Pre and Post Liquefaction Characteristics of Waste Foundry Sand: An Experimental Approach

Abstract

Waste foundry sand is a by-product generated from metal casting industry. Foundry sand is used to prepare moulds for casting ferrous and non-ferrous metals. It consists of high-quality silica of sub-angular to round particles which offers high thermal conductivity and desirable moulding properties. During repeated casting process exposure to excessive high temperature of molten metal leads to degradation of foundry sand which makes it unsuitable for further use. This residual material is known as waste foundry sand. India being the second largest producer of casting generates a significant amount of waste foundry sand which is approximately 11.5 million metric tons annually. In order to manage these wastes researchers are continuously exploring the effectiveness of waste foundry sand in the field of geotechnical engineering. Present study investigates on the pre liquefaction and post liquefaction behaviour of waste foundry sand. To explore the behaviour rigorous experimental investigation was carried out which constitutes of basic geotechnical tests such as grain size distribution, specific gravity and relative density tests. For further investigation on pre and post liquefaction behaviour of waste foundry sand a series of static triaxial tests were carried out considering strain amplitude and confining pressure as variables, preserving full saturation. Samples were prepared corresponding to a relative density of 50%. From the study it was observed that there was a considerable difference between pre and post behaviour of waste foundry sand.