Alcoa Inc.

James L Kirby

Raymond J Kilmer

Ray T Richter

David R Gildemeister

Charles W Shanko

An apparatus for direct chill casting of metal having an open ended mold cavity formed by a casting surface, a refractory sleeve adapted to receive molten metal, a coolant delivery system for supplying coolant to chill the descending hot metal body, and a boron nitride ring mounted between the refractory sleeve and the peripheral wall of the mold cavity. A downspout may be used instead of a refractory sleeve having a flow control rod or floating baffle to control the amount of molten metal entering the mold cavity. A process for direct chill casting of a metal including continuously filling the cavity with molten metal and permitting the metal to move downwardly through the mold to form an ingot, and simultaneously chilling the ingot by spraying coolant on the ingot from the coolant delivery system.

Process and apparatus for direct chill casting

In one embodiment, an apparatus for direct chill casting of metal includes an open ended mold cavity formed by a casting surface with an upper end and a lower end, a refractory sleeve located at the upper end of the mold cavity being adapted to receive molten metal, a coolant delivery system below the lower end of the mold for supplying coolant to chill the descending hot metal body, and a boron nitride ring mounted between the refractory sleeve and the peripheral wall of the mold cavity. Another embodiment further includes a downspout instead of a refractory sleeve that is located at the upper end of the mold cavity being adapted to receive molten metal having a flow control rod or a floating baffle where the flow control rod controls the amount of molten metal to enter the mold cavity.

A method of casting a multi-layered metal ingot including the steps of delivering a metallic divider member into a direct chill mold, pouring a first molten metal into the mold on one side of the divider member, and pouring a second molten metal into the mold on the other side of the divider member, and allowing the first molten metal and the second molten metal solidify to form a metal ingot which includes the divider metal layer disposed there between.

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Delmont, PA, United States of America

James L Kirby