Versatile - Innovation Meets Granular Precision

V-CAT · Online Green Sand Testing & Control

Control the sand where it’s poured.
Not just where it’s mixed.

V-CAT tests compactability, moisture, permeability and strength in-line at the moulding machine. It feeds every reading back to the mixer, and rejects the moulds that fall outside spec. In 12 to 22 seconds.

VCAT-II · MOULDING LINE · LIVECOMPACTABILITY vs LCL/UCL

37.4%
COMPACTABILITY
3.6%
MOISTURE (EST.)
IN SPEC

4 tests
Compactability, moisture, permeability, strength
12-22 s
Per test cycle
Every mould
Cope & drag, or your own frequency
SCADA + V-Sync
Local server or cloud
The problem

Sand doesn’t arrive the way it left the mixer.

Control compactability perfectly at the mixer and it still drifts on the way to the mould. A line stoppage adds dwell time; the distance from mixer to moulding matters; mixing raises the sand temperature; and ambient temperature and humidity move through the day and the seasons.

By the time the sand is rammed, the number controlled upstream is not the number in the mould. The only place to catch that is at the moulding machine itself.

VCAT-II at the moulding machine with a sample-extraction arm and a live results display

VCAT-II at the moulding machine · auto-sampling and a live shop-floor readout
How it works

A second control loop, right where it counts.

V-CAT closes the gap between mixer and mould: it tests the sand going into the machine, corrects the mixer, and stops bad moulds from being poured.

01 · TEST

Test at the mould

An arm extracts sand from the stream and runs compactability, moisture, permeability and strength, as often as every mould.

↓ reading
02 · CORRECT

Feed back to the mixer

Set-point correction goes to the mixer compactability controller and V-DOSE water dosing, so the next batch is already adjusted.

↓ set-point
03 · REJECT

Reject out-of-spec moulds

A marking output fires on your LCL/UCL limits. The moulds that fall outside spec are flagged and rejected automatically.

↓ accept / reject
What it tests

Four numbers that decide the casting.

Compactability

Squeezing type, the master variable for mould quality.

SET-POINT LOOP

Moisture

Estimated from electrical properties, correlated to moisture.

ESTIMATED

Permeability

Mould permeability, gas escape and blow-defect risk.

+3-7 s

Strength

Mould strength (penetration), or green compression strength (optional).

PENETRATION

CYCLE: 12-15 s without permeability · 15-22 s with permeability

The system

V-CAT instruments the whole green-sand plant.

VCAT-II at the moulding machine is one node. The V-CAT family tests and controls the line end to end, from the mixer to the cooler, on one networked, SCADA-ready backbone.

VCAT-II

Testing at the moulding machine

In-line test, display, alarm, mould rejection.

VCAT-III

Testing & control at the mixer

Compactability control at source.

V-DOSE

Precision water dosing

Closes the compactability set-point loop.

SENSOR

Moisture & temperature

Continuous inputs across the line.

EXTRACTOR

Sample extractor

Automatic, representative sampling.

SCADA

Centralized server

Records, trends and alarms, plant-wide.

COOLER

Cooler water-flow control

Manages sand temperature to the mould.

V-SYNC

Cloud sync

To your account on sandtesting.org.

V-CAT online testing and control layout across a green sand plant, with a component legend

A V-CAT-V installation across the green sand plant
V-CAT units deployed at the mixer and the moulding machine along the sand line

V-CAT nodes at the mixer and the moulding machine
Data & control

One backbone: alarm, feedback, reject, record.

  • Live shop-floor display with an alarm on out-of-spec results
  • Immediate set-point feedback to the mixer compactability controller
  • Mould-rejection marking I/O based on your LCL/UCL
  • V-Sync cloud, a local server, or optional SCADA, all LAN-networked
  • Pattern numbers from an optional input device
Tests Compactability, moisture, permeability, strength
Cycle 12-22 s
Frequency Up to every mould
Outputs Alarm · mixer feedback · reject I/O
Data SCADA · V-Sync · LAN

Scope an installation for your line.

Every plant is laid out differently. Tell us your moulding line and sand system, and our engineers will design the V-CAT layout that fits, and the loop it closes.

VERSATILE · Online testing & control for green sand foundries