Novelis Inc. recently developed and patented a unique Direct Chill (DC) casting process known as Fusion Novelis Technology. In this process a chill bar is inserted into the DC casting mould which permits for the first time the co-casting of laminate of clad ingots. These ingots can then be rolled down into clad sheet and offer distinct advantages over traditional aluminum clad sheet processing routes (i.e. brazing and roll bonding). The research presented in this Master’s Thesis was done as part of a larger collaborative research and development project with Novelis Inc. The main objective of this research was to investigate the Novelis Fusion Technology and understand it from a scientific viewpoint. The research has been multi faceted and has included: the creation of a thermal fluid model using the commercial software package CFD to model the first the DC and then Fusion casting process, as well as the design and testing of an experimental DC and Fusion caster at the Novelis Global Technology Centre (NGTC) in Kingston, Ontario. This MASc research has been focused on performing both traditional DC (for AA6111, AA3004 and AA4045) and novel Fusion (AA3004/AA4045) casting experiments. First the series of DC casting experiments was performed. During the experiments two arrays of 5 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. Other temperature measurements during the experiment (i.e. alloy superheat, mould temperature, cooling water temperature) were done to gather meaningful data for model validation. A series of Fusion casting experiments was performed after the DC casting trials. Three successful Fusion casting trials were performed at NGTC using a lab scale caster with a 152 mm × 381 mm rectangular mould divided in half by a water cooled copper chill bar. For the Fusion casting experiments the AA3003-Core/AA4045-Clad alloy system was chosen since this alloy system has already been commercially produced using this novel technology. In addition to embedded thermocouples in the Fusion cast ingot, and other temperature measurements as for the DC casting experiments, temperature measurements of the chill bar were performed to gather information for model validation. The effect of melt poisoning as the interface of the composite ingot forms was unknown, so only the core of one experimental ingot was poisoned; this gave enough information about the depth and asymmetrical shape of the AA3003-Core sump. The Fusion cast ingots were characterized (both optically and using SEM techniques) at four distinct locations across the width of the ingot, consistent with different thermal histories at the interface and regions where good and poor interfaces were found in the solidified ingot. No clear correlation between thermal history and the quality of the interface could be found indicating that the interface formation during Fusion casting is extremely complicated and other factors such as oxide formation and wetting mechanisms of the AA4045 on the AA3004 need to be understood to gain a more in depth understanding of the conditions necessary to form a defect free interface. Comparisons of the measured thermal histories and sump depth and shape measurements to the model predictions were excellent.

In this work, nozzle clogging in the submerged entry nozzle in continuous casting of Al killed steels has been studied. The study has been based on low silicon Al killed SAE 1006 (1.2006) and SAE 1008 (1.2008) grades. In this study, castabilities of 75 heats for 1.2006 steel grades and 75 heats for 1.2008 steel grades have been investigated. Castabilities of the experimental heats have been found to be affected by Al content in oxide form (Aloxy) and Ca content of the liquid steel. Castabilities have been found to decrease with increase in Aloxy and to increase with increase in Ca content and Ca/Aloxy ratio. Reoxidation has been found not to affect the castability appreciably.

The influence of drying parameters namely residence time before drying, drying temperature, drying time, relative humidity, and slip recipe on the drying rate of slip cast sanitary wares, predominantly lavatories and toilet closets, was studied. The drying temperatures were changed from 80 oC to 110 oC with an increment of 10 oC. The drying time was changed from 10 to 7 h with a decrease of 1 hour. Relative humidity of the environment was changed from 60 to 75 %. The percent weight loss, percent residual moisture and the percent shrinkage of the samples were determined by weighing and measuring the samples before and after the tests. The percent weight loss was within the range of 6.5 to 6.6 % after holding the as cast samples for 6 hours at ambient casting shop conditions while it was within the range of 17.96 to 18.10 % when subsequently dried for 10 hours at 110 oC in the dryer. The percent shrinkage was within the range of 2.9 - 3.0 % after holding the as cast samples 6 h at ambient laboratory conditions. No shrinkage was observed in the sample when it was subsequently dried for 10 hours at 110 oC in the dryer. Optimum moisture content of dried wares was obtained after drying for 8 hours at 100 oC in the dryer. It has been seen that the relative humidity of the dryer at the beginning of the drying should be lower than 75 %. As the non-plastic content in the recipe of the sanitary ware slip increased, drying shrinkage and residual moisture content decreased. The results of this study showed that through increasing the residence time up to 6h with a casting shop environment of approximately 30 oC and 60 % relative humidity, the drying time could be safely reduced from 10 h to 8 h with a drying temperature of 100 oC for the test plates. The same approach can be used for more complex shapes, e.g., WC closets, basins, tanks etc. in EczacibaSi Vitra plant. Once the drying time was reduced, the amount of natural gas per ware would be reduced to a certain extent. Aside from that the reduction in the drying time would increase the quantity of the drying cycles per week so that more wares could be dried. When all these observations were taken into account, this thesis study could also be utilized by other sanitary ware producing companies whose processes require slip cast drying.

Elbow contractures in burn survivors lead to difficulties in their ability to perform meaningful occupations. Interventions focus on improving movement at the elbow while considering social and psychological factors in the individual's environmental context. The purpose of the review was to determine the methodological quality of research evaluating splinting and serial casting to improve elbow contractures and resulting functional limitations. A comprehensive search strategy uncovered 10 research studies. Standardized critical appraisal tools and protocols were used to analyze the research. Although some methodological issues were identified, the findings were positive. Strengths and weaknesses of the research were delineated to support and guide the use of serial casting and splinting. A body of research was found to warrant consideration of social and psychological factors. Conclusion. There is preliminary quality of evidence to support the use of splinting and serial casting and important considerations for future research. / Rehabilitation Science - Occupational Therapy

In Rahmen dieser Arbeit wurde ein Simulationsprogramm für Gießprozesse weiterentwickelt. Zunächst wurden die Richtigkeit der mathematischen Lösung und die Sensibilität der Software bestätigt. Dazu wurde ein Vergleich der berechneten mit den experimentellen Werten durchgeführt. Zur Messung der Wanddicke des erstarrenden Gussteils wurde eine neue Methode zur Visualisierung der Berechnungsergebnisse erarbeitet. Anhand zweier Beispiele zur Berechnung eines dünnwandigen, komplizierten Al-Gussteils und eines exothermischen Speisers wurde eine korrekte Nutzung neuer Gießtechnologien aufgezeigt. Das Simulationssystem wurde speziell für das Stranggießen modifiziert. Die neu entwickelten Berechnungsalgorithmen sowie die Visualisierungsmöglichkeiten erlauben eine exakte Modellierung des Strangabzuges in der Gießmaschine. Auch in diesem Falle liefert der Vergleich zwischen den durchgeführten Berechnungen und den erzielten Versuchswerten die Richtigkeit und Exaktheit der neu eingesetzten Methode.

This thesis examines changes which have occurred since the late 1980s and early 1990s with respect to the representation of cultural diversity on Australian popular drama programming. The thesis finds that a significant number of actors of diverse cultural and linguistic background have negotiated the television industry employment process to obtain acting roles in a lead capacity. The majority of these actors are from the second generation of immigrants, who increasingly make up a significant component of Australia's multicultural population. The way in which these actors are portrayed on-screen has also shifted from one of a 'performed' ethnicity, to an 'everyday' portrayal. The thesis develops an analysis which connects the development and broad political support for multicultural policy as expressed in the National Agenda for a Multicultural Australia to the changes in both employment and representation practices in popular television programming in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The thesis addresses multicultural debates by arguing for a mainstreaming position. The thesis makes detailed comparison of cultural diversity and television in the jurisdictions of the United States, the United Kingdom and New Zealand to support the broad argument that cultural diversity policy measures produce observable outcomes in television programming.

An in-depth study has been carried out to investigate refractory degradation during continuous steel casting processes. Slag/refractory interactions have been investigated through a study of the wetting behaviour and gas generation phenomena at the slag/refractory interface at 1550oC using sessile drop experiments. The influence of carbon content and slag composition was investigated. Two different steel casting slags (slag1: MnO 50%, SiO2 25%, Al2O3 25%; and slag2: MnO 40%, SiO2 60%) have been studied along with yttria stabilized zirconia refractory substrates respectively containing 10%, 15% and 20% carbon. The gas generation has been measured using the Infrared gas analyser, and its influence has also been investigated by taking optical images at varying times. The total amount of gases emitted has shown the dependence on the compositions of refractory substrates and the existence of casting slags. Under the investigation of zirconia-carbon refractory, a new phenomenon that the gas generated can push the liquid slags away and minimise the contact of slags and refractory substrates has been proven.

Low Pressure Die Casting (LPDC) process is one the most common casting process to produce structural automotive components, such as alloy wheels and suspension components. It has been identified that cavity filling and solidification process are two most critical aspects to produce premium quality casting components.During the solidification process of casting alloy, it is a well known phenomenon that metal experiences volumetric shrinkage due to its density difference between liquid and solid phase. When this volumetric shrinkage is not properly compensated, then a casting defect commonly known as solidification shrinkage occurs. The solidification shrinkage has very detrimental effects on structural integrity required for premium quality casting such as aluminium alloy wheels.Literature and practical experiences of foundry men show that it is critical to achieve unidirectional solidification pattern by avoiding an isolated hot spot in order to minimise the solidification shrinkage. However, it is found that the geometry of industrial casting applications is often constrained by other design factors that would not naturally avoid these isolated hot spots. The subject of this research, aluminium alloy wheels, is not excluded from this constraint.In aluminium alloy wheels, an isolated hot spot is commonly observed in an area known as rim and spoke junction due to its geometry constraints. Consequently, the solidification shrinkage is commonly experienced, which is undesirable due to its detrimental effects for the structural integrity of alloy wheels. In order to minimise the solidification shrinkage, forced cooling method is applied to avoid an isolated hot spot. The control of this forced cooling is achieved by cooling media, flow rate of cooling media and duration cooling circuit. Foundry experiments in industrial environment were conducted producing aluminium alloy wheels using commercially treated A356 (Al-Si) alloy, where different durations of cooling circuit were used to understand the sensitivity of solidification shrinkage formation to the duration of cooling circuit. This was followed by metallurgical structure analysis and numerical modelling to suggest the sensitivity of cooling circuit duration in controlling solidification shrinkage.The major finding conclusion of this research is that control of the shrinkage formation is not very sensitive to the duration cooling circuit. It is suggested that as casting solidifies initially from the mould wall, it retracts away from the cast-mould interface due to thermal contraction. Consequently, air gap is formed between casting and mould interface, creating an effective thermal resistance layer. Thereafter, heat transfer across the cast-mould interface is not sensitive to the change in the cooling channel which is a distance to the cast-mould interface.Some limitations of numerical modelling and metallurgical analysis were also identified during this research and recommendations were made to improve the accuracy of local hot spot prediction in production of aluminium alloy wheels. More specifically, numerical modelling of the effect of grain refinement and use of non homogeneous material property (particularly fraction of solid) for rapidly chilled area. Fraction of eutectic rather than secondary dendrites arm spacing is a proper microstructure parameter that can be used to locate the hot spot.

Soldering results from the interfacial interactions between the die and the casting alloy during high pressure die casting and is one of the major die failure modes. To prevent this occurring, lubricant layers and surface coatings are used to act as a barrier between the die and the casting alloy. The microstructures of a series of soldered layers on H13 tool steel core pins were examined after conducting high pressure die casting experiments with a specially designed die using removable core pins and Al-11Si-3Cu casting alloy. This showed that first, a casting alloy build-up layer formed, and then intermetallic phases nucleated at the die steel interface and grew to cover the entire surface in subsequent casting cycles. The structures of intermetallic layers formed during immersion of H13 tool steel into an Al-11Si-3Cu casting alloy melt were studied by X-ray diffraction and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). A thick composite layer away from the H13 steel substrate consisted of irregular intermetallic phases and solidified casting alloy. A thin intermetallic layer was present between the composite layer and an inner compact layer next to the steel substrate. The irregular intermetallic phase in the thick composite layer away from the H13 steel substrate was identified to have a body centre cubic (bcc) structure, abcc-( FeSiAlCrMnCu). The thin and continuous intermetallic layer between the composite layer and the inner compact layer was found to be structurally isomorphous with aH-Fe2SiAl8. The compositional differences observed between aH and abcc phases indicated that the latter consisted of a higher amount of chromium, manganese, copper, and a lower amount of iron. It was likely that the presence of chromium, manganese and copper in the H13 tool steel caused the transformation of aH®abcc. The inner compact layer next to the steel substrate was identified to be orthorhombic h-Fe2Al5 containing silicon and chromium. An examination of lubricants to prevent soldering in high pressure die casting in conjunction with Nissan Casting Australia Pty Ltd. found that soldering was reduced by using a suitable lubricant. The chemistry of the lubricant, spray parameters, and die surface temperature were important factors in producing a protective lubricant layer. It was found that lubricant containing polypropylene waxes prevented soldering significantly better than lubricant containing polyethylene waxes. It was also found that the lubricant containing polypropylene waxes had lower surface tension. An examination of the use of iron oxide layers to prevent soldering in high pressure die casting was performed. H13 tool steel was oxidised in air and produced porous iron oxide with a mixture of haematite (Fe2O3) and magnetite (Fe3O4). These porous iron oxides did not completely prevent the H13 steel from soldering in immersion tests as intermetallic cones formed at the surface of the steel. Commercial steam tempering of H13 steel produced more compact iron oxide layers with magnetite (Fe3O4) and haematite (Fe2O3) structures. It was found that these compact iron oxide layers offered better protection against soldering than the porous layers created in air. Pure iron oxidised in a CO2/H2 gas mixture at a ratio of 95:5 at 550°C produced structurally pure, compact magnetite (Fe3O4) layers. H13 steel oxidised in a CO2/H2 gas mixture at a ratio of 95:5 at 550°C produced compact iron oxide layers that showed only magnetite (Fe3O4) structure. The magnetite (Fe3O4) layer containing chromium, manganese, silicon and vanadium formed next to the H13 substrate was found to be a very adherent layer and protected H13 steel from soldering in high pressure die casting experiments with a specially designed die using removable core pins and Al-11Si-3Cu casting alloy. An examination of aluminium oxide layers to prevent soldering in high pressure die casting was performed. Incoloy MA956 containing 4.5 wt.% aluminium, oxidised in air at 1100°C, produced a single, compact, adherent oxide layer with a-alumina (Al2O3) structure, that prevented the formation of intermetallic phases between aluminium alloy and Incoloy MA956 during high pressure die casting. However, non-reactive casting alloy build-up formed on the oxide coatings, similarly to physical vapour deposition (PVD) and vanadium carbide coatings. It was found that the thickness of the non-reactive casting alloy build-up was reduced by decreasing the roughness of the oxide coatings by lightly grinding of the surface of the coatings. The industrial application of these findings are discussed and directions for further research are presented.

Thesis (M.Eng.)(Metallurgical)--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Includes summary. Includes bibliographical references. Available on the Internet via the World Wide Web.