Utilizing Taguchi method and Regression Analysis for Optimizing Sand Mould Flowability

Abstract

Parameters of the moulding process in foundry are usually determined by trial-and-error method, and this way contributes to time taken and adds further cost for production sand. The present work represents an attempt to optimize sand moulding parameters in terms of compactability, compaction time, and air pressure, and to study effect of these factors on the green sand flowability using L4 design of experiments. Regression model, Taguchi method, and experimental verification were used to investigate flow property of sodium bentonite- bonded BP-quartz sand for sand moulding. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was employed to measure significance and contributions of different moulding variables on flowability of green sand. The values obtained showed that the compaction time factor significantly affected flowability of green sand while compactability and air pressure have slight effects. The comparison results of Taguchi method, regression predictions and experiments exhibited good agreement.