Product category:
Metals processing plant and equipment
News Release from: Rautomead International | Subject: Low-voltage resistance heating furnaces
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 01 March 2004
Faster trains demand advanced furnaces
for wire
To produce overhead high-speed railroad catenary wire from copper magnesium alloys required advanced furnace technology to melt and cast the alloys to within very tight tolerances.
The demand to introduce faster, high speed, intercity train services to reduce travelling time and compete with the airline services has provided a number of engineering and technical issues to overcome One of these has been the need to identify a suitable material for the design of the overhead trolley wire cable
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 3 Dec 2003 at 8.00am (UK)
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In the past, these cables were made with copper, copper tin or copper cadmium alloys, but as train speeds increased and the environmental cost of processing cadmium containing alloys grew, it became necessary to identify an alternative high tensile strength, high conductivity alloy.
Whilst the Japanese experimented with copper clad steel and copper chrome zirconium alloys, in Europe the solution focused on copper magnesium alloys.
The copper magnesium alloy is non-toxic, has high tensile strength and good creep resistance.
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Unique demands on manufacturing processes - magnesium is a highly reactive element and is particularly vulnerable to loss when in its liquid state.
This places unique demands on the manufacturing equipment design selected to melt, alloy and cast the copper magnesium alloy.
To achieve quality results during melting and casting, the composition of the Cu Mg alloy must be maintained within tight tolerances.
The liquid copper should be maintained in a reducing environment to minimise reaction between the magnesium alloying element and any residual oxygen in the copper.
There should be minimum agitation and stirring of the liquid copper and the metal should have a protective layer of high quality graphite flake on the surface of the melt.
At the same time, the design of the casting die/cooler assembly and the control of the linear casting parameters must facilitate the control of the solidification process in order to achieve the desired grain structure required for subsequent downstream rolling/drawing operations.
Specialist providers of continuous casting technology for non-ferrous alloys, Rautomead International of Dundee, Scotland, offer a range of equipment with the following core design features that are particularly suited to providing the desired production parameters for the copper magnesium alloy: Naturally "Oxygen-Free" environment - a graphite melting and casting crucible provides the reducing containment environment for the liquid copper.
The unique graphite process eliminates the oxidation problem by providing a naturally reducing "Oxygen-Free" environment in which oxygen present in the copper reacts with the graphite containment system.
Low-voltage resistance heating - electric resistance heating provides accurate furnace temperature control without any induced movement or agitation of the melt.
It offers sophisticated levels of power and temperature control, allowing the furnace to be operated with a minimum 'superheat' metal temperature.
The low-voltage system is also safe to use and easy to maintain.
25 years of die/cooler and withdrawal control technology design and experience, enables Rautomead to provide the correct parameters for the solidification and casting of the copper magnesium alloys.
Upward vertical or horizontal solutions - Rautomead International offers two alternative solutions to producers of the copper magnesium alloy wire rods: upward vertical or horizontal type continuous casting equipment.
The choice between the two is primarily influenced by the intended production capacity, the upward caster having a larger capacity than the horizontal one.
Both designs use a single electric resistance heated graphite furnace for integrated melting and casting.
This ensures a compact and cost-effective plant layout, especially since the Rautomead equipment requires no special foundations or costly civil engineering work.
Global expertise - Rautomead have supplied more than 250 casting machines to customers around the world.
Five of these, installed at different customers in Europe, are being used for the production of trolley wire alloys.
The first of these five Rautomead machines was installed in 1989; the most recent was in 2002.
Rautomead International provides a total service package which includes an extensive after sales care programme, spare parts supply, engineering support, customer training and access to special applications development R and D programmes.
The company also offers equipment and technology for a wide range of other non ferrous alloy continuous casting applications including: copper and copper alloy wires, bronze and brass bars and hollows, gold, silver and precious metal alloys for jewellery and electronic applications.
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