Horizontal skull melt shot sleeve

A method for melting amorphous alloy comprising:

• positioning a meltable amorphous alloy material in a vessel comprising a substantially tubular body formed of a single piece of material and including a plurality of slots extending through a complete thickness of the body;
• operating an induction source at least partially surrounding the vessel, thereby forming a molten amorphous alloy material, the induction source including a coil at least partially surrounding the slotted portion and including two end portions each having a winding spacing less than a winding spacing of a central portion;
• flowing a fluid in one or more temperature regulating channels within the vessel to regulate a temperature of the vessel during the operating of the induction source;
• and
• moving a plunger through the vessel and into a transfer sleeve to push the molten amorphous alloy material into a mold coupled to the transfer sleeve.

An apparatus comprising:

• a vessel extending along a longitudinal direction from a first end of the vessel to a second end of the vessel and including:
• a monolithic metal structure defining:
• a first continuous annular portion at the first end;
• a second continuous annular portion at the second end;
• a segmented portion positioned between the first and second continuous annular portions and having a plurality of longitudinal slots extending through a complete thickness of the monolithic metal structure;
• and
• an inner bore extending from a first opening at the first end of the vessel to a second opening at the second end of the vessel, the first and second openings having a same diameter;
• an induction coil at least partially surrounding the vessel and configured to induce eddy currents along the inner bore of the monolithic metal structure, wherein the induction coil at least partially surrounds the segmented portion and includes two end portions each having a winding spacing less than a winding spacing of a central portion;
• and
• a plunger tip positioned in the inner bore and configured to extend through the inner bore to move a molten material through the melt zone and into a mold.