Microstructural effects of electromagnetic stirring strength and casting speed in continuous casting of al alloy

Semi-solid forming usually requires feed stock material in form of cylindrical billets with a uniform, globular and fine grain microstructure. These billets are commonly being produced by continuous casting involving agitation of the solidifying melt. The paper will present the development of a horizontal continuous casting machine using circumferential electromagnetic stirring to generate melt flow and shear rate in the continuous casting mould. The machine has been used to study the influence of various process parameters such as electromagnetic stirring strength and casting speed in the production of Al billet with a diameter of 76mm. In order to establish the quantitative relationship between microstructure and the process parameters, the morphology and primary crystal size of billet were observed according to the casting speed and electromagnetic stirring strength. A depth and distance of surface defect on the billet was decreased with increasing a casting speed and a very good smooth surface without any surface defect appeared on the billet produced at a casting speed of 600mm/min. A thickness of the solidifying shell was decreased with increasing the casting speed and the maximum casting speed without a break-out was 600mm/min in horizontal continuous caster designed in this study. Both the size and the aspect ratio of primary crystal were decreased with increasing the casting speed and electromagnetic stirring strength in the range of this study.