Sumitomo Light Metal Industries, Ltd.

Susumu Inumaru

Masahiro Yoshida

Shigenori Yamauchi

Hideo Sano

Shiro Sato

Shiro Terai

Kazuhisa Shibue

Masaya Imai

Sakae Kato

Kiyofumi Ito

An electromagnetic horizontal casting process for continuously casting a flat ingot in a horizontal direction, including the steps of: transferring a mass of molten metal through a nozzle having an opening which has a rectangular cross sectional shape substantially corresponding to a rectangular transverse cross sectional shape of the flat to be formed, the cross sectional shape of the opening having long sides extending in the horizontal direction; causing the mass of molten metal to continuously emerge in the horizontal direction from an exit end of said nozzle; levitating the mass of molten metal which has emerged from the nozzle, in the horizontal direction with electromagnetic forces created by an upper and a lower electromagnetic coil which are disposed in a mutually vertically spaced-apart relation adjacent to the exit end of the nozzle; solidifying the levitated mass of molten metal into the flat ingot, by direct contact of the molten mass with a cooling fluid; and withdrawing the flat ingot continuouslly in the horizontal direction.

Electromagnetic levitation casting

A superior high-temperature strength aluminum alloy material is produced by consolidating rapdily solidified particulates of an aluminum alloy into a desired configuration, the aluminum alloy consisting of, in weight percentages, 4 to 15% Fe, and 0.5 to 8% V and the balance being essentially aluminum. The aluminum alloy may further contain at least one element selected from the group consisting of 0.5 to 8% Mo, 0.5 to 8% Ni, 0.3 to 8% Zr and 0.5 to 8% Ti and these additional components develop a further increased strength in the resulting formed materials. Since the consolidated aluminum materials above specified have a superior strength at high temperatures as well as moderate temperature without an expensive Ce, they are highly useful as economical heat-resistant materials for various applications, particularly for the fields where high strength at high temperatures and lightness of weight are required.

High strength material produced by consolidation of rapidly solidified

A method of continuously or semi-continuously casting an ingot of rectangular cross section in a vertical open-ended direct chill mold having a coolant passageway, wherein a flow of coolant is circulated and discharged from the bottom of the mold, and molten metal poured into the mold is solidified by applying the discharged flow of coolant directly to the peripheral surface of the metal emerging from the bottom of the mold. The method comprises a step of preventing a direct contact of the poured molten metal with an upper part of inner walls of the mold and controlling the cooling of the molten metal by the flow of coolant circulating in the passageway via the inner walls. The above step comprises interposing heat-insulating sheets between the upper part of the inner walls of the mold and the peripheral surface of the poured molten metal within the mold. The heat-insulating sheets are each dimensioned to satisfy predetermined formulas according to casting speed, mold size and other casting conditions such that a central portion of the sheet extends downwardly into the mold to a greater extend than the end portions thereof. An apparatus to practice the above method is also disclosed. The apparatus comprises the heat-insulating sheets which cover an upper part of inner walls of the mold and dimensioned and positioned according to the casting conditions.

Method of and apparatus for continuously or semi-continuously casting

An apparatus for measuring the content of hydrogen dissolved in a molten metal, comprising an immersion head immersed within a batch of the molten metal to bring an inert gas into contact with the molten metal, an inert gas circulating device connected to the immersion head and having gas passages cooperating with the immersion head to form a closed circulatory path for circulating the inert gas a plurality of times through the path to and from the immersion head. The apparatus further comprises a hydrogen gas content measuring device connected to the gas passage for measuring the hydrogen-content of the inert gas flowing through the gas passage, the measuring device comprising a first measuring cell connected to the gas passage and having therein an electric resistance wire exposed to the circulated inert gas containing the hydrogen picked up from the molten metal, and further comprising a second measuring cell filled with atmosphere whose thermal conductivity is substantially equal to that of the inert gas. The measuring device includes a housing block which has portions to define a vacuum chamber surrounding each of the measuring cells in order to thermally separate the cell from the atmosphere surrounding the measuring device. The vacuum chambers for both cells are connected to each other and to a vacuum source. The housing block may be a cylindrical member of metal connected to an evacuation pipe.

Growing community of inventors

Nagoya, Japan

Susumu Inumaru