The difference between silica sol casting and water glass casting

Investment casting usually refers to making a pattern from a fusible material, coating several layers of refractory material on the surface of the pattern to make a shell, and then melting the pattern and discharging the shell to obtain a mold without a parting surface. After high-temperature roasting Ready-to-cast casting solutions. Since patterns are widely made of waxy materials, investment casting is often referred to as "lost wax casting".

At present, the most frequently contacted investment casting processes are silica sol Casting and water glass Casting.

The difference between silica sol Casting and water glass Casting

First of all, both belong to investment casting. The difference is the surface quality of the mold shell made. The surface of the mold casted by silica sol is better, the dimensional accuracy is higher, and it is more suitable for precision casting. The products produced by it have good surface smoothness, small deformation, small shrinkage ratio, precise size, no need for secondary processing, and the corresponding cost is higher than water glass casting.

Secondly, the products made of silica sol are basically small products, while the products made of water glass lost foam are relatively large.

Thirdly, the drying and hardening of shell molds is also different. Water glass needs to use hardeners such as ammonium chloride, while silica sol shell molds can be dried and hardened in a space with constant temperature and humidity. Generally speaking, the water glass process has low production cost, short production cycle, and poor product surface quality, and is mainly used for carbon steel and low alloy steel castings; the silica sol process has high production cost, but the production cycle is long and the product surface quality is good. , mainly used in high alloy steel and stainless steel products

Below are the main differences between solica sol casting and water glass casting.