No-bake sand molds are based on the curing of inorganic or organic binders with either gaseous catalysts or liquid catalysts. This article reviews the major aspects of no-bake sand bonding in terms of coremaking, molding methods, and sand processing. It discusses the points to be noted in handling sand-resin mixtures for no-bake molds or cones and lists some advantages of no-bake air-set cores and molds. The article describes the process procedures, advantages, and disadvantages of gas curing and air-setting hardening of sodium silicates. It examines the members of the air-setting organic binders, namely, furan no-bake resins, phenolic no-bake resins, and urethanes. The article provides an overview of gas-cured organic binders. It also illustrates the three commercial systems for sand reclamation: wet reclamation systems, dry reclamation systems, and thermal reclamation.

Aggregate molding, or sand casting, is the gravity pouring of liquid metal into a mold that is made of a mixture molded against a permanent pattern. This article summarizes the most important materials in the process of sand casting of cast iron, including different types of molding aggregates, clays, water, and additives in green sand, chemically bonded organic resins, and inorganic binders in self-setting, thermosetting, and gas-triggered systems. It discusses three main types of reclamation systems: wet, dry, and thermal. The article concludes with a description of both nonpermanent and permanent mold processes.

Ceramic-forming processes usually start with a powder which is then compacted into a porous shape, achieving maximum particle packing density with a high degree of uniformity. This article compares and contrasts several forming processes, including mechanical consolidation, dry pressing, cold isostatic pressing, slip casting, tape casting, roll compaction, extrusion, and injection molding. It describes the advantages, equipment and tooling, and material requirements of green machining, the machining of ceramics in an unfired state with the intent of producing parts as close to as possible to their final shape. The article also provides useful information on drying methods, shrinkage, and defects as well as the removal of organic processing aids such as dispersants, binders, plasticizers, and lubricants.

The use of zinc in corrosion-protective coatings is due to its higher galvanic activity relative to that of steel. Pure zinc dust provides the best sacrificial protection to steel in a galvanic couple. Zinc-rich coatings can be subcategorized according to the type of binder material used, namely, inorganic and organic zinc-rich coatings. Common inorganic binders such as post-cured water-based alkali metal silicates, self-cured water-based alkali metal silicates, and self-cured solvent-based alkyl silicates, are reviewed. The article also compares inorganic and organic zinc-rich coatings, and discusses the concerns regarding zinc-rich coatings.

Sand casting processes are typically classified according to the type of binder present in the molding sand mixture. This article discusses common sand casting processes and design considerations related to shape, gating, feeding, and pattern making methods. It describes the composition of sand and binder normally used, and provides information on the aluminum casting alloys produced. The article discusses precision sand casting and sand reclamation, and includes information on health and safety considerations.

This article describes part selection, feedstock (powders and binders) characteristics and properties, tool design, and material and tooling for fabrication of metal powder injection molding (MIM) machines. It discusses the process parameters, operation sequence, molding machines, debinding techniques, consolidation (sintering) techniques, advantages, and limitations of MIM.

This article reviews the basic types of mold aggregates and bonding methods for expendable molds and coremaking. It provides an overview of mold media and the basic types of sands and their properties. The most significant clays used in green sand operations, such as bentonites, are discussed. The article describes the methods of sand bonding with inorganic compounds. It provides a description of resin-bonded sand systems: no-bake binder systems, heat-cured binder systems, and cold box binder systems. The article concludes with a discussion on the media used for expendable molds, namely, ceramic shells and rammed graphite, for casting reactive metals such as titanium or zirconium.

This article discusses classification of foundry processes based on the molding medium, such as sand molds, ceramic molds, and metallic molds. Sand molds can be briefly classified into two types: bonded sand molds, and unbonded sand molds. Bonded sand molds include green sand molds, dry sand molds, resin-bonded sand molds, and sodium silicate bonded sand. The article describes the casting processes that use these molds, including the no-bake process, cold box process, hot box process, the CO2 process, lost foam casting process and vacuum molding process. The casting processes that use ceramic molds include investment casting, and plaster casting. Metallic molds are used in permanent mold casting, die casting, semisolid casting, and centrifugal casting.

This article describes the characteristics of zinc-rich coatings that can be subcategorized according to the type of binder material used. It discusses the formulations of zinc-rich coatings with organic binders. The three major groups of inorganic zinc-rich coatings categorized by the Society for Protective Coatings are also discussed. These include postcured water-based alkali metal silicates, self-cured water-based alkali metal silicates, and self-cured solvent-based alkyl silicates. The article concludes with information on comparisons of inorganic with organic zinc-rich coatings.

Powder coatings are widely used by manufacturers as a finish of choice to enhance the appearance and performance of their products. This article begins with a discussion on advantages and disadvantages of powder coatings. It describes the selection of coating-types and uses of powder coatings in appliance industries, furniture industries, computer industries, fixture industries, architectural industries, automotive industries, agriculture and construction equipment industries, recreational equipment industries, and general industries. Powder coating formulations consist of binder systems, pigments, extenders, and additives. The basic process flow for the manufacture of powder coatings consists of premix, extrusion, grinding, and packing. The article also provides information on application of powder coatings, including pretreatment, deposition, and curing as well as on troubleshooting, trends and challenges for the powder coatings.

Consolidation and shaping of grade powders is carried out using several methods, depending on the size, complexity, shape, and quantity of parts required. This article details the powder consolidation methods of carbide powders: uniaxial pressing, cold isostatic pressing, extrusion, green machining, and injection molding.

Quality control of cemented carbides includes the evaluation of physical and chemical properties of constituent raw material powders, powder blends/formulations, green compacts, and fully dense finished product. This article provides a summary of the underlying principles and size ranges for the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) standard methods of particle sizing and distribution. It presents the methods used to analyze the chemical composition of cemented carbide materials in a tabular form. The article also presents information on microstructural evaluation and physical and mechanical property evaluation of cemented carbides.

Green sand molding and chemically bonded sand molding are considered to be the most basic and widely used mold-making processes. This article describes the sand system formulation, preparation, mulling, mold fabrication, and handling of green sand molds. It lists the advantages and disadvantages of green sand molding. The article discusses the primary control parameters for the sand system formulation. It describes two basic types of green sand molds: flask molds and flaskless molds. The article provides a discussion on molding problems, including springback and expansion defects. It considers a variety of sand reclamation systems, including wet washing/scrubbing and thermal-calcining/thermal-dry scrubbing combinations.

This article discusses slurry molding that encompasses two distinct processes: plaster molding and ceramic molding. Plaster mold casting is a specialized casting process used to produce nonferrous castings that have greater dimensional accuracy, smoother surfaces, and more finely reproduced detail. The article describes three generally recognized plaster mold processes, namely, conventional plaster mold casting, the Antioch process, and the foamed plaster process. Ceramic molding techniques are based on processes that employ permanent patterns and fine-grained zircon and calcined, high-alumina mullite slurries for molding. The Shaw process and the proprietary Unicast processes are also discussed.

This article reviews the pattern materials used in investment casting, which can be loosely grouped into waxes and plastics. The patternmaking process, pattern tooling, and pattern and cluster assembly are described. The article also describes the manufacture of ceramic shell molds and cores, detailing the binders and other materials used, as well as the formulation and control of slurries. Methods for pattern removal, mold firing, melting, casting, postcasting treatment, and inspection are explained. After presenting design recommendations for investment castings, the article concludes with information on applications and special versions of the investment casting process.

A coating can be defined as a substance spread over a surface to provide protection or to serve decorative purposes. This article discusses two industrial coating components, namely, nonvolatile components such as the resin or binder, pigments, and any additives that may be incorporated into the formulation; and volatile components such as solvents, or water in emulsions and their composition. It provides general information on volatile organic compounds. The article describes the film-forming mechanisms of various coating types, namely, lacquers, chemically converting coatings, latex coatings, alkyds and other resins, which cure by oxidation, moisture-curing polyurethanes and inorganic zinc primers, and powder coatings. The article concludes with a discussion on the functions of the primer, intermediate coat, and topcoat in coating systems.

This article explains how ceramic powders are made. It begins by briefly describing the raw materials used in structural clay products, whitewares, refractories, and advanced ceramics. It then examines various additives that promote uniformity at different stages of the process. After a description of the comminution process (wet and dry milling methods), it discusses batching and mixing operations and granulation methods. The article also deals with the effect of process variables and the steps involved in chemical synthesis, including preparation from solution and gas-phase reactions, filtration and washing, and powder recovery techniques. It concludes with a discussion on characterization, centering on size distribution analysis, specific surface area, density, porosity chemical composition, phase, and surface composition.

Cores are separate shapes of sand that are placed in the mold to provide castings with contours, cavities, and passages that are not otherwise practical or physically obtainable by the mold. This article describes the basic principles of coremaking and the types of core sands, binders, and additives used in coremaking. It discusses the curing of compacted cores by core baking and the hot box processes. The article provides an overview of the core coatings, assembling and core setting, coring of tortuous passages, and cores in permanent mold castings and investment castings. It also discusses the design considerations in coremaking to eliminate cores and compares coring with drilling.

Organic coatings are the principal means of corrosion control for the hulls and topsides of ships and for the splash zones on permanent offshore structures. This article describes surface preparation which is the most important consideration in determining the performance of organic coating systems. It contains a table that lists the uses and applicable standards for various surface preparation techniques. The article provides information on organic coatings in topside coating systems and reviews the importance of primers in the protection of steel substrates. It also explains the property requirements and the common types of immersion coatings.

This article discusses the coating systems categorized by the generic type of binder or resin and grouped according to the curing or hardening mechanism inherent within that generic type. It focuses on the properties, advantages, and limitations of various autooxidative cross-linked resins, thermoplastic resins, and cross-linked thermosetting resins. The autooxidative cross-linked resins include alkyd resins and epoxy esters. The article examines the two types of coatings based on thermoplastic resins: those deposited by evaporation of a solvent, commonly called lacquers, and those deposited by evaporation of water, a class of coatings called water-borne coatings. The coatings that chemically cross link by copolymerization, including epoxies, unsaturated polyesters, urethanes, high-temperature curing silicones, and phenolic linings, are also described.