Development of a High Performance Alloy-Recycling Process with Scrap Materials Including Impurities

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

We have manufactured a small prototype casting machine for continuous casting experiments with scrap aluminum which includes impurities. We have experimented using this machine to collect basic data for establishing an ultrasonic vibration continuous casting process with Al-Si alloys, which are representative casting alloys. The techniques for controlling the solidification structures of continuous casting ingots are incomplete, and thus we further have investigated the melting temperature, cooling rate, and the shape of the molds. Moreover, by additional application of ultrasound vibration to melts flowing down on an inclined cooling horn as they pass through the liquidus line where the primary crystals appear, we have succeeded in the creation of materials with ultrafine-grained structures.It is difficult to powder aluminum alloy scraps which include a large amount of impurities such as iron, because there are problems concerning the viscosity of the melts and the degree of superheat. However, by changing the design of the nozzle which supplies the melts into an atomized gas jet, we have succeeded in the creation of powders with a mean diameter of 50μm.