Novelis Global Technology Centre (NGTC) in Kingston, Ontario have been developing a relatively new technology known as Novelis Fusion™ Technology, which is a new variant of the traditional direct chill (DC) casting process that allows co-casting of multi-layered composite aluminum alloy ingots. One of the first steps in this development program is to create a mathematical model of conventional DC casting and validate it through experimentation before proceeding to the next step of modeling, designing, testing, and experimenting with the co casting process. The focus of this document is on the design of the experiments, measurement technique, and analysis of the experimental results to be used to validate the models for conventional DC casting. A series of experiments was conducted using a lab scale caster using a 95 mm × 227 mm rectangular mould available at the Novelis Global Technology Centre in Kingston, Ontario. AA3003, AA6111, and AA4045 aluminum alloys were chosen for this study since these aluminum alloys are commonly used in clad products. Two series of experiments were performed to investigate the effect of casting parameters on the solidification and cooling of the ingots such as casting speed, water flow rate, and the superheat of the molten aluminum. A set of seven thermocouples were embedded in the ingot during the cast to capture the thermal history of the ingot. Melt poisoning with a zinc rich alloy was also performed as an independent method of determining the sump depth and shape. Experienced gained from the first series of experiments allowed improvements to be made to the experiment design for the second series of experiments. Thermocouples must be supported so they are not pushed out of position by the jet of molten aluminum entering the mould. Grounded thermocouples of at least 1.5 mm in diameter were recommended to survive the high temperatures of the molten aluminum. Knowledge gained from the experiments of the conventional DC caster allowed design and development of an experimental co-caster mould that will be useful for future research at NGTC. Melt poisoning and thermocouples were complementary measurement methods that should be used together. In all three alloys, the liquidus sump profile generated by the thermocouple implants correlated well with the etched sumps of the melt poisoned ingots. Primary and secondary water flow rates beyond 1.79 L/s and increasing the superheat by 30°C did not have significant effect of the cooling rate with solidified ingots, but all casting experiments showed that the thermal histories and sump profiles were very sensitive to the casting speed. The sump depth increased with increasing casting speed in all casting experiments. The sump depth increased directly proportionally to the Péclet number and the sump depth could be predicted using a linear regression model by calculating the Péclet number. The formation of remelting bands were seen in the surface of the AA3003 and AA4045 ingots, but were not apparent in the AA6111 ingots. A fast Fourier transform performed on the data obtained from the thermocouples that were inserted in the mould wall showed that remelting occurred at regular intervals and that the frequency increased with casting speed. The thermocouples in the mould also indicated that AA6111 had a higher rate of heat transfer than AA3003 or AA4045. The AA6111 ingots had a higher rate of heat transfer in the mould than for the other alloys. This was evidence that there was a smaller air gap formation between the ingot and the mould in AA6111. This research on the effects of casting parameters on DC cast ingots made using the three alloys, AA3003, AA6111, and AA4045, is beneficial in the development of a design of an experimental lab-scale co-caster for validation of a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model of the Fusion™ Technology process.

Novelis Global Technology Centre (NGTC) in Kingston, Ontario have been developing a relatively new technology known as Novelis Fusion™ Technology, which is a new variant of the traditional direct chill (DC) casting process that allows co-casting of multi-layered composite aluminum alloy ingots. One of the first steps in this development program is to create a mathematical model of conventional DC casting and validate it through experimentation before proceeding to the next step of modeling, designing, testing, and experimenting with the co casting process. The focus of this document is on the design of the experiments, measurement technique, and analysis of the experimental results to be used to validate the models for conventional DC casting. A series of experiments was conducted using a lab scale caster using a 95 mm × 227 mm rectangular mould available at the Novelis Global Technology Centre in Kingston, Ontario. AA3003, AA6111, and AA4045 aluminum alloys were chosen for this study since these aluminum alloys are commonly used in clad products. Two series of experiments were performed to investigate the effect of casting parameters on the solidification and cooling of the ingots such as casting speed, water flow rate, and the superheat of the molten aluminum. A set of seven thermocouples were embedded in the ingot during the cast to capture the thermal history of the ingot. Melt poisoning with a zinc rich alloy was also performed as an independent method of determining the sump depth and shape. Experienced gained from the first series of experiments allowed improvements to be made to the experiment design for the second series of experiments. Thermocouples must be supported so they are not pushed out of position by the jet of molten aluminum entering the mould. Grounded thermocouples of at least 1.5 mm in diameter were recommended to survive the high temperatures of the molten aluminum. Knowledge gained from the experiments of the conventional DC caster allowed design and development of an experimental co-caster mould that will be useful for future research at NGTC. Melt poisoning and thermocouples were complementary measurement methods that should be used together. In all three alloys, the liquidus sump profile generated by the thermocouple implants correlated well with the etched sumps of the melt poisoned ingots. Primary and secondary water flow rates beyond 1.79 L/s and increasing the superheat by 30°C did not have significant effect of the cooling rate with solidified ingots, but all casting experiments showed that the thermal histories and sump profiles were very sensitive to the casting speed. The sump depth increased with increasing casting speed in all casting experiments. The sump depth increased directly proportionally to the Péclet number and the sump depth could be predicted using a linear regression model by calculating the Péclet number. The formation of remelting bands were seen in the surface of the AA3003 and AA4045 ingots, but were not apparent in the AA6111 ingots. A fast Fourier transform performed on the data obtained from the thermocouples that were inserted in the mould wall showed that remelting occurred at regular intervals and that the frequency increased with casting speed. The thermocouples in the mould also indicated that AA6111 had a higher rate of heat transfer than AA3003 or AA4045. The AA6111 ingots had a higher rate of heat transfer in the mould than for the other alloys. This was evidence that there was a smaller air gap formation between the ingot and the mould in AA6111. This research on the effects of casting parameters on DC cast ingots made using the three alloys, AA3003, AA6111, and AA4045, is beneficial in the development of a design of an experimental lab-scale co-caster for validation of a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model of the Fusion™ Technology process.

Magnesium alloys have been extensively used for structural and functional applications due to their low densities. In order to improve the mechanical properties, grain refinement of the microstructures of magnesium alloys has been studied for many years. However, an effective and efficient grain refiner or refinement technique hasn’t been achieved yet, especially for those with aluminium contained. In this study, solution for this problem has been discovered through further understanding of the solidification process, including the potency and the efficiency of nucleation particles, the role of solute, and the role of casting conditions. First of all, the study suggested that MgO particles can act as nuclei in magnesium alloys by measuring and analyzing the differences in cooling curves with various amount of endogenous MgO particles. The differences indicated that the number density of MgO particles has a huge influence on the microstructure. This idea has been fatherly proved by the inoculation of MgO particles in magnesium alloys because the microstructures have been significantly refined after the inoculation. A new kind of refiner (AZ91D-5wt%MgO) has been developed based on such understandings. Secondly, the study discovered that the role of solute has much smaller effect on the grain size than it was suggested in traditional understandings. The inverse-proportional relationship between the grain size and the solute is highly suspected and the major role of solute is to cause columnar- equiaxed transition. The role of casting conditions has also been studied in order to provide experimental evidence for the existence of melt quenching effect in magnesium alloys. It is shown that various casting conditions, such as pouring temperatures and mould temperatures, have large influence on the critical heat balance temperature after rapid pouring. In this study, a theoretical model based on the analysis of cooling curves is presented for grain size prediction. An analytical model of the advance of equiaxed solidification front is developed based on the understanding of the role of casting conditions. Eventually, all these understandings have been applied to magnesium direct-chill (DC) casting. The refined microstructure of DC cast ingots can further assist in understanding the mechanism of advanced shearing achieved by MCAST unit. The comparison of the ingots with and without melt shearing indicated that the advance shearing device can disperse MgO film into individual particles.

<p><a>Direct chill (DC) casting is the main production method for wrought aluminum alloys. In this semi-continuous process, significant heat is extracted through a narrow, solidified shell by impinging water jets. A combination of rapid cooling and inoculation of the liquid metal with heterogenous nucleation sites (grain refiner) produces the proper conditions for equiaxed solidification. As equiaxed grains nucleate and grow in the slurry, they are transported by natural convection until their eventual coalescence into a rigid mush. The preferential accumulation of these solute-depleted grains in localized regions of the casting can lead to long range composition differences known as macrosegregation. Because macrosegregation cannot be mitigated by subsequent processing, it is critical to understand and prevent its development during casting. </a></p> <p>Numerical models are often used to gain insight into the interplay of the different transport phenomena that cause macrosegregation. The formation of mobile equiaxed grains creates a multiphase system with many moving interfaces, causing several modeling challenges. In principle, a model could be formulated in terms of local instantaneous variables describing the evolution of these interfaces, however the associated computational cost prohibits its extension to the length scale of industrial castings. For this reason, macroscopic transport equations are mathematically formulated using volume averaging methods. Two different volume-averaged model formulations can be distinguished in the solidification literature. The first approach is the multiphase formulation, which solves separate sets of governing equations for each phase that are coupled using microscale interfacial balances. While this approach retains closure models to describe the behavior of the sub-grid interfaces, these interfacial models introduce significant uncertainty that is propagated through the model. The second approach is the mixture formulation, which solves a single set of governing equations for the mixture and utilizes more pragmatic closure relationships. While this approach significantly reduces the complexity and computational cost of the model, previous formulations have oversimplified the microscale transport. Recognizing the advantages and disadvantages of both formulations, a mixture model is rigorously derived, retaining appropriate relationships for the grain structure and microsegregation behavior in equiaxed solidification </p> <p>Implementation of this model into a 3-D finite volume method (FVM) code using a co-located grid is discussed along with appropriate treatment of the discontinuous body forces and phase mass fluxes across the interface between the slurry and rigid mush. More specifically, body forces in the momentum equation are treated at the face-centers of a control volume to prevent erroneous velocity oscillations near this interface, and a diffuse phase flux method is proposed to reduce the sensitivity of composition predictions to the numerical grid. The proposed methods are verified across a wide range of conditions present in equiaxed solidification. </p> <p>This model is then used to investigate the role of grain motion on macrosegregation development in equiaxed solidification, specifically in horizontal and vertical DC casting. In horizontal DC casting, the casting axis is perpendicular to gravity and there is a tendency for grains to accumulate along the bottom of the ingot. Feeding liquid metal through a constrained inlet near the bottom suspends grains in the slurry, both reducing the overall macrosegregation and improving the macrosegregation symmetry in the ingot. In vertical DC casting, the casting axis is parallel to gravity and there is a tendency for grains to accumulate in the center of the ingot. It is determined by a combination of simulations in the current work and previous experimental results that a strong localized jet at the centerline can suspend grains in the slurry and reduce negative centerline segregation. The change in segregation is attributed to a combination of reducing the accumulation of solute-depleted grains near the centerline and thinning the rigid mush where solidification shrinkage pulls enriched liquid away from the centerline. The strong localized jet also causes significant refinement and homogenization of the grain structure, which improves the mechanical properties of the ingot. These studies indicate that it is beneficial for DC casting practices to move towards agitated or stirred melts, and away from conventional practices which promote thermal stratification and localized accumulation of equiaxed grains.</p>

The objective of this research is to increase the understanding of the solidification behaviour of some industrially important wrought aluminium alloys. The investigation methods range from direct investigations of as-cast ingots to laboratory-scale techniques in which ingot casting is simulated. The methods span from directional solidification at different cooling rates to more fundamental and controlled techniques such as DTA and DSC. The microstructure characteristics of the castings have been investigated by optical and Scanning Electron microscopy. Hardness tests were used to evaluate the mechanical properties. The effects of adding alloying elements to 3XXX and 6XXX aluminium alloys have been studied with special focus on the effects of Zn, Cu, Si and Ti. These elements influence the strength and corrosion properties, which are important for the performance of final components of these alloys. Solidification studies of 0-5wt% Zn additions to 3003 alloys showed that the most important effect on the microstructure was noticed at 2.5 wt% Zn, where the structure was fine, and the hardness had a maximum. Si addition to a level of about 2% gave a finer structure, having a relatively large fraction of eutectic structure, however, it also gave a long solidification interval. The addition of small amounts of Cu, 0.35 and 1.0 wt%, showed a beneficial effect on the hardness. Differences have been observed in the ingot surface microstructures of 6xxx billets with different Mg and Si ratios. Excess Si compositions showed a coarser grain structure and more precipitations with possible negative implications for surface defect formation during DC casting. The comparison of alloys of different Ti content showed that the addition of titanium to a level of about 0.15 wt% gave a coarser grain structure than alloys with a normal Ti content for grain refinement, i.e. &lt; 0.02 wt%, although a better corrosion resistance can be obtained at higher Ti contents. The larger grain size results in crack sensitivity during DC casting. A macroscopic etching technique was developed, based on a NaOH solution, and used in inclusion assessment along DC cast billets. Good quantitative data with respect to the size and spatial distribution of inclusions were obtained. The results from studied billets reveal a decreasing number of inclusions going from bottom to top, and the presence of a ring-shaped distribution of a large number of small defects in the beginning of the casting. The present study shows how composition modifications, i.e. additions of certain amounts of alloying elements to the 3xxx and 6xxx Al alloys, significantly change the microstructures of the materials, its castability, and consequently its mechanical properties / QC 20100901

The horizontal twin-roll casting (TRC) process is an energy saving and cost-efficient method for producing near-net-shape sheets of castable metals for light-weight production. In order to investigate the TRC process numerically, a code is generated in OpenFOAM and the commercial software STAR-CCM+ is used. Both are validated with the Stefan problem, the gallium melting test case, and a continuous casting experiment for magnesium AZ31. Different solidification models are tested that are similar to solution domain definitions and solid-fraction temperature relations. The comparison with temperature measurements of the MgF GmbH Freiberg pilot plant and the final microstructure exhibits good correlation. Sensitivity studies are carried out for thermophysical properties of AZ31 as well as pilot plant parameters. Furthermore, the rolls are incorporated into the simulation to determine the effect of a location-dependent heat-transfer coefficient. Finally, the results are compared to a second pilot plant situated at the Helmholtz-Centre Geesthacht in order to explore differences and similarities. / Das horizontales Gießwalzen ist eine energiesparende und kostengünstige Methode zur Erzeugung von Flachprodukten, die im Leichtbau verwendet werden. Um dieses Verfahren numerisch zu untersuchen wurde ein Programmcode in OpenFOAM entwickelt und die kommerzielle Software STAR-CCM+ verwendet, wobei beide mit dem Stefan Problem, dem Schmelzen von Gallium und Messdaten des Stranggusses von Magnesium AZ31 validiert wurden. Verschiedene Erstarrungsmodelle werden ebenso getestet wie Variationen des Simulationsbereiches und Feststoff-Temperatur-Verläufe. Vergleiche mit Temperaturmessdaten der Pilotanlage MgF GmbH Freiberg und der finalen Mikrostruktur zeigen gute Übereinstimmungen. Sensitivitätsanalysen werden durchgeführt, um die Einflüsse von thermophysikalischen Eigenschaften und Anlagenparametern abzuschätzen. Des Weiteren werden die Walzen in die Simulation mit einbezogen, um den Effekt eines lokal veränderlichen Wärmeübergangskoeffizienten zu beurteilen. Schließlich werden die Ergebnisse mit denen einer zweiten Pilotanlage am Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht verglichen. / Le laminage de coulée continue horizontal possède une faible consommation d’énergie et est bon marché pour la production des feuilles de métaux coulables utilisés dans la construction légère. Afin d’examiner ce processus numériquement, un code est généré dans OpenFOAM et le logiciel commercial STAR-CCM+ est utilisé, tous les deux sont validés en utilisant le problème de Stefan, la fusion du gallium et la coulée continue verticale de magnésium AZ31. Plusieurs modèles de solidification sont testés, ainsi que la variation du domaine de simulation, et des rélations entre la teneur en matière solide et la température. Des comparaisons avec des résultats de mesures de la température à l’installation pilote de MgF GmbH Freiberg ainsi que la microstructure donnent des bons résultats. Des analyses de sensibilité sont effectuées afin d’évaluer l’influence des propriétés thermophysiques et des paramètres de l’installation. De plus, les cylindres sont intégrés dans la simulation pour estimer l’impact du coefficient de transfert de chaleur dépendant du lieu. Finalement, les résultats sont comparés avec ceux du Helmholtz-Centre Geesthacht.

The horizontal twin-roll casting (TRC) process is an energy saving and cost-efficient method for producing near-net-shape sheets of castable metals for light-weight production. In order to investigate the TRC process numerically, a code is generated in OpenFOAM and the commercial software STAR-CCM+ is used. Both are validated with the Stefan problem, the gallium melting test case, and a continuous casting experiment for magnesium AZ31. Different solidification models are tested that are similar to solution domain definitions and solid-fraction temperature relations. The comparison with temperature measurements of the MgF GmbH Freiberg pilot plant and the final microstructure exhibits good correlation. Sensitivity studies are carried out for thermophysical properties of AZ31 as well as pilot plant parameters. Furthermore, the rolls are incorporated into the simulation to determine the effect of a location-dependent heat-transfer coefficient. Finally, the results are compared to a second pilot plant situated at the Helmholtz-Centre Geesthacht in order to explore differences and similarities. / Das horizontales Gießwalzen ist eine energiesparende und kostengünstige Methode zur Erzeugung von Flachprodukten, die im Leichtbau verwendet werden. Um dieses Verfahren numerisch zu untersuchen wurde ein Programmcode in OpenFOAM entwickelt und die kommerzielle Software STAR-CCM+ verwendet, wobei beide mit dem Stefan Problem, dem Schmelzen von Gallium und Messdaten des Stranggusses von Magnesium AZ31 validiert wurden. Verschiedene Erstarrungsmodelle werden ebenso getestet wie Variationen des Simulationsbereiches und Feststoff-Temperatur-Verläufe. Vergleiche mit Temperaturmessdaten der Pilotanlage MgF GmbH Freiberg und der finalen Mikrostruktur zeigen gute Übereinstimmungen. Sensitivitätsanalysen werden durchgeführt, um die Einflüsse von thermophysikalischen Eigenschaften und Anlagenparametern abzuschätzen. Des Weiteren werden die Walzen in die Simulation mit einbezogen, um den Effekt eines lokal veränderlichen Wärmeübergangskoeffizienten zu beurteilen. Schließlich werden die Ergebnisse mit denen einer zweiten Pilotanlage am Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht verglichen. / Le laminage de coulée continue horizontal possède une faible consommation d’énergie et est bon marché pour la production des feuilles de métaux coulables utilisés dans la construction légère. Afin d’examiner ce processus numériquement, un code est généré dans OpenFOAM et le logiciel commercial STAR-CCM+ est utilisé, tous les deux sont validés en utilisant le problème de Stefan, la fusion du gallium et la coulée continue verticale de magnésium AZ31. Plusieurs modèles de solidification sont testés, ainsi que la variation du domaine de simulation, et des rélations entre la teneur en matière solide et la température. Des comparaisons avec des résultats de mesures de la température à l’installation pilote de MgF GmbH Freiberg ainsi que la microstructure donnent des bons résultats. Des analyses de sensibilité sont effectuées afin d’évaluer l’influence des propriétés thermophysiques et des paramètres de l’installation. De plus, les cylindres sont intégrés dans la simulation pour estimer l’impact du coefficient de transfert de chaleur dépendant du lieu. Finalement, les résultats sont comparés avec ceux du Helmholtz-Centre Geesthacht.