Method and apparatus for processing a liquid alloy
OwnerQingyou Haninventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method and apparatus for producing solid alloy components from its liquid state are provided. The molten alloy is rapidly cooled using a chill to temperatures below the thermosolutal transition temperature of the alloy. Finite-amplitude acoustic vibration is applied on the chill to shake off dendrites that form on the chill surface, to stir the slurry containing the fragments of dendrites, and to shake off slurry material that sticks on the surface of the chill as the chill is separating from the slurry. The slurry is then immediately poured into a chamber of a forming machine or a mold cavity shaped into solid components.
Claims19
A method of producing a metallic component from its liquid alloy, comprising of:
- preparing a liquid alloy that is free from its primary solid phase material and transferring a predetermined quantity of liquid alloy to a holding vessel or a trough;
- contacting the liquid alloy in the holding vessel with a vibration coupled chill to form solid crystals on the chill-liquid interfaces, and to rapidly cool the bulk of the molten alloy to below its thermosolutal transition temperature;
- vibrating the chill to shake off the solid crystals formed on the chill surfaces, to drive them to the bulk liquid, and to cause forced convection to mix the solid-liquid mixture containing a small fraction of non-dendritic solid crystals;
- separating the chill from the mixture after the solid content in the slurry has risen to 1% to 20% while vibrating the chill to shake off the slurry that may stick to the surfaces of the chill;
- and
- pouring the slurry containing a small fraction of non-dendritic solid particles into a component forming apparatus and shaping the slurry into a desired solid component.
An apparatus for direct production of a slurry containing a small fraction of non-dendritic solid particles from a liquid alloy for subsequent forming into solid alloy components, comprising of:
- a vessel or a trough for containing a quantity of liquid alloy and for pouring the slurry into another fast cooling chamber of a forming apparatus or a mold cavity;
- a plurality of a solid chill containing at least one chill block for rapidly cooling the liquid metal in the vessel;
- and
- a plurality of a small-amplitude vibrator coupled to the chill for producing non-dendritic solid particles in the liquid and for shaking of the slurry material that sticks on the surfaces of the chill while it is separating from the slurry.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.