CELLULAR SOLIDIFICATION DURING CONTINUOUS-CASTING OF A CU-CR-ZR ALLOY.1. CONDITIONS FOR CELLULAR MORPHOLOGY

Precipitation hardening Cu-Cr-Zr alloys have applications where good s trength and high electrical and thermal conductivity are required. The casting structure and the properties of these alloys at a given compo sition strongly depend on the cooling and solidification rare. A super saturated fine cellular structure offers the best chances to obtain th e desired properties. For this purpose, continuous casting is the most favourable technology for producing the desired cellular structures, since this technique allows to control the solidification parameters i n an excellent way. The objective of this study was to determine the c rystallisation parameters required to produce cellular structures duri ng solidification of a Cu - 1.11 % Cr - 0.12 % Zr alloy.