Vader plasma arc casting

Abstract

A method of casting high melting point metal such as refractory metals into ngots to provide substantially improved strength and density. A quantity of high melting point metal is placed in an arc area of a furnace having a "T" shaped vacuum chamber with a pair of opposing electrodes which generate an arc to cause droplets of the metal to melt from the heat thereby generated. The droplets fall into a mold positioned to receive the droplets and shaped to form the desired ingot. The method includes an additional step of further heating the droplets as they fall into the mold with a plasma arc gun mounted inside the furnace. The gun is directed to impinge its heat torch to control the rate of solidification such that a small pool of the liquid phase is maintained on the ingot. The last step comprises solidifying the molten metal in the ingot by controlling the plasma arc gun and the heat generated from it.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.