The ester-cured phenolic cold box (ECPCB) system offers the foundryman many advantages over the other current cold box systems, especially in the areas of environmental improvements and casting quality. The environmental improvements chiefly result from the fact that the resin is water based and does not have the smoke, odors, and volatile organic compound (VOC) issues associated with solvent based systems. The casting quality improvements are mainly due to reduced expansion defects, no sulfur in the binder, low or no nitrogen in the system, and elimination of carbon flotation defects.A disadvantage of the ECPCB system is that it has been developed and is introduced in this paper. It has significantly higher tensile strengths than the original ECPCB system without loss of the advantages of the original system. This is a key advancement in ECPCB system technology.Data are presented detailing the higher tensile strengths on typical silica and lake sands. Test results are shown which demonstrate that the excellent humidity resistance and bench life properties of the original system are retained with the new ECPCB system. The higher tensile strength advantage of the new system is also retained throughout these tests. Foundry experiences are summarized which confirm and support the laboratory evaluations presented.
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