Evaluation of Permeability Models for Foundry Molds and Cores in Sand Casting Processes

Predicting the permeability of different regions of foundry cores and molds with complex geometries will help control the regional outgassing, enabling better defect prediction in castings. In this work, foundry cores prepared with different bulk properties were characterized using X-ray microtomography, and the obtained images were analyzed to study all relevant grain and pore parameters, including but not limited to the specific surface area, specific internal volume, and tortuosity. The obtained microstructural parameters were incorporated into prevalent models used to predict the fluid flow through porous media, and their accuracy is compared with respect to experimentally measured permeability. The original Kozeny model was identified as the most suitable model to predict the permeability of sand molds. Although the model predicts permeability well, the input parameters are laborious to measure. Hence, a methodology for replacing the pore diameter and tortuosity with simple process parameters is proposed. This modified version of the original Kozeny model helps predict permeability of foundry molds and cores at different regions resulting in better defect prediction and eventual scrap reduction.