Sheet Production of Advanced Aluminum Alloys via a Novel Thin Strip (TS) Casting Route

There has been a surprising increase in the demand for aluminum sheet primarily driven by the increased sensitivity to the negative environmental impact of plastic beverage containers, as well as the ever increasing demand to achieve substantive lightweighting of automobiles. Traditionally, aluminum sheets are made by casting molten aluminum into ~500 mm thick ingots through Direct Chill (DC) casting, and then scalping, homogenizing, hot rolling, and cold rolling to reach the final gauge thickness. Recently, a novel Thin Strip (TS) casting process has been developed by Hazelett CASTechnology ULC, which allows for direct casting of thin aluminum sheets of 2-5 mm thickness, thereby significantly reducing the energy requirement for processing to thin gauges, as well as offering a significant reduction in both capital and operational costs. However, the metallurgical properties of the TS sheets, their response to the subsequent cold-rolling/heat treatment processes and thus the final mechanical properties can be very different from the conventional norms. Therefore, product development using the TS route requires a comprehensive approach to process design/optimization of final mechanical properties).

Faculty Supervisor:

Vahid Fallah

Student:

Partner:

CASTechnology ULC

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Manufacturing

University:

Queen's University

Program: