This invention is concerned with the production of directionally solidified castings or ingots to eliminate casting defects such as macrosegregation and misoriented grain defects that occur in the blades for jet engines and industrial gas turbines. The mechanism of the occurrence of the above casting defects was clarified by the computer simulation system developed by this inventor, and it was found that, by strongly cooling the solid phase region and applying an axial static magnetic field, the heat pulses at the solidification interface due to convection of the liquid phase can be suppressed, and harmful lateral liquid flow in the solid-liquid coexisting phase can be suppressed by the synergistic effect of these two measures. This eliminates casting defects such as macrosegregation and misoriented grain defects, also refines the microstructure to produce high-quality products with excellent mechanical properties (creep strength). Regarding the strength of the static magnetic field, it was found that there is a range where the macrosegregation becomes minimum in a relatively low magnetic field range. This makes it possible to keep the required magnetic strength low, which significantly reduces the price of expensive superconducting coils. In addition, productivity can be improved by increasing the withdrawal speed.

Disclosed herein are gas control systems and associated methods of controlling gas in a mold in casting, such as aluminum casting. The system may have a first mass controller, a second mass controller, and a control device capable of switching the gas control system between a first operating state and a second operating state. The first mass controller and the second mass controller may have different flow rate ranges. In the first operating state, the gas control system may deactivate one of the first or second mass controllers, and in the second operating state, the gas control system may activate both first and second mass controllers.

In molten metal jetting, where droplets of metal are jetted to 3D print a part, each layer may be traversed each successive layer with a normalizing grinding wheel or other leveling device such as a layer to level each successive layer, and/or the melt reservoir or printing chamber may be filled with an anoxic gas mix to prevent oxidation.

An injection device of a light metal injection molding machine includes: a first inert gas storage part creating an inert gas atmosphere around a plunger insertion port of an injection cylinder; a second inert gas storage part housing surplus molten metal in a melting cylinder and creating an inert gas atmosphere above the molten metal; and a first pressure adjustment part adjusting a pressure in the first inert gas storage part to a pressure equal to or less than a pressure obtained by adding a pressure, which is determined based on a value obtained by multiplying a specific gravity of the molten metal by a height difference between a highest position and a lowest position of the molten metal in a part that includes the inside of the injection cylinder and communicates with the inside of the injection cylinder, and a pressure in the second inert gas storage part.

A method for producing cast items in a casting method, wherein a charge of a conductive material is introduced into the sphere of influence of at least one alternating electromagnetic field, so that the charge is kept in a levitating state. The melt is poured into moulds in order to produce turbine blades, prostheses or turbocharger impellers.

A casting system and process employs sealed lightweight mold segments that are assembled into a fixture that serves as a mold transportation device that is delivered via a mold line to a production line roll-over system which performs as a metal pouring station. This system may be employed in sand, semi-permanent and permanent casting environments. The fixture is pressurized with He, inverted by the roll-over system, then connected to a low-pressure furnace where metal pouring begins while maintaining pressurized He in the mold cavity. A counter-gravity delivery system allows the low-pressure furnace to deliver molten lightweight material that is free from oxides and dissolved hydrogen gas into the mold cavity.

A foundry casting system and process employs an inert gas delivery and recovery system for casting parts which results in cast parts having improved metalurgical characteristics. The system may be employed in sand, die casting, semi-permanent and permanent casting environments. Pressurized inert gas may be diffused into the mold before, during and after the metal pouring step. The resulting casting is free from oxides and dissolved hydrogen gas as they are removed from the mold cavity. This results in higher quality castings as well as increased production output due to faster cooling cycles.

An apparatus for continuous casting metal strip reducing snake eggs comprising a pair of counter rotating casting rolls, each roll less than 800 millimeters in diameter and positioned to form a nip there between through which thin strip can be cast; a metal delivery system disposed above the nip and capable of discharging molten metal to form a casting pool supported on the rolls; a pair of side dam holders and a pair of side dams assembled adjacent each end portion of the rolls, each side dam holder tapered along edge portions to dovetail with an adjacent side dam, and each side dam adapted to confine the casting pool of molten metal supported on casting surfaces of the rolls; an oscillation mechanism adapted to cause lateral oscillation of each side dam and side dam holder at a frequency 2-50 hertz and with an amplitude 100-2000 m during a casting campaign.

In molten metal jetting, where droplets of metal are jetted to 3D print a part, each layer may be traversed each successive layer with a normalizing grinding wheel or other leveling device such as a layer to level each successive layer, and/or the melt reservoir or printing chamber may be filled with an anoxic gas mix to prevent oxidation.

A casting and molding equipment for producing an amorphous alloy structural unit, including an injection system, an alloy melting system, a material feeding system, a mold system, a vacuum system, and a protective gas supply system. The injection system includes an injection tube, an injection mechanism, and a plunger rod; the plunger rod is adapted to move along an inner wall of the injection tube, and the injection mechanism is configured to control a moving direction and moving speed of the plunger rod. The alloy melting system includes a melting chamber and a heating unit; the heating unit is configured to melt an alloy material in the melting chamber; the heating unit includes an induction coil or resistance wire; the melting chamber is disposed in the injection tube, and the heating unit is disposed out of the injection tube.