Himanshu Khandelwal, B. Ravi and Dipankar

Abstract: A tabletop casting system has been developed in the E-Foundry of IIT Bombay, which is useful for student lab experiments, research projects, and manufacturing a small number of small parts. It comprises four units: 3D printer for fabricating plastic patterns, clean no-bake (3-part) molding, induction melter with direct pouring, and temperature data acquisition (DAQ). A laptop computer controls the 3D printer, melter, and DAQ, all of them indigenously developed by faculty, students and alumni. The facility has been used for training students and for several research projects. The first project observed the metal flow rates through multiple gates connected to a single runner with sprue at one end. The second one studied the flowability of Al and Zn alloys in a small wheel casting with arms of different thickness (1-3 mm in steps of 0.5 mm). The third investigated cooling rates in different types of junctions (‘L’, ‘T’ and ‘+’). All these experiments could be done cleanly, quickly and safely by students. The system can also be used for producing a casting from its part CAD model within 1-2 days, at a fraction of the cost compared to metal rapid prototyping, which will be of interest to entrepreneurs. <,p>

Keywords: Metal casting, foundry, tooling, induction melting, thermal analysis, training.