Development of a new instrument for measurement of high temperature mechanical properties of resin-bonded sand

Abstract

The mechanical properties of resin-bonded sand mixtures at high temperatures significantly affect the quality of casting. However, the existing instruments for high-temperature performances testing mainly focus on inorganic binder-bonded sands no matter the test items or the atmospheric protection, while the instrumentss specially designed for resin-bonded sand are not yet available. A new instrument for testing the high-temperature performance of resin sand was designed including the confirmation of the testing parameters, loading, measurement and control systems, and the design of the frame shape and heating furnace. This instrument can test the compressive strength, heat tolerance time and restraining load of phenol-formaldehyde resin coated sand, self-hardened furan resin sand, and trimethylamine (TEA)-based resin bonded sand at high temperatures. The developed instrument has a high accuracy offering smaller than 0.3% deviation at a full scale in the measurement of the high temperature compressive strength and the restraining load over the range of 0–6.8 MPa and 0–2,000 N, respectively. The high temperature heat tolerance time range is 0–300 s and its measurement accuracy is ±1 s.