取鍋傾動式自動注湯機における湯こぼれを最小化する取鍋位置の最適化

抄録

  In this paper, we propose a method for optimizing the positioning of the ladle in automatic pouring machines. In recent years, the automation of the pouring process is being advanced increasingly to improve the working environment. During the pouring process, the molten metal must be poured quickly and accurately into the mold. However, it is difficult to pour the molten metal precisely into the pouring basin by using the tilting-ladle-type automatic pouring machine because of the varying trajectory of the outflow molten metal from the ladle due to tilting angle of the ladle. In order to solve this problem, the positional control of the outflow liquid is being attempted by conventional approaches. With these approaches, the ladle is transferred dynamically in the horizontal direction to control the position of the outflow liquid. However, the sloshing of the liquid in the ladle can be excited by transferring the ladle with inappropriate acceleration. In this study, we propose the optimal positioning of the ladle aiming at the precise pouring of the liquid into the pouring basin without sloshing. With this approach, the horizontal and vertical positions of the pouring mouth in the ladle are determined before pouring, and held while pouring. Therefore, the sloshing is not excited while pouring. The position of the pouring mouth is determined from the pouring flow rate pattern and starting angle of tilting the ladle. The pouring flow rate of the outflow liquid is controlled by the flow rate control system. Furthermore, we also proposed the fast optimization approach in this study. The effectiveness of the proposed approaches can be verified through experiments using the laboratory-type automatic pouring machine.