A SIMPLE EXPERIMENTAL APPARATUS FOR TESTING CORE AND CLAD ALLOY COMBINATIONS FOR POTENTIAL FUSION™ CASTING APPLICATIONS

摘要

Novelis Inc. recently developed and patented a unique Direct Chill (DC) casting process whereby two different alloys can be cast simultaneously, producing a laminated aluminum ingot, known as Fusion™ casting. In this process, a high quality metallurgical bond is formed between the two simultaneously cast alloys; the mechanism of how this bond formation occurs between the two alloys is not clearly understood. Since direct observation of wetting and interface formation in the Fusion casting process is difficult to obtain in practice, due to temperature and proximity issues, an analog test was designed to mimic the processes on the laboratory scale. The apparatus provides a means of controlling the basic variables thought to influence bond formation in Fusion casting, namely: ⅰ) the relative temperatures of the two alloys in contact, ⅱ) the sample contact time, and ⅲ) surface oxidation. The results of two test series will be presented, highlighting the relative importance these variables have on as-cast interface quality.