ELMACAST ™ - CASTING TECHNOLOGY OF ALUMINUM ALLOYS IN AN ELECTROMAGNETIC CRYSTALLIZER (EMC)

Contactless production of long ingots of small cross-section from aluminum alloys with unique physical and mechanical properties. Developed by LLC RPC Magnetic hydrodynamics, Krasnoyarsk

ELMACAST ™ - CASTING TECHNOLOGY OF ALUMINUM ALLOYS IN AN ELECTROMAGNETIC CRYSTALLIZER (EMC)

Contactless production of long ingots of small cross-section from aluminum alloys with unique physical and mechanical properties. Developed by LLC RPC Magnetic hydrodynamics, Krasnoyarsk
Unique properties of products
ElmaCast™ technology allows to obtain previously unavailable alloy compositions (high-alloyed) and new physical and mechanical properties of the final product by controlling the structure formation of the alloy under electromagnetic action during crystallization.
Promising products
Products obtained by casting into an electromagnetic crystallizer using ElmaCast ™ technology are of interest to the needs of industry: wire manufacturers, cable, aviation, shipbuilding, mechanical engineering and other industries.
High marks from metallurgists
This technology makes it possible to solve two important problems of metallurgy: to ensure the purity of the metal in terms of non-metallic inclusions and to obtain a homogeneous and dispersed structure in ingots, comparable to granules.
Technology development
Improvement of ElmaCast™ is due to an integrated approach: theoretical base, industrial experience, mathematical and physical modeling, as well as in-house production and the laboratory of LLC RPC Magnetic Hydrodynamics for the study of product samples.
Unique properties of products
ElmaCast™ technology allows to obtain previously unavailable alloy compositions (high-alloyed) and new physical and mechanical properties of the final product by controlling the structure formation of the alloy under electromagnetic action during crystallization.
Promising products
Products obtained by casting into an electromagnetic crystallizer using ElmaCast ™ technology are of interest to the needs of industry: wire manufacturers, cable, aviation, shipbuilding, mechanical engineering and other industries.
High marks from metallurgists
This technology makes it possible to solve two important problems of metallurgy: to ensure the purity of the metal in terms of non-metallic inclusions and to obtain a homogeneous and dispersed structure in ingots, comparable to granules.
Technology development
Improvement of ElmaCast™ is due to an integrated approach: theoretical base, industrial experience, mathematical and physical modeling, as well as in-house production and the laboratory of LLC RPC Magnetic Hydrodynamics for the study of product samples.
PRODUCTS
RPC Magnetic Hydrodynamics carries out casting in EMC of continuously cast billets Ø8-12 mm using ElmaCast ™ technology, production of final products and analysis of samples in its own laboratory
PRODUCTS
RPC Magnetic Hydrodynamics carries out casting in EMC of continuously cast billets Ø8-12 mm using ElmaCast ™ technology, production of final products and analysis of samples in its own laboratory
Другая продукция
REVIEWS
REVIEWS
Valery Zakharov
Head of the laboratory of materials science and technology of light alloys of JSC "VILS", Doctor of Technical Sciences
The Research and Production Center of Magnetic Hydrodynamics has developed a unique industrial technology for continuous casting of small-diameter round ingots into an electromagnetic crystallizer with direct cooling of the crystallizing metal surface with water. "The technology provides high cooling rates in the crystallization temperature range of 103-104 K / s. This makes it possible to cast ingots from alloys with a high content of refractory transition and rare earth metals Zr, Hf, Ti, V, Mo, fixing these alloying components in a solid aluminum solution , and avoid the formation of undesirable primary intermetallic compounds. Such ingots can be used as billets for production by subsequent processing of wire, including thin wire for aircraft wires, welding wire, wire for use in additive technologies, for hardening surfacing.The developed technology is an alternative to labor-intensive and expensive granule technology, surpassing the latter in the quality of the resulting wire. The industrial experiment melting of aluminum alloys with a high content of transition and rare-earth metals and the wire obtained from them, confirmed the uniqueness and advantages of the developed technology.
Nikolay Belov
Professor of the Department of Metal Forming by Pressure, NUST "MISiS", Doctor of Technical Sciences
The use of casting technology in an electromagnetic field has made it possible to obtain a unique heat-resistant wire of increased strength. The achieved thermally stable structure (up to 400 ° C) is significantly superior in thermal stability to the known aluminum alloys (up to 250-300 ° C).

Previously, alloys with such a structure were attempted to be produced using a complex and expensive technology, including ultrafast crystallization of the melt, preparation of granules, and subsequent methods of powder metallurgy.
Maxim Murashkin
Head of the group "Bulk nanostructured aluminum alloys for electrical and structural purposes", Senior Researcher, Scientific Research Institute FPM USATU, Ph.D.
The technology of casting in an EMC, which is being developed at the LLC RPC Magnetic Hydrodynamics, is very attractive for use in the production of alloys alloyed with elements with a very limited solubility in aluminum. Such elements, for example, include REM of the cerium group, iron, etc. The unique conditions of crystallization, realized during casting in an EMC, make it possible to form microstructures in such alloys, already in the initial cast state, containing nanosized particles of the second phases. Their small size, as well as the large length of interphase boundaries under certain conditions of thermal or deformation-thermal effects, opens up new possibilities for controlling the complex of properties of aluminum alloys and even for creating a new class of structural and electrical materials based on it.

In addition, the use of casting technologies in an EMC can be very promising in the production of alloys such as solid solutions based on the Al-Si, Al-Ca, and Al-PM systems. Ultra-high crystallization rates in the implementation of this type of casting can provide anomalous supersaturation of the aluminum solid solution in such alloys and make it possible to maximize the hardening effect in them during precipitation hardening and, therefore, to achieve a new level of properties.
Valentin Konkevich
Professor of the Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Professional Education "MATI - Russian State Technological University named after K.E. Tsiolkovsky ", Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor
At present, the most alloyed welding wires for welding and additive technologies, which provide high strength of welded seams and deposited layers, are wires made of Sv1571 and Scalmalloy aluminum alloys. These alloys are alloyed with scandium, which dissolves well in aluminum and does not form primary intermetallic compounds in the ingot even with a Sc content of ~ 0.7 wt%. Experiments on the creation of wires alloyed with transition metals have shown that an effective way to obtain a dispersed structure of transition metal intermetallic compounds in aluminum is the use of the method of electromagnetic crystallization when casting an ingot of small diameter. Based on the research results, it can be concluded that casting small-section ingots with a diameter of 8-12 mm into an electromagnetic crystallizer is a promising method for creating wire for additive technology.
Victor Demidovich
Chief Researcher, St. Petersburg Electrotechnical University (LETI), Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor
Casting technology in an EMC gave a colossal effect in comparison with casting in a direct chill mold due to the reduction of waste in the preparation of ingots for further processing. The surface of the ingots from the direct chill mold is stripped to a thickness of up to 20 mm, and the ingot from the EMC comes out with a mirror surface. Moreover, RPC MHD managed to reduce the size of the ingot to the size of the boundary zone of ultrafast crystallization of the metal due to accelerated cooling. The proposed equipment has great potential both for the development of technology and for the production of new alloys with unique physical and mechanical properties, structure and chemical composition.
Galina Usynina
Head of the independent laboratory of K&K LLC, Ph.D.
The technology is fundamentally different from the existing ones. Crystallization of liquid metal occurs in a high-frequency electromagnetic field with a direct supply of coolant to the ingot. Due to this and the intense magnetohydrodynamic effect at the phase interface, high cooling rates (over 100 K / s) are achieved, which ensures the production of long billets with a dispersed structure, as in the granular technology, which is complex and expensive. At the same time, all the regularities revealed during the development of granular aluminum alloys can be transferred and used when choosing alloys manufactured using this technology.
Torgom Hakobyan
Senior Researcher, Department of Metal Pressure Processing, NUST "MISiS", Ph.D.
When casting the alloy proposed by us on this equipment, it was possible to obtain a high-strength heat-resistant wire. Now we are in the process of determining its physical and mechanical properties, and the first results are already quite impressive. The direct deformation of the long billet - rolling and drawing - was carried out without using the homogenization and quenching operations traditional for aluminum alloys. The key feature was the casting and annealing modes, which make it possible to obtain a structure from thermally stable nanoparticles containing copper, manganese, and zirconium.
Maxim Khatsayuk
Research Director of LLC "RPC Magnetic Hydrodynamics", Professor of the Electrical Engineering Department of the Polytechnic Institute of the Siberian Federal University, Doctor of Technical Sciences
The combination of many processes and their mutual influence during casting in an EMC is a vivid example of a synergistic effect that arises in the problems of applied magnetohydrodynamics and is expressed in the qualitative properties of a bar stock. One of the most difficult tasks facing us in the development of technology and the formation of its theoretical foundations was to establish and quantitatively characterize these relationships. An accurate understanding of the nature of the interaction of electromagnetic, thermal and hydrodynamic fields, as well as the regularities of the formation of the microstructure of ingots, made it possible to find the conditions for stabilizing casting in a semi-weighted state. After more than 15 years of work and the work of many engineers and scientists, it was possible to create a full-fledged high-tech industrial complex that meets the modern need for high-alloyed alloys with improved physical and mechanical properties.
Victor Timofeev
Director of LLC "RPC Magnetic Hydrodynamics, Head of the Electrical Engineering Department of the Polytechnic Institute of the Siberian Federal University, Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor
The technology of casting into an electromagnetic crystallizer was developed by the Soviet scientist Z.N. Getselev. and has shown a number of advantages when casting large-sized flat and cylindrical ingots in comparison with casting into a direct chill mold. With the advent of reliable high-frequency semiconductor generators, the idea was proposed to obtain a solid-cast aluminum wire in a similar way. Experimental work on casting small-section ingots into an electromagnetic crystallizer showed a radical change in the microstructure. The structure and physical and mechanical properties were found to be close to the samples obtained by granular technology. More in-depth studies have shown that this technology also contributes to the complete removal of non-metallic inclusions without the use of additional refining equipment. Thus, an alternative to the granule technology was developed, devoid of its disadvantages. The production of ingots with unique properties stimulated the creation of a complex of experimental industrial equipment and technology ElmaCast™.

Casting scheme in EMC using ElmaCast ™ technology

Liquid metal (1) from the dosing tray (2) is fed into the inductor (3). The inductor (3) creates a high-frequency electromagnetic field that keeps the melt from spreading and creates an intense MHD circulation in it.

The circulation of the melt ensures a high degree of homogenization of the chemical composition and thermodynamic conditions. Also, non-metallic inclusions (4) in the melt migrate from the area of ​​the electromagnetic field, which ensures a high degree of metal purity.

Under the direct action of the coolant from the spray cooler (5), the liquid metal crystallizes. A high cooling rate (up to 1000–10,000 K / s) ensures the formation of a finely dispersed structure. The winding mechanism (6) continuously draws out the forming bar stock of the required diameter at a given speed.

Casting scheme in EMC using ElmaCast ™ technology
Left
Right
Liquid metal (1) from the dosing tray (2) is fed into the inductor (3). The inductor (3) creates a high-frequency electromagnetic field that keeps the melt from spreading and creates an intense MHD circulation in it. The circulation of the melt ensures a high degree of homogenization of the chemical composition and thermodynamic conditions. Also, non-metallic inclusions (4) in the melt migrate from the area of ​​the electromagnetic field, which ensures a high degree of metal purity.

Under the direct action of the coolant from the spray cooler (5), the liquid metal crystallizes. A high cooling rate (up to 1000–10,000 K / s) ensures the formation of a finely dispersed structure. The winding mechanism (6) continuously draws out the forming bar stock of the required diameter at a given speed.
LLC RPC Magnetic Hydrodynamics was organized in 1990 on the basis of the Krasnoyarsk State Technical University with the aim of conducting research, development and organization of production of electrotechnological equipment for metallurgical purposes. It has its own experimental-industrial production of electric heating systems, MHD devices, products from refractory materials and a foundry with EMC.

Every year, the equipment developed by LLC RPC Magnetic Hydrodynamics produces more than 2 million tons of aluminum and aluminum alloys with high added value, which in aggregate amounts to 5% of the global production.

Read more about the company "RPC Magnetic Hydrodynamics" on the official website of the company.

LLC RPC Magnetic Hydrodynamics was organized in 1990 on the basis of the Krasnoyarsk State Technical University for the purpose of research, development and organization of production of electrotechnological equipment for metallurgical purposes. It has its own experimental-industrial production of electric heating systems, MHD devices, products from refractory materials and a foundry with EMC.
Every year, the equipment developed by LLC RPC Magnetic Hydrodynamics produces more than 2 million tons of aluminum and aluminum alloys with high added value, which in aggregate amounts to 5% of the global production.

Read more about the company "RPC Magnetic Hydrodynamics" on the official website of the company.
The enterprise carries out engineering activities on a full cycle.
CUSTOMERS AND PARTNERS
LLC "RPC Magnetic Hydrodynamics" carries out casting in EMC at the request of the client, manufacturing of final products and analysis of products in its own laboratory. We value long-term relationships and are open to new projects.
CUSTOMERS AND PARTNERS
LLC "RPC Magnetic Hydrodynamics" carries out casting in EMC at the request of the client, manufacturing of final products and analysis of products in its own laboratory. We value long-term relationships and are open to new projects.

© All rights reserved. ElmaCast™ technology die-casting, LLC "RPC Magnetic hydrodynamics"

9A Akademika Kirenskogo str., office 225, Krasnoyarsk, Russia, 660074


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