Aluminum Melting Fundamentals

Table of Contents

1. Foundry Terminology
   1. Equipment
      1. Ladles
      2. Crucibles
      3. Skimmers
      4. Refractory Materials
      5. Resistance Elements
      6. Molds
   2. Protective Gear
   3. Charge vs. Melt
   4. Charge Materials
   5. Mechanical Properties
      1. Hardness
      2. Strength
      3. Elongation
      4. Machinability
      5. Conductivity
      6. Corrosion Resistance
   6. Melting and Solidification
   7. Mold Example
   8. Casting Processes
   9. Filling vs. Feeding
   10. Cast Alloy Designations
2. Furnaces and Molten Metal Testing
   1. Furnaces
      1. Crucible Furnaces
         1. Fuel-Fired Furnaces
            1. Stationary Furnaces
            2. Tilting Furnaces
            3. Lift-Out Furnaces
         2. Resistance Furnaces
         3. Induction Furnaces
      2. Reverberatory Furnaces
         1. Wet Bath Furnaces
         2. Dry Hearth Furnaces
   2. Molten Metal Testing
      1. Temperature Checking
      2. Spectrometer Analysis
      3. Reduced Pressure Testing (RPT)
      4. Density Evaluation
3. Additions and Molten Metal Processing
   1. Additions
      1. Metallic Additions
      2. Non-Metallic Additions
         1. Fluxes
         2. Inert Gases
         3. Active Gases
   2. Molten Metal Processing
      1. Degassing
      2. Fluxing
      3. Dross Removal
      4. Grain Refinement
      5. Silicon Modification