FOUNDRY-IN-A-BOX 4.0
ABOUT
Metal casting is the world’s oldest manufacturing technology and is a standard in today’s industry. It plays a role in 90% of manufactured products and most are produced using the traditional sand-casting method. In order to engage and recruit K-12 students into the metal casting industry, the American Foundry Society has an outreach and education program named “Foundry in a Box”. There is a need for a metal casting demonstration that is suitable for a classroom setting, i.e. safety requirement, room temperature, etc. Students create open sand molds with minimal design complexity and pour molten Tin at 232°C, to create castings. There are safety and operational challenges in this process, especially for a classroom setting due to use of hot molten metal and tooling requirements for the mold. In addition, the current version of “Foundry in a Box” has not been revamped in over 25 years. This website provides a newly redesigned version of Foundry-in-a-Box, including clear PLA molds and integrated digital tools.
For more information on the current Foundry-in-a-Box, visit the AFS website.
PROJECT COMPONENTS
ANALOGOUS FLUID RESEARCH
Currently, Foundry-in-a-Box allows students to create castings using molten tin at 232°C. For a classroom kit, this is a major safety challenge that must be addressed. An analogous fluid to molten metal using low-temperature materials has been developed that can accurately simulate conventional metal casting without any of the danger.
UPDATED POURING MOLDS
Sand molds are unfit for a classroom setting due to tooling requirements. In addition, conventional sand molds block any visual observations of the metal. Currently, the only method to physically view the fluid is through x-rays which is not only impractical but also extremely expensive. However, by changing the mold material to a transparent material, students can observe the fluid without the use of any tools.
DIGITAL HIGH SPEED VELOCIMETRY
Fluid velocity is one of the critical factors that directly affect the final quality of a cast. The kit includes digital tools that students can access using smartphones available on the market today. When these tools are used with the newly updated molds, students will be able to measure fluid velocity and grasp a rudimentary understanding of fluid dynamics.
CONTACT ME
Thank you for your interest in this research project. For additional questions, please fill out the contact form below.