New Technologies for the Environment: Environmentally Benign Manufacturing - Casting by Design

这项针对环境的新技术探索性研究项目提出了一种新技术，使熔融金属能够在单一步骤中连续浇注，达到设计者的规格。例如，仅在美国，一步浇铸铝箔就可以每年减少向大气排放25万吨二氧化碳。在减少制造浪费方面节省的每一公斤铝，都会转化为这家耗能巨大的冶炼厂节省的电力。这项技术是基于控制以前无法控制的长度鳞片的。成功的按设计铸造，或可调的铸造，将使用基材修改来控制产品质量。目标是通过在接触区之前施加温度梯度来调节基板。喷墨打印中的灰阶是由相同大小的墨点的间距和排列产生的。以大致相同的方式，将根据热点的排列和间距来确定拟议的梯度。激光加热会引起热斑。

This New Technologies for the Environment exploratory research project proposes a novel technology to enable continuous casting of molten metals, in a single step, to the specifications of the designer. To cast aluminum foil, e.g., in a single step, would reduce CO2 emissions to the atmosphere by 250,000 tons per year, in the US alone. Every kilogram of aluminum saved in reducing manufacturing waste translates into electricity saved at the energy-hungry smelter. The technology is based on controlling length scales previously uncontrolled.Successful casting by design, or `tunable' casting, will use substrate modification to manipulate product quality. The goal is to condition the substrate by imposing thermal gradients before the contact zone. Gray-scales in ink-jet printing are produced by the spacing and arrangements of ink dots of the same size. In much the same way, the proposed gradients will be established with arrangements and spacing of hot spots. Laser heating will induce the hot spots.