Achieving Control of Coating Process

ARCHIVES
of
FOUNDRY ENGINEERING ISSN (2299-2944)
Volume 15
DOI: 10.1515/afe-2015-0089 Issue 4/2015
Published quarterly as the organ of the Foundry Commission of the Polish Academy of Sciences
110 – 114
Achieving Control of Coating Process

in your Foundry
G.L. Di Muoio a*, N.S. Tiedje b
a
Castings Technology, Global Castings A/S,
373N Diplomvej, Lyngby, 2800, Denmark
b
Mechanical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark,
Building 427, room 306b, Kgs. Lyngby, 2800, Denmark
*Corresponding author. E-mail address: gidmu@globalcastings.com
Received 25.02.2015; accepted in revised form 15.07.2015
Abstract
Achieving control of coating thickness in foundry moulds is needed in order to guarantee uniform properties of the mould but also to
achieve control of drying time. Since drying time of water based coatings is heavily dependent on the amount of water present in the
coating layer, a stable coating process is prerequisite for a stable drying process. In this study, we analyse the effect of different variables
on the coating layer properties. We start by considering four critical variables identified in a previous study such as sand compaction,
coating density, dipping time and gravity and then we add centre points to the original experimental plans to identify possible non-linear
effects and variation in process stability. Finally, we investigate the relation between coating penetration (a variable that is relatively
simple to measure in production) and other coating layer thickness properties (relevant for the drying process design). Correlations are
found and equations are provided. In particular it is found that water thickness can be directly correlated to penetration with a simple linear
equation and without the need to account for other variables.
Keywords: Innovative moulding technologies and materials, Quality management, Coating process control, Sand compaction, Coating
penetration
1. Introduction investigate the effect of these variables on the different coating

properties and their influence on process stability. Finally we look
for correlations between coating penetration (a variable that can
Since the introduction of water based foundry coatings in the
be simply be measured in production) and other coating layer
recent years, controlling drying time has become an important
thickness properties. Correlations are found and equations
issue for many foundries [1]. Coating thickness stability in
provided. In particular it is found that water thickness can be
foundry moulds is needed in order to guarantee uniform
directly correlated to penetration with a simple linear equation.
properties of the mould. This allows to reach control of drying
time [1,2] (by limiting the amount of water deposited on the
mould) but also to improve casting quality by reducing the chance
of moisture related defects and improving surface quality [3,4]. 2. Methods
For a given sand recipe the most important parameters for the
control of coating thickness properties are compaction, coating For this study we consider a cylindrical mould filled with
density, dipping time and gravity effects [5]. In this study we sand and compacted with an aluminium spacer on which different
110 ARCHIVES of FOUNDRY ENGINEERING Volume 15, Issue 4/2015, 110-114

pressure levels are applied in order to achieve different levels of coating density of 1908 kg/m33, dipping time of 5 seconds and
compaction (Figure 1). The compacted and cured samples are sample facing down.
then coated by dipping method using different process parameters
(Table 1).
3. Results
3.1. Main Effects
The first results (Figure 2) show the effect of sand depth (and
relative compaction pressure) on the achieved sand density. In the
figure we can see that the function is non-linear. In particular sand
density decreases significantly for low sand depths and the scatter
increases substantially. It is therefore important for small moulds
(depth lower than 1 m) to make sure that manual compaction
methods and vibration are used.
Fig. 1. Pictures of cylindrical mould (left), coated sand sample

(centre) and aluminium spacer used for compaction (right)
In Table 1 we can see the different levels used for each variable.
Compaction levels are obtained by applying to the mould a
pressure calculated by multiplying a standard sand density of
1300 kg/m2 by the depth of the mould. For this study we choose a
pressure equivalent to that under a column of sand 0.2 m, 1.25 m
and 2.5 m high. Such pressures are considered representative for
large foundry moulds.
Coating density is chosen to represent the minimum, maximum
and centre of the specification used in the factories. Dipping times
are chosen to represent four cases: a fast pass (2 s), normal pass (5
s), slow pass (15s) and a pool of coating gathering in a cavity of
the mould (120 s). Gravity is represented by dipping the sample
facing up or down.
Table 1. Fig. 2. Sand density of samples as a function of mould depth

Variables considered in this study and correspondent levels used
Figure 3 shows how water thickness depends heavily on the sand
Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 density and scatter increases substantially for sand densities below
1350 kg/m3.
Low Medium High
Compaction
(0.2 m) (1.25 m) (2.5 m)
Coating Density
1790 1908 2042
[kg/m3]
Dipping Time [s] 2 5 15 120
Gravity Up Down
The response variables considered in this study are: sand density

[kg/m3] (varied density is achieved by compacting sand under
different pressures, i.e. compaction level), water thickness [kg/m2]
(represents the amount of water per square meter of mould), wet
thickness [kg/m2] (the total amount of coating deposited on the
surface of the mould), dry thickness [kg/m2] (amount of refractory
material deposited in the mould) and coating penetration [mm]
(depth reached by the coating layer). The experimental methods
are described in full detail in [5]. To estimate the general variation
in the experiments several “centre point experiments” were
carried out under the following conditions: medium compaction,
Fig. 3. Water thickness as a function of sand density
ARCHIVES of FOUNDRY ENGINEERING Volume 15, Issue 4/2015, 110-114 111

The effect of coating density is shown in Figure 4. In this case we
see that the scatter in water thickness decreases as the coating
density increases. It appears that there is a threshold density above
which the scatter is reduced by a factor of 3. The threshold is near
a coating density of 2042 kg/m3.
Fig. 6. Water thickness as a function of gravity effect
Fig. 4. Water thickness as a function of coating density

3.2. Process Control
The effect of time is represented in Figure 5. Again we see a To investigate the stability of the process, Figure 7 shows the
strong non-linear correlation where water thickness increases water thickness of several samples coated with the centre point
substantially with dipping time as well as scatter does. It is levels of the process parameters (medium compaction, coating
therefore important to coat samples with fast passes and avoid density of 1908 kg/m3, dipping time of 5 seconds and sample
pools of coating that will increase substantially the water facing down). We can see how there is a limited amount of scatter
thickness layer. and that is possible to control the coating thickness between 0.65
and 0.85 kg/m2.
Fig. 5. Water thickness as a function of dipping time
Finally in Figure 6 we can see that for samples facing down,

where the coating is applied against gravity, the variation in water
thickness is much smaller than for samples coated facing Fig. 7. Water thickness of sample coated with the same coating
upwards. conditions (medium compaction, coating density of 1908 kg/m3,
dipping time of 5 seconds and sample facing down)

3.3. Correlations
In Figure 8 we can see coating layer moisture cannot be correlated
to coating penetration but is a clear relation to coating density.
Therefore we will not provide a correlation between coating layer
moisture and penetration.
Fig. 8. Coating moisture as function of coating penetration
Figures 9a to 9c show correlations between different coating

thickness properties and coating penetration. We can see that,
especially for dry thickness (Figure 9a) and wet thickness (Figure
9b) the correlation is heavily dependent on the coating density
values. On the other hand, very interestingly, for the water
thickness (Figure 9c) there is little dependence of coating
penetration on coating density.
Based on the above finding, in order to provide an even simpler
correlation for the designers, in Figure 10 we perform a fit of all
the data (including the three different coating densities) using a
linear function. We obtain a coefficient of correlation of 0.98 %
for the below correlation:
Water Thickness [kg/m2] = 0.3866 x Coat. Penetration [mm]
With this equation it will be possible to estimate the amount of

water to be dried on a foundry mould or core just by performing a
simple penetration measurement and independently of other
variables affecting the coating process for thicknesses up to 17
mm.
Fig. 9. Dry (a), wet (b) and water (c) thicknesses as a function of
penetration with respective correlations
ARCHIVES of FOUNDRY ENGINEERING Volume 15, Issue 4/2015, 110-114 113

dipping time minimized and moulds should be coated facing
downwards.
- It is possible to correlate directly the water thickness and
coating penetration independently of other variables and
therefore it is possible to estimate water content in coated
moulds just by simple penetration measurements.
Acknowledgements
This work was financed by Global Castings A/S, the Danish
Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation (DASTI) and the
Technical University of Denmark (DTU).
References
[1] Schutze, N. (2011). Control Limits for the Drying of Water
Based Coatings, Foseco, Foundry Practice, Issue 255, June.
Fig. 10. Water thickness as a function of penetration with overall [2] Jamrozowicz, L., Zych, J. & Snopkiewicz, T. (2013). The
correlation Research of Desiccation Rates Selected Protective
Coating Used on Mould and Sand Cores. Archive of
Foundry Engineering, Vol.13, 01, 45-50.
4. Conclusions [3] Jakubski, J., Dobosz, S. & Jelinek, P. (2005). The
influence of the protective coating type on thermal
From the experiments and analysis performed in this study we deformation of casting cores. Archives of Foundry,
can conclude that: Volume 5, № 15.
- The relations between coating layer properties and coating [4] Sarum, B. (2013). Ductile and Compacted Graphite Iron
variables are non-linear. Casting Skin -Evaluation, Effect on Fatigue Strength and
- The scatter (repeatability) of the coating process is not Elimination, B. Ohio State University, Page 103-106.
constant and can be controlled by choosing the right level of [5] Di Muoio, G.L. Skat Tiedje, N., B. Budolph Johansen,
moulding and coating parameters. (2014). Critical control variables for the coating of furan
- In particular to reduce scatter, the sand density should be bonded sand with water based foundry coating. World
above 1350 kg/m3, the coating density maximized, the foundry congress, 19-21 May 2014. Bilbao, Spain.

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ARCHIVES

Achieving Control of Coating Process

Received 25.02.2015; accepted in revised form 15.07.2015

1. Introduction investigate the effect of these variables on the different coating

110 ARCHIVES of FOUNDRY ENGINEERING Volume 15, Issue 4/2015, 110-114

Fig. 1. Pictures of cylindrical mould (left), coated sand sample

Table 1. Fig. 2. Sand density of samples as a function of mould depth

The response variables considered in this study are: sand density

ARCHIVES of FOUNDRY ENGINEERING Volume 15, Issue 4/2015, 110-114 111

Fig. 6. Water thickness as a function of gravity effect

Fig. 4. Water thickness as a function of coating density

Fig. 5. Water thickness as a function of dipping time

Finally in Figure 6 we can see that for samples facing down,

112 ARCHIVES of FOUNDRY ENGINEERING Volume 15, Issue 4/2015, 110-114

Fig. 8. Coating moisture as function of coating penetration

Figures 9a to 9c show correlations between different coating

Water Thickness [kg/m2] = 0.3866 x Coat. Penetration [mm]

With this equation it will be possible to estimate the amount of

ARCHIVES of FOUNDRY ENGINEERING Volume 15, Issue 4/2015, 110-114 113

114 ARCHIVES of FOUNDRY ENGINEERING Volume 15, Issue 4/2015, 110-114

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