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AssigneeNovelis Inc.
InventorsMark Douglas Anderson, Kenneth Takeo Kubo, Todd F. Bischoff, Wayne J. Fenton, Eric W. Reeves, Brent Spendlove, Robert Bruce Wagstaff
Estimating the term…
A method and apparatus are described for the casting of a composite metal ingot having two or more separately formed layers of one or more alloys. An open ended annular mould is provided having a divider wall dividing a feed end of the mould into at least two separate feed chambers. For each pair of adjacent feed chambers, a first alloy stream is fed through one of the pair of feed chambers into the mould and a second alloy stream is fed through another of the feed chambers. A self-supporting surface is generated on the surface of the first alloy stream and the second alloy stream is contacted with the first stream. By carefully selecting conditions and positions where the alloy streams meet, a composite metal ingot is formed in which the alloy layers are mutually attached with a substantially continuous metallurgical bond.
A method of casting a composite metal ingot, comprising at least two layers, wherein pairs of adjacent layers consisting of a first alloy and second alloy are formed by applying the second alloy in a molten state to the surface of the first alloy while the surface of the first alloy is at a temperature between the solidus and liquidus temperatures of the first alloy, said first and second alloys being supplied from a first alloy pool and a second alloy pool, respectively, each of said alloy pools having an upper surface, and the first and second alloys being kept mutually separated prior to applying said second alloy to said surface of said first alloy by a vertical divider wall having a lower end positioned such that the upper surface of the second alloy pool is maintained at a level below the lower end of the divider wall, controlling the temperature of the divider wall to thereby control the temperature of the self-supporting surface of the first alloy at the position where the upper surface of the second alloy contacts the self-supporting surface, and wherein the upper surface of the second alloy pool is maintained no less than 2 mm below the lower end of the divider wall and no greater than 20 mm below the lower end of the divider wall.
A method of casting a composite metal ingot, comprising at least two layers, wherein pairs of adjacent layers consisting of a first alloy and second alloy are formed by applying the second alloy in a molten state to the surface of the first alloy while the surface of the first alloy is at a temperature of between the solidus and liquidus temperatures of the first alloy, the first and second alloys being, prior to said applying of said second alloy to said surface of said first alloy, mutually separated by a divider wall between each of a pair of chambers for dividing a feed of said first alloy from a feed of said second alloy, and wherein the divider wall has a curvature and the curvature of the divider wall is varied during casting.
A method of casting a composite metal ingot, comprising at least two layers, wherein pairs of adjacent layers consisting of a first alloy and second alloy are formed by applying the second alloy in a molten state to the surface of the first alloy while the surface of the first alloy is at a temperature of between the solidus and liquidus temperatures of the first alloy, the first and second alloys being, prior to said applying of said second alloy to said surface of said first alloy, mutually separated by a divider wall between each of a pair of chambers for dividing a feed of said first alloy from a feed of said second alloy, and wherein the divider wall is provided with an outward taper on the face in contact with the first alloy.
A method of casting a composite metal ingot, comprising at least two layers, wherein pairs of adjacent layers consisting of a first alloy and second alloy are formed by applying the second alloy in a molten state to the surface of the first alloy while the surface of the first alloy is at a temperature between the solidus and liquidus temperatures of the first alloy, said first and second alloys being supplied from a first alloy pool and a second alloy pool, respectively, each of said alloy pools having an upper surface, and the first and second alloys being kept mutually separated prior to applying said second alloy to said surface of said first alloy by a vertical divider wall having a lower end positioned such that the upper surface of the second alloy pool is maintained at a level below the lower end of the divider wall, controlling the temperature of the divider wall to thereby control the temperature of the self-supporting surface of the first alloy at the position where the upper surface of the second alloy contacts the self-supporting surface, and wherein the position of one or more of the metal pool upper surfaces is controlled by providing a source of gas, delivering the gas by means of an open ended tube wherein the open end is position at a reference point within a chamber such that in use the open end will lie below the upper surface in that chamber, controlling the flow rate of the gas to maintain a slow flow rate of gas through the tube at a rate sufficient to keep the tube open, measuring the pressure of the gas in the tube, comparing the measured pressure to a predetermined target and adjusting the flow of metal into the chamber to maintain the upper surface at a desired position.
A method for the casting of a metal ingot, which comprises providing an open ended annular mould having a feed end and an exit end wherein molten metal is added at the feed end and a solidified ingot is extracted from the exit end, wherein a stream of molten metal is fed to the feed end to form a pool of metal having an upper surface wherein the position of the upper surface is controlled by providing a source of gas, delivering the gas by means of an open ended tube wherein the open end is positioned at a predetermined reference point within the mould such that the open end lies below the upper surface of the metal pool, controlling the flow rate of the gas to maintain a slow flow rate of gas through the said tube at a rate sufficient to keep the tube open, measuring the pressure of the gas in the tube, comparing the measured pressure to a predetermined target and adjusting the flow of metal into the mould to maintain the surface at a desired position.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.