Effect of configuration on magnetic field in cold crucible using for continuous melting and directional solidification

To improve the power efficiency and optimize the configuration of cold crucible using for continuous melting and directional solidification （DS）, based on experimental verification, 3D finite element （FE） models with various configuration-elements were developed to investigate the magnetic field in cold crucible. Magnetic flux density （B） was measured and calculated under different configuration parameters. These parameters include the inner diameter （D2）, the slit width （d）, the thickness of crucible wall, the section shape of the slit and the shield ring. The results show that the magnetic flux density in z direction （Bz） both at the slit and at the midpoint of segment will increase with the decrease of D2 or with the increase of the width of the slit and the section area of wedge slit or removing the shield ring. In addition, there is a worst wall thickness that can induce the minimum Bz for a cold crucible with a certain outer diameter.

Temperature field calculation on cold crucible continuous melting and directional solidifying Ti50Al alloys

In order to optimize technological parameters and realize directional solidification,temperature fields of cold crucible continuous melting and directional solidifying Ti50Al（mole fraction,%） at different parameters were calculated.Continuous casting of the model is achieved by distinguishing the moving unit at different positions.The calculation results show that the feeding rod is entirely melted at 200 s,the melt of feeding rod has some superheat degree at 300 s under the conditions of 52 kW and 3.0 mm/min.Both the superheat degree and the molten zone of the feeding rod reduce,the solid-liquid interface becomes concave with increasing velocity from 1.2 mm/min to 6.0 mm/min when the power is 52 kW,and the outside layer of the rod cannot be melted at the velocity of 6.0 mm/min.Both superheat degree and the molten zone of the feeding rod increase,the solid-liquid interface descends and becomes concave with increasing power from 48 to 58 kW at velocity of 3.0 mm/min,and the rod cannot be melted entirely when the power is 48 kW.Cold crucible continuous melting and directional solidification of TiAl alloys will be achieved successfully when the pulling velocity and the power are matched appropriately.

Numerical calculation of flow field inside TiAl melt during rectangular cold crucible directional solidification

Numerical investigations on the flow field in Ti-Al melt during rectangular cold crucible directional solidification were carried out. Combined with the experimental results, 3-D finite element models for calculating flow field inside melting pool were established, the characteristics of the flow under different power parameters were further studied. Numerical calculation results show that there is a complex circular flow in the melt, a rapid horizontal flow exists on the solid/liquid interface and those flows confluence in the center of the melting pool. The flow velocity v increases with the increase of current intensity, but the flow patterns remain unchanged. When the current is 1000 A, the vmax reaches 4 mm/s and the flow on the interface achieves 3 mm/s. Flow patterns are quite different when the frequency changes from 10 kHz to 100 kHz, the mechanism of the frequency influence on the flow pattern is analyzed, and there is an optimum frequency for cold crucible directional solidification.

Electromagnetic characteristics of square cold crucible designed for silicon preparation

In the present work, the strength and distribution of electromagnetic field in the square cold crucible that designed for casting multicrystalline silicon were measured and analyzed by using a small coil method. The results show that in the perpendicular direction the maximum of magnetic flux density （B） appears at the position slightly above the middle of the coil, and then B attenuates toward both sides, and decreases more to the bottom of the crucible. In the horizontal direction, from the edge （comer） to the center, B firstly decreases gradually, and then slightly increases in the center. While along the inner sides of the crucible, the distribution is relatively uniform, especially in the effective acting range. B increases with the increasing of the input power. Moving the coil to the top of the crucible, B increases and the effective acting range of the electromagnetic field becomes bigger. For the coils with different turns, the five turns coil can induce the highest magnetic flux density.

THE ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELD CALCULATION AND ANALYSIS OF LEVITATION MELTING WITH COLD CRUCIBLE

In this paper, using the quasi-3D coupled current method, the influences of structure of cold crucible, the power frequency, the electricity property of melt, the coil position and current on the electromagnetic field (EMF) and the levitation characteristics in the melting processes are analyzed. It is shown that in the processes of levitation melting with cold crucible, the power frequency and cold crucible structure are the decisive factors for the ability of magnetic flux penetrating into cold crucible. The magnetic flux density in cold crucible is reduced as the increasing of power frequency, and this tendency becomes stronger when the power frequency is higher than 100kHz. The segmented structure of cold crucible can reduce the induction eddy in itself effectively, and the higher the power frequency is, the better the result is. So, a cold crucible can be segmented into 16-20 sectors for high frequency electromagnetic field and/or 8-12 sectors for lower frequency one. It is also shown that the levitation force of melting charge is related to coil current as a parabolic function.

Effect of power parameter and induction coil on magnetic field in cold crucible during continuous melting and directional solidification

Bottomless electromagnetic cold crucible is a new apparatus for continuous melting and directional solidification;however,improving its power efficiency and optimizing the configuration are important for experiment and production.In this study,a 3-D finite element (FE) method based on experimental verification was applied to calculate the magnetic flux density (Bz).The effects of the power parameters and the induction coil on the magnetic field distribution in the cold crucible were investigated.The results show that higher current intensity and lower frequency are beneficial to the increase of Bz at both the segment midpoint and the slit location.The induction coil with racetrack section can induce greater Bz,and a larger gap between the induction coil and the shield ring increases Bz.The mechanism for this effect is also discussed.

Electromagnetic characteristics of cold crucible in an induction coil for melting purpose

The electromagnetic characteristics of cold wall crucible, especially its field strength and distribution, were evaluated experimentally, in which the effects of parameters as input power and position were also discussed. The results showed that the magnetic induction intensity （B） increased with the increase of the input power. Along the radial direction inside the cold crucible, B is the strongest at the edges, and gradually attenu- ated from the edges to the center. While along the axial direction, B is the strongest at the center, and gradually attenuated from the center to the edges. Corresponding with the calculation on electromagnetic field distribution inside the coil without cold crucible, the effects of cold crucible on the electromagnetic field have been reduced by comparing measured and calculated results. However, it was also found that the value of B strength will be decreased to about 50% of its original proposition without cold crucible due to the electromagnetic shielding effect, which will be the understanding for mehing turns in cold crucible.

Progress in research on cold crucible directional solidification of titanium based alloys

Cold crucible directional solidification(CCDS)is a newly developed technique,which combines the advantages of the cold crucible and continuous melting.It can be applied to directionally solidify reactive,high purity and refractory materials.This paper describes the principle of CCDS and its characteristics;development of the measurement and numerical calculation of the magnetic field,flow field and temperature field in CCDS;and the CCDS of Ti based alloys.The paper also reviews original data obtained by some scholars,including the present authors,reported in separate publications in recent years.In Ti based alloys,Ti6Al4V,TiAl alloys and high Nb-containing TiAl alloys,have been directionally solidified in different cold crucibles.The crosssections of the cold crucibles include round,near rectangular and square with different sizes.Tensile testing results show that the elongation of directionally solidified Ti6Al4V can be improved to 12.7%from as cast5.4%.The strength and the elongation of the directionally solidified Ti47Al2Cr2Nb and Ti44Al6Nb1.0Cr2.0V are 650 MPa/3%and 602.5MPa/1.20%,respectively.The ingots after CCDS can be used to prepare turbine or engine blades,and are candidates to replace Ni super-alloy at temperatures of 700 to 900°C.

Continuous melting and directional solidification of silicon ingot with an electromagnetic cold crucible

In order to avoid contamination from the crucible and to modify the structures,a new solidification method based on cold crucible technology was used to prepare silicon ingots.A silicon ingot with square cross section was directionally solidified with a cold crucible.The mechanism of the cold crucible directional solidification of silicon ingot was revealed.Due to the induction heat that was released in the surface layer and the incomplete contact between the crucible and the melt,the lateral heat loss was reduced and the silicon ingot was directionally solidified.The structures,dislocation defects and the grain growth orientation of the ingot were determined.The results show that neither intergranular nor intragranular precipitates are found in the ingot,except for the top part that was the last to solidify.The average dislocation density is about 1 to 2×106 cm-2.The grains are preferentially <220> orientated.

Process on cold crucible electromagnetic casting for titanium alloy

The parameters and factors that influence the surface quality and macrostructure of titanium alloy with reactive properties under liquid state were studied experimentally using a cold crucible electromagnetic casting method. The variations in the process parameters have great impact on the surface quality and macrostructure of cast billets. Billets with crack free and smooth surfaces as well as directional solidified primary structures were obtained after the selection of optimized process parameters. The formation mechanisms of defects such as cracks and non-directional structural morphology were interpreted briefly. Finally,the casting of billets with good outer qualities and inner column grains has been attained successfully,which in turn gives a solid foundation for further development of the technology.

Effects of processing parameters on the surface quality of directionally solidified tita-nium alloy slab with cold crucible

Experiments of continuous and directional solidification of titanium alloy slabs were performed using authors-designed multi-function directional solidification apparatus with rectangular cold crucible. Influences of processing parameters on the surface qualities of the solidified slabs were studied. It is shown that the slab surface qualities can be effectively improved with increasing of the turns in coil and input power, and with decreasing of withdrawal velocity and relatively low position of pedestal to the induction coil. The influences of the processing parameters in the descending order are as follows: the turns in coil, input power, withdrawal velocity and the relative position of pedestal. With optimized parameters, quality slabs free from cracks and ripples were obtained. The solidified structure with good surface quality shows directionally solidified structure.

High-temperature deformation resistance and creep resistance of a TiAl-based alloy fabricated by cold crucible directional solidification technology

In order to improve the high-temperature deformation resistance and creep resistance of TiAl-based alloys,cold crucible directional solidification(CCDS)technology was employed.Aβ-type TiAl-based alloy with the nominal composition of Ti44Al6Nb1Cr2V was prepared using the optimized CCDS parameters of 45 kW input power and 0.5 mm·min^-1 solidification rate.Thermo-compression testing was utilized to evaluate the hightemperature deformation resistance and creep resistance of the CCDS Ti44Al6Nb1Cr2V alloy.Results show that the CCDS Ti44Al6Nb1Cr2V alloy billets contain aligned columnar grains and a high percentage of small-angle lamellae.Thermo-compression testing results in the radial direction of the CCDS alloy show a much higher peak stress than other reported results in similar conditions.The much higher hardening exponent and deformation activation energy are obtained,corresponding to the excellent high-temperature deformation resistance and creep resistance,which are because of the hard-oriented grains,weaker stress-strain coordination capability of lamella structure and relatively more hysteretic dynamic recrystallization.Thermo-compression testing results in the longitudinal direction of the CCDS Ti44Al6Nb1Cr2V alloy show the much higher peak stress than that in the radial direction,indicating the better high-temperature deformation resistance and creep resistance attributed to the hard-oriented lamellae in this condition.

Preparation and Microstructure Evaluation of Directionally Solidified Nd-Fe-B Ingots by Electromagnetic Cold Crucible

In this paper Nd-Fe-B ingots with hyper-peritectic composition were prepared through continuous and directional solidification by a novel electromagnetic cold crucible approach.A group of experiments were carried out in order to investigate the effects of input power and withdrawal velocity on the microstructure and growth orientation of Nd-Fe-B phases.It was found that the peritectic Nd;Fe;B phase grows with a planar interface at lower withdrawal velocity and changed into the dendritic interface at higher withdrawal velocity.The result was explained by the theory of constitutional supercooling.Meanwhile the volume fraction of ferromagnetic T;phase was found to be increased first and then decreased with the increasing of withdrawal velocity during the growth process of the ingots.

Innovative Inductive Cold Crucible Configurations With Improved Efficiency

The inductive cold crucible is a very interesting tool for processing materials by magnetic field without pollution.It is more and more used in various areas like in aeronautic,photovoltaic,waste recycling industries and also for medical applications.As the cold cracible in its current state of art has a low energetic efficiency,the better comprehension of this process thanks to recently improved multiphysic modeling tools and experimental measurements gives some guidelines for experimenting new kinds of cold crucibles.These elements are presented in this paper, especially the numerical modeling and first tests operated on a'thin shaped cold crucible'which seems very promising concerning the efficiency improvement and also a better overheating of liquid charge.