Casting of Impeller

OF FUEL PUMP OF JET AIRCRAFT(JF-17)

Group Members:

Mohma Laraib 150518

Fawad ul Hassan 150536
Ibrahim Arif 150515

Semester: IV
Section: A

Semester Project | Manufacturing Process-I | May 10, 2017

Background:
The assigned project was manufacturing of a component or product using the procedures
of manufacturing processes that we have studied in the respective course. For this purpose,
we selected impeller of the fuel pump of JF-17 fuel assembly as our project. Sand-casting
was the main procedure employed while using aluminum (raw material Al 2219) as the
working material during the manufacturing of the component.

Introduction:
In this project, sand-casting material was used on aluminum as a work material to
manufacture impellor of fuel assembly.
 Impeller:
An impeller is a rotating component of a centrifugal pump, used to increase or
decrease the pressure and flow of a fluid. It is usually made of iron, steel, bronze,
brass, aluminum or plastic. It transfers energy from the motor that drives the pump
to the fluid being pumped by accelerating the fluid outwards from the center of
rotation.In fuel assembly of air-craft impellers are generally located in the liquid
ring pump. During rotation, the bladed impellers draw air/vapor and an air/vapor
outlet port the flow of air/vapor expelled therefrom by compression of the air/vapor
within the liquid ring in response to rotation of the bladed impeller being restricted
by flow restriction means.
 Sand Casting:
There are six steps in this process:

 Place a pattern in sand to create a mold.

 Incorporate the pattern and sand in a gating system.
 Remove the pattern.
 Fill the mold cavity with molten metal.
 Allow the metal to cool.
 Break away the sand mold and remove the casting

Explanation of Procedure:
List of all steps followed during the manufacturing of the project is given below:

Step 1

The procedure started with preparation of pattern which included shrinkage and machining
allowance. While, the copy of original part was used as pattern.

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Step 2

Afterwards, molasses sand was prepared for cavity making by using aluminum pattern.
Composition of Molasses sand:8 % Molasses & 92 % Silica sand. Molasses and silica sand
was mixed using Muller equipment. The mixing time was about 10 minutes. During mixing
gas flame was used to heat sand for homogenous mixing.

Step 3

1. Pattern was placed in molding box with molasses sand around it. Box was rammed until
it was filled completely.

2. After turning over molding box, another molding box was put on it.

3. Runner was placed while pouring spur and adding molasses sand in molding box. The
box was rammed until it was filled completely.

Step 4.

The two molding boxes were then separated. Pattern was also removed subsequently
pouring spur and runner.

Step 5.

Ingate between runner and required cavity was cut.

Step 6.

Both boxes were closed.

Step 7.

Aluminum metal in gas fire furnace was melted by using crucible.

Pouring temperature of molten metal reached up to 670 degrees Celsius.

Molten metal was poured in mold cavity through gating system (Pouring spur, runner
ingate)

Step 8.

Aluminum metal solidified in mold cavity to about 640 degrees Celsius. Mold was opened
after 10 minutes of pouring of molten metal.

Step 9.

Casting from sand mold was removed with gating system and gating system was cut down
from casting

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Step 10.

After that, casting was cleaned with sand blasting.

Step 11.

Sent in machine shop for machining on required portions.

3-D Modelling:
3-d model of the impeller was created in “solidworks”. There are 3 planes (top plane, front
plane and side plane), available for drawing. To start the construction of model, anyone of
these planes can be selected and then using the concepts of orthographic projection, using
the first angle of projection each one of the front, top and side views can be drawn
separately and then they can be combined to obtain the 3-D model of the project. We found
solidworks to be fairly user friendly software.

As our component had a cylindrical core and it was symmetrical about a vertical axis (in
upright position) so the procedure for construction of the workpiece was further simplified
as explained below. Due to cylindrical core and symmetry of the object under
consideration, by drawing one half a complete cross-section of the workpiece and rotating
it to 360 degrees, a body of revolution was obtained. Afterwards a smaller cylinder was
extruded out of the bigger circle to create hollow interior of the cylinder. Then, fillets were
imparted where they were required. Finally, slots were placed on the bottom of the
component. This was managed by creating one slot on the bottom and then rotating it to 60
degrees in succession to obtain total of six slots.

During 3-D modelling of the component on solid works we used following commands:

Line

Revolve

Extrude Cut

Circular Pattern

Extrude

Spline

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Other Applications of Aluminum Casting:
The automotive industry is the largest market for aluminum casting. Cast products make
up more than half of the aluminum used in cars. Cast aluminum transmission housings and
pistons have been commonly used in cars and trucks since the early 1900s. Parts of small
appliances, hand tools, lawnmowers and other machinery are produced from thousands of
different unique aluminum casting shapes. The casting product most often used by
consumers is cookware, the first aluminum product that was made available for everyday
use.

Learning Outcomes:
The primary purpose of the project was to develop a better understanding of the procedures
used in manufacturing of a product. While, this project provided an important opportunity
to get firsthand experience about various manufacturing procedures that are used in
industries, it also enabled us to develop a better understanding about the practical
application of various theoretical concepts that were studied in class.

References:
http://www.aluminum.org/industries/processing/castings#sthash.kr9pXfrP.dpuf

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