Method of and apparatus for continuous casting of metal

Abstract

Insulators, heated to a temperature which prevents solidification thereon, are used to confine all but one side of a continuous flow of initially-liquid metal alloy until it is solidified. The remaining side is confined by a thermally conductive material which is cooled by means to provide for essentially unidirectional rapid solidification of the alloy flow. Operational control and product quality are enhanced by establishing and conditioning a surface film on the liquid metal to be cast by controlling the gaseous environment available to the liquid metal prior to contact with the thermally conductive chill. The method and apparatus can produce cast strip with minimal shrinkage porosity from alloys with wide freezing ranges. The cast product is suitable for producing wrought products of high quality. The method is particularly applicable to aluminous alloys.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.