Automatic smelting and casting system and method for metal materials

Abstract

The invention provides an automatic metal material smelting and casting system which comprises an industrial robot, a control system, a casting device, a raw material crucible disc and a mold core disc, the industrial robot, the control system and the casting device are in data communication through signal lines, and the raw material crucible disc is provided with a plurality of crucible stations used for containing a plurality of raw material crucibles. A raw material crucible is placed on each crucible station, and each raw material crucible is used for containing alloy metal raw materials; the mold core disc is provided with a plurality of mold stations for placing a plurality of mold cores, each mold station is used for placing one mold core, and each mold core is used for controlling a smelted alloy metal raw material to form an alloy block sample in a required shape; and the control system controls the industrial robot to put the raw material crucible disc and the mold core disc into the casting device, take out the raw material crucible disc and the mold core disc from the casting device, and control the casting device to sequentially carry out smelting casting on alloy metal raw materials in the raw material crucible disc.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of metal material preparation, in particular to the field of automated metal material preparation, and more particularly to a system and method for automatic melting and casting of metal materials. Background Art

[0002] Metal materials are the material basis and forerunner of the development of modern high-tech, and are known as the "food" of modern industrial enterprises. Many high-performance metal materials, such as high-temperature alloys, high-quality special steels, high-performance lightweight alloys, high-end rare earth functional materials, amorphous alloys, high-entropy alloys, etc., are widely used in key areas of the national economy such as aerospace, energy, gas turbines, nuclear industry, petrochemicals, etc., and are an important support for the modern national defense industry.

[0003] At present, the preparation of bulk metal materials usually requires first melting the configured metal raw materials into master alloy ingots, and then removing the master alloy ingots and cutting them into specific masses for subsequent casting. In the research and development process of metal materials, most of them adopt the "trial and error method", that is, each experiment only controls a single variable, such as composition, melting temperature, cooling rate, etc. However, the development of new alloys and the optimization of traditional alloy properties in recent years have made the alloy composition increasingly complex. At the same time, the process parameters in the alloy preparation process, such as superheat, cooling rate, etc., have a significant impact on its structure and properties.

[0004] In the existing technology, most traditional melting and casting systems rely on manual operation. For a large number of target metal materials with different compositions and processes, operators need to configure raw materials with specific formulas, and need to frequently adjust the process, replace samples, clean equipment, etc., and each melting or casting requires a lot of time to be vacuumed to avoid oxidation. The whole process cycle is long, the process is complex, time-consuming and labor-intensive, and there are great safety hazards. In addition, the structure and performance of metal materials are easily affected by the operator's technical level, operating habits and environmental factors, resulting in differences in the quality and performance of the prepared materials, which in turn affects the reliability of the data.

[0005] In recent years, the field of materials research and development has been undergoing a paradigm shift, gradually transforming to a one-stop, full-chain, intelligent model. In this model, artificial intelligence is needed to process and analyze massive amounts of data and literature, and to guide machines to conduct experiments autonomously in order to obtain systematic, high-quality experimental data. Subsequently, the artificial intelligence model is continuously optimized based on the experimental results, thereby guiding the optimization of subsequent experimental designs. However, for the smelting and casting process of metal materials, since it involves complex conditions such as low oxygen content, high temperature, and high cooling rate, and there is currently a lack of corresponding automated and high-throughput technical equipment, operators need to adjust the process in a timely manner according to the experimental conditions, making it difficult to achieve unmanned, automated, and high-throughput smelting and casting.

[0006] For example, existing high-throughput preparation technologies have made some progress in the research and development of metal-based composites, but these technologies are mostly focused on the preparation of thin film materials or small-sized samples, and there are still technical bottlenecks in the automated melting and casting of bulk metal materials. In addition, although studies have achieved the preparation and characterization of high-throughput alloys through technologies such as laser deposition, these methods still face cost and efficiency challenges in large-scale production.

[0007] Therefore, in order to speed up the research and development efficiency of metal materials, it is urgent to develop an automatic melting and casting system based on the characteristics of metal materials to achieve automated, high-throughput melting and casting, and improve production efficiency and the stability of material properties.

[0008] It should be noted that this background technology is only used to introduce the relevant information of the present invention to help understand the technical solution of the present invention, but it does not mean that the relevant information is necessarily the prior art. If there is no evidence that the relevant information has been disclosed before the application date of the present invention, the relevant information shall not be regarded as the prior art. Summary of the invention

[0009] Therefore, the object of the present invention is to overcome the above-mentioned defects of the prior art and provide a system and method for automatic melting and casting of metal materials.

[0010] The objective of the present invention is achieved through the following technical solutions:

[0011] According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a metal material automatic melting and casting system for melting alloy metal raw materials and casting them into alloy block samples of desired shapes. The system comprises: an industrial robot, a control system, a casting device, a raw material crucible plate, and a mold core plate. The industrial robot, the control system, and the casting device communicate data via a signal line, wherein: the raw material crucible plate is provided with a plurality of crucible positions for placing a plurality of raw material crucibles, each crucible position is provided with a raw material crucible, and each raw material crucible is used to hold alloy metal raw materials; the mold core plate is provided with a plurality of mold positions for placing a plurality of mold cores, each mold position is provided with a mold core, and each mold core is used to control the smelted alloy metal raw materials to form alloy block samples of desired shapes; the control system controls the industrial robot to place the raw material crucible plate and the mold core plate into the casting device , taking out the raw material crucible plate and the mold core plate from the casting device, and controlling the casting device to open the hatch for the industrial robot to place the raw material crucible plate and the mold core plate and to melt and cast the alloy metal raw materials in the raw material crucible plate in turn; the casting device is equipped with a robotic arm, wherein the robotic arm is used to move the raw material crucible plate and the mold core plate to a specified position in the casting device for fixation, and the casting device executes the following steps multiple times under the control of the control system until all the alloy metal raw materials are melted and cast: the robotic arm grabs a raw material crucible from the crucible plate and places it in a fixed melting position; and grabs a mold core and places it directly below the melting position; heats and melts according to the preset melting and casting process until the alloy melt is cast into the split mold core; the robotic arm puts the raw material crucible that has completed melting back to its original position in the crucible plate, and puts the mold core back to its original position in the mold core plate.

[0012] Preferably, the raw material crucible plate is provided with 3-100 crucible stations of different sizes to meet the placement requirements of different types of raw material crucibles, and the mold core plate is provided with 3-100 mold stations of different sizes to meet the placement requirements of different types of mold cores; wherein the crucible material is: boron nitride, quartz glass, graphite, aluminum oxide, zirconium oxide or magnesium oxide, and crucibles of different materials meet the smelting requirements of alloy raw materials of different components. More preferably, the number of crucible stations on the raw material crucible plate and the number of mold stations on the mold core plate are 10-30.

[0013] Preferably, the casting device includes a transition device and a smelting and casting cavity, the transition device is used for the industrial robot to place the raw material crucible plate and the mold core plate and push the raw material crucible plate and the mold core plate into the smelting and casting cavity after gas replacement or vacuum operation, and the smelting and casting cavity is used for melting and casting alloy raw materials; wherein, the transition device includes: an automatic control chamber door, a slide rail, a transition chamber, and an automatic control chamber door of the transition chamber and the smelting and casting cavity, wherein: the automatic control chamber door is opened on the side of the transition chamber facing the industrial robot, and it is in the control system The sliding rail is arranged inside the transition bin to support the raw material crucible plate and the mold core plate and can drive the raw material crucible plate and the mold core plate to slide into the smelting and casting cavity; the transition bin is used for gas replacement or vacuum operation; the automatic control door of the transition bin and the smelting and casting cavity connects the transition bin and the smelting and casting cavity and opens when the sliding rail needs to slide into the smelting and casting cavity; wherein the automatic control door and the automatic control door of the transition bin and the smelting and casting cavity are both equipped with motors or cylinders to realize automatic opening and closing.

[0014] Preferably, the smelting and casting cavity comprises: a raw material crucible plate positioning notch for fixing the raw material crucible plate; a mold core plate positioning notch for fixing the mold core plate; a heat-insulating fixing device for fixing the raw material crucible; a heating device, which is closely attached to the heat-insulating fixing device and is used to heat the raw material crucible in the heat-insulating fixing device to melt the alloy metal raw material therein; a tilting casting device, which is connected to the heat-insulating fixing device and is used to tilt the heat-insulating fixing device after the alloy metal raw material in the raw material crucible is melted to pour the melted alloy metal raw material into the mold core plate. a mold core wrapping device, which is arranged directly below the heat preservation fixing device and is used to wrap the mold core; a moving mechanism, which is arranged outside the mold core fixing device and is opened and closed under the control of the control system to loosen or clamp the mold core wrapping device to fix or loosen the mold core; a power supply, which is used to provide power to the entire casting device according to the melting temperature requirement and adjust the temperature in real time according to the requirement; a water cooler, which is connected to the mold core fixing device and is used to cool the mold core fixed by the mold core fixing device to realize the cooling operation of the alloy metal raw material.

[0015] Preferably, the bottom or outside of the heat-insulating fixture is equipped with a temperature measuring device for real-time detection of the temperature in the raw material crucible and feedback to the power supply for real-time temperature control. Preferably, a thermocouple is used when bottom temperature measurement is adopted, and an infrared thermometer is used when external temperature measurement is adopted.

[0016] Preferably, the mold core is a split mold core, which is configured with different sizes and different internal shapes to meet the needs of alloy block samples of different shapes and sizes, wherein the internal shape of the split mold core is cylindrical, cubic, wedge-shaped or conical, and the number of petals of each split mold core is 2-6 petals. More preferably, the number of petals of each split mold core is 2-3 petals.

[0017] Preferably, the split mold core is made of oxygen-free copper.

[0018] Preferably, the mold core wrapping device is a split copper sleeve, and the number of petals of the split copper sleeve is 2-6.

[0019] According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for automatic melting and casting of metal materials based on the system described in the first aspect of the present invention, the method comprising: S1, pre-loading alloy metal raw materials to be melted and cast into a matching raw material crucible, and placing the raw material crucible into a raw material crucible plate; S2, pre-loading a mold core of a desired shape of the alloy metal sample into the mold core plate; S3, a control system controls an industrial robot to place the raw material crucible plate into a casting device, and a robotic arm of the casting device moves the raw material crucible plate to a designated position for fixing; S4, a control system controls an industrial robot to place the mold core plate into a casting device, and a robotic arm of the casting device moves the raw material crucible plate to a designated position for fixing; The robot arm moves the mold core disk to the designated position for fixing; S5, the robot arm takes a raw material crucible from the raw material crucible disk and places it at the fixed melting position, and takes a corresponding mold core and places it directly below the melting position, and performs melting and casting according to the preset melting and casting process, and after the melting and casting is completed, puts the raw material crucible that has been melted back to its original position in the raw material crucible disk, and puts the mold core back to its original position in the mold core disk; S6, repeats step S5 until the melting and casting of all alloy raw materials are completed; S7, after the melting and casting of all alloy raw materials are completed, the control system controls the industrial robot to take out the raw material crucible disk and the mold core disk from the casting device in sequence.

[0020] Compared with the prior art, the advantages of the present invention are:

[0021] 1. The present invention can realize high-throughput automated preparation: The present invention can realize the automated, high-throughput preparation of a large number of bulk alloy samples with different compositions and processes. Through systematic process design, the influence of alloy composition, organizational structure and process parameters on material properties can be efficiently screened, which can significantly improve the efficiency of material screening and accelerate the research and development of new materials.

[0022] 2. The scheme of the present invention has process consistency and quality stability: Through automated operation, the invention effectively eliminates the influence of factors such as the operator's technical level and operating habits on the material preparation process, ensuring that the samples prepared each time have highly consistent process parameters and quality characteristics. This not only improves the stability of material performance, but also enhances the reliability and repeatability of experimental data.

[0023] 3. The present invention realizes intelligent integration and efficient operation: The method and equipment provided by the present invention can be seamlessly connected to the intelligent laboratory control system, and work in conjunction with other automated, high-throughput experimental equipment to achieve a 24-hour uninterrupted "assembly line" operation mode. From sample preparation to data collection, the entire process is automated and intelligent, which greatly improves R&D efficiency and promotes the development of material R&D towards intelligence and efficiency. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0024] The embodiments of the present invention are further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0025] Figure 1 It is a schematic structural diagram of a metal material automatic melting and casting system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0026] Figure 2 Schematic diagram of a cylindrical mold core according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0027] Figure 3 Schematic diagram of a cylindrical mold core according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0028] Figure 4 Schematic diagram of the structure of a three-petal copper sleeve according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0029] Figure 5 A schematic diagram of the structure of a two-piece copper sleeve according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0030] Figure 6 A photo of an amorphous alloy sample prepared according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0031] Figure 7 1 is an X-ray diffraction pattern of an amorphous alloy according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0032] Description of reference numerals:

[0033] 1-control system, 2-industrial robot, 3-signal line, 4-automatic control chamber door, 5-slide rail, 6-mechanical arm, 7-raw material crucible plate, 8-mold core plate, 9-petal copper sleeve, 10-moving mechanism, 11-petal mold core, 12-water inlet and return pipes, 13-water cooler, 14-raw material crucible, 15-insulation fixing device, 16-heating device, 17-tilting casting device, 18-power line, 19-power supply, 20-temperature measuring device, 21-transition chamber, 22-smelting and casting cavity, 23-automatic control chamber door of transition chamber and smelting and casting cavity. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0034] In order to make the purpose, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention more clearly understood, the present invention is further described in detail below through specific embodiments in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are only used to explain the present invention and are not intended to limit the present invention.

[0035] As mentioned in the background technology section, in the prior art, the smelting and casting process of metal materials involves complex conditions such as low oxygen content, high temperature, and high cooling rate, and there is currently a lack of corresponding automated and high-throughput technical equipment. Operators need to adjust the process in a timely manner according to experimental conditions, making it difficult to achieve unmanned, automated, and high-throughput smelting and casting. Therefore, in order to speed up the research and development efficiency of metal materials, it is urgent to develop an automatic smelting and casting system based on the characteristics of metal materials to achieve automated, high-throughput smelting and casting, and improve production efficiency and the stability of material properties.

[0036] In order to achieve the above-mentioned purpose, the present invention proposes a new solution, which is to prepare alloy raw materials in batches and design a control system to automatically control industrial robots and robotic arms to achieve automatic melting and casting. In summary, the present invention provides an automatic melting and casting system for metal materials, which is used to melt and cast alloy metal raw materials into alloy block samples of desired shapes. The system includes: an industrial robot, a control system, a casting device, a mold core plate, and a raw material crucible plate. The industrial robot, the control system, and the casting device communicate data through signal lines, wherein: the raw material crucible plate is provided with a plurality of crucible stations for placing a plurality of raw material crucibles, each crucible station is provided with a raw material crucible, and each raw material crucible is used to hold alloy metal raw materials; the mold core plate is provided with a plurality of mold stations for placing a plurality of mold cores, each mold station is provided with a mold core, and each mold core is used to control the smelted alloy metal raw materials to form alloy block samples of desired shapes; the control system controls the industrial robot to place the raw material crucible plate and the mold core plate into the casting device, from the casting device, and the raw material crucible plate is placed in ... The casting device is configured to take out the raw material crucible plate and the mold core plate from the casting device; and the casting device is controlled to open the hatch for the industrial robot to place the raw material crucible plate and the mold core plate and to melt and cast the alloy metal raw materials in the raw material crucible plate in turn; the casting device is configured with a robotic arm, wherein the robotic arm is used to move the raw material crucible plate and the mold core plate to a specified position in the casting device for fixation, and the casting device executes the following steps multiple times under the control of the control system until all the alloy metal raw materials are melted and cast: the robotic arm grabs a raw material crucible from the raw material crucible plate and places it in a fixed melting position; and grabs a mold core and places it directly below the melting position; heats and melts according to the preset melting and casting process until the alloy melt is cast into the split mold core; the robotic arm puts the raw material crucible that has completed melting back to its original position in the raw material crucible plate, and puts the mold core back to its original position in the mold core plate.

[0037] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the raw material crucible plate is provided with 3-100 crucible stations of different sizes to meet the placement requirements of different types of raw material crucibles, and the mold core plate is provided with 3-100 mold stations of different sizes to meet the placement requirements of different types of mold cores; preferably, the number of stations is 10-30. Among them, the crucible material is: boron nitride, quartz glass, graphite, aluminum oxide, zirconium oxide or magnesium oxide. Crucibles of different materials meet the smelting requirements of alloy raw materials with different components. In practical applications, crucibles of suitable materials can be selected according to the alloy raw materials. According to one embodiment of the present invention, the raw material crucible plate and the mold core plate have an open notch for clamping by a robot arm to facilitate the clamping and transfer by a robot arm or an industrial robot. The bottom of the two are designed with a positioning notch for fixing and positioning, thereby improving the stability of the automation system. Among them, the setting method of the open notch and the positioning notch is not limited by the present invention, as long as it can be conveniently clamped.

[0038] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the split mold core is made of oxygen-free copper.

[0039] As mentioned above, the automatic metal casting system of the present invention includes five major parts: an industrial robot, a control system, a casting device, a mold core plate, and a raw material crucible plate. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the details of each part are as follows: Figure 1 As shown, the system of the present invention specifically includes: a control system 1, an industrial robot 2, a signal line 3, an automatic control chamber door 4, a slide rail 5, a robotic arm 6, a raw material crucible plate 7, a mold core plate 8, a split copper sleeve 9, a moving mechanism 10, a split mold core 11, a water inlet and return pipe 12, a water cooler 13, a raw material crucible 14, a heat preservation and fixing device 15, a heating device 16, a tilting casting device 17, a power line 18, a power supply 19, a temperature measuring device 20, a transition chamber 21, a smelting and casting cavity 22, and an automatic control chamber door 23 for the transition chamber and the smelting and casting cavity. Among them, the control system 1 controls the industrial robot 2 and the various components in the smelting and casting cavity 22 and the transition chamber 21 through the signal line 3; the split copper sleeve 9 is a wrapping device for the split mold core 11, which can automatically open and tighten the split mold core 11 through the moving mechanism 10 controlled by the control system 1, and can be cooled by the water cooler 13 and the water inlet and return pipe 12; the temperature measuring device 20 is located in the smelting and casting cavity 22; the robotic arm 6 can realize the transfer of the raw material crucible plate 7, the mold core plate 8, the split mold core 11, and the raw material crucible 14; the raw material crucible 14 is placed in the heat preservation fixing device 15 and the heating device 16, and can be tilted by the tilting casting device 17; the heating device 16 is connected to the power supply 19 through the power line 18, and the temperature measuring device 20 is located near the raw material crucible 14 and is connected to the power supply 19 through the signal line 3.

[0040] It should be noted that the automatic control chamber door 4, the slide rail 5, the transition chamber 21, the transition chamber and the automatic control chamber door 23 of the smelting and casting cavity constitute a transition device, which is used for the industrial robot 2 to place the raw material crucible plate 7 and the mold core plate 8 and push the crucible plate and the mold core plate into the smelting and casting cavity after gas replacement or vacuum operation, wherein: the automatic control chamber door 4 is opened on the side of the transition chamber 21 facing the industrial robot 2, which is opened under the control of the control system 1 and closed after the industrial robot 2 is placed; the slide rail 5 is arranged inside the transition chamber 21 to support the raw material crucible plate 7 and the mold core plate 8 and can drive the raw material crucible plate 7 and the mold core plate 8 to slide into the smelting and casting cavity 22; the transition bin 21 is used for gas replacement or vacuum operation; the transition bin and the smelting and casting cavity automatic control hatch 23 connects the transition bin 21 and the smelting and casting cavity 22 and opens when the slide rail 5 needs to slide into the smelting and casting cavity; wherein the automatic control hatch door 4 and the transition bin and the smelting and casting cavity automatic control hatch door 23 are both equipped with motors or cylinders, and are configured to be connected or disconnected by telescopic means under the remote signal control of the control system to realize the action of opening and closing the door.

[0041] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the mold core 11 is a split mold core, which is configured with different sizes and different internal shapes to meet the needs of alloy block samples of different shapes and sizes, wherein the internal shape of the split mold core is cylindrical, cubic, wedge-shaped or conical, and each split mold core has 2-3 petals. Figure 2 and Figure 3 As shown in the figure, the cross-sectional structures of cylindrical and conical split mold cores are shown respectively. In actual application, the appropriate mold core can be selected according to the sample requirements.

[0042] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the number of petals of the petal copper sleeve is 2-6 petals. Figure 4 and Figure 5 As shown, the structures of three-petal and two-petal copper sleeves are respectively shown, which have simple structures and strong stability.

[0043] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the heating device may be induction heating, resistance heating, arc heating, or carbon paper heating, which may be selected according to actual conditions and is not specifically limited in the present invention.

[0044] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the temperature measuring device is arranged at the bottom or outside of the heat-insulating fixing device, a thermocouple is used for bottom temperature measurement, and an infrared thermometer is used for external temperature measurement.

[0045] The functions of the control system 1 can be summarized as follows: the control system is configured to respond to multiple sample test instructions one by one and perform the following steps in response to each test instruction: send instructions to the industrial robot to sample the raw material crucible plate; send a sampling signal to open the automatic control chamber door; place the raw material crucible plate in a fixed position on the slide rail through the industrial robot's own robotic arm, and send a signal to close the automatic control chamber door; perform gas replacement or vacuum in the transition chamber to achieve a low oxygen and low water environment; open the automatic control chamber door of the transition chamber and the smelting and casting cavity, the slide rail pops out into the smelting and casting cavity, and the robotic arm moves the raw material crucible plate to the designated position; retract the slide rail, close the automatic control chamber door of the transition chamber and the smelting and casting cavity; repeat the above steps to move the mold core plate to the designated position; control the robotic arm to move the raw material crucible to the insulation fixing device and fix it; control the moving mechanism to open the split copper sleeve, control the robotic arm to move the split mold core to the designated position in the split copper sleeve, and control the moving mechanism to clamp the split copper sleeve to clamp the split mold mold core; according to the preset melting and casting process, control the power supply for heating and melting, and realize temperature control by feeding back the power supply through the temperature measuring device. After reaching the preset time of the program, control the tilting casting device to tilt the melting crucible, the heat preservation fixing device and the heating device to cast the alloy melt into the split mold core; control the mechanical arm to take out the raw material crucible and put it back in place; control the moving mechanism to open the split copper sleeve, and control the mechanical arm to take out the split mold core and put it back in place; repeat the above steps until all the raw material crucibles are melted and cast; control the transition bin and the melting and casting cavity to automatically control the bin door to open, and the slide rail pops up to the melting and casting cavity, control the mechanical arm to place the raw material crucible plate on the slide rail, retract the slide rail, close the transition bin and the melting and casting cavity automatic control bin door, open the automatic control bin door, control the industrial robot to take out the raw material crucible plate and place it at the specified position, close the automatic control bin door, and perform gas replacement or vacuum in the transition bin; repeat the above steps to complete the removal of the mold core disk; record the process of all samples in this batch.

[0046] In order to more intuitively understand the working principle of the system of the present invention, a specific melting and casting process example is used for explanation below.

[0047] Metal raw materials with different composition ratios are placed in different raw material crucibles 14 on the raw material crucible plate 7 in advance, and split mold cores 11 of different sizes are placed in the mold core plate 8. The smelting and casting process of all samples in this batch is issued in the control system 1, and the automatic smelting and casting of metal materials is realized according to the following steps:

[0048] Step 1, the control system 1 sends an instruction to the industrial robot 2 to sample the raw material crucible plate 7, sends a sampling signal to open the automatic control chamber door 4, places the raw material crucible plate 7 on the slide rail 5 at a fixed position through the industrial robot 2's own mechanical arm, sends a signal to close the automatic control chamber door 4, and the transition chamber 21 is gas-replaced or vacuumed to achieve a low-oxygen and low-water environment, and then the transition chamber and the smelting and casting cavity automatic control chamber door 23 are opened, the slide rail 5 slides into the smelting and casting cavity 22, and the mechanical arm 6 moves the raw material crucible plate to a specified position and fixes and positions it through the positioning notch, and then retracts the slide rail 5, and closes the transition chamber and the smelting and casting cavity automatic control chamber door 23;

[0049] Step 2, repeat the above step 1 to move the mold core plate 8 to the specified position and fix it;

[0050] Step 3, control the robot arm 6 to move the raw material crucible 14 to the heat preservation fixing device 15 and fix it, control the moving mechanism 10 to open the split copper sleeve 9, control the robot arm 6 to move the split mold core 11 to a specified position in the split copper sleeve 9, and control the moving mechanism 10 to make the split copper sleeve 9 clamp the split mold core 11;

[0051] Step 4, according to the preset melting and casting process, the power supply 19 is controlled to heat and melt, and the heating temperature of the power supply 19 is fed back in real time through the temperature measuring device 20 to achieve temperature control. After reaching the preset time of the program, the tilting casting device 17 is controlled to tilt the melting crucible 14, the heat-insulating fixing device 15, and the heating device 16 to cast the alloy melt into the split mold core 11;

[0052] Step 5, control the robot arm 6 to take out the raw material crucible 14 and put it back to the original position in the raw material crucible plate 7, control the moving mechanism 10 to open the split copper sleeve 9, and control the robot arm 6 to take out the split mold core 11 and put it back to the original position in the mold core plate 8;

[0053] Step 6, repeat steps 3-5 until all raw material crucibles 14 have completed smelting and casting;

[0054] Step 7, control the automatic control chamber door 23 of the transition chamber and the smelting and casting cavity to open, the slide rail 5 pops out into the smelting and casting cavity 22, control the robot arm 6 to place the raw material crucible plate 7 after casting on the slide rail 5, retract the slide rail 5, close the automatic control chamber door 23 of the transition chamber and the smelting and casting cavity, open the automatic control chamber door 4, control the industrial robot 2 to take out the raw material crucible plate 7 and place it at the designated position, close the automatic control chamber door 4, and perform gas replacement or vacuum in the transition chamber 21;

[0055] Step 8, control the automatic control chamber door 23 of the transition chamber and the smelting and casting cavity to open, the slide rail 5 pops out into the smelting and casting cavity 22, control the robotic arm 6 to place the mold core disk 8 after casting on the slide rail 5, retract the slide rail 5, close the automatic control chamber door 23 of the transition chamber and the smelting and casting cavity, open the automatic control chamber door 4, control the industrial robot 2 to take out the mold core disk 8 and place it at the specified position, close the automatic control chamber door 4, and perform gas replacement or vacuum in the transition chamber 21; record the process of all samples in this batch and upload them to the system.

[0056] In order to more intuitively understand the process of the method of the present invention, the automated melting and casting process is explained below with reference to a specific example.

[0057] In this example, Zr is selected 50-x Cu 40 Al 10+x(x=0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9) is the target alloy system, and the single-element raw materials for each component are placed in a total of ten raw material crucibles 14, and the ten raw material crucibles 14 are placed in the raw material crucible plate 7. A special-shaped split mold core is selected, which is a double-petal structure, with a conical upper end, a diameter that continuously changes from 30mm to 3mm, and a total length of 50mm. It is used to prepare samples of different diameters in a single batch for evaluating the forming ability of amorphous alloys; its lower end is a cylinder with a diameter of 3mm, and rod-shaped samples with uniform diameter can be prepared for subsequent characterization of composition, structure, mechanical properties, thermal properties, etc. The use of a split mold core with this structure can obtain a series of samples of different specifications and different cooling rates in a single casting process, and the experimental efficiency is high. There are a total of ten split mold cores, which are placed on the mold core plate 8. Then, the following steps are performed: T1, the control system 1 sends a command to the industrial robot 2 to sample the raw material crucible plate 7, sends a sampling signal to open the automatic control chamber door 4, the industrial robot 2 places the raw material crucible plate 7 on the slide rail 5 in a fixed position through its own mechanical arm, sends a signal to close the automatic control chamber door 4, the transition chamber 21 performs gas replacement or vacuum to achieve a low oxygen and low water environment, and then opens the transition chamber and the smelting and casting cavity automatic control chamber door 23, the slide rail 5 slides into the smelting and casting cavity 22, the mechanical arm 6 moves the raw material crucible plate to the specified position and fixes and positions it through the positioning notch, and then retracts the slide rail 5, and closes the transition chamber and the smelting and casting cavity automatic control chamber door 23. T2, repeat step T1 to move the mold core plate 8 to the specified position and fix it. T3, control the robot arm 6 to move the raw material crucible 14 to the heat preservation fixing device 15 and fix it, control the moving mechanism 10 to open the split copper sleeve 9, control the robot arm 6 to move the split mold core to the specified position in the split copper sleeve 9, control the moving mechanism 10 to clamp the split copper sleeve 9 to clamp the split mold core, and the split copper sleeve 9 is cooled by circulating water. This condition is more conducive to the formation of amorphous alloy. T4, according to the preset smelting and casting process, control the power supply 19 to heat and smelt, and feedback the power supply 19 through the temperature measuring device 20 to achieve temperature control. After reaching the preset time of the program, control the tilting casting mechanism 17 to tilt the smelting crucible 14, the heat preservation fixing device 15, and the heating device 16 to cast the alloy melt into the split mold core. Control the robot arm 6 to take out the raw material crucible 14 and put it back in place, control the moving mechanism 10 to open the split copper sleeve 9, and control the robot arm 6 to take out the split mold core and put it back in place. T5. Repeat the above steps T3-T4 until all raw material crucibles 14 have completed smelting and casting.T6. Control the automatic control chamber door 23 of the transition chamber and the smelting and casting cavity to open, the slide rail 5 pops out into the smelting and casting cavity 22, control the robot arm 6 to place the raw material crucible plate 7 after casting on the slide rail 5, retract the slide rail 5, close the automatic control chamber door 23 of the transition chamber and the smelting and casting cavity, open the automatic control chamber door 4, control the industrial robot 2 to take out the raw material crucible plate 7 and place it in the specified position, close the automatic control chamber door 4, and perform gas replacement or vacuum in the transition chamber 21. Repeat the above steps to complete the removal of the mold core plate 7. T7. Record the process of all samples in this batch and upload them to the system. Figure 6 The sample prepared by using the special shape split mold core in this embodiment is shown. Figure 7 is the X-ray spectrum of the amorphous alloy. Since the material is an amorphous alloy, Figure 7 The main feature of the X-ray spectrum is the diffuse scattering peak.

[0058] Compared with the prior art, the advantages of the present invention are:

[0059] 1. The present invention can realize high-throughput automated preparation: The present invention can realize the automated, high-throughput preparation of a large number of bulk alloy samples with different compositions and processes. Through systematic process design, the influence of alloy composition, organizational structure and process parameters on material properties can be efficiently screened, which can significantly improve the efficiency of material screening and accelerate the research and development of new materials.

[0060] 2. The scheme of the present invention has process consistency and quality stability: Through automated operation, the invention effectively eliminates the influence of factors such as the operator's technical level and operating habits on the material preparation process, ensuring that the samples prepared each time have highly consistent process parameters and quality characteristics. This not only improves the stability of material performance, but also enhances the reliability and repeatability of experimental data.

[0061] 3. The present invention realizes intelligent integration and efficient operation: The method and equipment provided by the present invention can be seamlessly connected to the intelligent laboratory control system, and work in conjunction with other automated, high-throughput experimental equipment to achieve a 24-hour uninterrupted "assembly line" operation mode. From sample preparation to data collection, the entire process is automated and intelligent, which greatly improves R&D efficiency and promotes the development of material R&D towards intelligence and efficiency.

[0062] It should be noted that although the above describes the various steps in a specific order, it does not mean that the various steps must be executed in the above specific order. In fact, some of these steps can be executed concurrently or even in a different order as long as the required functions can be achieved.

[0063] The embodiments of the present invention have been described above, and the above description is exemplary, not exhaustive, and is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the described embodiments. The selection of terms used herein is intended to best explain the principles of the embodiments, practical applications, or technical improvements in the market, or to enable other persons of ordinary skill in the art to understand the embodiments disclosed herein.

Claims

1. A metal material automatic melting and casting system, used for melting alloy metal raw materials and casting them into alloy block samples of required shapes, characterized in that: The system includes: an industrial robot, a control system, a casting device, a raw material crucible plate, and a mold core plate. The industrial robot, the control system, and the casting device communicate with each other via a signal line, wherein: The raw material crucible plate is provided with a plurality of crucible positions for placing a plurality of raw material crucibles, each crucible position is provided with a raw material crucible, and each raw material crucible is used to hold alloy metal raw materials; The mold core plate is provided with a plurality of mold stations for placing a plurality of mold cores, each mold station is provided with a mold core, and each mold core is used to control the alloy metal raw material after smelting to form an alloy block sample of a desired shape; The control system controls the industrial robot to place the raw material crucible plate and the mold core plate into the casting device, and to take out the raw material crucible plate and the mold core plate from the casting device; and controls the casting device to open the hatch for the industrial robot to place the raw material crucible plate and the mold core plate, and to melt and cast the alloy metal raw materials in the raw material crucible plate in sequence; The casting device is equipped with a robot arm, wherein the robot arm is used to move the raw material crucible plate and the mold core plate to a specified position in the casting device for fixing, and the casting device performs the following steps multiple times under the control of the control system until all the alloy metal raw materials are melted and cast: The robot arm grabs a raw material crucible from the raw material crucible plate and places it at a fixed melting position; and grabs a mold core and places it directly below the melting position; Heating and melting is performed according to a preset melting and casting process until the alloy melt is cast into the split mold core; The robot arm puts the raw material crucible that has completed melting back into the raw material crucible tray, and puts the mold core back into the mold core tray.

2. The system according to claim 1, characterized in that The raw material crucible plate is provided with 3-100 crucible stations of different sizes to meet the placement requirements of different types of raw material crucibles, and the mold core plate is provided with 3-100 mold stations of different sizes to meet the placement requirements of different types of mold cores; Among them, the crucible materials are: boron nitride, quartz glass, graphite, alumina, zirconia or magnesium oxide. Crucibles of different materials meet the smelting requirements of alloy raw materials with different components.

3. The system according to claim 2, characterized in that The number of crucible stations on the raw material crucible plate and the number of mold stations on the mold core plate are 10-30.

4. The system according to claim 1, characterized in that The casting device comprises a transition device and a smelting and casting cavity, wherein the transition device is used for the industrial robot to place the raw material crucible plate and the mold core plate and push the raw material crucible plate and the mold core plate into the smelting and casting cavity after gas replacement or vacuum operation, and the smelting and casting cavity is used for smelting and casting alloy raw materials; The transition device includes: an automatic control chamber door, a slide rail, a transition chamber, and an automatic control chamber door of the transition chamber and the smelting and casting cavity, wherein: The automatic control door is opened on the side of the transition chamber facing the industrial robot, and is opened under the control of the control system and closed after the industrial robot is placed; The slide rail is arranged inside the transition bin to support the raw material crucible plate and the mold core plate and can drive the raw material crucible plate and the mold core plate to slide into the smelting and casting cavity; The transition chamber is used for gas replacement or vacuum operation; The automatic control hatch of the transition bin and the smelting and casting cavity connects the transition bin and the smelting and casting cavity and opens when the slide rail needs to slide into the smelting and casting cavity; Among them, the automatic control chamber door and the automatic control chamber door of the transition chamber and the smelting and casting cavity are all equipped with motors or cylinders to achieve automatic opening and closing.

5. The system according to claim 4, characterized in that The smelting and casting cavity comprises: The raw material crucible plate positioning notch is used to fix the raw material crucible plate; The mold core plate positioning notch is used to fix the mold core plate; Heat preservation fixing device, used to fix the raw material crucible; A heating device, which is closely attached to the heat-insulating fixture and is used to heat the raw material crucible in the heat-insulating fixture to melt the alloy metal raw material therein; A tilting casting device, which is connected to the heat-insulating fixture and is used to tilt the heat-insulating fixture after the alloy metal raw material in the raw material crucible is smelted to pour the smelted alloy metal raw material into the mold core; A mold core wrapping device, which is arranged directly below the heat preservation fixing device and is used to wrap the mold core; A moving mechanism is arranged outside the mold core fixing device and performs opening and closing movements under the control of a control system to loosen or clamp the mold core wrapping device to fix or loosen the mold core; Power supply, used to provide power to the entire casting device according to the melting temperature requirements and adjust the temperature in real time according to the requirements; The water cooler is connected to the mold core fixing device and is used for cooling the mold core fixed by the mold core fixing device to realize the cooling operation of the alloy metal raw material.

6. The system according to claim 5, characterized in that A temperature measuring device is arranged at the bottom or outside of the heat-insulating fixing device, which is used to detect the temperature in the raw material crucible in real time and feed it back to the power supply for real-time temperature control.

7. The system according to claim 6, characterized in that The mold core is a split mold core, which is configured with different sizes and different internal shapes to meet the needs of alloy block samples of different shapes and sizes, wherein the internal shape of the split mold core is cylindrical, cubic, wedge-shaped or conical, and the number of petals of each split mold core is 2-6 petals.

8. The system according to claim 7, characterized in that The split mold core is made of oxygen-free copper.

9. The system according to claim 8, characterized in that The mold core wrapping device is a split copper sleeve, and the number of petals of the split copper sleeve is 2-6.

10. A method for automatic melting and casting of metal materials based on the system according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that: The method comprises: S1. Put the alloy metal raw materials to be smelted and cast into a matching raw material crucible in advance, and put the raw material crucible into a raw material crucible plate; S2, pre-loading a mold core of a shape required by the alloy metal sample into a mold core plate; S3, the control system controls the industrial robot to place the raw material crucible plate into the casting device, and the robotic arm of the casting device moves the raw material crucible plate to a designated position for fixing; S4, the control system controls the industrial robot to place the mold core plate into the casting device, and the robot arm of the casting device moves the mold core plate to a designated position for fixing; S5, the robot arm takes a raw material crucible from the raw material crucible plate and places it at a fixed smelting position, and takes a corresponding mold core and places it directly below the smelting position, performs smelting and casting according to a preset smelting and casting process, and after the smelting and casting are completed, puts the smelted raw material crucible back to the original position in the raw material crucible plate, and puts the mold core back to the original position in the mold core plate; S6, repeat step S5 until all alloy raw materials are melted and cast; S7. After all alloy raw materials are melted and cast, the control system controls the industrial robot to take out the raw material crucible plate and the mold core plate from the casting device in sequence.

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