An automatic melting and casting system and method for metal materials

Abstract

The present invention provides an automatic melting and casting system for metal materials, comprising: an industrial robot, a control system, a casting device, a raw material crucible tray, and a mold core tray. Data communication is carried out between the industrial robot, the control system, and the casting device through signal lines. The raw material crucible tray is provided with a plurality of crucible stations for placing a plurality of raw material crucibles. Each crucible station places one raw material crucible, and each raw material crucible is used to contain alloy metal raw materials. The mold core tray is provided with a plurality of mold stations for placing a plurality of mold cores. Each mold station places one mold core, and each mold core is used to control the molten alloy metal raw materials to form alloy block samples of the required shape. The control system controls the industrial robot to put the raw material crucible tray and the mold core tray into the casting device, take out the raw material crucible tray and the mold core tray from the casting device, and controls the casting device to successively melt and cast the alloy metal raw materials in the raw material crucible tray.

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 evacuate 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 certain progress in the research and development of metal matrix composites. However, these technologies mainly focus 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 some studies have achieved the preparation and characterization of high-throughput alloys through techniques such as laser deposition, these methods still face challenges in terms of cost and efficiency in large-scale production.

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

[0008] It should be noted that: This background technology is only used to introduce relevant information of the present invention to help understand the technical solution of the present invention, but it does not necessarily mean that the relevant information is prior art. Without evidence indicating that the relevant information has been publicly available before the filing date of the present invention, the relevant information should not be regarded as prior art. Summary of the Invention

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

[0010] The object of the present invention is achieved by the following technical solutions:

[0011] According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an automatic melting and casting system for metal materials, which is used to melt alloy metal raw materials and cast them into alloy block samples of required shapes. The system includes: an industrial robot, a control system, a casting device, a raw material crucible tray, and a mold core tray. Data communication is carried out between the industrial robot, the control system, and the casting device through signal lines. Among them: The raw material crucible tray is provided with a plurality of crucible stations for placing a plurality of raw material crucibles. Each crucible station places one raw material crucible, and each raw material crucible is used to contain alloy metal raw materials; The mold core tray is provided with a plurality of mold stations for placing a plurality of mold cores. Each mold station places one mold core, and each mold core is used to control the alloy metal raw materials after melting to form alloy block samples of required shapes; The control system controls the industrial robot to put the raw material crucible tray and the mold core tray into the casting device, take out the raw material crucible tray and the mold core tray from the casting device, and control the casting device to open the hatch for the industrial robot to place the raw material crucible tray and the mold core tray and sequentially melt and cast the alloy metal raw materials in the raw material crucible tray; The casting device is configured with a robotic arm. Among them, the robotic arm is used to move the raw material crucible tray and the mold core tray to designated positions inside the casting device for fixation, and the casting device repeatedly executes the following steps under the control of the control system until all alloy metal raw materials are melted and cast: The robotic arm grabs a raw material crucible from the crucible tray and places it at the fixed melting position; and grabs a mold core and places it directly below the melting position; Heat and melt according to a preset melting and casting process until the alloy melt is cast into the split mold core; The robotic arm returns the raw material crucible that has completed melting to its original position in the crucible tray, and returns the mold core to its original position in the mold core tray.

[0012] Preferably, the raw material crucible tray 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 tray 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 magnesia, and crucibles of different materials meet the melting requirements of alloy raw materials with different compositions. More preferably, the number of crucible stations on the raw material crucible tray and the number of mold stations on the mold core tray are 10-30.

[0013] Preferably, the casting device includes a transition device and a melting and casting cavity. The transition device is used for an industrial robot to place a raw material crucible tray and a mold core tray, perform gas replacement or vacuum pumping operations, and then push the raw material crucible tray and the mold core tray into the melting and casting cavity. The melting and casting cavity is used for melting alloy raw materials and casting. Among them, the transition device includes: an automatically controlled hatch, a slide rail, a transition chamber, and an automatically controlled hatch between the transition chamber and the melting and casting cavity. Among them: The automatically controlled hatch is opened on the side of the transition chamber facing the industrial robot, and it is opened under the control of the control system and closed after the industrial robot has finished placing. The slide rail is arranged inside the transition chamber to support the raw material crucible tray and the mold core tray and can drive the raw material crucible tray and the mold core tray to slide into the melting and casting cavity. The transition chamber is used for gas replacement or vacuum pumping operations. The automatically controlled hatch between the transition chamber and the melting and casting cavity connects the transition chamber and the melting and casting cavity and is opened when the slide rail needs to slide into the melting and casting cavity. Among them, both the automatically controlled hatch and the automatically controlled hatch between the transition chamber and the melting and casting cavity are equipped with motors or cylinders to achieve automatic opening and closing.

[0014] Preferably, the melting and casting cavity includes: a raw material crucible tray positioning notch for fixing the raw material crucible tray; a mold core tray positioning notch for fixing the mold core tray; a heat preservation fixing device for fixing the raw material crucible; a heating device closely attached to the heat preservation fixing device for heating the raw material crucible in the heat preservation fixing device to melt the alloy metal raw materials therein; a tilting casting device connected to the heat preservation fixing device for tilting the heat preservation fixing device after the alloy metal raw materials in the raw material crucible are melted to pour the melted alloy metal raw materials into the mold core; a mold core wrapping device arranged directly below the heat preservation fixing device for wrapping the mold core; a moving mechanism arranged outside the mold core fixing device and performing opening and closing movements 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 for providing electrical energy for the entire casting device according to the melting temperature requirement and adjusting the temperature in real time according to the requirement; a water chiller connected to the mold core fixing device for cooling the mold core fixed by the mold core fixing device to achieve the cooling operation of the alloy metal raw materials.

[0015] Preferably, a temperature measuring device is arranged at the bottom or outside of the heat preservation fixing device for detecting the temperature in the raw material crucible in real time and feeding it back to the power supply for real-time temperature control. Preferably, a thermocouple is used for bottom temperature measurement, and an infrared thermometer is used for external temperature measurement.

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

[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 splits of the split copper sleeve is 2-6 splits.

[0019] According to the second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an automatic melting and casting method for metal materials based on the system described in the first aspect of the present invention. The method includes: S1. Pre-load the alloy metal raw materials to be melted and cast into a matching raw material crucible, and place the raw material crucible into the raw material crucible tray; S2. Pre-load the mold core in the shape required for the alloy metal sample into the mold core tray; S3. The control system controls the industrial robot to place the raw material crucible tray into the casting device, and the robotic arm of the casting device moves the raw material crucible tray to a designated position for fixation; S4. The control system controls the industrial robot to place the mold core tray into the casting device, and the robotic arm of the casting device moves the mold core tray to a designated position for fixation; S5. The robotic arm takes a raw material crucible from the raw material crucible tray and places it at the fixed melting position, and takes a corresponding mold core and places it directly below the melting position, melts and casts according to the preset melting and casting process, and after the melting and casting is completed, returns the raw material crucible that has completed melting to its original position in the raw material crucible tray and the mold core to its original position in the mold core tray; 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 sequentially take out the raw material crucible tray and the mold core tray from the casting device.

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

[0021] 1. The present invention can achieve high-throughput automation preparation: The present invention can realize the automatic and high-throughput preparation of a large number of bulk alloy samples with different compositions and processes. Through systematic process design, it can efficiently screen the effects of alloy composition, microstructure and process parameters on material properties, significantly improve the material screening efficiency, and accelerate the R & D process of new materials.

[0022] 2. The solution of the present invention features process consistency and quality stability: Through automated operations, the invention effectively eliminates the influence of factors such as the technical level and operating habits of operators on the material preparation process, ensuring that each prepared sample has highly consistent process parameters and quality characteristics. This not only improves the stability of material properties 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 coordination with other automated and 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, significantly improving the R & D efficiency and promoting the development of material research and development towards intelligence and high efficiency. Brief Description of the Drawings

[0024] The following further describes the embodiments of the present invention with reference to the drawings, where:

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

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

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

[0028] Figure 4 is a schematic structural diagram of a three-piece split copper bushing according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0029] Figure 5 is a schematic structural diagram of a two-piece copper bushing according to an embodiment of the present invention;

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

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

[0032] Description of the Reference Numerals:

[0033] 1 - Control system, 2 - Industrial robot, 3 - Signal wire, 4 - Automatically controlled storage door, 5 - Slide rail, 6 - Robot arm, 7 - Raw material crucible tray, 8 - Mold core plate, 9 - Split copper bushing, 10 - Moving mechanism, 11 - Split mold core, 12 - Water inlet and return pipe, 13 - Water chiller, 14 - Raw material crucible, 15 - Heat preservation and fixing device, 16 - Heating device, 17 - Tilting casting device, 18 - Power cord, 19 - Power supply, 20 - Temperature measuring device, 21 - Transition bin, 22 - Melting and casting cavity, 23 - Automatically controlled storage door between the transition bin and the melting and casting cavity. Detailed implementation mode

[0034] In order to make the objectives, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention clearer and more understandable, the following further details the present invention 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 used to limit the present invention.

[0035] As mentioned in the background art section, in the prior art, for the melting and casting process of metal materials, due to the complex conditions involved, such as low oxygen content, high temperature, high cooling rate, etc., and the current lack of corresponding automated and high-throughput technical equipment, operators need to adjust the process in a timely manner according to the experimental situation, making it difficult to achieve unmanned, automated, and high-throughput melting and casting. Therefore, in order to accelerate the R & D efficiency of metal materials, it is urgent to develop an automatic melting and casting system for the characteristics of metal materials to achieve automated and high-throughput melting and casting, and improve the production efficiency and stability of material properties.

[0036] To achieve the above object, the present invention proposes a new solution, which batch-prepares alloy raw materials and designs a control system to automatically control industrial robots, robotic arms, etc. to achieve automatic melting and casting. Generally speaking, the present invention provides an automatic melting and casting system for metal materials, which is used to melt alloy metal raw materials and cast them into alloy block samples of required shapes. The system includes: an industrial robot, a control system, a casting device, a mold core plate, and a raw material crucible plate. Data communication is carried out between the industrial robot, the control system, and the casting device through signal lines. Among them: The raw material crucible plate is provided with a plurality of crucible stations for placing a plurality of raw material crucibles. Each crucible station places one raw material crucible, and each raw material crucible is used to contain 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 places one mold core, and each mold core is used to control the alloy metal raw materials after melting to form alloy block samples of required shapes; The control system controls the industrial robot to put the raw material crucible plate and the mold core plate into the casting device, and take out the raw material crucible plate and the mold core plate from the casting device; And control the casting device to open the hatch for the industrial robot to place the raw material crucible plate and the mold core plate and sequentially melt and cast the alloy metal raw materials in the raw material crucible plate; The casting device is configured with a robotic arm. Among them, the robotic arm is used to move the raw material crucible plate and the mold core plate to designated positions inside the casting device for fixation, and the casting device repeatedly executes the following steps under the control of the control system until all 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 at the fixed melting position; And grab a mold core and place it directly below the melting position; Heat and melt according to the preset melting and casting process until the alloy melt is cast into the split mold core; The robotic arm returns the raw material crucible that has completed melting to its original position in the raw material crucible plate, and returns the mold core to its original position in the mold core plate.

[0037] According to an 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, alumina, zirconia or magnesia. Different materials of crucibles meet the melting requirements of different components of alloy raw materials. In practical applications, crucibles of appropriate materials can be selected according to the alloy raw materials. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the raw material crucible plate and the mold core plate have open notches that can be clamped by the robotic arm to facilitate the clamping and transfer by the robotic arm or the industrial robot. The bottoms of both are designed with positioning notches for fixation and positioning, improving the stability of the automation system. Among them, the setting methods of the open notch and the positioning notch are not limited in the present invention, as long as they can facilitate clamping.

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

[0039] As described above, the automatic casting system for metallic materials 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 Figure 1 shown. The system of the present invention specifically includes: a control system 1, an industrial robot 2, a signal line 3, an automatically controlled hatch 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, an inlet and return water pipe 12, a water chiller 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 melting and casting cavity 22, and an automatically controlled hatch between the transition chamber and the melting and casting cavity 23. Among them, the control system 1 controls each component in the industrial robot 2, the melting 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 clamp the split mold core 11 through the moving mechanism 10 controlled by the control system 1, and can be cooled through the water chiller 13 and the inlet and return water pipe 12; the temperature measuring device 20 is located inside the melting and casting cavity 22; the robotic arm 6 can transfer 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 and fixing device 15 and the heating device 16, and can be tilted through 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 hatch door 4, the slide rail 5, the transition chamber 21, and the automatic control hatch door 23 between the transition chamber and the melting and casting cavity form a transition device, which is used for the industrial robot 2 to place the raw material crucible tray 7 and the mold core tray 8, and after performing gas replacement or vacuum pumping operations, push the crucible tray and the mold core tray into the melting and casting cavity. Among them: The automatic control hatch door 4 is opened on the side of the transition chamber 21 facing the industrial robot 2, and it is opened under the control of the control system 1 and closed after the industrial robot 2 finishes placing; The slide rail 5 is arranged inside the transition chamber 21 to support the raw material crucible tray 7 and the mold core tray 8 and can drive the raw material crucible tray 7 and the mold core tray 8 to slide into the melting and casting cavity 22; The transition chamber 21 is used for performing gas replacement or vacuum pumping operations; The automatic control hatch door 23 between the transition chamber and the melting and casting cavity connects the transition chamber 21 and the melting and casting cavity 22 and opens when the slide rail 5 needs to slide into the melting and casting cavity; Among them, both the automatic control hatch door 4 and the automatic control hatch door 23 between the transition chamber and the melting and casting cavity are configured with motors or cylinders, and are configured to connect or disconnect in a telescopic manner under the remote signal control of the control system to achieve the actions of opening and closing the door.

[0041] According to an 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 requirements of alloy block samples with different shapes and sizes. Among them, the internal shape of the split mold core is cylindrical, cubic, wedge-shaped, or conical, and the number of splits of each split mold core is 2 - 3 splits. As Figure 2 and Figure 3 shown, the cross-sectional structures of the split mold cores with cylindrical and conical shapes are respectively shown. During actual application, a suitable mold core can be selected according to the sample requirements.

[0042] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the number of splits of the split copper sleeve is 2 - 6 splits. As Figure 4 and Figure 5 shown, the structures of the three-split and two-split copper sleeves are respectively shown. This structure is simple and has strong stability.

[0043] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the heating device can be induction heating, resistance heating, arc heating, or carbon paper heating, and can be selected according to actual conditions. The present invention does not make specific limitations.

[0044] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the temperature measuring device is arranged at the bottom or outside of the heat preservation and 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 when responding to each test instruction: sending an instruction to the industrial robot to sample the raw material crucible tray; sending an injection signal to open the automatic control chamber door; placing the raw material crucible tray on the fixed position of the slide rail through the mechanical arm of the industrial robot itself, and sending a signal to close the automatic control chamber door; the transition chamber performs gas replacement or evacuation to achieve a low-oxygen and low-water environment; opening the automatic control chamber doors of the transition chamber and the melting and casting cavity, the slide rail pops into the melting and casting cavity, and the mechanical arm moves the raw material crucible tray to the specified position; retracting the slide rail and closing the automatic control chamber doors of the transition chamber and the melting and casting cavity; repeating the above steps to move the mold core tray to the specified position; controlling the mechanical arm to move the raw material crucible to the heat preservation fixing device and fix it; controlling the moving mechanism to open the split copper sleeve, controlling the mechanical arm to move the split mold core to the specified position in the split copper sleeve, and controlling the moving mechanism to clamp the split mold core with the split copper sleeve; according to the preset melting and casting process, controlling the power supply to heat and melt, realizing temperature control through the temperature measuring device feedback power supply, and after reaching the program preset time, controlling the tilting casting device to tilt the melting crucible, the heat preservation fixing device, and the heating device to pour the alloy melt into the split mold core; controlling the mechanical arm to take out the raw material crucible and put it back in place; controlling the moving mechanism to open the split copper sleeve, controlling the mechanical arm to take out the split mold core and put it back in place; repeating the above steps until all raw material crucibles complete melting and casting; controlling the opening of the automatic control chamber doors of the transition chamber and the melting and casting cavity, the slide rail pops out to the melting and casting cavity, controlling the mechanical arm to place the raw material crucible tray on the slide rail, the slide rail retracts, closing the automatic control chamber doors of the transition chamber and the melting and casting cavity, opening the automatic control chamber door, controlling the industrial robot to take out the raw material crucible tray and place it at the specified position, closing the automatic control chamber door, and the transition chamber performs gas replacement or evacuation; repeating the above steps to complete the taking out of the mold core tray; recording the process of all samples in this batch.

[0046] To more intuitively understand the working principle of the system of the present invention, the following will be described in conjunction with a specific embodiment of the melting and casting process.

[0047] Pre-place metal raw materials with different component ratios in different raw material crucibles 14 on the raw material crucible tray 7, and place split mold cores 11 with different size specifications in the mold core tray 8. Enter the melting and casting process of all samples in this batch in the control system 1 and realize the automatic melting and casting of metal materials 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 tray 7, sends an injection signal to open the automatic control chamber door 4, places the raw material crucible tray 7 on the slide rail 5 at a fixed position through the robotic arm of the industrial robot 2 itself, sends a signal to close the automatic control chamber door 4, and the transition chamber 21 performs gas replacement or vacuum pumping to achieve a low-oxygen and low-water environment. Then, the automatic control chamber door 23 between the transition chamber and the melting and casting cavity is opened, the slide rail 5 slides into the melting and casting cavity 22, and the robotic arm 6 moves the raw material crucible tray to the specified position and fixes and positions it through the positioning notch. Then, the slide rail 5 is retracted, and the automatic control chamber door 23 between the transition chamber and the melting and casting cavity is closed;

[0049] Step 2: Repeat the above Step 1 to also move the mold core disc 8 to the specified position and fix it;

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

[0051] Step 4: According to the preset melting and casting process, control the power supply 19 to perform heating and melting, and use the temperature measuring device 20 to provide real-time feedback on the heating temperature of the power supply 19 to achieve temperature control. After reaching the program preset time, control the tilting casting device 17 to tilt the melting crucible 14, the heat preservation and fixing device 15, and the heating device 16 to pour the alloy melt into the split mold core 11;

[0052] Step 5: Control the robotic arm 6 to take out the raw material crucible 14 and place it back in its original position on the raw material crucible tray 7, control the moving mechanism 10 to open the split copper sleeve 9, and control the robotic arm 6 to take out the split mold core 11 and place it back in its original position on the mold core disc 8;

[0053] Step 6: Repeat Steps 3 - 5 until all raw material crucibles 14 are completed in melting and casting;

[0054] Step 7: Control the automatic control chamber door 23 between the transition chamber and the melting and casting cavity to open, the slide rail 5 pops out into the melting and casting cavity 22, control the robotic arm 6 to place the cast raw material crucible tray 7 on the slide rail 5, the slide rail 5 retracts, the automatic control chamber door 23 between the transition chamber and the melting and casting cavity is closed, the automatic control chamber door 4 is opened, control the industrial robot 2 to take out the raw material crucible tray 7 and place it at the specified position, the automatic control chamber door 4 is closed, and the transition chamber 21 performs gas replacement or vacuum pumping;

[0055] Step 8: Control the automatic control of the overstock bin and the melting and casting cavity to open the bin door 23, pop out the slide rail 5 into the melting and casting cavity 22, control the robotic arm 6 to place the cast mold core plate 8 on the slide rail 5, retract the slide rail 5, close the automatic control bin door 23 of the overstock bin and the melting and casting cavity, open the automatic control bin door 4, control the industrial robot 2 to take out the mold core plate 8 and place it at the designated position, close the automatic control bin door 4, and perform gas replacement or vacuum pumping in the transition bin 21; record the process of all samples in this batch and upload it to the system.

[0056] To more intuitively understand the process of the method of the present invention, the following combines a specific example to illustrate the automated melting and casting process.

[0057] In the 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. For each composition, elemental raw materials are configured and placed in a total of ten raw material crucibles 14 respectively, and the ten raw material crucibles 14 are placed on the raw material crucible tray 7. A special-shaped split mold core is selected. It has a double-lobe structure. Its upper end is conical, with a diameter continuously changing from 30 mm to 3 mm and a total length of 50 mm, which is used to prepare samples with different diameters in a single batch for evaluating the glass-forming ability of amorphous alloys; its lower end is a cylindrical shape with a diameter of 3 mm, which can prepare rod-shaped samples with a uniform diameter for subsequent characterization of composition, structure, mechanical properties, thermal properties, etc. Using a split mold core with this structure, a series of samples with different specifications and different cooling rates can be obtained 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 tray 8. Then, the following steps are executed: T1. The control system 1 sends instructions to the industrial robot 2 to sample the raw material crucible tray 7, sends an injection signal to open the automatic control chamber door 4, the industrial robot 2 places the raw material crucible tray 7 on the slide rail 5 at a fixed position through its own robotic arm, sends a signal to close the automatic control chamber door 4, the transition chamber 21 performs gas replacement or evacuation to achieve a low-oxygen and low-water environment, and then opens the automatic control chamber doors 23 of the transition chamber and the melting and casting cavity. The slide rail 5 slides into the melting and casting cavity 22, and the robotic arm 6 moves the raw material crucible tray to the designated position and fixes and positions it through the positioning notch. Then, the slide rail 5 is retracted, and the automatic control chamber doors 23 of the transition chamber and the melting and casting cavity are closed. T2. Repeat step T1 to also move the mold core tray 8 to the designated position and fix it. T3. Control the robotic arm 6 to move the raw material crucible 14 into the heat preservation and fixing device 15 and fix it. Control the moving mechanism 10 to open the split copper sleeve 9. Control the robotic arm 6 to move the split mold core to the designated position in the split copper sleeve 9. Control the moving mechanism 10 to clamp the split mold core with the split copper sleeve 9. The split copper sleeve 9 is cooled by circulating water, and this condition is more conducive to the formation of amorphous alloys. T4. According to the preset melting and casting process, control the power supply 19 to heat and melt. The temperature control is realized by the temperature measuring device 20 feeding back to the power supply 19. After reaching the program preset time, control the tilting casting mechanism 17 to tilt the melting crucible 14, the heat preservation and fixing device 15, and the heating device 16, and pour the alloy melt into the split mold core. Control the robotic 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. Control the robotic arm 6 to take out the split mold core and put it back in place. T5. Repeat the above steps T3 - T4 until all the raw material crucibles 14 are completed in melting and casting.T6. Control the automatic control hatch 23 of the overstock bin and the melting and casting cavity to open, pop out the slide rail 5 into the melting and casting cavity 22, control the robotic arm 6 to place the raw material crucible tray 7 after casting on the slide rail 5, retract the slide rail 5, close the automatic control hatch 23 of the overstock bin and the melting and casting cavity, open the automatic control hatch 4, control the industrial robot 2 to take out the raw material crucible tray 7 and place it at the designated position, close the automatic control hatch 4, and perform gas replacement or vacuum pumping on the transition bin 21. Repeat the above process steps to complete the removal of the mold core plate 7. T7. Record the process of all samples in this batch and upload it to the system. Figure 6 shows the samples prepared by using the special-shaped split mold core in this embodiment. Figure 7 is the X-ray spectrum of this amorphous alloy. Since this material is an amorphous alloy, from Figure 7 the main feature of the X-ray spectrum is a diffuse scattering peak.

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

[0059] 1. The present invention can achieve high-throughput automated preparation: The present invention can realize the automated and high-throughput preparation of a large number of bulk alloy samples with different compositions and processes. Through systematic process design, it can efficiently screen the effects of alloy composition, microstructure, and process parameters on material properties, significantly improve the material screening efficiency, and accelerate the R & D process of new materials.

[0060] 2. The solution of the present invention has process consistency and quality stability: Through automated operation, the present invention effectively eliminates the influence of factors such as the technical level and operating habits of operators on the material preparation process, ensuring that each prepared sample has highly consistent process parameters and quality characteristics. This not only improves the stability of material properties 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 coordination with other automated and 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, greatly improving the R & D efficiency and promoting the development of material research and development towards intelligence and high efficiency.

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

[0063] The embodiments of the present invention have been described above. The above description is exemplary, not exhaustive, and is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. Many modifications and variations are obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the described embodiments. The choice of terms used herein is intended to best explain the principles of the embodiments, practical applications, or improvements to technologies in the market, or to enable other 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 door 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 the specified position in the casting device for fixing, and the casting device performs the following steps repeatedly under the control of the control system until all the alloy metal raw materials are smelted and cast: the robot arm grabs a raw material crucible from the raw material crucible plate and places it in a fixed smelting position, and grabs a mold core and places it directly below the smelting position; heats and melts according to the preset smelting 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 smelting 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; The casting device comprises a transition device and a smelting 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; The smelting and casting cavity is used for smelting and casting alloy raw materials, and the smelting and casting cavity includes: A heat-insulating fixing device for fixing the raw material crucible; 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; The mold core wrapping device is arranged just below the heat preservation fixing device and is used for wrapping the mold core; the mold core wrapping device is a split copper sleeve.

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 transition device comprises: an automatic control chamber door 1, a slide rail, a transition chamber, and an automatic control chamber door 2 between 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 second 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 slide rail needs to slide into the smelting and casting cavity; Among them, the automatic control chamber door 1 and the automatic control chamber door 2 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 also includes: 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; 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 moving mechanism is arranged outside the mold core wrapping 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; A water cooler connected to the mold core wrapping device, used to cool the mold core fixed by the mold core wrapping device to achieve a cooling operation on the alloy metal raw material; The power supply is used to provide electrical energy to the entire casting device according to the melting temperature requirements and adjust the temperature in real time according to the requirements.

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 number of petals of the petal 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 9, 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, and performs smelting and casting according to a preset smelting and casting process, and after the smelting and casting are completed, the raw material crucible that has been smelted is placed back to the original position in the raw material crucible plate, and the mold core is placed 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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