Casting of Aluminum Alloy Rod by a Single Wheel with V-Groove

Casting of a convex rod from 5182 aluminum alloy was attempted using a single wheel caster with a V-shape groove. The diameter of the mild steel wheel was 600 mm, the angle of the vortex was 90 degrees, and the width of the groove was 20 mm. Important factors to cast a rod with a convex shape are the speed of the molten metal ejected from a hole-nozzle and the collapse angle between the molten metal stream and the wheel. Important factors that affected the cross sectional shape of cast-bar were the speed of molten metal ejected from the hole-nozzle and the collapse angle of the molten metal against the wheel. A collapse angle close to 90° was better than an angle less than 90°. Casting speeds of 5 m/min and 15 m/min were employed, which resulted in convex cross sectional rod areas of 30 mm2 to 190 mm2.