Influence of Angle of Inclination of the Crucible on Puddle Formation and Ribbon Thickness during Planar Flow Melt Spinning Process

Abstract

Planar flow melt spinning process is widely used to manufacture amorphous ribbons for transformer core applications. The position of the crucible above cooling wheel for melt ejection in the realistic production conditions is crucial to producing the higher quality product. The quality of the product depends on the thickness and defect-free state of the ribbon. Puddle formation plays a significant role in the quality of the ribbon. As the experimental investigation is expensive and time consuming a numerical model is used to investigate the effect of clockwise and counter-clockwise inclination of the crucible on puddle formation and ribbon thickness. The thickness increases by 62.8 % and 111.5% with an augment in inclination angle from 0o to 5.4o in counter-clockwise and clockwise directions respectively. Limiting angle of inclination to avoid non-contact zone or cavity in the puddle at the nozzle wall is around 2o to 3o to obtain a higher quality ribbon. This limit can increase up to 3o to 4o for higher wheel speeds. The ideal position of the crucible is perpendicular to the wheel surface. Otherwise, the limiting angle of inclination to produce higher quality ribbon is, counter-clockwise with an optimum inclination of not more than 2 degrees.