Development of Vertical-Type High-Speed Twin Roll Caster and its Application to Aluminum Alloy Products

摘要

The use of aluminum alloys instead of steel to reduce automobile weight is important from an environmental viewpoint. However, the sheets of aluminum alloy used for automobile body work are very expensive. There are two ways to reduce aluminum alloy sheet costs: adopt a more economical process or use recycled aluminum alloys. One method of improving the mechanical properties of recycled aluminum alloys is through rapid solidification. The twin-roll caster can achieve rapid solidification and do so economically. Therefore, twin-roll casting is a suitable method for economically producing strips from recycled aluminum alloy. However, the casting speed of conventional twin-roll casters for aluminum alloy (CTRCA) is slower than 10 m/min, resulting in low productivity. To increase the casting speed and reduce the deterioration by impurities in recycled aluminum alloys, a high cooling capability is preferred. A high-speed twin-roll caster (HSTRC) with a high cooling rate was devised and used in this study.