In die casting, it has been shown that the hypereutectic Al-25%Si alloy has excellent fluidity. In this study we clarified that the semisolid Al-25%Si alloy showed better fluidity than did the molten-metal ADC12 alloy, which is a popular AlSi-Cu alloy for die casting. The result obtained suggests that Al-25%Si alloy is suitable for manufacturing thin die cast products. By using the Al-25%Si alloy, a heat sink model having fins with 50 mm height, thin tops 0.5 mm thick and a draft angle of 0.5°, could be successfully cast at a plunger speed 1.6 m･s^-1. It was found that heat dispersion characteristics ware not influenced by the reduction in fin thickness. It is concluded that thinner fins manufactured using the semisolid Al-25%Si alloy are useful in reducing the production weight of the heat sink.

A semicontinuous caster for a plate and a clad plate of light metals was designed, assembled and tested. It was composed of a cooling substrate, a copper roll, deformable side dam plates and a pouring unit of molten metal. When a clad plate was cast, a partition roll was mounted to prevent the mixing of the two molten metals. A plate with thickness ranging from 10 mm to 30 mm could be cast. A clad plate with a clear interface between the two plates could also be cast. The plates were strongly bonded at the interface.

In this study, a single-casting-wheel caster equipped with rotating side-dam plates was proposed to cast a wire rod thinner than 180 mm². This caster has the advantages of not needing the downstream process and downsizing of the equipment. Rotating side-dam plates solved the jamming of bar dragging. The following four types of rotating side-dam plates were tested. Type A and Type C: Boron nitride (BN) was directly sprayed on to the rotating side-dam plates. Type B₁: BN-coated insulator sheet with 2 mm thickness was attached to the rotating side-dam plates. Type B₂: BN-coated paper with 0.5 mm thickness was attached. In Type A, Type B₁, and Type B₂, a puddle of molten metal was formed on the casting wheel. In Type C, the bar was cast by a puddleless pouring method. In Types A, B₁, and B₂, the sound bars could not be cast. In Type C, the sound bars with rectangular or convex cross section were cast. The cross-sectional area of the convex bars was from 149 mm² to 59 mm² and the cross-sectional area of the rectangular bars was from 111 mm² to 51 mm² when the casting wheel speed and side-dam plate speed were from 2.5 m/min to 10 m/min.