¹Research and Production Centre of Magnetic Hydrodynamics, Krasnoyarsk, Russia ; ²Siberian Federal University, Krasnoyarsk, Russia:

V. N. Timofeev, CEO¹, Head of the Electrotechnology Department²

Research and Production Centre of Magnetic Hydrodynamics, Krasnoyarsk, Russia:
G. P. Usynina, Chief Materials Specialist
M. M. Motkov, Head of the Continuous Casting and Plastic Deformation Department
I. S. Gudkov, Lead Specialist at the Department of High-Frequency Currents, e-mail: rdohead@mail.ru

The sample light-gauge round ingots continuously cast following a newly developed technique are characterized with a clean and disperse structure. This paper describes a rivet wire production technique based on the use of 9 mm V65 aluminium alloy long-length cast billets produced by electromagnetic crystallization (EMC). When the melt is exposed to high-frequency electromagnetic field, the resultant ingots appear free of such structural flaws as slag inclusions, oxide spots or other defects associated with conventional casting. This technique produces a disperse structure with the size of dendritic cells ~3–6 μm, which is typical of granulated aluminium alloys produced at the cooling rates of 103–104 ^oC/sec. The authors demonstrate the structural effect occurring in the initial ingot following EMC casting. Following a comparison with the conventional technique which produces rivet wire from pressed billets, it was established that the new EMC casting technique helps increase the yield due to the elimination of flaws caused by casting and pressing. It can also reduce the power and labour costs and increase the output due to less annealing operations required during wire drawing. The paper describes various drawing sequences for the EMC billets and how they influence the metal structure. The paper describes the results of a study that looked at the wires produced from homogenized and non-homogenized billets and the effect of the total degree of cold deformation on the grain size and mechanical properties of the wire produced following the new technique. The authors conducted a series of pilot tests and identified the optimum process that would produce aircraft rivets of the desired quality. This research was funded by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research, the Government of Krasnoyarsk Krai, the Krasnoyarsk Regional Science Foundation and the Research and Production Centre of Magnetic Hydrodynamics under the following research project: Understanding the dynamics of the turbulent flow of the melt under electromagnetic crystallization and how the latter changes the structure and properties of continuously cast light-gauge aluminium alloy billets used for the production of thin wire for aerospace application.

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