Electron Beam Titanium Slab Linearity via Asymmetric Pouring
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
The production of titanium slabs with conventional electron beam melting furnaces results in deformations that prevent direct hot rolling, requiring costly breaking down and correcting processes, and existing methods fail to ensure linearity and crack-free surfaces for industrial-scale hot rolling.
Innovation Solution
Producing titanium slabs by pouring molten metal from the short side of a rectangular mold in an electron beam melting furnace, controlling electron beam intensity, and forming chamfered corners to reduce deformations and enhance cooling symmetry, resulting in slabs with superior linearity and reduced cracking.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If a rectangular mold with reduced thickness is used to produce thinner titanium slabs, then the slab thickness becomes suitable for hot rolling, but the slab develops deformations and waviness that prevent direct use in conventional hot rolling machines
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies asymmetry by positioning the pouring port at one end of the rectangular mold rather than centrally, creating asymmetric filling and cooling patterns that compensate for thermal deformation. This asymmetric design allows the slab to solidify in a controlled manner that maintains linearity despite the reduced thickness, enabling direct use in hot rolling machines without corrective processing.
2Productivity
If conventional electron beam melting methods are used, then titanium ingots can be produced, but the ingots have large cross sections requiring costly breaking down and hot processing to create slabs for hot rolling
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by designing the mold with specific geometric features (rounded corners, optimized aspect ratio, asymmetric pouring port position) before the melting process begins. These pre-designed features ensure that the solidifying titanium slab develops minimal deformation and maintains linearity, eliminating the need for subsequent breaking down and corrective hot processing steps.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes key geometric parameters of the mold including the aspect ratio (length-to-width ratio), corner radius, and pouring port position. These parameter changes optimize the solidification process to produce slabs with controlled deformation within acceptable limits, enabling direct hot rolling without intermediate breaking down processes and thereby improving productivity while reducing device complexity.
3Manufacturing precision
If slab deformation is significant, then the material cannot be directly rolled, but heating and grinding processes are required to correct deformations and remove damaged portions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces mechanical corrective processes (hot processing, grinding, breaking down) with a optimized mold design that prevents deformation at the source. By incorporating specific geometric features in the mold such as rounded corners and asymmetric pouring port positioning, the solidification process itself produces slabs with acceptable linearity, substituting preventive design for corrective mechanical processing and thereby eliminating time-consuming operations.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The method enables titanium slabs with minimal deformations to be directly fed into hot rolling machines, reducing processing time and costs by eliminating the need for breaking down and correcting processes, while ensuring high-quality, crack-free surfaces and improved yield.
Implementation Method 1
melting titanium raw material by a consumable electrode type arc melting method or an electron beam melting method
Implementation Method 2
melting titanium raw material in a hearth of an electron beam melting furnace to form molten metal
Implementation Method 3
pouring the molten metal into a rectangular mold from one of the mold walls of a short side... enhancing cooling symmetry
Data Source
Figure 1~3
Figure 4A~5
Figure 6
AI summary
A titanium slab is appropriate for hot rolling, is produced by electron beam melting furnace, has superior linearity so that it can be fed into a hot rolling machine without performing breaking down process or other subsequent correcting process after production, and has good structure having no cracks at the corner parts. A process for production thereof is also provided. The titanium slab is directly produced by a mold of an electron beam melting furnace, and has the deformation of not more than 5 mm for the thickness direction versus the longitudinal direction and deformation of not more than 2.5 mm for the width direction versus the longitudinal direction, both per a length of 1000 mm of the slab. The process for production of this titanium slab for hot rolling has a step of using an electron beam melting furnace in which its rectangular mold has mold walls of a long side and mold walls of a short side, and a step of pouring molten metal from one of the mold walls of a short side. Furthermore, a mold having chamfered parts at the corner parts can be used in the process.