Investigations of protective coatings for castings of high-manganese cast steels

When cast steel castings are made in moulding sands on matrices of high-silica sand, which has a low fire resistance the problem of the so-called chemical penetration is distinctly visible. Whereas this effect appears to a small degree only when moulding sand matrices are of chromite, zircon or olivine sands. Therefore in case of making castings of high-manganese cast steel (e.g. Hadfield steel) sands not containing free silica should be applied (e.g. olivine sand) or in case of a high-silica matrix protective coatings for moulds and cores should be used. Two protective coatings, magnesite alcoholic (marked as coating 1 and coating 2) originated from different producers and intended for moulds for castings of the Hadfield steel, were selected for investigations. Examinations of the basic properties were performed for these coatings: viscosity, thermal analysis, sedimentation properties, wear resistance. In order to estimate the effectiveness of protective coatings the experimental castings were prepared. When applying coating 1, the surface quality of the casting was worse and traces of interaction between the casting material (cast steel) and the coating were seen. When protective coating 2 was used none interactions were seen and the surface quality was better.