A Novel Composite Bilayer Coating Approach for Alphaset Type Resin Bonded Sand Mould used in Steel Castings
摘要
Alphaset type resin bonded moulds generally use two or three-layer alcohol-based coating for steel casting production with either inferior surface finish or higher operational cost, while being hazardous to workers health. The current research proposed a novel bilayer composite application of foundry mould coating for alphaset sand mould surfaces used in heavy steel casting manufacturing. The study first attempted to develop a composition of filler refractory material with the Zircon flour (80%) and a corundum powder (20%). The study proposed two coating ZC-100, and ZM-100 using water and alcohol as solvent medium respectively and the aforesaid filler. The paper presents the testing of specific gravity, suspension and viscosity properties of these coatings and their effect on the laboratory evaluation and real-life application on the mould. The ZC-100 revealed 90 baume, 4% of settling in 1 h while the ZM-100 was recorded for a 60 baume, 5.7% of settling in 1 h with 31 secs of viscosity. The composite bilayer coating of mould was developed by deposition of two successive coatings first with ZM-100 and followed by ZC-100 on top of it. The experimental trial study with real casting application of the novel technique of composite bilayer coating depicted beneficial to achieve better surface finish of casting and reduce the environmental hazards led by the alcohol-based coating.