Development and application of titanium alloy casting technology in China

The development and research of titanium cast alloy and its casting technology, especially its application in aeronautical industry in China are presented. The technology of molding, melting and casting of titanium alloy, casting quality control are introduced. The existing problems and development trend in titanium alloy casting technology are also discussed.

Status quo and development trend of lost foam casting technology

Lost foam casting(LFC)technology has been widely applied to cast iron and cast steel.However,the development of LFC for Al and Mg alloys was relatively slower than that for cast iron and cast steel.The application of LFC to Al and Mg alloys needs more effort,especially in China.In this paper,the development history of LFC is reviewed,and the application situations of LFC to Al and Mg alloys are mainly discussed.Meanwhile,the key problems of LFC for Al and Mg alloys are also pointed out.Finally,the prospects for LFC technology are discussed,and some special new LFC technologies are introduced for casting Al and Mg alloys.In future,the development trends of green LFC technology mainly focus on the special new LFC methods,metal material,coating,heat treatment,new foam materials as well as purification technology of tail gas,etc.

Application of 3D stereoscopic visualization technology in casting aspect

3D stereoscopic visualization technology is coming into more and more common use in the field of entertainment,and this technology is also beginning to cut a striking figure in casting industry and scientific research.The history,fundamental principle,and devices of 3D stereoscopic visualization technology are reviewed in this paper.The authors’research achievements on the 3D stereoscopic visualization technology in the modeling and simulation of the casting process are presented.This technology can be used for the observation of complex 3D solid models of castings and the simulated results of solidification processes such as temperature,fluid flow,displacement,stress strain and microstructure,as well as the predicted defects such as shrinkage/porosity,cracks,and deformation.It can also be used for other areas relating to 3D models,such as assembling of dies,cores,etc.Several cases are given to compare the illustration of simulated results by traditional images and red-blue 3D stereoscopic images.The spatial shape is observed better by the new method.The prospect of3D stereoscopic visualization in the casting aspect is discussed as well.The need for aided-viewing devices is still the most prominent problem of 3D stereoscopic visualization technology.However,3D stereoscopic visualization represents the tendency of visualization technology in the future;and as the problem is solved in the years ahead,great breakthroughs will certainly be made for its application in casting design and modeling and simulation of the casting processes.

Property Characteristics of a TiB_(2P)/Al Composite Fabricated by Squeeze Casting Technology

TiB2P/Al composite was successfully fabricated by squeeze casting technology.Its mechanical and tribological properties were evaluated .The elimination of Ti-Al intermetallic compound was confirmed by X-ray diffraction （XRD）studies.At 45% volume fraction ,the bending strength at ambient temperature was 934 MPa.And the fracture modes included ductile failure of Al matrix and brittle fracture of TiB2 pqrticles.In dry sliding wear mode ,severe plastic deformation and adhesive wear were found on te worn surfaces of the SiCP/Al composite .But no obvious characteristics of adhesion or abrasion wear were observed on that of the TiB2P/Al composites .At the stedady stage ,the friction coefficient of the SiCP/Al composite was about 0.6 .While that of TiB2P/Al composite was only only about 0.16-0.17.

Preparation of QTi4.3-4Graghite Composite by Semi-solid Casting Technology

The electromagnetic-mechanical stirring technology was employed for preparing QTi4.3-4 graghite composite slurry,and QTi4.3-4 graghite composite with uniform distribution of graphite particles was prepared uring the semi-solid casting technology successfully.The structure of this QTi4.3-4graphite composite was studied and the condition for uniform distribution of graphite particles was got.The experimental results show that there exists a linear relationship between the solid fraction and the stirring temperature of QTi4.3-4graphite slurry.With the decreasing of stirring temperature,the solid fraction of QTi4.3-4 graghite slurry increases constantly.In casting,with the increasing of solid fraction of QTi4.3-4 graphite slurry.the agglomeration of graphite particles is removed gradually.When the solid fraction is higher than 40%,graphite particles can distribute evenly in QTi4.3-4 graghite composite.

Recent Development of Lost Foam Casting Technology Comment on the 7th Chinese Lost Foam Casting Symposium

The 7th Chinese Lost Foam Casting (LFC) Symposium & the 1st LFC Technology Exposition were held on May 21-23 at Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (NUAA), and the conference theme was "Recent development of lost foam casting technology". Prof. TAO Jie, the Executive Chairman of the conference and the Vice Director of LFC Committee of Foundry Institution of Chinese Mechanical Engineering Society(FICMES), chaired the inauguration. Prof. NIE Hong, the Vice President of NUAA, represented the host address and expressed welcome and gratitude to all the guests from home and abroad. He said the development of the technologies, environmental protection and the trade globalization require to continually improve the performance of products, and accurately select proper material and the manufacturing technology. As the revolutionary technology in casting development history, LFC technology has brought a brand-new change for the machine design and casting production. He hoped the conference would be beneficial to the development of Chinese LFC technololy and wished the symposium a complete success! Prof. YE Sheng-ping, the Executive Chairman of the conference and the Director of LFC Committee of FICMES, gave the opening address and read out the congratulations of F. J. Woestmann (Director of Germany LFC Technology Council), Wolfgang (General Manager of Storopack Hans Reichenecker Group), G Sedlmair Heiko (LFC project director of Teubert Maschinenbau GmbH), etc. Patrice Juton, the Sale Manager of Storopack Group, gave a speech on behalf of the conference delegates.

A Research on Investment Casting Technology of Ti Alloys

In this research, the materials and the compositions of the surface slurries were chosen by considering the characteristics of Ti investment casting. The effects of solid-liquid ratios on the properties of the slurry and the effects of baking temperatures on the flexural strength have also been investigated. Flawless shells having smooth inner surface were manufactured with proper technology. Ti and its alloys were melted and poured by water-cooled Cu crucible vacuum induction furnace. The qualities of the investment castings made accordingly were studied and analyzed.

New Argon Stopper Technology for Slab Casting

Argon addition into the casting channel reduces the amount of clogging on the refractory wall to allow long sequence casting of aluminium-killed steel grades.The key to minimum surface defects on the final product is to establish the optimum quantity by optimising the gas distribution below the stopper nose.This is achieved by new argon stopper technology which supports low gas quantities with homogeneous gas and bubble distributions to float non-metallic inclusions(NMI)in the continuous casting mould.

Two semi-solid die-casting production lines of Xuzhou Die- casting Technology Co., Ltd. officially put into operation

The two production lines for the first phase of the semi-solid die-casting high-end parts project were put into production in this October, and can monthly produce more than 30 thousand die casting parts.

Focusing on Technology and Services, Competing in China Die Casting Market

The Asia-Pacific Die Casting Industry Exhibition 2005, organized by Foundry Institution of Chinese Mechanical Engineering Society （FICMES）, was held in INTEX Shanghai, China on August 14-17, 2005. On August 16th, the journalists of CHINA FOUNDRY journal visited five exhibitors on the spot of exhibition. They are： Mr. Roland FINK, General manager of Frech （Shanghai） Die Casting Machine Co. Ltd.; Mr. Thomas STROBL, General manager of Buhler Equipment Engineering （Wuxi） Co. Ltd., Switzerland; Mr. WANG Tong, Manager of ABB Engineering （Shanghai） Co. Ltd.; Ms. Karen LUO, National Sales Manager-Die Casting, Chem-Trend （Shanghai） Trading Co. Ltd.; and Mr. David ZHOU, Sales Supervisor of Acheson, the National Starch ＆ Chemical （Shanghai） Company.

Recent development of ductile cast iron production technology in China

Recent progress in the production and technology of ductile cast iron castings in China is reviewed. The manufacture and process control of as-cast ductile iron are discussed. The microstructure, properties and application of partial austenitization normalizing ductile iron and austempered ductile iron (ADI) are briefly depicted. The new development of ductile iron production techniques, such as cored-wire injection (wire-feeding nodularization) process, tundish cover ladle nodularizing process, horizontal continuous casting, and EPC process (lost foam) for ductile iron castings, etc., are summarized.

An improved cross entropy algorithm for steelmaking-continuous casting production scheduling with complicated technological routes

In order to increase productivity and reduce energy consumption of steelmaking-continuous casting(SCC) production process, especially with complicated technological routes, the cross entropy(CE) method was adopted to optimize the SCC production scheduling(SCCPS) problem. Based on the CE method, a matrix encoding scheme was proposed and a backward decoding method was used to generate a reasonable schedule. To describe the distribution of the solution space, a probability distribution model was built and used to generate individuals. In addition, the probability updating mechanism of the probability distribution model was proposed which helps to find the optimal individual gradually. Because of the poor stability and premature convergence of the standard cross entropy(SCE) algorithm, the improved cross entropy(ICE) algorithm was proposed with the following improvements: individual generation mechanism combined with heuristic rules, retention mechanism of the optimal individual, local search mechanism and dynamic parameters of the algorithm. Simulation experiments validate that the CE method is effective in solving the SCCPS problem with complicated technological routes and the ICE algorithm proposed has superior performance to the SCE algorithm and the genetic algorithm(GA).

Review of production status of heavysteel castings and key technologies for their manufacture in China

This paper expatiates on domestic status of heavy steel casting production, with a special focus on hydraulicturbine castings for Three Gorges Project. In China, there is magnificent demand for heavy castings with the rapidgrowth of the national economy in recent years and the expected high growth in the coming 10 to 20 years. Someheavy and large castings such as mill housing and hydraulic turbine runner crown, blade and band for Three GorgesProject have been successfully made. However, the domestic production capability is still far from meeting the giganticrequirements. The domestic capability still lags behind the world class level, and a lot of heavy castings still dependon import. The paper also gives a particular introduction of the key technologies in the manufacturing of heavy steelcastings like metal melting, foundry technology, heat treatment technology and numerical simulation technique, etc.In addition, several case studies on the application of numerical simulation in the production of heavy steel castingsare presented.

Application of Automation and Intellectualization Technology in Steelmaking Plant

Steelmaking plant of Fujian San Gang min Guang Co.,Ltd.is keeping pace with the trend of the times.Under the new situation that the labor cost is rising day by day.Constantly introducing intelligent technology to improve the level of automation operation and reducing labor intensity of staff and workers.Especially under the support of MES information system.Advanced and practical technology is adopted in converter,refining and continuous casting process.In recent years,production management and control,energy management and control,material tracking,cost control and equipment operation and maintenance and reducing personnel to new achieve-ments in reducing personnel.

Technological Investigation on the Continuous Casting of Mid-Width Thin Slabs

Continuous casting of thin slabs is a key state project for 7th and sth five -year plans. On thebasis of foundamental works , CISRI condueted the tests of 102 heats in Lanzhou Steel Works in the periodof January 1991- June 1992. Three slab assortments of 50× 900 mm . 70 × 900 mm , 70 × 500 mm were ex-amined. In June of 1992, 412 t steel of 46 heats were cast with the efficiency of 91. 3 %. This. result meetsthe requiremeni of the state in this period. The mould, hedt transfer . casting technology and factors influ-encing slab’s qualities are investigated as well.

Sharing casting technological data on web site

Based on database and asp.net technologies,a web platform of scientific data in the casting technology field has been developed.This paper presents the relevant data system structure,the approaches to the data collection,the applying methods and policy in data sharing,and depicts the collected and shared data recently finished.Statistics showed that there are about 20,000 visitors in China every day visiting the related data through the web,proving that many engineers or other relevant persons are interested in the data.

基于AnyCasting的镁合金缸盖结构设计与工艺参数优化

在实际压铸试验的基础上,提出了合理的铸件结构和压铸工艺参数。利用AnyCasting软件求解了不同工艺参数和铸件结构对铸件充型、凝固过程的影响规律。在现有的镁合金汽车缸盖铸件条件下,根据凝固规律重点研究了铸件中可能存在的缩松、缩孔分布与尺寸。结果表明:优化的铸件结构以及优化的压铸工艺参数(浇注温度680℃,模具温度190℃,冲头低速速度0.2 m/s,高速压射速度为6 m/s,真空度30 kPa)能够明显降低铸件凝固时间以及减少铸件内部缩松、缩孔数量;同时在优化设计的基础上,结合阿基米德原理和力学性能测试验证了工艺参数和铸件结构的合理性,生产出了具有致密微观组织的镁合金零件。

Research progress on squeeze casting in China

Squeeze casting is a technology with short route,high efficiency and precise forming,possessing features of casting and plastic processing.It is widely used to produce high performance metallic structural parts.As energy conservation and environmental protection concerns have risen,lightweight and high performance metal parts are urgently needed,which accelerated the development of squeeze casting technology over the past two decades in China.In this paper,research progress on squeeze casting alloys,typical parts manufacturing and development of squeeze casting equipment in China are introduced.The future trend and development priorities of squeeze casting are discussed.