Method for producing a solidified lightweight aluminium or magnesium alloy

A method for producing a solidified lightweight alloy based on aluminium or magnesium as lightweight metal, wherein the lightweight alloy has a liquidus temperature and a solidus temperature, and a predetermined difference between the liquidus and the solidus temperature, and wherein the lightweight alloy comprises the lightweight metal and one or more alloying elements, the method comprises the steps of:

• providing at least one starting composition for producing the lightweight alloy, including at least one lightweight metal based composition which comprises predominantly the lightweight metal;
• producing the lightweight alloy in a form of a melt from the at least one starting composition;
• ejecting the lightweight alloy melt from at least one nozzle;
• and
• rapidly solidifying the lightweight alloy melt exiting the at least one nozzle thereby producing the solidified lightweight alloy, the lightweight alloy melt exiting the at least one nozzle having a predetermined temperature upon exiting the at least one nozzle and being cooled down within a predetermined period of time to the solidus temperature of the lightweight alloy at an average cooling rate which is determined as a ratio of the difference between the predetermined temperature and the solidus temperature over the predetermined period of time and which is in particular higher than 10,000° C./sec,
• wherein
• the lightweight metal based composition is heated, in a first heating step, to a first temperature which is lower than the liquidus temperature to produce a melt of the lightweight metal based composition having the first temperature, which lightweight metal based composition melt is supplied through a piping to the at least one nozzle;
• and
• the lightweight alloy melt, which comprises at least the lightweight metal based composition melt, is heated in the piping to have a second temperature before being ejected from the at least one nozzle, which second temperature is higher than the first temperature and is at least 75% of the liquidus/solidus temperature difference higher than the solidus temperature.