| abstract |
Compositions and method for producing foundry sand cores or molds of initial high strength but with essentially no strength after casting metals above 700 DEG C. which involves shaping and setting a composition containing foundry sand and a binder comprising sodium, potassium, or lithium silicate and sufficient amorphous silica so that the fraction of the total silica in the binder solution which is present as amorphous silica is from 2 to 75%, the amorphous silica having a particle size in the range from about 2 nanometers to 500 nanometers and the binder having a molar ratio of silica to alkali metal oxide ranging from 3.5:1 to 10.1. |