Industrial tests of heat-insulating material based on graphite intercalation compounds

Abstract

The results of industrial tests on using graphite intercalation compounds for heat insulation of large steel casting risers were considered in the paper. The basic material for casting products was steel 30L. Two methods of using graphite intercalation compounds for riser heat insulation were proposed. The first method was to apply graphite intercalation compounds (GICs) to completely filled risers, and the second one was to apply GICs to risers, partially filled with molten metal. The studies have shown that the temperature of the metal mirror surface of the completely filled riser is close to the metal crystallization temperature, and in this case using GICs does not prevent the formation of skin on the metal surface, leading to the formation of shrink hole. Using GICs in partial filling of risers with molten metal leads to the fact that applying GICs to the metal mirror prevents the skin formation on metal surfaces, as metal has a temperature higher than the crystallization temperature. The conducted industrial tests have shown that the proper use of GICs for large casting resins allows reducing the metal consumption by 5–8 % of the casting weight.