JPS6116215B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

The present invention relates to a casting method and apparatus for manufacturing elongated metal products. Continuous casting has been one of the technologies that has been actively researched in the metallurgy field for a long time, and a relatively large number of patents and technical documents have been published. However, for a number of reasons, only very few of the existing ideas described in these numerous documents have been translated into industrial practice. Continuous metal casting processes that have been put into practice have typically utilized some type of mechanical contact mold to contact, confine, and shape the molten metal while it solidifies. These molds took the form of casting wheels, casting belts, and, in the case of so-called dip molding, the form of a seed rod, also known as an internal mold. As will be discussed in more detail below, the present invention utilizes alternating electromagnetic fields to create an upwardly moving column of molten metal, support it without continuous contact with surrounding surfaces, and to confine it to the casting wheel, casting It has features that make belts, seed rods, or other contact molds used in industry today unnecessary. In addition to simplifying continuous casting for metal forming and other industrial production systems, the method of the present invention allows continuous casting to replace the more expensive billet casting and hot rolling methods commonly used today. This opens the door to the possibility of producing medium quantities of brass, nickel and other metal bars. For much the same purpose as the present invention, it has previously been proposed to utilize an electromagnetic mold to maintain a pool of metal melt at the top of a downwardly moving ingot, while allowing the lateral exterior of the pool to solidify.
This method is described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,467,166 (Getuzereb et al.);
No. 4014379 (Getutuzereb); further developed in No. 4126175 (Getutuzereb). In either case, the melt is fed semi-continuously or continuously by gravity flow to the upper end of the descending ingot. One of the significant drawbacks of this method is that there is no "fail-safe" characteristic of upward casting.
That is, in the event of a sudden power failure, the molten metal would simply flow back into the holding vessel or crucible in the present invention, whereas in the above method it would spill out of the downward casting apparatus. Also, because of the potential for melt overflow and breakout in downward casting, both the melt feed rate and the ingot removal rate must be carefully controlled at all times. Furthermore, these speeds are severely limited by heat exchange problems, thus reducing the possibility of industrial implementation of this type of continuous casting. U.S. Patent No. Assigned to Autokunbo Oy, Inc.
No. 3746077 (Rohikoski et al.) and No. 3872913
According to another method described in No. (Rohikoski), when a newly formed and cooled casting product is removed from physical contact with the upper end of a mechanical mold that discontinuously and intermittently contains molten metal. is forced buoyantly into an open, vertically placed mechanical mold or sucked up by a vacuum. Fail-safety is achieved in this case, but the major drawbacks for the use of external contact molds have to be accepted. The present invention creates an elongated, upwardly traveling alternating electromagnetic field within a surrounding casting vessel, and introduces liquid metal into the casting vessel and the lower portion of the electromagnetic field to form a column of liquid metal that moves upwardly through the casting vessel. , the step of completely solidifying the metal while moving upward through the container and the electromagnetic field, and removing the solidified metal product from the top of the container, and the strength of the electromagnetic field acting on the liquid metal column. A gap is created between the outer surface of the metal column and the inner surface of the casting container to reduce the hydrostatic head of the metal column and to allow sufficient heat transfer between the metal column and the casting container. The strength of the electromagnetic field is maintained such that the cross-sectional size of the metal column is large enough to allow the metal column to form between The present invention provides a method for manufacturing a long metal product, characterized in that the frictional force and adhesive force between the metal column and the inner surface of the casting container are eliminated. The present invention also provides a casting vessel, means for forming an elongated upwardly traveling alternating electromagnetic field within the vessel, introducing liquid metal into the lower part of the casting vessel and the electromagnetic field, and moving upwardly through the casting vessel. heat exchange means associated with the vessel and the casting vessel for completely solidifying the metal during upward movement through an electromagnetic field; solidifying from the top of the casting vessel; means for producing a strength of electromagnetic field acting on the liquid metal column to reduce the hydrostatic head of the metal column, and sufficient heat transfer between the metal column and the casting vessel. The strength of the electromagnetic field is such that the cross-sectional size of the metal column is large enough to form a gap as large as possible between the outer surface of the metal column and the inner surface of the casting vessel. The length is such that the gravity of the metal column is reduced by the action of the electromagnetic field and the frictional force and adhesive force between the metal column and the inner surface of the casting container are eliminated in the area surrounded by the electromagnetic field. The present invention also provides a casting apparatus for manufacturing long metal products. In accordance with the invention, as described above and as will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings, the results and advantages described below are always obtained in the casting of metals, preferably continuous casting. These results are also achieved when producing rods of copper and other metals that can be conventionally rolled, annealed, and drawn to make wire. Furthermore, there is no economic disadvantage; on the contrary, substantial savings in production costs are possible for certain production lines. For example, the present invention allows the production of welding rods or other products in which particle size is not critical by direct continuous casting to the desired final size.
Yet another important advantage is that the present invention is generally compositionally free and suitable for the production of copper rods of high-oxygen to low-oxygen copper, as well as other metals and alloys such as aluminum, aluminum-based alloys, copper Applicable to the production of base alloys, steel and other rods, or other long objects. The basic idea of the invention is to move a liquid metal column to and through a forming zone where it is exposed to an alternating electromagnetic field where it is sequentially cooled and completely solidified, and the electromagnetic field forms the resulting solidified casting. Continuous upward casting process helps reduce the force required when removing from the area. This important effect of the electromagnetic field is such that, in accordance with the invention, the molten metal column is levitated and contained by the action of the electromagnetic field over a large part of its length, especially in the area where its solidification is taking place. This can be achieved by The flotation is effected by an electromagnetic traveling wave that is elongated and propagates upward such that most of the length of the liquid metal column remains substantially weightless throughout the entire casting operation. Confinement means that, due to the action of the electromagnetic field, a large part of the total length of the liquid metal column is kept in no contact with the casting vessel, ie with a small gap. In the present invention, this flotation and confinement effect is simultaneously exploited to ensure that a large portion of the length of the molten metal column is substantially weightless, remains so, and does not come into contact with the physical mold structure, i.e., the casting vessel. It will be done. The electromagnetic means are thus utilized to perform both lifting and containment functions. The fundamentally novel approach of the present invention has important advantages. Electromagnetic levitation is a process in which the metal column is virtually weightless, and the newly solidified portion of the metal product can be cooled to gain sufficient force to support the weight of the metal below, or the product can be removed from the forming area. It is also unnecessary to withstand tensile force to overcome mold friction during ejection, opening the door to high productivity. In other words, the work required to peel the solidified metal article from the mold is greatly reduced in this mode of operation. This is because this work is a function of the friction between the mold and the casting, and this friction is proportional to the compressive force at the mold/casting interface. In the present invention, there is almost no compressive force because the molten metal column is weightless and there is no contact between the metal column and the mold. However, the gap between the molten metal column and the casting container should be large enough not to impair the heat exchange effect between the two, and this will ensure that the strength of the electromagnetic field is controlled appropriately by the aforementioned confinement effect. This is achieved by maintaining the cross-sectional size of the metal column. The gap is generally less than about 0.1 mm. Large productivity opportunities are provided by the combined effects of both electromagnetic levitation and confinement of the present invention. That is, the force required to remove the newly solidified product and advance the molten metal column into the solidification zone is much smaller due to the absence of frictional and adhesive forces. In terms of heat exchange effect, good heat exchange can be achieved by reducing the gap width between the molten metal column and the surrounding inner surface of the physical mold (casting container) as described above. Another advantage of the present invention is that the levitation state is maintained under precise self-control over a wide range of power input conditions. That is, we unexpectedly discovered that confinement force and buoyancy force are related to their effects. If the diameter of the molten metal column is preset to a desired value, the higher the upward movement speed of the molten metal column, the smaller its cross-sectional size and thus the less electromagnetic lift force applied to the column. do. Conversely, as the upward velocity decreases and thus the cross-sectional area of the metal column increases, the lifting force increases, so that even if the system itself exhibits a slight tendency to hunting disturbance, it does not reach equilibrium. , the result is that the cross-sectional size and shape of the product remains substantially uniform. As generally stated above, the inventors have found that the casting method of the present invention has wide applicability to metals, metal mixtures, metal alloys, and virtually any other electrically conductive molten material that can be solidified by the removal of heat. We also found that it is possible. Another, closely related, unexpected finding is that sufficient eddy currents are induced in the liquid metal column under conditions of virtually zero hydrostatic head, such that the column becomes buoyant during solidification. The fact is that the liquid in the metal column is agitated as it is moved through, so that cast products with a high degree of homogeneity are obtained even in the case of metal mixtures which exhibit a marked tendency to selective segregation and solidification. The flotation effect in the present invention is that at least a portion of the liquid metal column is made substantially hydrostatic headless, ie substantially weightless. The force applied to move the metal column upwardly out of the forming area is provided by a starter rod that is joined to the liquid metal column at an early stage in the process, causing the liquid metal column to solidify in contact with the lower end of the rod.
As the lower end of the liquid metal column is successively produced with stable maintenance of the continuous casting process, the upward drawing of the rod and the subsequent upward drawing of the successively solidified portions is carried out by suitable means. . The electromagnetic field forming means in the device of the invention includes a large number of electromagnetic coil groups connected to successive phases of a multiphase current source in order to produce an upward lifting effect on the liquid metal column within the container. The term "lift effect" means that a continuous column of liquid metal is forced upwardly into contact with the lower end of the forming product rod. Pores and pipe flows are thus avoided. More specifically, the apparatus of the invention has a crucible for containing a bath of molten metal communicating with the lower end of the casting vessel, and is associated with the crucible for producing a column of liquid metal and suspending the column within the casting vessel. It includes means for pushing upwardly to a certain level above the lower end of the means. In a preferred embodiment, the means for creating the metal column takes the form of a hydrostatic pressure source that moves the liquid metal and aids in formation and retention of the metal column. The products obtained according to the invention are elongated metal bodies that are sufficiently dense, of substantially uniform diameter, and of uniform composition from piece to piece. These products in their freshly cast state, such as bars, rods, etc., must be electromagnetically sealed before, during, and immediately after solidification to prevent the metal being formed from coming into contact with horizontal structures such as casting vessels. It has a smooth, slightly wavy surface because it is held in place and because the solidifying liquid metal column is constantly agitated by induced eddy currents. In a preferred embodiment, the product is a rod of highly phase-separable composition, resulting in a high degree of homogeneity due to induced eddy currents. In the practice of the present invention, it has been found that the average difference in diameter between the float-retained rod and the inside wall of the casting vessel is about 0.001 to 0.002 inches. This and
The unique surface morphology of the product proves that the solidification of the bar product occurred without contact with the cooling tube surface. As shown in FIG. 1, the molten metal to be cast is placed in a tiltable holding furnace (not shown) from which it is deposited in the casting assembly 11 in the amount necessary to maintain the desired level of liquid metal. molten metal is fed into the crucible 10. This casting assembly is mounted on a crucible 10 and extends vertically upwardly therefrom to an open top end through which the newly cast solidified bar product 12 is discharged into a cooling chamber 13 from which it is transferred into a tandem hot It is passed to rolling stations 14 and 15 and finally cooled to ambient temperature before being coiled in coiling station 16. Alternatively, rod 17A is directly cast to the final desired size. The molten metal is fed into the crucible 10 by tilting the holding furnace to the charging position from time to time or continuously as necessary during the continuous casting process, and is transported from the crucible 10 as a liquid metal column by gravity flow from the holding furnace. into the casting assembly 11. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, liquid metal column 20 (see FIG. 2)
is initially created in this way and then levitation by upwardly traveling electromagnetic waves is carried out to hold the metal column at a level above which the hydrostatic head becomes small or disappears. In other words, the upper end of the metal column 20 from the beginning is
Encased within the lower portion of the assembly 11, at least the upper portion of the metal column 20 is substantially weightless when the flotation device of the casting assembly is connected to a power source. Casting assembly 11 includes an open-ended casting vessel or revitator tube 25 made of a refractory material and secured to crucible 10 for receiving liquid metal for solidification therefrom. Finally, the product is delivered from the upper end to the cooling chamber 13 as a cast product. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, 12 coil groups 28 are vertically spaced around the revitator tube 25 as windings arranged substantially perpendicular to the tube axis, and as shown in FIG. They are connected in groups of three to successive phases of the power supply, thereby creating an alternating electromagnetic field that travels upwards. This creates a Foucault current in the column of liquid metal in tube 25, giving an upward lifting effect to the metal being cast. The six-phase levitation means is thus operated to create a progressive upward traveling wave moving at a speed proportional to the excitation frequency and the distance between successively closed flux loops. The coils 28 forming the heart of the levitation means are arranged vertically along the entire length of the levitation tube and are arranged vertically along the entire length of the levitation tube.
All of the liquid metal, as well as the solidified metal product, except the lowest part of 5, is made to float during the casting operation to the desired extent, preferably to substantially weightlessness. In order to demonstrate the effectiveness of the method and apparatus of the invention, an experimental model of the apparatus of the invention was used to produce copper, aluminum and bronze rods by continuous casting. A levitation section with an overall length of 6 inches was provided that was sown 36 times. 12
Each phase was offset by 60° in phase from its immediate neighbor, and this section was effectively two wavelengths long. The diameter of the floating metal column is 22mm, and the motor
The total DC power supplied to the alternator AC Levitator power source was approximately 7-10 kilowatts so that at frequencies around 1200 hertz the metal column was maintained without acceleration (ie, a levitation factor of substantially 1.0). A heat exchanger 30 shown in FIG. 3 was used. Although a variety of heat exchanger designs and configurations may be used in the apparatus of the present invention, the one shown at 30 in FIG. 3 best meets the objectives of the present invention. This is the upper and lower annular filling chamber 3
1 and 32, and a cylindrical portion 33 provided around the levitation tube 25 and in contact with its annular outer surface. Source of liquid coolant, preferably tap water (not shown)
is continuously supplied to the upper chamber 31, flows through the cylindrical section 33 during the metal casting operation, and is withdrawn through the lower chamber 32 to a drain, carrying away the heat absorbed from the liquid metal in the tube 25 and the newly solidified metal product. leave. As shown in FIG. 3, a coil 28 is provided outside the central cylindrical portion of the heat exchanger and extends substantially from one chamber to the other at narrow intervals evenly spaced around the heat exchanger. ing. A preferred material for constructing the heat exchanger 30 is stainless steel from the standpoint of corrosion resistance and heat exchange performance. In carrying out the method of the present invention, crucible 10 is preferably filled with a melt of a metal, such as copper, to be continuously cast into an elongated product such as a bar. That is, first, as a preliminary step, metal is melted and the molten metal is sent from the holding furnace to the crucible 10 and the liquid metal column 2 is placed so that the upper end is within the floating part of the casting assembly 11.
Make 0. A starter rod 40 is inserted through the upper end of tube 25 so that the lower end of the rod contacts the top of the liquid metal column. Tap water is passed through the heat exchanger at full speed to solidify the top of the liquid metal column while remaining in contact with the rod. Rod 40 and its attached rod end are then pulled upwardly from tube 25 at approximately the same rate as solid rod formation. By operating the levitating means in this manner, the column of liquid metal is kept substantially weightless over at least a large portion of its length and is held at a clearance from the tube 25, and by continuing this operation, it is kept smooth and free of weight. A continuous length of metal bar is produced which is fully dense throughout and has a shiny, slightly corrugated surface. The rod is passed through chamber 13 where the temperature is lowered by a spray of water to the point conducive to final cooling and winding;
Intermediate hot rolling may or may not be performed before winding. As the height of the liquid metal column 20 decreases as the process progresses, additional melt is fed by gravity flow into the casting crucible 10, thus allowing the casting operation to continue without interruption. The method of the invention has been successfully demonstrated in a number of experiments involving various metals using this apparatus.
In particular, aluminum, copper and bronze alloys were cast into bars in the operations described above. In each case, the bar products were uniform, approximately 22 mm in diameter, fully dense, of homogeneous composition throughout, and had a smooth, shiny, slightly corrugated surface. However, the power input to the levitator is varied depending on the type of casting material so that the levitation force roughly matches the weight of the material to be levitated, ie, to create and maintain substantially zero acceleration levitation conditions. Contrary to expectations, as mentioned above, maintaining this buoyancy-gravity balance did not require precise control of the strength of the electromagnetic field. If the buoyancy force is greater than the weight force, the liquid metal column will be accelerated upward and the resulting cross-sectional area of the metal column will become smaller, reducing the lifting force, and if the lift force is less than the weight force, just the opposite will occur. Become. While the full effect of this flotation means is applied to most of the total length of the liquid metal column and to the solidified bar product in the levitation tube, the metal column sections at the lower and upper ends of the levitation tube (where the buoyancy force averages about 1 /2 only)
is supported by a pressure head provided to raise the liquid column to its original height and by a lifting force applied through the starter rod 40. Thus, a small upward acceleration is imparted by these lower end levitation forces as the liquid column is being formed, and as the liquid metal column gradually moves upward to a point approximately equal to the radius of the levitation coil, The metal column is subjected to an electromagnetic field strong enough to render and maintain it substantially weightless and free from contact with the levitation tube. Therefore, by increasing the pressure head, the upward flow velocity can be increased, and the initial pressure head can be used to adjust the velocity of the flow, and the initial flow can be extended over a certain length above the liquid column. A flotation means may be provided to help maintain a relatively constant value over time. In order to reduce the size of the casting equipment, especially the flotation assembly, and to minimize the amount of power input for maintaining the liquid column during the solidification stage, maximum heat exchange efficiency is desirable, and for this purpose the heat exchanger is designed to By effectively enclosing the metal column in a rapidly flowing, turbulent, and fairly small cross-section liquid coolant reflux, conditions that are virtually similar to water cooling are provided. In the improved heat exchanger shown, the short internal annular rib 43
This further improves the heat exchange, the ribs serving as a barrier against laminar flow and creating turbulence in the coolant liquid moving downwards in the heat exchanger from the upper chamber 31 to the lower chamber 32. Theoretically, there is no limit to the cross-sectional size of the product cast by the method of the present invention, but from a general practical standpoint, the diameter of the rod immediately after casting is approximately 5 mm to 50 mm, and in the case of copper rods, the diameter is approximately 8 mm. Preferably it is ~30 mm.
It is then hot rolled to the desired bar diameter and fine grain structure required for wire drawing. However, in any case, the internal diameter and operating parameters of the levitation tube 25 are selected in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention such that the clearance between the metal column 20 and the tube 25 is a minimum annular gap. This is selected as described above below the point where the cross-sectional area of the metal column shrinks, albeit to a very small extent, due to solidification of the liquid metal. The gap designated by 45 in FIGS. 2 and 3 is schematic and does not accurately represent the location of the annular gap or its dimensions. For the purpose of testing the applicability of the method of the present invention to substantially homogeneous castings of alloys in which the respective components tend to selectively segregate and solidify, an aluminum-bronze alloy was melted and produced substantially as described above. The same equipment was used, except that (1) the heat exchanger was a single copper tube wound around the levitation tube 25 so as to make heat exchange contact (see Figure 4), and (2) the liquid metal column was used as a heat exchanger. 20 was made and held by moving the melt from the crucible 10 by piston action instead of by gravity flow from a holding furnace, and three castings were carried out using the method of the invention. The analysis of the alloy used to make the molten metal as well as the analysis of the three bar products are shown in Table 1 below. Within the accuracy of the sampling and analytical methods that can be used from this table,
It was found that the consistency of alloy composition was sufficiently maintained.

【table】

[Table] Others
Cu Residue Residue Residue Residue
The apparatus of FIG. 4 includes a levitator tube 50 and twelve tubes wound over the tube 50 and spaced along its length, each connected to a source of coolant (not shown), such as tap water. This is a subassembly consisting of a copper cooling pipe 52. The tubes 52 are also connected in groups of three to successive phases of the multiphase current source shown in FIG. 5 for the above-mentioned upward lift effect, thus serving two purposes. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, each coil group is represented by A, B, and C, which correspond to the three phases in FIG. 5 showing the circuit components of the device and its power source. That is, this subassembly includes the revitator tube 25, the heat exchanger 30, and the 12 coil group 2 in FIG.
This is an alternative to 8. This device is used so that a liquid metal column 55, similar to metal column 20, is weightless over most of its length and is held away from and out of contact with tube 50 by a small dimension gap or annular gap 57. A cover gas that does not adversely react with the metal being cast is used and fed into the gap 57 in any desired manner. Preferred for copper casting is nitrogen or a mixed gas of nitrogen, hydrogen and carbon monoxide obtained by separating and removing H ₂ O and CO ₂ from the gas produced by burning nitrogen or natural gas. Continuously cast copper rod products of the present invention, shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, were made by the method of the present invention using the apparatus of FIG. In particular, an upward casting operation as described with respect to Figures 1-3 was carried out, and an electromagnetic field was used to keep the liquid copper column weightless and to keep the entire top of the column out of contact with the levitation tube. . Holding the liquid copper column free from pressure on the horizontal support structure at the point where the copper column surface was solidifying resulted in a smooth, shiny bar product surface with slight undulations. . This is also the result of eddy currents induced in the solidifying copper by the levitation field.
This fully detailed product (actual measurements and calculations
8.9) had a clearly homogeneous composition throughout. The diameter of the rod was slightly smaller than the 16 mm inner diameter of the revitator tube 25 in which the rod was made. The smooth matte band at the lower or left end of the rod is about 2 mils larger in diameter than the shiny rippled surface portion that solidified without pressure contact with the levitator tube. This short smooth, matte band at the lower end of the rod, solidified in the heat exchanger area below the effective buoyancy area of the molten copper, was therefore in pressure contact with the levitation tube. The apparent difference between the area in pressure contact and the area in non-pressure contact is obvious.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 is a schematic elevational view of the apparatus of the present invention in combination with a hot rolling mill; FIG. 2 is an elevational view of the casting assembly of the apparatus of FIG. 1; and FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view similar to FIG. 3 of a casting container portion of an apparatus according to another aspect of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view of a casting container according to another embodiment of the present invention; FIG. FIG. 6 is a photograph of a copper rod obtained by carrying out the method of the present invention, and FIG. 7 is a diagram of the lower end of the copper rod of FIG. This is an enlarged photograph of surface characteristics. In the figure, 10 is a crucible, 12 is a bar product (metal product), 20 is a liquid metal column, 25 is a casting container (levitator tube), 28 is a coil, 30 is a heat exchanger,
40 is a starter rod, and 45 is a gap.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A liquid metal column that forms an elongated upwardly traveling alternating electromagnetic field inside a surrounding casting container, introduces liquid metal into the casting container and the lower part of the electromagnetic field, and moves upward in the casting container. forming a liquid metal column, completely solidifying the metal while moving upward through the container and the electromagnetic field, and removing the solidified metal product from the top of the container, and an electromagnetic field acting on the liquid metal column. The strength of the metal column should be determined to reduce the hydrostatic head of the metal column, and the gap between the outer surface of the metal column and the casting vessel should be such that sufficient heat transfer between the metal column and the casting vessel is possible. The strength of the electromagnetic field is maintained so that the cross-sectional size of the metal column is large enough to form between the inner surface and the inner surface.
Further, the gravity of the metal column is reduced by the action of the electromagnetic field, and the frictional force and adhesive force between the metal column and the inner surface of the casting container in the area surrounded by the electromagnetic field are eliminated. Manufacturing method for shaku metal products. 2. Continuously introducing liquid metal into the lower part of the container,
The solidified metal product is continuously taken out from the top of the container, and the production rate of the metal product is controlled by controlling the speed at which the solidified metal product is taken out from the top of the container and the corresponding rate of introduction of liquid metal into the bottom of the container. A method as claimed in claim 1 in which the method is determined. 3. A liquid metal in the form of a column extending upwardly in an electromagnetic field is maintained in a weightless state and substantially free of hydrostatic head over a major portion of its length in the electromagnetic field. Or the method described in Section 2. 4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the metal product is a rod with a diameter of about 5 to 50 mm. 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the metal product is a copper rod with a diameter of about 8 to 30 mm. 6. In the initial stage of the casting process, the lower end of the starter rod is joined to the molten metal column moving upward in the electromagnetic field by cooling and solidifying the upper end of the liquid metal column in the electromagnetic field. The method according to any one of items 5 to 5. 7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the metal bar product is cooled and further processed to a final size. 8. The method of claim 7, wherein said processing comprises hot rolling. 9. A casting container, means for forming an alternating electromagnetic field extending upwardly in the interior of the container, a column of liquid metal introducing liquid metal into the lower part of the casting container and the electromagnetic field and moving upward in the casting container. means for forming a solidified metal product from the top of the casting vessel, heat exchange means associated with the vessel and the casting vessel for completely solidifying the metal during upward movement through an electromagnetic field; means for ejecting, means for creating an electromagnetic field pinch acting on the liquid metal column to reduce the hydrostatic head of the metal column, and enabling sufficient heat transfer between the metal column and the casting vessel. means for maintaining the strength of the electromagnetic field such that the cross-sectional size of the metal column is sufficient to form a gap of such size between the outer surface of the metal column and the inner surface of the casting container; manufacturing a long metal product in which the gravity of the metal column is reduced by the action of the electromagnetic field, and the frictional force and adhesive force between the metal column and the inner surface of the casting container are eliminated in the portion surrounded by the electromagnetic field. casting equipment. 10. The device of claim 9, wherein the means for forming an electromagnetic field comprises a number of electromagnetic coils for connection to successive phases of a multiphase current source. 11. The device according to claim 10, wherein the multiphase power source is a three-phase generator with variable output. 12. Claims 9 to 11, wherein the casting container is a tube of refractory material having a substantially uniform inner diameter.
Equipment described in any of the sections. 13. A crucible containing a bath of molten metal is provided in communication with the casting vessel, and further associated with the crucible means for moving the liquid metal column upwardly through the casting vessel to a level above the lower end of the electromagnetic field forming means. The device according to any one of claims 9 to 12, provided in the following. 14. Apparatus according to any one of claims 9 to 13, wherein the electromagnetic field forming means operates at a frequency of substantially 1200 hertz. 15. The apparatus according to any one of claims 9 to 14, comprising means for cooling the solidified metal product, means for processing the product to its final size, and means for further cooling the product to ambient temperature. . 16. Any one of claims 9 to 14, comprising means for cooling the solidified metal product removed from the container, means for rolling the product to a desired size, and means for cooling the rolled product to ambient temperature. The device described in Crab.