JPH02170929A - Continuous manufacturing equipment for metal matrix composite - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To continuously manufacture a composite material by providing a continuous feeding device for matrix and additives to manufacturing equipment having a device for melting and agitating raw materials in a crucible in a vacuum vessel and a recovering device for receiving molten metal from the above melting and agitating device. CONSTITUTION:A raw material-feeding device II, a device I for melting and agitating the raw material, and a device IV for receiving and recovering the molten metal from the device I are provided so that they communicate with each other. Further, the raw material-feeding device II has buckets 21, 22 for charged material, a funnel 23 connected to a charging pipe 19 of the device I, a gate valve 24 for opening and closing an opening in the connecting part between the above charging pipe 19 and the funnel 23, an exhaust hole 25, and a leak valve 26. Respective buckets are used for receiving the matrix and additives to be added from the outside of the device and for charging these matrix and additives into the device I so that continuous operation is made possible. First the inside of a vacuum vessel 1 is evacuated, and then the matrix is held in a crucible 3 in a melting furnace 2 and heated, and, at the point of time when the matrix is completely melted or partially melted, the bucket 21 or the bucket 22 is tilted by means of a handle 21a or a handle 22a, and the additive are charged into the crucible 3 to undergo agitation.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] a. Industrial application field The present invention relates to a continuous manufacturing apparatus for metal matrix composite materials.

b. Conventional techniques The following techniques are available as methods and apparatus for manufacturing composite materials.

For example, there is a powder metallurgy method in which a matrix alloy is powdered, nonmetallic particles or fibers are mixed with the powder, and the alloy powder is bonded by pressure and extrusion to produce a composite material.

There is also a mechanical alloying method in which a matrix alloy is powdered, nonmetallic particles are mixed with the alloy, and these are mechanically kneaded to incorporate the particles into the powder to produce a composite material.

Furthermore, as shown in Fig. 3, a heating chamber is provided in a vacuum container a, a crucible C is disposed inside the heating chamber, and the crucible C is supported by a support rod d having an elevating function. be.

In this device, a certain amount of raw material is placed in a crucible C, and after melting, a shutter e is opened to raise the crucible C to the position indicated by the chain line, and a rotor f is inserted into the molten metal to stir it. be.

There are also devices as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. In this method, a melting furnace is provided in a vacuum container, and a crucible i is disposed in the melting furnace to melt raw materials, and additives for the composite are introduced from an addition chamber n and stirred by a stirring blade j. The stirred molten metal is poured into a container 2 equipped with a rotor r placed below by opening a stopcock k, and is further stirred by horizontal axis rotation to refine the crystals and remove additives. is further uniformly dispersed and collected into a mold m after the evening. S is a thermocouple for temperature control.

Problems to be solved by the C0 invention Both the powder metallurgy method and the mechanical alloying method require the use of alloy powder, and the production of this powder requires large-scale equipment and involves many steps, resulting in high production costs. There is a problem that it increases.

Furthermore, since the apparatus shown in FIG. 3 is of a batch type, composite materials cannot be manufactured continuously, resulting in poor production efficiency.

Furthermore, the devices shown in Figures 4 and 5 are difficult to operate because the temperature is controlled in the horizontal stirring section, and the stirring rotor r is at high speed (1.00 (1 to 10.00 Or, p, s + )
Since the rotor rotates at a constant speed, there is also the problem of damaging the rotor and housing. Furthermore, it is essential to maintain and inspect the bearings and oil seals at both ends that support the rotor. Since the rotor is rotated at high speed, there is a problem in that microporosity is easily formed in the manufacturing material. Furthermore, this device cannot continuously produce composite materials.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for continuously manufacturing a composite material having a metal material as a matrix.

d. Means for Solving the Problems In accordance with the above objects, the present invention provides a material supply device for manufacturing a composite material, a melting/stirring device for melting and stirring the material,
A device for receiving and recovering the molten metal from the melting/stirring device is provided in communication with the device, and the material supply device serves as a means for continuously supplying the base material of the composite material and the additive material for compounding. The above-mentioned problem has been solved by providing a continuous manufacturing apparatus for a metal matrix composite material, which is characterized by comprising:

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

In Figures 1 and 2, ■ is a dissolving/stirring device, ■
is a material supply device, and ■ is a recovery device.

In the melting/stirring device I, 1 is a vacuum vessel having, for example, a water-cooled jacket type structure, 2 is a melting furnace disposed within the vacuum vessel I, 3 is a crucible disposed within the melting furnace 2, and 4 is a heater for heating the crucible 3. heaters placed around it,
5 is a thermocouple for controlling the temperature inside the melting furnace 2;
is a sprue provided at the bottom of the crucible 3, 7 is a shutter provided at the top of the melting furnace 2, 8 is a rotary blade placed inside the crucible 3, and 9 is a gate provided from the top of the rotary blade 8 to the outside of the vacuum vessel The extended stirring rod 10 is a bearing portion that rotatably holds the stirring rod 9, and 12 is a driving device for the stirring rod 9.

Further, I5 is an on-off valve that opens and closes the sprue 6 at the bottom of the crucible 3, 17 is an elevator motor that opens and closes this on-off tap 15, and 19
1 is an additive material input pipe connected to the material supply device (■);
6 is a thermocouple extending to the tip of the stopcock 15, 50 is a viewing window, 52 is an exhaust port, and 53 is a leak valve.

In the material supply device ■, 20 is a vacuum container, 21.22
are packets for input materials, each of which is operated by handles 21a and 22a extending outside the vacuum vessel 20. 23 is the input pipe 19 of the dissolving/stirring device I
24 is a gate valve that opens and closes the opening of the connecting portion with input pipe 19, 25 is an exhaust port, and 26 is a leak valve.

Each of the packets accepts additional materials from outside the device, such as metal-based alloy materials and additive materials for compounding, and the melting and processing to enable continuous operation.
It is used for charging the stirring device I and is equipped with an appropriate number of packets.

In the recovery device (2), 129 is a vacuum container, 40 is a mold placed in the vacuum container 129, 41 is a cooling device placed around the mold 40, and 44 is a gate valve.

This gate valve 44 is connected to the vacuum container 1 of the melting/stirring device (2).
The communication port 43 provided at the bottom of the recovery device (2) is opened and closed to control the communication with the vacuum container 129 of the recovery device (2). 48 is a thermocouple.

The apparatus configured as described above is operated in the following manner. In addition, inside the vacuum vessels 1 and 20.129, there are exhaust ports 52.25 and 20.129, respectively.
゜46 to vacuum (I Xl0-"~I Xl0-' T
orr) can perform exhaust, and also has a leak valve 5.
From 3.26.47 the atmosphere and gases (Nl, Ne, Nr, etc.)
This is so that it can be drawn in.

Now, the inside of the vacuum container 1 is brought into a vacuum state, and a base material, such as an alloy material, is placed in a crucible 3 in a melting furnace 2 and heated and melted by a heater 4 . The additive material for compounding is added to the packet 21 of the material supply device (2) after confirming that the alloy material in the crucible 3 has completely or partially melted using the thermocouple 16 in the stopcock 15 and the viewing window 50.
(or 22) to the handle 21a (or 22a)
The sample is then tilted at the angle of 100 degrees, and is introduced into the crucible 3 from the funnel 23 through the input pipe 19. In this case, the gate valve 24 is naturally closed, and the vacuum container 20 is kept in the same vacuum state as the vacuum container 1.

On the other hand, the drive device 12 is operated to rotate the rotary blade at the tip of the stirring rod 9 (10 to 5,000 r, p, m) to uniformly disperse the additive material and the molten alloy.

After the necessary processing has been carried out, the lifting motor 17 is activated, the stopcock 15 is raised, the sprue 6 opening at the bottom of the crucible 3 is opened, and the molten metal flows into the mold 40 of the recovery device (2). It is rapidly cooled and solidified and collected as a lumpy aggregate.

The operation is performed as described above, but the material supply device
When the supply material runs out, first close the gate valve 24, then open the leak valve 26 to release the vacuum inside the vacuum container 20, and add new material from the outside to the packet 2.
Replenishment on 1.22. After replenishment -.

After closing the leak valve 26 and opening the exhaust port 25 to evacuate the inside of the container to create a vacuum state equivalent to that of the vacuum container 1 of the melting/stirring device I, the gate valve 24 can be opened. By doing so, even during the melting operation, materials can be replenished from outside the apparatus in preparation for continuous operation.

In addition, in order to take out the lumpy aggregate collected in the mold 40 of the collection device (2), first close the gate valve 44 and then open the leak valve 47, so that the vacuum state of the melting/stirring device I is not disturbed. The solidified mass can be taken out without feeding. Therefore, continuous processing operations can be performed within the dissolving/stirring device I.

After taking it out, close the gate valve 44 again and open the exhaust port 46.
The gate valve 44 may be opened after evacuation is performed from the top to a vacuum state equivalent to the vacuum volume H1 at the top.

e. Effects of the Invention As described above, according to the apparatus according to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained.

In other words, the material supply device is equipped with several material supply packets, and since it can maintain a vacuum state independent of the melting/stirring device and can be opened, it is possible to supply material to the melting/stirring device. This can be done without interfering with the operation of the dissolving/stirring equipment. Therefore, continuous operation is possible.

Furthermore, compared to conventional powder metallurgy and mechanical alloying methods, it is cheaper and requires fewer manufacturing steps.

Furthermore, since high-speed stirring by horizontal axis rotation is not used, there is an advantage that there is less microporosity in the manufactured material and composite materials of a specific quality can be manufactured continuously.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a front explanatory view showing an embodiment of the device according to the present invention in cross section, FIG. 2 is a side view explanatory view showing the side view of FIG. 1 in cross section, and FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view of a conventional device. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of another conventional device corresponding to FIG. 1, and FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of the same conventional device corresponding to FIG. 2. ! ...Dissolution/stirring device, ■...Material supply device, ■...Collection device, 1/20/129...Vacuum container. Patent issuer Suzuki Jidosha Kogyo Co., Ltd. (and 2 others) @Figure 2 Figure 5

Claims (1)

[Claims] A material supply device for manufacturing a composite material, a melting/stirring device for melting and stirring the material, and a device for receiving and recovering molten metal from the melting/stirring device are provided in communication with each other, and the material supply device is 1. A continuous manufacturing apparatus for a metal matrix composite material, comprising a continuous supply means for supplying a base material of the composite material and an additive material for compounding.