Zircon Prime Coats for

Turbocharger Wheel Manufacture

PATRICK HEGARTY
Zircon Sand Production

Courtesy Kenmare Resources

High added value parts using premium zircon primecoat
shells

3
 Premium Zircon for Investment Casting
2015 Est Zircon consumption
Approximate Industry Uses
9
8 2%
8%
7
6 10%
5
Kmt

4
3
18%
2 62%
1
0
N Europe ME &
America Asia
Aerospace IGT Prosthetics Turbochargers
Others
Selecting the Right Zircon Product

Suppliers need to assure

• Premium grade chemistry gives:

• Low impurities and high refractoriness leads to
• Low reactivity and dimensional stability

• Particle size consistency of sand and flour leads to:

• Controlled reliable slurry properties
• Strong shell interface
• Better quality castings
Zircon Slurries
Zircon – inert to most alloys, highly refractory at cast temperatures,
compatible with silica sol binders, manageable slurries,
good cast parts, easy separation, minimum of finishing.

Slurry parameters – viscosity, wettability,

plate weight, pH , bacteriological resistance, life.

Batch to batch consistency is key to

slurry property reproducibility.

Slurry should be sized properly

made to the batch requirement and refreshed regularly
Don’t extend the slurry life.
Turbocharger Defects & Difficulties

Areas of Curvature

Inclusions.

Dimensional Tolerances

Scrap Rate
Zircon Prime Coats
Must give

- Best possible surface coating

- High shell stability protecting the back up coats from aggressive alloys

- Shell needs good thermal shock resistance, good permeability and

robust mechanical properties.

- Minimum of weight loss due to organics in the shell.

Calcined Zircon Sand
Calcination of zircon sand is heating to a temperature where organic
and other impurities are removed.

Fully calcining zircon removes volatiles, organic content etc. Therefore

it reduces metal mould imperfections, breakdown/spalling during the
casting process.

Typically a properly calcined sand will have an LOI (loss on ignition)

<0.1% @ 1000oC
Zircon sands supplied to
Investment Casters

1 2 3
Australian
African calcined
Asian
North American 4 5 6

calcined

7 8 9

calcined
 Bulk Chemistry
Comparison

Aerospace Location Location Location

Specification A B C
ZrO2+HfO2 65.3-66.5 66.0-66.5 65.0-66.5 66.0-67.0 %
SiO2 32.0-33.5 32.2-32.7 32.5-33.0 32.3-32.6 %
Al2O3 <1.0 0.2-1.0 0.4-1.5 0.1-0.2 %
Fe2O3 <0.10 0.04-0.10 0.03-0.07 0.04-0.07 %
TiO2 <0.30 0.12-0.25 0.1-0.2 0.1-0.15 %
L.o.I. <0.1 0.1-0.2 0.1-0.2 0.1-0.2 %
pH 5.0-7.0 4.5-5.7 5.5-7.5 5.7-6.7 ---
 Processing Zircon Flour

• Dedicated plant
• Suitable equipment
• Calcination and milling
• Process control
laboratory
• Quality assurance
systems
 Zircon Flour Particle Size Consistency

ZPF 200

Laser PSD - Batch Sieve Tests - Batch to Batch

80.0 8.0
18.0
70.0 7.0 16.0

60.0 6.0 14.0

50.0 5.0 12.0

D50 & D90

D10 10.0
40.0 4.0
8.0
30.0 3.0
6.0
20.0 2.0
4.0

10.0 1.0 2.0

0.0 0.0 0.0

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23

d50 d90 d10 +75µm % +53µm % +45µm %

 Production Flow Diagram
Placement of Control of Bulk Incoming controls
M&CS order Conformity shipment Sieve sizing, pH

Adjustment of Intermediate storage High temp

grinding parameters in dedicated bay calcination

Ball grinding, sampling Marking, Laser psd every

particle size control shrink wrap pallet
sieve test, packing

Order acknowledgement, Pallet allocation Application testing

shipping. & storage Slurry parametres
Select your supplier CAREFULLY!!
 Conclusions

• In 2016 product quality and service are paramount

• Premium zircon is the refractory of choice for prime coats
• Ideal zircon product combines high quality at a fair price.
• Customers select suppliers who understand & respect the
demands of turbocharger manufacturing.
• Technical partnership to improve production