Degassing of molten alloys with the assistance of ultrasonic vibration

Patent · Tue Mar 23 00:00:00 EDT 2010

OSTI ID:1015362

Han, Qingyou ^[1]; Xu, Hanbing ^[1]; Meek, Thomas T ^[1]

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1. Knoxville, TN

An apparatus and method are disclosed in which ultrasonic vibration is used to assist the degassing of molten metals or metal alloys thereby reducing gas content in the molten metals or alloys. High-intensity ultrasonic vibration is applied to a radiator that creates cavitation bubbles, induces acoustic streaming in the melt, and breaks up purge gas (e.g., argon or nitrogen) which is intentionally introduced in a small amount into the melt in order to collect the cavitation bubbles and to make the cavitation bubbles survive in the melt. The molten metal or alloy in one version of the invention is an aluminum alloy. The ultrasonic vibrations create cavitation bubbles and break up the large purge gas bubbles into small bubbles and disperse the bubbles in the molten metal or alloy more uniformly, resulting in a fast and clean degassing.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-00OR22725
• Assignee: UT-Battelle LLC (Oak Ridge, TN)
• Patent Number(s): 7,682,556
• Application Number: 11/204,893
• OSTI ID: 1015362
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English