The effect of silica fused addition as filler on zircon based refractory coating

Refractory coating is widely used in metal casting process to protect the mold from direct contact with molten metal. This coating also could improve the surface quality of casting product. Zircon is common materials that used as filler, but the materials cost is quite high. Therefore, alternative material is needed to make partial substitution of the filler. Silica Fused can be considered as filler because it has good refractoriness. This study aims to determine silica fused is reliable as an alternative to substitute zircon filler. The samples were made with 16%, 18%, and 20% silica fused addition and different treatment which were heated and non-heated drying. Particle size and distributions of the filler were analyzed using Particle Size Analysis. Viscosity measurement has been done to coating slurry to analyze the rheological characteristics of the slurry. The surface morphology of dried coating was taken using Scanning Electron Microscope. XRD test also has been done to analyse the compound. The quality of coating was determined from the thermal stability of the coating that was analyzed using Simultaneous Thermal Analysis. The result shows that silica fused is reliable as an alternative material for filler partial substitution.