Method and apparatus for casting, hot rolling and annealing non-heat treatment aluminum alloys
AssigneeAlcoa Inc.
InventorJ. Daniel Bryant
Life of this patent
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Abstract
This invention provides a method and apparatus for casting, hot rolling and annealing of non-heat treatable aluminum alloys which comprises continuously casting, hot rolling and, in-line with the hot rolling line, heating the aluminum sheet using infrared heat. The infrared heating system uses a control to assure that the aluminum alloy is heated to the proper temperature based on one or a number of process variables, such as hot rolling exit temperature, hot rolled product exit rate in terms of speed and product dimensions, and sheet temperature at the exit of the infrared heater. Variations in the infrared heating temperature can be tolerated in the product without deviating from target mechanical properties.
Claims9
In a method of casting, hot rolling, and annealing non-heat treatable aluminum alloys, whereby a cast product is directly hot rolled to form a hot rolled product, and the hot rolled product is directly annealed to form a final annealed product, the improvement comprising:
- (a) using latent heat in the hot rolled product while heating the hot rolled product through the use of an infrared heater from an elevated temperature caused by hot rolling to a final annealing temperature to form the final annealed product;
- and
- (b) controlling the infrared heating using a control based on at least one operating parameter.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.