Effect of ultrasonic power introduced by a mold copper plate on the solidification process

Abstract

An electroslag furnace with ultrasonic vibration introduced by a mold copper plate was designed. The effects of ultrasonic power on the element distribution and compactness in electroslag remelting (ESR) ingots were studied, and the mechanism of ultrasonic assistance was analyzed in cold experiments. In the results, silicon, manganese and chromium are uniformly distributed at an ultrasonic power of 300–750 W. The absence of ultrasonic or higher ultrasonic power is not conducive to the uniformity of alloying elements. Carbon demonstrates a highly uneven distribution at 300 W, gradually reaches the uniform distribution as the ultrasonic power further increases, and shows the poor distribution at 1000 W. The compactness of ESR ingots gradually increases with increasing ultrasonic power and reaches the uniform distribution at 500 W. A further increase in ultrasonic power does not improve the compactness. Introducing ultrasonic vibrations by a mold copper plate can improve the solidification quality; however, an appropriate ultrasonic power level should be determined.