Research And Development On Aluminum Wire

As its low density, cheap price and easy fixing, copper-clad aluminum (CCA) is more and more paid attention and has a potential market prospect. Compared with abroad, CCA in China exists a lot of quality defects. Many domestic universities are researching on it.Electromagnetic continuous casting (EMCC) is a new material processing method ,a comprehensive subject based on magneto-hydrodynamics (MHD) and combined with metallurgical engineering. The outstanding merits of EMCC lie in its high smooth surface, good mechanical properties and high production efficiency, which has become an important method to realize tandem rolling in continuous casting and produce high quality aluminum alloys. To avoid CCA wire to break off, cast ingot should have appropriate component, high purity, small-size grain and dense structure.This paper describes the casting process and technical parameters of EMCC for Al-1%Si and Al-1.7%Mg round ingots casting .Microstructure and mechanical properties of the EMC ingots are compared with the ingots cast by the direct chill continuous casting (DCC) method.Al-1%Si and Al-1.7%Mg round ingots casting (Φ 120mm) with good surface quality are obtained at the following casting condition: casting temperature 720℃～725℃,flow rate of cooling water 0.8～1.0t/h, casting speed 1.4～1.5mm/s, power supply frequency 2500Hz, power 10kW. The defects such as segregation, lard in ingot surface, can be eliminated through EMCC, consequently the ingot with better surface quality and microstructure is obtained.The experiment shows that the soft-contact EMCC can change the initial solidification process and reduce the contact area and pressure between the liquid metal and the mold wall resulting in the improved surface quality. Liquid metal solidifies under the effects of the electromagnetic force and cooling water. EMCC improves observably mechanical properties of Al-1%Si and Al-1.7%Mg round ingots casting whose fractures are tough. Considering its good mechanical property, the two kinds of materials can be used to produce CCA wire. solution treatment is in favor of improving toughness of less than 80 μm wire.