Non-wetting ceramic parts for every point where molten aluminum touches your equipment before it reaches the die.
Molten aluminum touches a dozen parts before it fills the die.
Each one can add dross, oxides or downtime.
The ceramic parts that improve aluminum degassing and die casting are the ones in constant contact with the melt: porous plugs, lances and rotary degassers that remove hydrogen, immersion heater and thermocouple protection tubes in the holding furnace, riser tubes for low pressure die casting, auto ladles for high pressure die casting, and the launders, spouts and stopper rods in between. Blasch makes these aluminum die casting ceramics from non-wetting materials such as OXYTRON oxide bonded silicon carbide, NITRON nitride bonded silicon carbide and aluminum titanate, so aluminum does not stick, dross builds up more slowly and the parts run longer between changes.
Die casting is one of the hardest jobs for a ceramic part. It sits in molten aluminum for hours or days, and every dip, ladle cycle or furnace charge adds a thermal shock.
Aluminum that wets a surface sticks to it. Oxide and dross grow on the part, the bore of a tube narrows, a heater tube passes less heat, and a ladle that collects metal has to be cleaned or coated.
Where aluminum penetrates the pores, the part swells and cracks from the inside.
The answer in most of these places is a material that molten aluminum does not wet, combined with the thermal shock resistance to survive the cycling.
Parts that clean, heat and measure the metal before it is cast.
Porous ceramics with pores around 5 microns for fine bubbles and little metal penetration.
Silicon carbide and silicon nitride tubes that carry heat from the element into the melt.
Non-wetting tubes with reusable couplings, in standard lengths from 9 to 48 in.
Aluminum titanate tubes for low pressure die casting, each leak-down tested.
In molten aluminum, a ceramic part is rarely worn out; it is replaced because of what sticks to it, so the first question for every part is whether aluminum wets it.
| Material | Typical parts |
|---|---|
| OXYTRON oxide bonded SiC | Auto ladles, immersion heater tubes, thermocouple tubes, launders |
| NITRON nitride bonded SiC | Immersion heater tubes, thermocouple tubes, spouts, stopper rods |
| SINTRON silicon nitride | Immersion heater tubes |
| Aluminum titanate | Riser and stalk tubes, sprue bushings, fill and dosing tubes |
| Fused silica | Riser tubes, stopper rods, nozzles |
| SiC alumina composite | Porous plugs, lances, rotary degassers |
The OXYTRON oxide bonded silicon carbide family has been used in molten aluminum for decades, and the newest grade is OXYTRON 015XDII.
The same materials also work in copper, zinc and galvalume. For channel furnace linings and backup ram, see non-ferrous and aluminum products.
Parts that move the metal from furnace to die and control how much arrives.
A non-wetting auto ladle for high pressure die casting that needs no ladle coating.
Smooth cast channel linings with grooves for filters and pockets for nozzles.
Down spouts, pour spouts and metering nozzles with close as-cast bores.
Rods with nose geometry for on and off or throttling control.
Iron parts dissolve in aluminum, need coatings and cause freeze-offs. Non-wetting ceramics stay clean longer and add no iron to the melt.
No. OXYTRON parts such as the DuraLadle are non-wetting in molten aluminum without any coating.
Yes. Most parts are cast to the customer's dimensions, with threads, flanges and O-ring grooves cast in. A drawing helps but is not needed.
In the article Improved ceramic material for aluminum degassing, which compares pore size and strength.
Tell us the part, the alloy and how long it lasts today. A Blasch engineer proposes a material and a design.
