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Foundry Corporate News Topic Heat Treatment

The German cowboys David & David will be visiting Atlanta Casting Show 2025

Presenting Newformsr hot products for insulating hottest furnaces.

Pressemitteilung | Reading time: min | Bildquelle: Newform

Asbestos-free Mica slip plane for ferrous and non-ferrous foundries

An effective application for coreless induction coil furnaces

Mica-based linings are flexible, easy to handle, and have replaced asbestos in most countries of the world hence contributing non-hazardous products to maintain the health of foundry personnel.

Non-toxic mica rolls are delivered 1m wide and 25m long and serve as:

  • Slip-Plane               Glass fiber reinforced mica with high tensile strength,

  • Safety-Layer           protecting the coil against refractory material movements

  • Separating-Layer   gas diffusion barrier

  • Isolation-Layer       electrical and thermal protection

  • Protection Layer    compensates bath movements (mainly vertical)

Main products:

Newform Combi G (Mica/High-temperature CaSi-paper). 0.95” (2,4mm) thick

Newform Foil G (Phlogopite mica, glass fiber-reinforced) 0.16” (0,4mm) thick

Sensitive, water-cooled copper coils in induction furnaces are protected by a concrete wall (coil grout) against refractory (thermal insulation). Removal of the worn refractory material with a hammer drill is expensive and may cause damage. A tear resistant, mica-based, layer enables separation of residual (sintered) refractory from the concrete wall when pushed out and in such protects the coil, elongates service life of the refractory in the crucible and reduces maintenance costs.

When lining coreless induction coil furnaces, SiO2-based refractory material is inserted locally into the crucible and compacted to form the thermal insulation of the coil from smelt. The approximately 10cm thick insulation degenerates, depending on the nature/aggressiveness of the smelt, after some 200 applications - 2-6 weeks with melting (usually medium frequency) furnaces.

Removal of the old, used, mass and slag and following relining of a crucible furnace with heat insulation demands caution and experience. Getting the coil grout surfaces sufficiently smooth, so that no defects in the coil wall arise, is labor- and time consuming.

Newform provides an asbestos-free and biodegradable mica-based layer to serve as slip-plane of used refractory during demolition. The slip-plane material consists of glass fiber reinforced mica paper (ca. 0,3mm to 0,5mm thick) laminated with heat-resistant silicon binder. It may be combined with 2mm Calcium-Silicate-paper when required at larger furnaces, where the wall (coil grout) is rather uneven.

This, generally 1m wide and odorless, "wallpaper" is delivered on a 25m long roll that is cut to required size and mounted vertically on the furnace wall (Fig. 1). It is fixed at the top with glue (water- and halogen free) or tape. Mica side shows to the interior of the furnace (Fig. 2). The mica coating ensures good sliding between the refractory material and the coil grout.

Slip-plane Newform Combi G is a flexible, cold formed laminate comprised of phlogopite and calcium silicate fiber with a special silicon binder. The approximately 2,3 to 2,5mm thick fiber for the isolation of induction furnaces tolerate temperatures up to 1,050°C, compensates for surface unevenness of the concrete wall which is only 2cm thin and thus reduces cavities.

Newform Foil PGM, is about 0.3mm to 0.5mm thick, glass-fiber reinforced and comprised of phlogopite, and muscovite layers glass reinforced in between. It is preferably used for smooth interior walls of the furnace to be found usually in smaller furnaces (<2ton),

Both Mica-based slip-planes further compensate for refractory movements caused by the permanently active smelt.


Effective and at the same time harmless to health and ecologically safe. The asbestos-free insulation fibers and insulation foils for induction furnaces are based on muscovite or phlogopite mica. Mica is a layered silicate with high electrical resistance. It is heat resistant and in addition resistant to almost all media, such as alkalis, gases, oils and acids.

According to Hazardous Substances 91/155/EEC Regulation, mica has no health risks, both in storage and during installation and removal. Thus, no special measures must be taken with respect to the removal of the insulation fibers and insulation films in induction furnaces. The material decomposes in nature into its individual components and can be safely disposed of as construction debris and municipal waste landfills.

David Gower and David Romain of Newform will be available to answer questions to their insulation product profile at the booth of Foundry Planet …at the reputed trade show for the metal casting supply chain Cast Expo-Metalcasting Congress 2025 April 12 to 15, 2025

About Newform:

Newform has supplied mica lining worldwide since 2000 and additionally 2024 expanded its product portfolio with adjacent insulation products for the melting shop like Ceramic Fiber Foam (CFF) and Microporous insulation materials (MP). The company effectively sells on 5 continents to customers, distributors, a network of agents and partners, who know the local language and the corresponding national markets.

Autor und picture provider: David S. Gower, Newform

Company Info

Newform

Berliner Allee 65
D 64295 Darmstadt
Germany

Telephone: +49 (0)6151 3975-210

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