Excerpt from February 2009 Foundry Management & Technology article by Nobuyoshi Sasaki.
A novel concept uses sodium and silica to increase the heat resistance of organically bonded molds and cores, which increases hot strength and allows the production of thin-wall castings.
Historically, foundries worldwide have been forced to rely on organic-based core and mold binders, and the use of refractory coatings, along with sand additives, when the hot strengths of the binders are insufficient to produce salable castings.
In 1995, Cadic Corp., and its subsidiary CTI Inc., introduced the Cadic Convert Process, which uses a liquid mixture of silicon oxide and sodium in alcohol to treat resin-bonded molds and cores. In practice, cores and molds produced using organic heat- and amine-cured resins were dipped or immersed in the ethanol solution, dried, and subsequently fired in a kiln to convert the organic-bonded article to an inorganic bonded mold or core.
This post-production treatment of organic-bonded aggregates resulted in the formation of organo-silicates that were converted to ceramics when fired at elevated temperatures, and poured hot to produce thin-wall (2 mm or less) stainless steel castings.
Laboratory evidence, supported by foundry trials, confirmed that the silica compound formed a crystal lacuna surrounding the sodium (Na) at room temperatures and allowed the Na ion to retain its high degree of reactivity.
The subsequent high-temperature treatment resulted in the conversion of quartz to tridymite, thereby increasing the high-temperature properties of the core or mold.
Because of the high degree of reactivity, the Na ion is utilized in this process as the alkali oxide Na2O. In this new process, the nano silica composition allows the Na ion to maintain its reactivity from room temperature to the boiling point of the compound.
With the elimination of a post-production treatment for the core or mold using ethanol as a carrier, the resulting new development makes the Cadic Convert Process considerably simpler, because the nano silica compounds can be added to the sand mix prior to the production of the core or mold in any organic resin-bonded processes, such as phenolic urethanes and shell sand mixtures.
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