Induction Skull Melting of Ti-6Al-4V: Process Control and Efficiency Optimization

Titanium investment casting is one of the leading and most efficient near-net-shape manufacturing processes, since complex shape components are possible to obtain with a very low amount of material waste. But melting these reactive alloys implies the usage of specific melting technologies such as th...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Metals (Basel ) 2019-05, Vol.9 (5), p.539
Main Authors: Chamorro, Xabier, Herrero-Dorca, Nuria, Bernal, Daniel, Hurtado, Iñaki
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alloys
Charge efficiency
Coils
Cold
cold crucible
Control methods
Cost control
Crucibles
Data processing
Efficiency
Energy consumption
Heat
Induction heating
Investment casting
Manufacturing
melting
Near net shaping
Optimization
Power supply
Process controls
Process parameters
Skull melting
superheat
Thermodynamic efficiency
Titanium
Titanium base alloys
Water temperature
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Summary:Titanium investment casting is one of the leading and most efficient near-net-shape manufacturing processes, since complex shape components are possible to obtain with a very low amount of material waste. But melting these reactive alloys implies the usage of specific melting technologies such as the Induction Skull Melting (ISM) method. In this work the ISM was extensively studied with the aim of deepening the characteristics of this specific melting method and improving the too low energy efficiency and overall process performance. A 16 segment copper crucible and 3 turns coil was employed for the melting of 1 kg of Ti-6Al-4V alloy. Through the calorimetric balance, real-time evolution of the process parameters and power losses arising from the crucible and coil sub-assemblies was displayed. Results revealed the impact of coil working conditions in the overall ISM thermal efficiency and titanium melt properties, revealing the use of these conditions as an effective optimization strategy. This unstudied melting control method allowed more heat into charge and 13% efficiency enhancement; leading to a shorter melting process, less energy consumption and increased melt superheat, which reached 49 °C. The experimental data published in this paper represent a valuable empiric reference for the development and validation of current and future induction heating models.
ISSN:2075-4701
2075-4701
DOI:10.3390/met9050539