Construction of the Facility for Aluminium Alloys Electromagnetic Stirring During Casting

The reuse of aluminium, recycling, leads to an increase in the content of alloying elements, including iron. The Fe-rich intermetallic phases called platelets or needles β-Al₅FeSi are hard, brittle and have a highly detrimental effect on the properties of alloys and castings. The construction of facility was proposed, built and its parameters were described. The facility construction allows the castings to be solidified in moulds with a diameter up to 70 mm under intensive stirring in sample castings to decrease negative effect of Fe-rich phases. Facility included the set of coils for rotating magnetic field generation, autotransformers, thermal conditions control unit, thermal insulations, cooler for coils protection, teslameter and brass water-cooled chiller. The construction allowed for bulk solidification with equiaxed dendritic structure in the whole sample. The subject of the presence of forced convection to improve casting properties in the bulk solidification and in the directional solidification was discussed.