Aluminium-apple sand casting

Students on the Master's degree programmes "Materials Technology and Resource Efficient Engineering" and "Technical Development in Mechanical Engineering" experienced sand casting first-hand in a practical course, from the initial idea to the finished casting.

The process:

• Model selection & preparation: the students' models were incredibly creative (star emoji?): real apples, 3D-printed "apples in a gear", wooden apples and more.
• Mould making: Two-part sand mould made from oil-bonded sand
• Melting & casting: Melting the aluminium alloy at 750 °C and pouring it into the sand mould using a casting ladle.
• Analysis: Demoulding cast parts, reworking and reflecting together.

The most important thing: having fun together! And experience the metallurgical processes involved in casting and solidification, which we learn about down to the smallest detail in the "Materials Technology" lecture.
Sand casting is a key technology - whether for prototypes or series production, e.g. in the automotive industry. In the Welding and Cutting Technology laboratory, students learn the basics of casting, welding and material analysis in a practical way.
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