Effect of kaolin on tensile strength and humidity resistance of a water-soluble potassium carbonate sand core

Water soluble cores(WSCs) have been widely applied in manufacture of complex metal components with hollow configurations or internal channels. However, the WSCs without any additons have low tensile strength and low humidity resistance. The purpose of this study is to prepare a water-soluble potassium carbonate sand core with addition of kaolin by the hot-temping method. The effects of kaolin on tensile strength, humidity resistance, fracture mechanism, as well as the gas evolution and collapsibility of WSCs were investigated. Results show that both the crystal morphology and the fracture mechanism of the inorganic salt are changed under the participation of kaolin, contributing to the increase of the tensile strength and the humidity resistance of the core. With the addition of 3wt.% kaolin, the tensile strength could be increased by a factor of 2, reached 1.50 MPa and the hygroscopic rate could be decreased by 14%, achieved 0.559%(after stored for 8 h), respectively. As the addition amount of kaolin increases from 0wt.% to 3wt.%, the main fracture mechanism changes from a adhesive to a cohesive fracture mechanism. The water-soluble potassium carbonate core obtained has the low gas evolution and excellent collapsibility, which makes it suitable for casting low melting metal with complex cavities and crooked channels.

Experimental study on separation of valuable refractory aggregate from investment casting ceramic shell waste

In the present study, a processing technique for recycling investment casting ceramic shell waste was proposed to separate valuable refractory aggregate zircon sand. The microstructure and phase constituents of the shell waste and separation process were investigated. The results show that the characteristics of microstructure and phase constituents of the shell waste can meet the conditions for preferential y separating zircon sand, and zircon sand can be separated by gravity separation on a shaking table. The separated zircon sand has good shape and high purity, and can be used for the production of castings and other applications.

Development of a new instrument for measurement of high temperature mechanical properties of resin-bonded sand

The mechanical properties of resin-bonded sand mixtures at high temperatures significantly affect the quality of casting. However, the existing instruments for high-temperature performances testing mainly focus on inorganic binder-bonded sands no matter the test items or the atmospheric protection, while the instrumentss specially designed for resin-bonded sand are not yet available. A new instrument for testing the hightemperature performance of resin sand was designed including the confirmation of the testing parameters, loading, measurement and control systems, and the design of the frame shape and heating furnace. This instrument can test the compressive strength, heat tolerance time and restraining load of phenol-formaldehyde resin coated sand, self-hardened furan resin sand, and trimethylamine(TEA)-based resin bonded sand at high temperatures. The developed instrument has a high accuracy offering smaller than 0.3% deviation at a full scale in the measurement of the high temperature compressive strength and the restraining load over the range of 0-6.8 MPa and 0-2,000 N, respectively. The high temperature heat tolerance time range is 0-300 s and its measurement accuracy is ±1 s.

Gas evolution characteristics of three kinds of no-bake resin-bonded sands for foundry in production

No-bake resin-bonded sand is commonly used in casting production.However,its air pollution is relatively serious,especially in the molding and pouring process.For this reason,it is necessary to study the gas evolution characteristics of no-bake resin-bonded sand from room temperature to high temperatures,and not only the amount of gaseous products,but also the composition of the gaseous products.No-bake furan resin-bonded sand(#1),phenolic urethane no-bake resin-bonded sand(#2),and alkaline phenolic no-bake resin-bonded sand(#3)are the three most common no-bake resin-bonded sands in casting.The gas evolution volume and rate of these three no-bake resin-bonded sands were studied.Thermogravimetry-mass spectrometer(TG-MS),headspace-gas chromatography/mass spectrometer(HS-GC/MS),and pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometer(PY-GC/MS)were used to measure the composition of the gaseous products emitted from binders at room temperature and high temperatures.The differences between formaldehyde,heterocyclic aromatic compounds(HAC),monocyclic aromatic hydrocarbons(MAH),and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons(PAHs)gaseous products from the three types of no-bake resin-bonded sands during the molding and casting process were compared.From the perspective of environmental protection,alkaline phenolic no-bake resin-bonded sand and no-bake furan resin-bonded sand are better than phenolic urethane no-bake resin-bonded sand.