Furan sand is one of the most commonly used chemically bonded molding materials in foundries across the world. It consists of a furfuryl alcohol-based resin and an acid-based liquid catalyst. When the molding material comes in contact with the molten metal, it undergoes a thermal shock accompanied by a certain release of volatile gases. In order to evacuate these gases, molds and cores should have optimal gas permeability values and proper venting by design. If the volatile compounds are not appropriately evacuated, they are prone to enter the melt before the first layer of solidified metal is formed which can lead to the formation of gas-related casting defects. Standard gas permeability measurements are commercially available tools used in the industry to compare and to quality control different sands, however, they only provide reference numbers without actual units. Permeability in a standard unit, m2, provides uniformity and helps the comparison of results from difference sources. In this paper, a new method using Darcy's law (prevalent in earth sciences), was adapted to measure the gas-permeability of furan samples made of silica sand with various grain size distributions. The effect of grain size distribution on the gas-permeability of furan sand samples was studied. Gas-permeability values in m2 were then correlated with mercury-porosity measurement results to bring new light on the relation between pore size, pore volume and the permeability of molding materials.
Keywords: Darcy’s law; furan sand; grain size; permeability; porosimetry; porosity; silica sand.