Dependence of the Clogging Possibility of the Submerged Entry Nozzle during Steel Continuous Casting Process on the Liquid Fraction of Non-Metallic Inclusions in the Molten Al-Killed Ca-Treated Steel

In the current study, the nozzle clogging behavior and inclusion composition in Al-killed Ca-treated steels were observed to investigate the relationship between the liquid fraction of non-metallic inclusions and the clogging possibility of the submerged entry nozzle. Clogging materials were mainly MgO-Al2O3 with less than 20% liquid phases, while most of the inclusions were full liquid CaO-Al2O3-MgO in tundish at the casting temperature. Thus, it was proposed that the nozzle clogging can be effectively avoided by modification of solid inclusions to partial liquid ones rather than full liquid ones. There was a critical value of liquid fraction of inclusions causing the nozzle clogging. A critical condition of the inclusion attachment on the nozzle wall was a function of cosθN−S+cosθI−S<0. With the increase of T.Ca content in steel, the evolution route of inclusions was solid MgO-Al2O3→liquid CaO-Al2O3-MgO→solid CaS and CaO. To avoid the clogging of the submerged entry nozzle (SEN) under the current casting condition, the appropriate T.Ca concentration range in Al-killed Ca-treated steels can be enlarged from the 100% liquid inclusion zone of 10–14 ppm to the 20% liquid inclusion zone of 4–38 ppm.

Study of Bending Fatigue Properties of Al-Si Cast Alloy

Fatigue properties of casting Al-alloys are very sensitive to the microstructural features of the alloy (e.g. size and morphology of the eutectic Si, secondary dendrite arm spacing - SDAS, intermetallics, grain size) and casting defects (porosity and oxides). Experimental study of bending fatigue properties of secondary cast alloys have shown that: fatigue tests up to 106-107cycles show mean fatigue limits of approx. 30-49 MPa (AlSi9Cu3 alloy - as cast state), approx. 65-76 MPa (AlSi9Cu3 alloy after solution treatment) and 60-70 MPa (self-hardened AlZn10Si8Mg alloy) in the tested casting condition; whenever large pore is present at or near the specimen’s surface, it will be the dominant cause of fatigue crack initiation; in the absence of large casting defects, the influence of microstructural features (Si morphology; Fe-rich phases) on the fatigue performance becomes more pronounced.

Lost Wax Casting Conditions with Tourmaline In Situ

The technique of stone-in-place casting has been established in jewelry production for three decades. However, the process is not widely used since it is limited to precious stones with high hardness and high stability at high temperature. This experiment tested tourmaline, which is a semi-precious gemstone having less hardness and less stability compared with precious stones. The objective was to achieve the conditions of a lost-wax casting process with tourmaline placed in waxes in the casting process. The experiment was divided into two parts. The first part was to understand the tolerance of tourmaline under the heating conditions. Natural tourmaline stones were investigated and compared inclusions tested at a temperature of 700°C. Tourmaline with ion-implantation was also heated to 700°C for comparison. The second part was to test tourmaline in-place casting with tree conditions of flask casting at 550°C, 625°C, and 700°C. The results showed that stones were able to tolerate as much as at 700°C. The inclusion growth of ion-implantation under heating to 700°C also observed the growth of inclusion in the same way as untreated tourmaline. The casting condition at 550°C showed better results. The highest probability of stones breaking after casting occurred in bezel settings.

Experimental Investigation on the Effect of Casting Parameters on Thin walled Castings of Metal Matrix (LM21-SiC) Composite

 Metal matrix composites (MMCs) are widely used in several applications owing to their high strength, high specific stiffness, greater wear resistance and light weight. Normally, MMCs are processed through stir casting which exhibits poor wet ability and bonding between metal matrix and ceramic reinforcement, porosity and hot tears. These drawbacks can be overcome by squeeze casting process. Here an attempt was made on processing LM21-Sic composite for making hollow casting through squeeze casting process. Four process parameters are chosen namely squeeze pressure, stirring speed, melt temperature and reinforcement percentage. The primary objective was to experimentally investigate the influence of casting parameters on hardness & wear. Samples were cast for each experiments condition based on L9 orthogonal array. From the analysis of variance (ANOVA), it was observed that stirring speed, reinforcement percentage and Squeeze load were the process parameters making a noticeable improvement in hardness and wear. The mechanical properties such as hardness and wear are evaluated and optimum casting condition was obtained.