Steel Ingot Casting cost reducing PTC stirring process presentation

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Plasma Treatment Casting (PTC)
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PTCs Competitive Advantages for high grade steel
ingot

• Production cost reduction by 10-20
• Ingot casting yield increase from 80 to 90
• Segregation reduction
• Grain refinement
• Mechanical properties improvement
• Enables ingots casting with larger dimensions
• Shrinkage and porosity elimination
• Environmental emission reduction by 15

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The Effects of PTC Process

• Replacing hot isolation- feeding the liquid metal
  with a concentrated energy
• Reducing heat gradient - intensive heat exchange
  in liquid metal
• Stirring liquid metal while solidification-
  through multi-dimension electric and
  electromagnetic fields
• Producing additional pressure in risers -
  reducing risers height by exchanging potential
  energy with kinetic energy

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The PTC Process
The PTC process applies plasma arc during metals
and metal alloys solidification process.The
rotating plasma arc movesalong a prescribed
path, defined bya special electrode.
Confidential
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1.6 Ton steel ingots Casting Yield increase from
80 to 93
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Microstructure )center ( of 10 ton P-20 tool
steel ingot
Conventional ingot
Plasma treated ingot
Top
Middle
Bottom
M x 50
Confidential
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Microstructure )R/2 ( of 10 ton P-20 tool steel
ingot
Conventional ingot
Plasma treated ingot
Top
Middle
Bottom
M x 50
Confidential
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Microstructure ) Surface (of 10 ton P-20 tool
steel ingot
Conventional ingot
Plasma treated ingot
Top
Middle
Bottom
M x 50
Confidential
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PTC improves austenite grain size of P20 tool
steel
Top
Middle
Bottom
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Microstructure )Bottom (of 12 ton AISI 4130
steel ingot
PTC
Conventional
150mm from surface
10mm from surface
75mm from surface
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Microstructure )Middle (of 12 ton AISI 4130
steel ingot
PTC
Conventional
150mm from surface
10mm from surface
75mm from surface
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Microstructure )Top (of 12 ton AISI 4130 steel
ingot
PTC
Conventional
150mm from surface
10mm from surface
75mm from surface
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PTC improves grain size of AISI 4130 steel
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PTC improves hardness variation of AISI 4130
steel
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PTC Improves Tensile strength
Average along the ingot
Tensile strength variation in Conventional and
Plasma Treated 1.6 ton steel ingots after heat
treatment
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PTC Improves Hardness variation As cast
Bottom
Top
Bottom
Top
Metal Hardness variation in Conventional and
Plasma Treated 1.6 ton steel ingots as cast
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PTC Improves Relative Elongation Variation
Relative elongation variation in Conventional
and Plasma Treated 1.6 ton steel ingots after
heat treatment (average along the ingot from top
to bottom)
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The PTC equipment
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The PTC equipment
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The PTC equipment
PTC position during the PTC process