Claims
- 1. A method of producing a metal component from a liquid metal alloy composition, comprising:
forming a liquid metal alloy composition that is free of solid material; positioning a quantity of the liquid metal alloy composition in a holding vessel; inserting a graphite agitator into the liquid metal alloy composition in the holding vessel; agitating the liquid metal alloy composition with the graphite agitator while cooling the metal alloy composition to initiate solidification and form a non-dendritic semi-solid slurry; ceasing agitation and removing the graphite agitator from the non-dendritic semi-solid slurry after the solids content of the slurry has risen to a value of from about 1% to about 20% by weight; cooling the non-dendritic semi-solid slurry without agitation until the solids content has risen to a value of from about 10% to about 65%; and transferring the non-dendritic semi-solid slurry having a solids content of from about 10% to about 65% to a component forming apparatus and shaping the transferred material into a desired metal component.
- 2. The method of claim 1, wherein cooling of the non-dendritic semi-solid slurry is achieved by transferring the non-dendritic semi-solid slurry having a solids content of from about 1% to about 20% by weight to a cooling vessel, and cooling the slurry in the cooling vessel.
- 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the cooling vessel has walls made of a material selected from steel and stainless steel.
- 4. The method of claim 2, wherein the cooling vessel has walls made of graphite.
- 5. The method of claim 2, wherein air is blown along the walls of the cooling vessel.
- 6. The method of claim 3, wherein the internal walls of the cooling vessel are provided with a non-wetting or reduced wetting coating.
- 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the coating is a boron nitride coating.
- 8. The method of claims 1, wherein the liquid metal alloy composition is agitated for a predetermined duration based on the initial temperature of the metal alloy composition and the heat extraction rate of the agitator.
- 9. An apparatus for direct production of a non-dendritic, semi-solid metal alloy slurry from a liquid state for subsequent forming into a metal component, comprising:
a vessel for containing a metal alloy composition; and a graphite agitator for inducing convection while rapidly cooling said metal composition to initiate solidification and forming non-dendritic solid particles in the metal alloy composition.
- 10. The apparatus of claim 9, further comprising a separate cooling vessel.
- 11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the cooling vessel has walls made of a material selected from steel and stainless steel.
- 12. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the cooling vessel has walls made of graphite.
- 13. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the internal walls of the cooling vessel are provided with a non-wetting or reduced wetting coating.
- 14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the coating is a boron nitride coating.
- 15. A method of producing a metal component from a liquid metal alloy composition, comprising:
forming a liquid metal alloy composition that is free of solid material; transferring a quantity of the liquid metal alloy composition to a holding vessel; inserting an agitator into the liquid metal alloy composition in the holding vessel; agitating the liquid metal alloy composition in the holding vessel with an agitator while cooling the liquid metal alloy composition in the holding vessel to initiate solidification and form a non-dendritic semi-solid slurry; ceasing agitation and removing the agitator from the non-dendritic semi-solid slurry after the solids content has risen to a value of from about 1% to about 20% by weight; transferring the slurry having a solids content of from about 1% to about 20% by weight to a cooling vessel and cooling the slurry without agitation until the solids content has risen to a value of from about 10% to about 65% by weight; and transferring the non-dendritic semi-solid slurry having a solids content of from about 10% to about 65% to a component forming apparatus and shaping the transferred material into a desired metal component.
- 16. The method of claim 15, wherein the cooling vessel has walls made of a material selected from steel and stainless steel.
- 17. The method of claim 15, wherein the cooling vessel has walls made of graphite.
- 18. The method of claim 15, wherein air is blown along the walls of the cooling vessel.
- 19. The method of claim 16, wherein the internal walls of the cooling vessel are provided with a non-wetting or reduced wetting coating.
- 20. The method of claim 19, wherein the coating is a boron nitride coating.
- 21. The method of claims 15, wherein the liquid metal alloy composition is agitated for a predetermined duration based on the initial temperature of the metal alloy composition and the heat extraction rate of the agitator.
- 22. An apparatus for production of a non-dendritic semi-solid metal alloy slurry from a liquid state for subsequent forming into a metal component, comprising:
a vessel for containing a metal alloy composition; an agitator for inducing convection while rapidly cooling said metal composition to initiate solidification and forming non-dendritic solid particles in the metal alloy composition; and a cooling vessel for further cooling and raising the solids content of the slurry.
- 23. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the cooling vessel has walls made of a material selected from steel and stainless steel.
- 24. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the cooling vessel has walls made of graphite.
- 25. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the internal walls of the cooling vessel are provided with a non-wetting or reduced wetting coating.
- 26. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the coating is a boron nitride coating.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) on U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/451,748 entitled PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR PREPARING A METAL ALLOY, filed Mar. 4, 2003, by James A Yurko et al., the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference and claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) on U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/476,438 entitled PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR PREPARING A METAL ALLOY, filed Jun. 6, 2003, by James A Yurko et al., the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
Provisional Applications (2)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60451748 |
Mar 2003 |
US |
|
60476438 |
Jun 2003 |
US |