Design and Fabrication of Bottom Pouring Type Stir Casting Furnace With Carrier Gas

Abstract

Among the available processing techniques of composite materials, stir casting is an attractive processing method for producing MMCs. It is relatively inexpensive and offers a wide selection of materials and processing conditions. The stir casting technique involves the introduction of pre-treated or preheated ceramic particles into the vortex of molten alloy created by the rotating impeller. In this method, in order to achieve the optimum properties of the metal matrix composite, the distribution of the reinforcement material in the matrix should be uniform and the wet ability between the molten matrix and reinforcement particles should be optimized. A proper incorporation can be produced by this method by proper selection of the process parameters such as pouring temperature, stirring speed, preheating temperature of reinforcement, use of carrier gas etc. Critical to the success of stir casting is the control over generally undesirable features such as porosity resulting from gas entrapment during mixing, oxide inclusions. Present study involves design of different shapes of mechanical stirrers and their influence in vortex formation and better distribution along with the use of carrier gas like Argon.