Fabrication of ceramic moulds using recycled shell powder and sand with geopolymer technology in investment casting

Lost-wax casting, also called precision casting, is the process of casting a duplicate metal sculpture cast an original sculpture. The ceramic shell mould used in lost-wax casting usually consists of several layers formed with fine zircon and granular mullite particles using silica gel as a binder. However, it is a complicated and time-consuming process. Large amounts of waste moulds that need to be disposed and recycled become an environmental concern. In this study, waste shell sand from the recycled mould and calcium carbonate/metakaolin were used as raw materials to prepare geopolymer slurry and coating. The influence of mixing ratio and the SiO₂/K₂O modulus of the alkali solution on the setting time and green/fired strength were evaluated. Ceramic shells with one to four layers of geopolymer slurry and waste sand sprinkling were fabricated and tested for their permeability and green/fired strength. It was found that geopolymer shells had higher green/fired strength and better permeability than the original zircon/mullite shell. For foundry practice, metal casts were fabricated using recycled ceramic shell moulds with one to four layers of geopolymer coating. All cast results have their dimensions all within tolerance limitation and up to 13 h can be saved for the preparation of shell moulds.