The mould-filling capacity of two casting alloys

Abstract

The mould-filling capacities of an Au-Ag-Cu alloy and a Ni-Cr-Be alloy for dental use have been studied by measuring the lengths of cast helices of a constant cross-section as a function of the supertemperature of the melt. A vacuum-pressure casting machine was applied in the experiments. Assuming that the conduction of heat through the investment is rate-controlling for the heat flow, the heat of fusion was calculated for the two alloys. These values were found to be close to those obtained by differential thermal analysis measurements. The lengths of the helices are strongly influenced by the deliberated heat of fusion during solidification. The substantially higher mould-filling capacity of the Ni-Cr-Be alloy compared with that of the Au-Ag-Cu alloy can be explained to a large extent by the corresponding difference in their latent heat of fusion. A calculation of the lengths of the helices requires a knowledge of the speeds of the melts. So far there are only indications of a higher speed for the Ni-Cr-Be alloy than for the Au-Ag-Cu alloy with the casting machine employed. The highest slope for the length of helix against supertemperature curve was observed for the Au-Ag-Cu alloy, indicating a smaller heat transfer coefficient for this alloy than for the Ni-Cr-Be alloy.