Book excerpt: Mould and Core Materials for Steel Foundry covers the significant progress in the development of various types of mould and core materials for steel founding. This book is composed of 17 chapters, and begins with the presentation of the testing procedures for the materials' properties such as green and dry strengths, permeability, amount of gas evolved, shatter index together with hardness of rammed moulds. The next chapters provide the testing procedures and routine control of sand, silica, non-siliceous materials, binders, and clay bond. These topics are followed by discussions on sand preparation, shell mould, and other core materials, such as furanes. This book describes some steel foundry processes, including heat extraction, casting, and hot tear. The final chapters deal with the reconditioning and reclamation of sand, casting and scab defects, evaluation of high temperature properties, and the technical control of raw materials to ensure conformation to the specified standards.