Published Online:August 2026
Product Name:The IUP Journal of Mechanical Engineering
Product Type:Article
Product Code:IJME040726
DOI:10.71329/IUPJMECH/2026.19.3.39-50
Author Name:Manik Sadashiv Sonawane, Jayamala Kumar Patil and Vinay Sampatrao Mandlik
Availability:YES
Subject/Domain:Engineering
Download Format:PDF
Pages:39-50
Most modern foundries in India and abroad currently use high pressure molding line (HPML) for producing molds of casting patterns at very high speed, such as 70 molds per hour, to increase production and deliver quality castings with maximum quality yield. The green sand casting process is a versatile and cost-effective manufacturing technique widely used in the foundry industry for producing complex components. However, maintaining consistent quality is challenging due to variations in sand properties such as moisture content, compactibility, permeability, and green compression strength. Multiple variety casting manufacturing on the same HPML results in variation of return green sand to the sand plant. This paper analyzes a synthetic dataset of 1,500 foundry sand mixer batches to identify the root causes of process variability, particularly mold breakage, using exploratory data analysis (EDA), statistical process control (SPC), and predictive modeling. The findings highlight the key relationships between process variables and quality outcomes, providing insights for enhancing process reliability, reducing costs, and improving sustainability in foundry operations. The use of synthetic data enables public demonstration of analytical methods without proprietary constraints.
Every modern foundry using a high pressure molding line (HPML) has its own sand plant, which takes return hot sand from casting shakeout, adds new sand and other bonding materials and water, and after thorough mixing, provides sand to the HPML plant as input for the next molding process.