Direct chill casting of lithium-containing alloys
AssigneeAluminum Company of America
InventorsJohn E. Jacoby, Ho Yu, Robert A. Ramser
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method for continuously casting lithium-containing alloys by a direct chill process includes cooling the alloy to form a continuous ingot having a solid shell and further cooling the ingot by direct chill with an organic coolant. The organic coolant in one aspect includes a modified hydrocarbon fluid, e.g., ethylene glycol, having less than a predetermined moisture content. The method includes recirculating coolant while controlling moisture content. An ingot formed by the present invention provides small dendrite arm spacing in a relatively large size ingot.
Claims21
In a process for continuously casting a metal allow comprising cooling molten alloy in a shell-forming zone and further cooling said alloy by direct chill with a coolant to form a continuous ingot, the improvement comprising:
- casting lithium-containing alloy;
- performing said direct chill cooling with a coolant comprising a modified hydrocarbon coolant containing less than a predetermined level of moisture content;
- and
- recirculating said coolant continuously to perform said direct chill cooling while controlling said moisture content.
A method of continuously casting a lithium-containing alloy comprising:
- cooling a lithium-containing alloy sufficiently to form a continuous ingot having a substantially solid shell;
- cooling said ingot by direct chill with an organic coolant;
- and
- controlling moisture content in said organic coolant.
A method of continuously casting a lithium-containing light metal alloy comprising:
- cooling a lithium-containing light metal alloy sufficiently to form a continuous ingot having a substantially solid shell;
- and
- cooling said ingot by direct chill with an organic coolant capable of providing a direct chill comprising a rapid quench to form a shell of sufficient thickness substantially to avoid bleed-outs and a subsequent lower heat transfer for stress relief.
In a process for continuously casting a metal alloy comprising cooling molten alloy in a shell-forming zone and further cooling said alloy by direct chill with a coolant to form a continuous ingot, the improvement comprising:
- casting lithium-containing alloy;
- and
- performing said direct chill cooling with a coolant comprising ethylene glycol.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.