Design of Curved-type Impeller Foundry Sand Mixer
B. A. Olunlade
Department of Engineering Design, Prototype Engineering Development Institute, Ilesa, Nigeria.
B. O. Olaoye
Department of Engineering Design, Prototype Engineering Development Institute, Ilesa, Nigeria.
C. A. Ikutegbe *
Department of Engineering Design, Prototype Engineering Development Institute, Ilesa, Nigeria.
K. J. Akinluwade
Department of Research and Development, Prototype Engineering Development Institute, Ilesa, Nigeria.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
This paper is concerned with design and modeling of a sand mixer with an arrangement of curved-type impeller, driven by a geared motor using the dynamic simulation environment in Autodesk® Inventor® 2015. The study highlights the high demand for foundry sand and need for efficient and cost effective designs. Furthermore, it describes the various types of foundry sand, their importance and objectives of sand mixers. The methodology employed involves the design of geometrical parameters of the cylindrical stirred tank, the torque exerted on the shaft of the gearbox of radial flow impellers and driving mechanism. A simulated torque of 206.861Nm was achieved and used to determine the actual power required by the electric motor and mixer efficiency to be 1.5HP and 64.45% respectively. The results showed that the design of highly efficient mixers to achieve homogeneous mix of foundry sand for assured mold can be accomplished using computational analysis.
Keywords: Curved-type impeller, Autodesk® Inventor®, sand mixers, geometrical parameters, torque