1. Arc Furnace Melting and Sand Casting of Aluminum and Copper James Bonnell James O’Brien Engr 45 Dec 8, 2004

2. Arc Furnace Typical Uses Metal Recycling Used to reclaim iron, nickel and cobalt alloy Scrap is generally 100% of the charge With computer control is used to separate various mixed scrap to specific compositions

3. Arc Furnace Benefits: Cost per ton of final product is less (taking into account all expendables) Can melt almost any type of metallic scrap Good for smaller production runs requiring less capacity. Source: http://tristate.apogee.net/et/

4. Power Consumption Source: http://tristate.apogee.net/et/

5. Cost Per Ton of Steel Source: http://tristate.apogee.net/et/

6. Basic Electric Arc Furnace

7. DC Electric Arc Furnace www.jfe-21 st -cf.or.jp

8. Current Carrying Capacity Source: www.foundrytraders.com Nominal DiameterElectrode Type mminchRegular PowerHigh PowerUltra High Power 7531,000 ~ 1,400 10041,500 ~ 2,400 15063,000 ~ 4,500 20085,000 ~ 6,9005,400 ~ 9,000 250107,000 ~ 10,0008,000 ~ 12,000 3001210,000 ~ 13,00013,000 ~ 17,40018,000 ~ 22,000 3501413,500 ~ 18,00017,400 ~ 24,00020,000 ~ 30,000 4001618,000 ~ 23,50021,000 ~ 31,00025,000 ~ 40,000 4501822,000 ~ 27,00025,000 ~ 40,00032,000 ~ 45,000 5002025,000 ~ 32,00030,000 ~ 48,00038,000 ~ 55,000

9. Our Arc Furnace Started as a standard arc lamp used for exposing photographic emulsions.

10. Modified Arc Lamp Moved the bottom electrode to be parallel with the top electrode Added: Platform Crucible

11. Attempted Arc Start with Steel

12. Arc Start with Carbon Rod

13. Sand Casting Mold and Products www.simmons.com www.birt1.demon.co.uk

14. Sand Casting Suitability Advantages: Least Expensive Casting Process Castings can be up to Several Tons Less Expensive than Machining Shapes from Bar Stock Can Cast Intricate Shapes Can be Used with Most Pourable Metals and Alloys Disadvantages: Can Only Cast Basic Part Shape Castings Require Secondary Machining Rough Surface Finish www.casting-source.com

15. Casting Sand Types Basic casting sand consists of bentonite clay and sand (usually 120 grit) Chromite sand: a high quality refractory molding sand,with high chilling effect and stability Zircon sand: particularly suitable for higher melting point alloys Source: http://www.foundrytraders.com

16. Basic Tools

17. Shrinkage Consideration Shrinkage Rate for Small Castings Iron - 1/8" per foot Steel - 1/4" per foot Aluminum - 5/32" per foot Brass - 3/16" per foot www.casting-source.com

18. General Setup www.lethbridgeironworks.com

19. Our setup and mold

20. Disappointing Results Insufficient input heat to maintain molten state Worked to melt small samples Crucible broke from thermal shock when the sample melted

21. Final Castings Used Oxyacetylene Torch to heat steel crucible that would not suffer thermal shock. Cast aluminum and copper alloys (not quite enough heat input for copper) Original