Ceramsite sand is also called Ceramiste, Ceramic Foundry Sand, and Nice Foundry Sand. It is an artificial foundry sand that is regarded as the right substitute for chromite sand, ziron sand, and fused silica sand.
Ceramsite is a spherically shaped bauxite sand manufactured by melting bauxite in an Electric Arc Furnace followed by a proprietary spraying process. Ceramsite foundry sand provides a unique combination of spherical shape grain, chemistry, and physical properties that result in numerous performance advantages compared with other foundry sands. Our ceramsite performs very well comparatively to Chromite, and Zircon sands and has replaced these sands in many foundry applications. The grain surface is much smoother than other foundry sands, leading to better castings.
Advantages of Ceramsite sand
1. Extremely Low Thermal Expansion
- Thermal expansion rate is only about 1/10 of silica sand
- Effectively eliminates veining, finning, deformation, and cracking of molds and cores
- Significantly improves dimensional stability and casting precision
2. High Refractoriness & Thermal Stability
- Refractoriness typically ≥1750–1850°C
- Resists high-temperature sintering and penetration
- Greatly reduces metal penetration, burn-on, and scabbing defects
- Ideal for steel casting, iron casting, copper alloy, and aluminum casting
3. Perfect Spherical Shape & High Flowability
- Near-spherical particles, good filling density
- Improves mold/core compactness and surface finish
- Reduces resin/binder consumption by 20–50% compared to angular silica sand
- Improves permeability and reduces gas defects
4. Low Gas Evolution & High Permeability
- Low moisture absorption, low organic content
- Reduces blowholes, pinholes, and porosity
- Especially beneficial for thick-section, deep-cavity, and complex castings
5. Excellent Collapsibility & Easy Shakeout
- Does not sinter strongly at high temperatures
- Cores break down easily after casting
- Greatly reduces cleaning time, labor cost, and mechanical finishing work
6. High Reusability & Low Waste
- High strength, low breakage during recycling
- Recycling rate can reach 90–98%
- Reduces new sand consumption and waste sand discharge
- Lowers overall foundry cost in long-term production
7. Neutral Chemical Property
- Chemically inert, does not react with molten metal
- Suitable for steel, iron, aluminum, copper, brass, bronze and other alloys
- Compatible with resin sand, water glass sand, coated sand, and investment casting slurries
8. Environmentally Friendly
- Free of free silica (no silicosis hazard)
- Low dust, low pollution
- Meets green foundry and environmental requirements
9. Wide Applicability
- Resin sand molding & core making
- Coated sand (shell molding)
- Investment casting (filler sand, back-up sand)
- Non-ferrous casting (aluminum, copper, brass)
- Steel and iron casting
- Lost foam casting (fill sand)