GB2625314A

GB2625314A - Method of manufacturing ceramic objects

Info

Publication number: GB2625314A
Application number: GB2218767.8A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Ali Juma Kassim; William Leaney Michael
Original assignee: Ceramic Additive Mfg Ltd
Current assignee: Ceramic Additive Mfg Ltd
Priority date: 2022-12-13
Filing date: 2022-12-13
Publication date: 2024-06-19
Also published as: WO2024126996A1; GB202218767D0

Abstract

A method (100, Figure 1) of manufacturing a ceramic object 206, the method comprising forming a ceramic structure 204 with a core shooting machine 203 using a sintered granulated ceramic material 201 and a binder 202, and firing the ceramic structure 204 to form the ceramic object 206. The sintered granulated ceramic material 201 may comprise a free-flowing powder, may have a particle size range between 50-450 microns, and may have a porosity of less than 10%. The binder 202 may comprise at least one of a furanic resin, a phenolic resin, an inorganic binder, a sodium silicate-based binder, and a liquid. The ceramic object 206 may be a foundry gating component of a foundry gating system, which may comprise one or more reinforcement ribs on one or more surfaces thereof. The ceramic object 206 may comprise a foundry core for a foundry mould.

Description

METHOD OF MANUFACTURING CERAMIC OBJECTS

TECHNOLOGICAL FIELD

Examples of the present disclosure relate to a method of manufacturing ceramic objects.

Some examples, though without prejudice to the foregoing, relate to a method of manufacturing ceramic objects for use in metal foundries, not least for example such as manufacturing foundry gating components for a foundry gating system.

BACKGROUND

Conventional methods of manufacturing ceramic objects, not least such as foundry gating components for a foundry gating system, are not always optimal.

A foundry gating system is a foundry term for a system of tubes/ducts for transferring molten material, e.g. molten metal from a ladle, into a mould. A gating system may comprise one or more: downsprues, gates, runners, and hoppers for conveying molten material into the mould cavity. A gating system may be formed of plural gating components/parts (also known as 'gating' or 'holloware') such as: tubing, ducting, different diameter tubes, T-shaped ducts/junctions, L-shaped ducts and pouring funnels. The gating components can be assembled around/on an outside of a pattern and may be backed up in sand as a mould is filled and then stripped.

A conventional foundry gating components for a gating system (not least such as tubular members), are typically manufactured by taking a plastic clay mass with an alumina content (typically of 36%) and extruding and pressing the plastic clay mass, with steel dies, into a desired shape to form precursor structures for the particular gating components desired. Such gating component precursors are then: dried, loaded onto kiln cars, and fired at 1,250 °C in large continuous gas ovens. Due to the way in which the gating components are formed (namely being manufactured via extrusion), there are limitations and constraints as to the feasible/possible extrudable shapes that the precursor gating component can be formed in to. Hence, conventionally manufactured gating components may have shapes that are quite basic.

Furthermore, during the drying and firing processes, the conventionally manufactured gating component precursors may suffer from significant shrinkage, such as of the order of 40%. This may cause asymmetric deformations in the resultant fired ceramic gating components. Such shrinkage may cause the resultant ceramic gating components, i.e. derived from the dried and fired extruded gating component precursors, to have a poor net shape and low fidelity to the original shape/dimensions of the initially extruded precursor prior to its drying and firing, and hence poor fidelity to a desired/intended design/shape/dimensions.

Moreover, significantly, such shrinkage may also give rise to structural weaknesses such as cracks in the dried precursor gating component structure and/or the resultant fired gating component. Accordingly, conventionally manufactured gating components, are typically required to have thick walls to maintain structural integrity and reduce the risk of cracking following shrinkage during the drying and firing processes. However, the thicker the walls of the gating components, the greater the quantity of raw materials required to manufacture the gating components. Also, the thicker the walls of the gating components, the greater their mass and the greater the amount of energy consumption required to fire the gating components. Yet moreover, the thicker the walls of the gating components, the heavier they are, which can make them more cumbersome to manoeuvre, e.g. when assembling them into a gating system before moulding. Furthermore, gating components of a gating system may act as a heat sink during casting. Hence, the thicker the walls of the gating components/system, and the heavier the gating components/system, the greater heat loss of molten metal during casting. This would typically force foundrymen to increase a pouring temperature of the molten metal to compensate for the heat loss. Yet furthermore, gating components are typically single use and, following a cast, the gating components are generally discarded and go to landfill. Accordingly, the thicker the walls of the gating components, the greater the amount of waste upon disposal of the (typically single use) gating components following the cast.

In some circumstances it can be desirable to reduce shrinkage upon firing of a ceramic structure to form the resultant ceramic object (not least such as a gating component). In some circumstances it may be desirable to reduce asymmetric deformations and structural weaknesses in a resultant ceramic object, i.e. derived from the fired extruded precursor structure, and improve the resultant ceramic object's fidelity to a desired shape/dimension/design of a ceramic structure prior to its firing.

In some circumstances it can be desirable to provide an improved method of manufacturing ceramic objects that may enable the manufacture of ceramic objects that have thinner walls, require less raw materials, requires less energy to fire, are lighter in weight and/or result in less wastage (i.e. as compared to a ceramic object manufactured in a conventional manner).

One objective of a foundry gating system is to enable molten metal to enterthe mould cavity as quickly as possible and with minimal turbulence. Any turbulence may slow down the flow of the molten metal which can increase the chance of/amount of an oxide film forming. Such oxide films are undesirable as they can get folded into the molten metal creating inherent weakness in a resultant cast.

In some circumstances it can be desirable to manufacture ceramic objects, not least such as gating components, having more complex shapes (e.g. gating component shapes that are optimised for enhancing flow and reducing turbulence in casting, such as by having more rounded and organic shapes, as compared to the basic gating component shapes of conventionally manufactured gating components).

In some circumstances it can be desirable to provide an improved method of manufacturing ceramic objects, not least such gating components, that enables greater flexibility/design freedom in the design of the ceramic objects (e.g. so as manufacture gating components that are simpler to manufacture and have shapes that are more complex than is feasible/possible for conventionally manufactured/extruded gating components).

The listing or discussion of any prior-published document or any background in this specification should not necessarily be taken as an acknowledgement that the document or background is part of the state of the art or is common general knowledge. One or more aspects/examples of the present disclosure may or may not address one or more of the background issues.

BRIEF SUMMARY

The scope of protection sought for various embodiments of the invention is set out by the claims.

According to various, but not necessarily all, examples of the disclosure there are provided examples as claimed in the appended claims. Any examples and features described in this specification that do not fall under the scope of the independent claims are to be interpreted as examples useful for understanding various embodiments of the invention.

According to at least some examples of the disclosure there is provided a method of manufacturing a ceramic object, the method comprising: forming a ceramic structure with a core shooting machine using a sintered granulated ceramic material and a binder; and firing the ceramic structure to form the ceramic object.

According to various, but not necessarily all, examples of the disclosure there is provided: a ceramic object; a foundry gating component of a foundry gating system; a foundry core; or a foundry mould manufactured according to the above method.

The following portion of this 'Brief Summary section describes various features that can be features of any of the examples described in the foregoing portion of the 'Brief Summary' section. The description of a function should additionally be considered to also disclose any means suitable for performing that function.

The sintered granulated ceramic material may comprise a free-flowing powder.

The sintered granulated ceramic material may comprise particles having a size between 50 -450 microns.

The sintered granulated ceramic material may comprise a porosity less than 10% or 5%.

The binder may comprise at least one selected from the group of: a furanic resin; a phenolic resin; an inorganic binder; a sodium silicate-based binder; and a liquid.

The step of firing the ceramic structure may comprise firing the ceramic structure to a temperature between 800oC -1600oC.

The ceramic object may be a foundry gating component of a foundry gating system.

The foundry gating component may comprise one or more reinforcement ribs on one or more surfaces thereof.

The ceramic object may be a foundry core for a foundry mould.

While the above examples of the disclosure and optional features are described separately, it is to be understood that their provision in all possible combinations and permutations is contained within the disclosure. It is to be understood that various examples of the disclosure can comprise any or all of the features described in respect of other examples of the disclosure, and vice versa. Also, it is to be appreciated that any one or more or all of the features, in any combination, may be implemented by an apparatus, i.e. such as an apparatus comprising means for performing the method.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Some examples will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which FIG. 1 schematically illustrates an example of a method according to the present disclosure; and FIG. 2 schematically illustrates an example of an overview of a process of manufacturing a ceramic object.

The figures are not necessarily to scale. Certain features and views of the figures can be shown schematically or exaggerated in scale in the interest of clarity and conciseness. For example, the dimensions of some elements in the figures can be exaggerated relative to other elements to aid explication. Similar reference numerals are used in the figures to designate similar features.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The figures schematically illustrate, and the following description describes, various examples of the disclosure including a method 100 of manufacturing a ceramic object 206, wherein the method comprises: forming 101 a ceramic structure 204 with a core shooting machine 203 using a sintered granulated ceramic material 201 and a binder 202; and firing 102 the ceramic structure 204 to form the ceramic object 206.

FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a flow chart of an example of a method 100 of manufacturing a ceramic object according to the present disclosure. During discussion of FIG. 1, use will be made of reference numerals of features shown in FIG 2 for the purposes of explanation.

In block 101, a ceramic structure 204 is formed via a core shooting machine 203 using a sintered granulated ceramic material 201 and a binder 202. The sintered granulated ceramic material 201 and the binder 202 thereby effectively serve as the feedstock and/or shooting medium 200 for the core shooting machine 203, and from which the ceramic structure 204 is formed by the core shooting machine 203 -as schematically illustrated in FIG. 2.

The ceramic structure 204 serves as a precursor structure to a resultant ceramic object 206 (the resultant ceramic object being formed when the precursor ceramic structure is fired/sintered).

In block 102, the ceramic structure 204 is fired so as to sinter, e.g. fuse/vitrify/solidify the ceramic structure thereby forming a resultant ceramic object 206. The ceramic structure 204 may be fired in an oven or kiln 205 as schematically illustrated in FIG. 2.

The firing temperature may be selected so as to be suitable for the ceramic material used and the refractory material therein, such materials including, not least one or more of: Silicon Carbide, Silica, clay, Alumina (Aluminium Dioxide A1203), Zirconia (Zirconium Dioxide Zr02), Magnesium oxide (MGO), Calcium Oxide (CaO), Mu!lite, Yttria / Yttrium Oxide (Y203), fused Zirconia Mullite.

The ceramic structure may be fired to a temperature greater than: 800 °C, 1,000 °C, 1,200 °C, or 1,400 °C. The ceramic structure may be fired to a temperature between 800 °C -1,600 °C.

Core shooting machines (also known as: core shooters, sand core shooters, core blowing machines, core blowers, sand core blowers, cold box core machine, and hot box core machine) are known/existing commercially available machines that are designed to make sand cores for use in castings, e.g. a sand core to be used in a mould to make/define an internal cavity in a resultant casting produced from the mould and sand core.

Conventional core shooting machines typically have sand (i.e. silica/quartz-based sand) as their feedstock/shooting medium (i.e. the material that is shot from/blown out of a shooting/blowing head of a core shooting/blowing machine to form a core) so as to form a sand core. Conventional core shooting machines typically use compressed air to shoot outlinject and evenly distribute.: sand into a core box (which defines the shape of the core.-1 to be formed), following which pressure is applied to compact the sand to form the sand core. Conventional core shooting machines may also use a curing agent/resin/binder to harden the sand (such as for hot box core machines).

The inventor(s) of the present application have realized that, instead of using a core shooting machine to make a sand core; by changing the shooting medium/input feedstock from conventional silica-based sand to sintered granulated ceramic material, a core shooting machine can be used to form a ceramic structure.

Moreover, such use of a core shooting machine enables the formation of ceramic structure having more complex shapes than might be feasible/possible for other methods of forming a precursor structure, e.g. an extruded precursor structure such as for conventionally manufactured gating components.

By utilising moulds for the core box of the core shooting machine (it being appreciated that the 'core box' in this context need not be configured only to form cores but could be configured to form other structures), wherein the moulds are provided with complex varying shapes and dimensions, ceramic structures in complex varying shapes and dimensions can be simply and accurately formed via the core shooting machine with an appropriate mould.

In this regard, in examples of the disclosure, sintered granulated ceramic material is provided to the core shooting machine for use as feedstock for the same. Also, a binder/hardening agent/resin is also provided to the core shooting machine as a feedstock for the core shooting machine. The sintered granulated ceramic material and the binder may be mixed to form a mixture. That serves as a base material/shooting medium. The mixture may then be shot in the core shooter to form the ceramic structure, that serves as a precursor ceramic structure that, following firing, forms a ceramic object.

The sintered granulated ceramic material consists of / substantially comprises ceramic material that has already been sintered, i.e. it is 'pre-sintered' in that it has previously undergone a firing so as to form individual grains/particles of ceramic material that have already been sintered/fused/vitrified.

The sintered granulated ceramic material may comprise particles/granules of sintered granulated, agglomerated or conglomerated particles of ceramic material. For example, separate individual particles of ceramic material (e.g. 'green' ceramic material that has not yet underdone firing/sintering) are granulated/agglomerated/conglomerated, and then sintered together to form grains/granules/particles of sintered granulated/agglomerated/conglomerated particles of ceramic material that form the sintered granulated ceramic material that serves as the feedstock/shooting medium for the core shooter machine.

Advantageously, such pre-sintered ceramic material decreases the porosity of the individual grains of the sintered ceramic material that makes up the sintered granulated ceramic material and increases the density of the sintered granulated ceramic material.

The pre-sintered ceramic material may be a ceramic powder whose grains/particles are themselves formed of smaller particles that have been sintered together thereby forming sintered granulated ceramic material, or a sintered conglomerate of particles of ceramic material.

Such pre-sintered grains of ceramic material serve as the feedstock/shooting medium for the core shooting machine are to be compared and contrasted to conventional feedstock/shooting medium for the core shooting machine, i.e. sand which comprises/consists of non-sintered material.

In examples of the disclosure, when the ceramic structure itself undergoes a firing and thereby itself become sintered/fused/vitrified to form the resultant ceramic object, the use of pre-sintered ceramic material for the feedstock/shooting medium advantageously gives rise to less shrinkage in the formation of the resultant ceramic object following the firing than would otherwise be the case where non-sintered feedstock is used. Advantageously, this may reduce asymmetric deformations and structural weaknesses in a resultant ceramic object and improve the resultant ceramic object's fidelity to an initially intended/designed shape and dimensions of the ceramic structure.

The sintered granulated ceramic material may comprise or consist of a free-flowing powder. In this regard, the grains of the sintered granulated ceramic material may be configured so as to substantially not be cohesive and stick together. Such a free-flowing property of the sintered granulated ceramic material may be effected by the configuration of the grains/granules/particles of the sintered ceramic material, not least such as with regards to their: particle size (e.g. less than 450 microns), shape (e.g. substantially spherical), and surface characteristics (e.g. smooth and configured so as to reduce frictional forces).

The sintered granulated ceramic material may comprise or consist of particles having a size: less than 450 microns, less than 300 microns, or less than 150 microns. The sintered granulated ceramic material may comprise or consist of particles having a size between 50 -450 microns.

The sintered granulated ceramic material may have a porosity less than 10% or 5%.

Advantageously, such low porosity levels of the sintered granulated ceramic material reduce the amount of shrinkage when the ceramic structure is fired/sintered to form the ceramic object. This enables the ceramic structure, and hence the ceramic object, to have thinner walls and hence require less raw ingredients/feedstock resulting in less mass of the object and less wastage (e.g. when the ceramic object, such as single use gating component, is used).

The binder may be any suitable binding agent for binding the sintered granulated ceramic material. The binder may be a liquid binder (i.e. it may be a liquid feedstock supplied to the core shooter at the shooting/blowing ceramic structure forming stage. The binder may be devoid of an organic binding agent. The binder may comprise, for example, at least one of: a ceramic binder, a Silicate, a Phosphate, an Aluminate, Aluminium Phosphate, Phosphoric acid and Alumina gel). The binder may comprise of consist of: a furanic or phenolic resin, an inorganic binder; or a sodium silicate-based binder.

Examples of the invention make use of a commercially available core shooting machine, albeit adapted to use sintered granulated ceramic material and a binder as its shooting medium instead of the conventional shooting medium -sand (i.e. silica/quartz-based sand) and a resin/hardener.

In the example shown in FIG. 2, the ceramic structure 204 is a precursor to a ceramic foundry gating component, in this instance a section of hollow tubing (through which, in use, molten metal can flow during a cast).

By forming the foundry gating component precursor ceramic structure 204 via a core shooter, a more complex precursor shape can be formed than might otherwise be feasible/possible via conventional methods of forming a foundry gating component, namely via extrusion.

By forming the foundry gating component precursor ceramic structure 204 from sintered granulated ceramic material, the foundry gating component precursor ceramic structure 204 undergoes less shrinkage during firing than would be the case for un-sintered/'non-pre-sintered ceramic material in the precursor structure. This increases the structural integrity and reduces the risk of cracking as compared to the use of un-sinteredinon-pre-sintered' ceramic material in the precursor structure. Advantageously, this may thereby allow the provision of walls of a reduced thickness whist still providing requisite structural strength/integrity. Following the firing of the foundry gating component precursor ceramic structure 204, the resultant ceramic object 206, i.e. a ceramic foundry gating component 206, likewise may have walls of a reduced thickness whist still providing requisite structural strength/integrity.

In the example shown in FIG. 2, the foundry gating component precursor ceramic structure 204 comprises one or more reinforcement ribs 204a on one or more surfaces/walls thereof (e.g. outer surfaces) that provide structural strength to the walls which may thereby allow walls of a further reduced thickness, whist still providing requisite structural strength/integrity. Following the firing of the foundry gating component precursor ceramic structure 204, the resultant ceramic object 206, i.e. a ceramic foundry gating component 206, likewise comprises one or more reinforcement ribs 206a on its walls, which likewise may thereby allow walls of a reduced thickness whist still providing requisite structural strength/integrity. For example, the use of ribs may enable a gating component's wall thickness to be reduced to 3 mm, whereas a conventionally manufactured gating component's wall thickness may be 18 -20 mm.

Thinner walls may enable a reduction in the quantity of raw materials required in the manufacture of the foundry gating component (and hence less wastage of the, typically single use, foundry gating component upon disposal following a casting). Also, the reduced mass of a thinner walled foundry gating component requires less energy in its firing. Furthermore, since gating components of a gating system may act as a heat sink during casting, thinner walls and reduced mass of the gating components/system reduce the amount of heat loss of molten metal during casting. This avoids/reduces the need to increase a pouring temperature of the molten metal to compensate for the heat loss. Hence lighter, thinner walled gating components/system allows a lower pouring temperature due to less heat loss. Yet furthermore, the reduced mass of the thinner walled foundry gating component reduces the weight of the foundry gating component facilitating its transportation and manoeuvring as well as making its assembly into a gating system less cumbersome.

In some examples, the ceramic structure 204 is substantially entirely formed from the sintered granulated ceramic material and binder.

In some examples, the precursor ceramic structure 204 is at least partially formed from sintered granulated ceramic material and the binder. In this regard, a mixture of the sintered granulated ceramic material and the binder can be shot, in a core shooting machine, so as to overlay a pre-formed structure (e.g. pre-formed partial core structure) formed of a refractory material, to form a structure that is made at least partly of sintered granulated ceramic material, namely at least its outer surface if formed of sintered granulated ceramic material. The refractory material of the rest of the structure, i.e. the internal pre-formed structure part of the overall precursor ceramic structure, may be, not least for example: a non-ceramic based material, a non-sinterable material, foundry sand, or silica sand. The pre-formed structure, e.g. partial core structure, may itself be formed from a core shooting machine using the refractory material as a feedstock/shooting medium (optionally along with a curing agent/resin/binder). In such a manner, a precursor structure may be formed which may be, for example, a core having a skin/outer layer/surface formed of a sintered granulated ceramic material but whose inside is formed of a non-sintered material. When such a precursor structure, is fired, it forms a ceramic object having an outer surface/skin formed of a ceramic/sintered material, and an interior formed of a non-sintered material.

Where a core is manufactured in such a manner, the core has a ceramic/sintered skin and a non-ceramic/non-sintered interior. Advantageously, such a ceramic skinned core may provide benefits in processing time and costs for producing cast parts (e.g. pump impellers) since, after the cast, the removal of the ceramic skinned core may be easier to effect than a removal of a fully ceramic core. This is because a ceramic skinned core may be readily broken down with vibration and removed (whereas, for example, a fully ceramic core made via a Sol-Gel process, may noy be readily broken down by vibration and instead would need to be removed by soaking in acid).

Whilst various of the examples above have been discussed with regards to the manufacture of a foundry gating component of a foundry gating system, it is to be appreciated that the present manufacturing method is not limited just to manufacturing foundry gating components, but is applicable to the formation of any ceramic structure and any ceramic object. For example, the ceramic object may be a ceramic foundry core.

Examples of the present disclosure have been described using flowchart illustrations and schematic block diagrams. It will be understood that each block (of the flowchart illustrations and block diagrams), and combinations of blocks, can be implemented by any means, devices or machinery suitable for implementing the functions specified in the block or blocks. Accordingly, the blocks support: combinations of means, devices or machinery for performing the specified functions and combinations of actions for performing the specified functions.

Although specific terms are employed herein, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation. Features described in the preceding description can be used in combinations other than the combinations explicitly described. Although functions have been described with reference to certain features, those functions can be performable by other features whether described or not. Although features have been described with reference to certain examples, those features can also be present in other examples whether described or not. Accordingly, features described in relation to one example/aspect of the disclosure can include any or all of the features described in relation to another example/aspect of the disclosure, and vice versa, to the extent that they are not mutually inconsistent.

Although various examples of the present disclosure have been described in the preceding paragraphs, it should be appreciated that modifications to the examples given can be made without departing from the scope of the invention as set out in the claims. For example, various of the examples (and method processes) may be combined.

The term 'comprise' is used in this document with an inclusive not an exclusive meaning.

That is any reference to X comprising Y indicates that X can comprise only one Y or can comprise more than one Y. If it is intended to use 'comprise' with an exclusive meaning then it will be made clear in the context by referring to "comprising only one. " or by using "consisting".

In this description, reference has been made to various examples. The description of features or functions in relation to an example indicates that those features or functions are present in that example. The use of the term 'example' or 'for example', 'can or 'may' in the text denotes, whether explicitly stated or not, that such features or functions are present in at least the described example, whether described as an example or not, and that they can be, but are not necessarily, present in some or all other examples. Thus 'example', 'for example', 'can' or 'may' refers to a particular instance in a class of examples. A property of the instance can be a property of only that instance or a property of the class or a property of a sub-class of the class that includes some but not all of the instances in the class.

In this description, references to "a/an/the" [feature, element, component, means...] are used with an inclusive not an exclusive meaning and are to be interpreted as "at least one" [feature, element, component, means...] unless explicitly stated otherwise. That is any reference to X comprising a/the Vindicates that X can comprise only one Y or can comprise more than one V unless the context clearly indicates the contrary. If it is intended to use 'a' or 'the' with an exclusive meaning then it will be made clear in the context. In some circumstances the use of 'at least one' or 'one or more can be used to emphasise an inclusive meaning but the absence of these terms should not be taken to infer any exclusive meaning. As used herein, "at least one of the following: <a list of two or more elements>" and "at least one of <a list of two or more elements>" and similar wording, where the list of two or more elements are joined by "and" or "or", mean at least any one of the elements, or at least any two or more of the elements, or at least all the elements.

The presence of a feature (or combination of features) in a claim is a reference to that feature (or combination of features) itself and also to features that achieve substantially the same technical effect (equivalent features). The equivalent features include, for example, features that are variants and achieve substantially the same result in substantially the same way. The equivalent features include, for example, features that perform substantially the same function, in substantially the same way to achieve substantially the same result.

The above description describes some examples of the present disclosure however those of ordinary skill in the art will be aware of possible alternative structures and method features which offer equivalent functionality to the specific examples of such structures and features described herein above and which for the sake of brevity and clarity have been omitted from the above description. Nonetheless, the above description should be read as implicitly including reference to such alternative structures and method features which provide equivalent functionality unless such alternative structures or method features are explicitly excluded in the above description of the examples of the present disclosure.

Whilst endeavouring in the foregoing specification to draw attention to those features of examples of the present disclosure believed to be of particular importance it should be understood that the applicant claims protection in respect of any patentable feature or combination of features hereinbefore referred to and/or shown in the drawings whether or not particular emphasis has been placed thereon.

The examples of the present disclosure and the accompanying claims can be suitably combined in any manner apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art. Separate references to an "example", "in some examples" and/or the like in the description do not necessarily refer to the same example and are also not mutually exclusive unless so stated and/or except as will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the description. For instance, a feature, structure, process, block, step, action, or the like described in one example may also be included in other examples, but is not necessarily included.

Each and every claim is incorporated as further disclosure into the specification and the claims are embodiment(s) of the present disclosure. Further, while the claims herein are provided as comprising specific dependencies, it is contemplated that any claims can depend from any other claims and that to the extent that any alternative embodiments can result from combining, integrating, and/or omitting features of the various claims and/or changing dependencies of claims, any such alternative embodiments and their equivalents

are also within the scope of the disclosure.

Claims

CLAIMSWe claim: A method of manufacturing a ceramic object, the method comprising: forming a ceramic structure with a core shooting machine using a sintered granulated ceramic material and a binder; and firing the ceramic structure to form the ceramic object.
2. The method of any of the previous claims, wherein the sintered granulated ceramic material comprises a free-flowing powder.
3. The method of any of the previous claims, wherein the sintered granulated ceramic material comprises particles having a size between 50 -450 microns. 15
4. The method of any of the previous claims, wherein the sintered granulated ceramic material comprises a porosity less than 10% or 5%.
5. The method of any previous claim wherein the binder comprises at least one selected from the group of: a furanic resin; a phenolic resin; an inorganic binder; a sodium silicate-based binder; and a liquid.
6. The method of any of the previous claims, wherein firing the ceramic structure comprises firing the ceramic structure to a temperature between 800°C -1600°C.
7. The method of any previous claim wherein the ceramic object is a foundry gating component of a foundry gating system.
8. The method of claim 7 wherein the foundry gating component comprises one or more reinforcement ribs on one or more surfaces thereof.
9. The method of any previous claim wherein the ceramic object is a foundry core for a foundry mould.
10. A ceramic object manufactured according to the method of any one of the previous claims.
11. A foundry gating component manufactured according to the method of any one of the previous claims.
12. A foundry gating system comprising one or more foundry gating components of claim 11.
13. A foundry core manufactured according to the method of any one of the previous claims.