CONTINUOUS CASTING OF THE CLADDING 3003/4004 ALUMINUM ALLOY CIRCULAR INGOT

Abstract

Cladding metals have been widely applied to many fields because they have many excellent physical, chemical and mechanical properties that can not be obtained from the single metals. There are many conventional processes for manufacturing cladding metals, for example roll bonding, diffusion bonding, explosive welding, extrusion cladding and casting cladding. Among these processes, continuous casting is an ideal process to prepare cladding metals which has the advantages of high production efficiency, low production cost and good interface bonding. This process can make two metals contact directly by the ways of one liquid-one liquid, one liquid-one solid or one liquid-one semi- solid and then the good metallurgical bonding can be obtained. So, this process is extensively studied by researchers engaging in material processing. The process of the direct water-cooled continuous casting to fabricate cladding 3003/4004 aluminum alloy circular ingot is researched in this paper. The 3003 aluminum alloy has excellent corrosion resistance, low strength and high melting point, while the 4004 aluminum alloy has poor corrosion resistance, high strength and low melting point. The cladding 3003/4004 aluminum alloy material can combine the advantages of two metals and can be widely used in many fields, especially in car engine and air conditioning heat sink. To obtain the good interface bonding, a special inner mold with the single-side cooling capability was applied in this process. By the special inner mold, the two alloys can make the contact of one liquid-one solid or one liquid-one