Comparative Study of Effects of Ado-Ekiti Moulding Sands on Some Metal Castings

Ado-Ekiti is known for abundance of moulding sands used for building, construction and foundry works. The effects of moulding sands on some metal castings was studied in this work. Four sand samples were taken from four river locations (Oke-Ureje, Omisanjanna, Odo-Ayo, and Ogbese) at Ado-Ekiti. These samples were employed as moulding material to construct moulds for the production of aluminum alloy castings. The materials were characterized and investigated to determine the effects they would have on the mechanical properties and microstructures of the castings. Even though the samples produced close value results, they all within the range of standard values for foundry operations. Oke-Ureje sand gives the highest values of yield strength, ultimate strength and Young Modulus of 105.74 N/mm2, 125.26 N/mm2 and 352.47 N/mm2 respectively.