evolving market.

Snam Alloys at GIFA 2015

Snam Alloys stall drew a tremendous response from visitors. On an average, one witnessed a massive foot fall of nearly 400 visitors at the stall. About 50 new customers evinced a keen interest in the Snam Alloys products and services.

The exhibition provided an opportunity to meet all Snam Alloys’ partners from 46 countries. New strategies and roadmaps for each country were chalked out and discussed in detail with them.

In a significant development, Snam Alloys inked agreements with 3 new countries to partner and propel the growth.

In the pipeline, the talks are on with 4 more developing countries for strategic tie-ups.

What’s more, the global presence of Snam Alloys is spreading steadily, thanks to its innovative and quality offerings.

An enhanced version of Quicknod was launched to bolster the foundry industry.

Snam Alloys at GIFA 2015

4


5


Snam Alloys at GIFA 2015 R&D NEWS

In the last issue, we mentioned about new equipments that we had procured for our R&D facility. We have installed them and have been regularly utilizing the enhanced capabilities that these provide:

● TESCAN™VEGA3 Scanning Electron Microscope, with EBSD and EDS

● LECOC-SAnalyserforveryaccuratemeasurementof Carbon and Sulphur values up to 4 decimal points.

6


7


In the previous article on sand, we discussed how sand is being utilised in various industries owing to the wide range of properties it possess. In this article, we will discuss about the different kinds of foundry sand and its properties.

JUST TO RECAP, SAND:● Naturallyoccurringmaterialingranularformcomposedoffinelydividedrocksandmineralsof

size diameter ranging from 0.0625 to 2mm (anything smaller is called silt).

● Over 70% of the metal castings by weight are produced by sand castings.

Typical foundry sand is composed of

●Sand – New sand (Silica sand) or reused sand

●Clay

●Water

●Bentonite

●Carbon additives – Coal dust, lustrous carbon

●Pecial Additives – Cellulose, Cereals

Silica Sand is divided into three types based on its compositions as follows:

Know Your Moulding Sand…

Natural Moulding Sand

Grade A - SiO2 (>98%) Grade B - SiO2 (95%-98% Grade C - SiO2 (90%-95%)

●Itcanbedirectlyused to make moulds and cores.

● Clay matter is in excess.

● Obtained from river beds and sea coast.

● Contains less clay matter and is blended with natural sand with suitable binder.

● High Silica sand

● Obtained from sedimentary origin & crushing quartzic sand stones.

● Contains less clay matter & Alkalis, Iron oxides, Alumina as impurities.

Foundries classify sand based on the AFS number, and the sand is usually washed and graded before use or typically before being delivered to the foundry.


SPECIAL TYPES OF SAND:

Different types of special sands, other than Silica sand, used for mould making are:

Zircon Sand: (ZrSiO4)

● Grainsarerounded&freefromclaymaterials

● Offers high resistance to metal penetration

● Goodsurfacefinish&Finegrainsize

● High refractoriness & low thermal expansion

Chromite Sand:

● Cr2O3 (44%-50%) + Quartz, Feldspar, chlorides, carbonates, pyroxene

● Itisproducedbycrushing→RemovingGangue→Screening

● Highrefractoriness,lowthermalexpansion

● Resistancetothermalcracks

● Preventsscabbingorspalling

Olivine Sand:

● Magnesium Orthosilicate (Mg2SiO4) + Iron Orthosilicate (Fe2SiO4)

● Contains pyroxene, serpentine, chlorides, etc.

● Sandgrainsareangularinshape

● QualitydependsontheratioofForsteritetoFayalite

Chamotte Sand:

● Calcinedclayfired→Clayfusedtogetherinhardlumps→Ground+ScreenedandSized

● Qualitydependsuponthefiringandthequalityoftheclay

● Useofbettergraderemovesmouldsurfacefracture

8


9


Zircon Sand Chromite Sand Olivine Sand Chamotte Sand


PROPERTIES REQUIRED FOR MOULDING SAND:

● Refractoriness - Ability to withstand high temperature without sintering. Sintering point is a measure of refractoriness.

● Permeability - Moulding sand must allow gases and vapours to escape, else leads to casting defects. Function of grain shape, size, extent of ramming, moisture and clay content.

● Cohesiveness - Extent of interaction of sand particles among themselves. Relates to binding capacity of sand and binder.

● Adhesiveness - Property of moulding sand to adhere to moulding box walls

● Green Strength - Moulding sand should have adequate strength during mould preparation and handling

● Dry Strength - Relates to the strength of sand after evaporation of moisture

● Flowability - Extenttowhichsandiscompactedandfillscornerswhenrammed

● Collapsibility - Sandmustcollapseaftermetalsolidifies,toallowfreecontractionofmetal

● Other properties:

- Should not stick to the casting

- Chemically un-reactive with the metal

- Lowcoefficientofexpansion

- Cheap, available and reusable

PROPERTIES OF VARIOUS KINDS OF MOULDING SAND:

Properties Silica Olivine Chromite Zircon

Colour White light brown Greenish green Black White brown

Bulk density (g/ml) 1.57 - 1.74 1.8 - 2.1 2.5 - 2.7 2.9 - 3.2

SpecificGravity 2.65 3.2 4.5 4.6

Grain Shape Angular / Rounded Angular Angular Rounded /Angular

Expansion @ 900°C 1.56 1.02 0.65 0.25

Fusion Point (°C) 1425 - 1760 1538 - 1982 1760 - 1982 2038 - 2204

Chemical Reaction Acid - Neutral Basic Neutral - Basic Acid - Neutral

Resistance to metal penetration

Moderate - depends on grain size Good Excellent

Moderate - depends on grain size

Bonding Characteristics Excellent

Satisfactory - Except acid

systemGood Excellent

The following table describes the different properties of the sand used for mould making in foundries:


10


11


Rare earth base inoculants:

The two types of rare earth inoculants use in cast iron can be,

Cerium base and Lanthanum base:

Cerium (Ce) based inoculants are used for both grey and ductile cast iron:

For grey cast iron, when the sulphur level is low in the metal, the effectiveness of most inoculants reduces. In such scenarios, Cerium based inoculants can be very effective. The combination of cerium and calcium provides strong sites for nucleation and helps produce randomly oriented A-type graphite in the casting. This further reduces the carbide forming tendency in the castings. In addition, it also helps reduce the tendency for slag and inclusion defect formation along with reducing the fading tendency of inoculation.

In ductile iron, Cerium based inoculants can neutralize the effect of deleterious elements like Titanium (Ti), Bismuth (Bi), Arsenic (As), Lead (Pb), etc in the metal, which may sometimes be unavoidable due to the composition of foundry returns and/or scrap. Cerium helps in producing high nodule count and nodularity with low total rare earth containing Ferrosilicon Magnesium (FeSiMg) being used for treatment.

SNAM® RECAL, our primary rare earth based inoculants offering, helps offset the harmful effects of the elements mentioned above, giving increased nodule count, and reduced micro porosity tendency in castings. It can be used as both secondary late-stage inoculants with other inoculants, as well as primary inoculants.

Rare Earth Elements as Inoculants and Nodulants

Lanthanum based inoculant:

Lanthanum is very effective when used as inoculant in ductile iron. It helps increase nodule count, and reduces the tendency for micro porosity to occur by promoting graphitisation.

Rare earth base nodulant:

FeSiMg alloys without rare earths can have several disadvantages compared rare earth added FeSiMg when used as nodulant. These are unable to effectively address Issues like shrinkage porosity, vermicular graphite and inclusion defects that can occur in the castings.

Cerium can partially substitute Magnesium (Mg) in the production of ductile iron. Ideally, in an iron treated with rare earth based FeSiMg, and giving 0.015-0.020% of residual Mg, and 0.02% of residual Ce in the metal, it is possible to achieve a completely nodular graphite structure. These combined additions are subjected to lower fading tendency and because of the particularly low magnesium level, chances of dross formation isalsosignificantlyreduced.

Lanthanum based nodulants apart from promoting a higher nodule count, also helps generate less slag in ductile iron which results in inclusion free casting, and promotes a lower shrinkage tendency. Lanthanum with calcium in FeSiMg increases the effectiveness of the alloy, reducing the reaction violence and resulting in low shrinkage and chill formation.

Simulations and actual trials conducted at SNAMAlloysR&DCentre, and as verifiedwith extensivecustomer trials, SNAM® LAMG3, our Lanthanum based FeSiMg with 3% Calcium works effectively and especially with our Barium-rich SNAM® HiBacal inoculant to reduce the micro-porosity tendency in castings. This along with high nodule count and nodularity that is achieved, provide high quality castings as often required by OEMs.

12


13


ANSWERS TO CROSSWORD

Tech Quest

1. Excess Mg content in DI can cause

a. Inverse Chill/carbides

b. Compacted graphite morphology

c. Steadite

d. Kish Graphite

2. MEF is related to which of the following

a. Inoculation

b. Exothermic sleeve

c. Gating design

d. Moulding Method

3. ----------- is the mineral used in green sand moulding which develops bonding with water

a. Bentonite

b. Coal Dust

c. Sodium silicate

d. Amine

4. Weight of the external chill-X, weight of the casting-Y, Weight of the gating system-Z. Then yield =

a. Y/Z

b. (Y+X)/Z

c. Y/(X+Z)

d. Y/(Y+Z)

5. Ni-Hard material is used for the application require in

a. Impact Resistance

b. Abrasive Resistance

c. Good Surface Finish

d. Fatigue Strength

Answer key to Tech Quiz

1. a

2. b

3. a

4. d

5. b

14


Crossword

Across:1. ___ is the additional temperature above liquidus,

maintained by foundries for tapping metal (9)

4. ___ is a soft bright phase observed after etching cast iron polished sample with Nital (7)

5. ___ are unwanted sand grains in system sand, coated with dead clay and spent carbonaceous materials (8)

8. ___ is a special purpose device used along with fixturesforguidingthetool(3)

9. ___ is the top half of horizontal parted mould, usually with high permeability and low hardness (4)

10. ___ is an element with Atomic No. 42, used for alloying in SG iron to achieve hardenability, oxidation resistance & Elevated temperature Strength (10)

Down:2. ___ is a Greek word for “easily melting”,

definescompositionat4.3%Carbon equivalent (8)

3. ___ is a process of strength development in chemically bonded sand moulds (6)

5. ___ is the densest element (3)

6. ___ is a weight loss related parameter related to Sand testing (3)

7. ___ is an element commonly used for pearlite promotion and has most number of stable isotopes than any other element (3)

15


Proud to Make in India,Made for the World!

Presenting

QUICKNODNodularity predictor using ultra sound

FEATURES• Nodularitymeasuredbyultrasonicvelocity• Quickmeasurementsontheshopfloor.• Simpletouse-nosamplecutting,polishing• Easytotraintheoperator-nospecialskillsrequired• Simpleruggedconstructiontowithstandtherigoursof

theshopfloor• Easytoinstall,easytooperate• Cantestvariousgradesofductilecastiron• TouchscreenLCDdisplay• Internaldatastorageofupto1000entrieswith

recordnumber,date,time,melt/sampleID,gradeandnodularityvalue,andupto5gradesettings.

• AdvancedQuickNodPCInterfacesoftwarefortransferringdatatoPC,andcreatingnewgradesbasedoncustomer’smetal.

Nowassessyourmetal’snodularitywithoutgrindingorpolishing.

Coming soon - Melt Mate from our R& D Centre

• Processcontroltooltoachievedesiredandaccuratemetalcompositionandrecommendationforadjustments.

• Softwarebasedforeasyoperationandquickresults-eliminateserrorsduetomanualcalculations.

• CollatesresultsfromCEMeterandOESforcompletecompositionpredictionandrecommendation-Instantaneousresponse.

• LooksbeyondC&SiforC-equivalentcalculations-moreaccurateandrepresentative,includestheeffectofotherelements(P,Mn,S)onmetalsolidificationbehavior.

• Includeseffectofpropertieslikemetalvolume,inputrawmaterials,elementalrecoveryoftheinputmaterialetc,beforemakingrecommendation.

Development of an android based version of SMM for hand held calculations in progress.

• Provisionformeltcomposition&adjustmentsdatastorageineasilyaccessibleformatforallthemelts.

• SeveraltrialsconductedatSNAMR&DvalidatesimprovementinmetalqualityonuseofSNAMMeltMateforcomposition.

• Requirement:1laptop/pc+MSExcelfordatabasestorage.

Quicknod Launch from our R& D

16 17

Snam Alloys Private Limited Snam Alloys Private Limited

18


19


Letters to SNAM

Dear Readers! With the launch of the fourth and present issue of the

SNAM Quarterly Newsletter, we have completed one year. At this juncture,

we would like to know how we have done so far.

We seek your feedback on the content of the SNAM Newsletter, and how

youfindtheroutinesectionsofTechQuiz,Crossword,DidYouKnow!,and

the technical articles.

Please write to us at [email protected], with your valued feedback.

Snam’s Global Network

Snam Alloys Private LimitedUnit 1

Kariamanickam Village

Nettapakkam Commune

Pondicherry - 605 106, India

Unit 2

Damalacheruvu Village

Pakala - 517 112

Andhra Pradesh, India

R&D Centre

138, SIPCOT Industrial Complex

Hosur - 635 126

Tamil Nadu, India

www.snam.co.in

Ph: +91 413 2695 111 Fax: +91 413 2695 123 Email: [email protected] / [email protected]

Snam Alloys. The Global Leader. Newsletter_July_D.pdf · Snam Alloys. The Global Leader. ... The...

Documents

Transcript of Snam Alloys. The Global Leader. Newsletter_July_D.pdf · Snam Alloys. The Global Leader. ... The...