High speed strip casting of light metal alloy sheet materials

铝板的生产目前是高能量密集型操作，相对于同等的炼钢操作，其生产率低。由于铝具有与钢相比重量更轻的材料的优点，因此在运输行业中使用铝是期望的，因为在车辆的寿命期间，与同等厚度的钢结构相比，与轻型车辆相关联的能量需求可以显著降低。从铝锭的DC（直接激冷）铸造到在水平单带式铸造机上生产薄铝板的转变提供了在退火和热轧操作期间显著降低能耗、降低资本成本和降低运营成本的可能性。安装在MMPC实验室的水平单带铸造设备（HSBC）将用于测试这种新铸造工艺的科学和工业可行性。本研究计划的具体目标是使用中试规模的HSBC研究铝（AA 6111）和镁合金（AM 60）连续铸造板材的生产和性能。这是一种具有商业前景的近净形铸造操作，其中液态金属以等动力学方式输送到水冷移动基底上，以高达1 m/s的速度生产2- 4 mm厚的材料带材。与目前轻金属工业中使用的常规双辊和双带连铸机的主要区别在于铸造速度的数量级增加。实际上，凝固熔体所需的所有显热都被向下移除（单向凝固），而带材本身在形成时保持不受约束。基于迄今为止的模拟，许多因素影响可以生产的带材的质量。这些因素包括合金成分和凝固范围、潜热、结晶度、收缩率、基底材料（铜/钢带）、带涂层、气体气氛、合金成分、金属输送方式、化学反应、气膜、润滑膜、表面纹理、表面张力、弯月面行为、界面湍流和润湿。

The production of aluminum sheet is presently a highly energy intensive operation, of low productivity relative to equivalent steelmaking operations. Since aluminum has the advantage of being a lighter weight material vs steel, the use of aluminum in the transportation industries is to be desired since energy requirements associated with lightweight vehicles can be significantly reduced vs steel structures of equivalent thickness, over a vehicle's lifetime. The move from DC (direct chill) casting of aluminum ingots to the production of thin sheets of aluminum on a horizontal single belt caster offers the possibility of significantly reduced energy consumption during annealing and hot rolling operations, reduced capital costs, and reduced operating costs. The Horizontal Single Belt Casting Facility(HSBC)installed in the laboratories of the MMPC will be used to test the scientific and industrial feasibility of this new casting process. The specific objectives of this research program are to investigate the production and properties of continuously cast sheets of aluminum (AA6111) and magnesium alloys (AM60), using the pilot scale HSBC. This is a commercially promising, near-net shape casting operation, in which liquid metal is iso-kinetically delivered onto a water-cooled, moving substrate, to produce strips of material, 2-4mm thick, at speeds of up to 1m/s. A major difference from the customary twin-roll and twin belt casters presently used in the Light Metals Industries, is an order of magnitude increase in casting speeds. Virtually all the sensible heat needed to solidify the melt is removed downwards (uni-directional solidification), while the strip itself remains unconstrained as it forms. Based on simulations to date, many factors influence the quality of the strip that can be produced. These include alloy composition and freezing range, latent heat, superheat, shrinkage, substrate material (copper/steel belt), belt coatings, gas atmosphere, alloy composition, mode of metal delivery, chemical reactions, gas films, lubricating films, surface texture, surface tension, meniscus behaviour, interfacial turbulence, and wetting.