Accurate Evaluation of Copper Alloy Fluidity Using Automatic Pouring Equipment with Improved Pouring Cup Heat Insulation

Abstract

New pouring equipment was developed for the measurement of copper alloy fluidity. The fundamental characteristics of the developed equipment are the pouring cup system, which has high heat-retention, a stopper system without preheating, and a pouring temperature determination system. In the evaluation of the developed device, the temperature of the molten copper alloy was decreased by 30 K from pouring to the stability of the measurement of the molten alloy temperature in the pouring cup. The rate of temperature decrease of the molten copper alloy in the pouring cup until the pouring temperature was 3.5 K/s. Experimentally obtained results demonstrated that the linearity between the superheat above liquidus temperature and flow length improved compared with that reported from earlier studies. The standard deviation of flow length in the equipment was 20 mm. These results indicate that the effect of the casting conditions on flow length of the copper alloys will be evaluated accurately with the developed equipment.

 

This Paper was Originally Published in Japanese in J. JFS 87 (2015) 855–860.