Measurement of non-metallic inclusions in the size range of 10-20µm by LiMCA

Abstract

Regular monitoring of the melt quality is employed in Aluminum cast house production where optimized processes and high quality are required. A well established method for the quantitative measurement of non-metallic inclusions is the LiMCA system. In this method, inclusions flowing together with the liquid Aluminium through a 300µm orifice of a submerged glass tube are detected due to their high electrical resistance. The LiMCA system can identify the size, typically in the range between 20µm and 300µm and number of particles in the liquid Aluminium. Increasing product quality standards have resulted in demands to monitor particles even smaller than 20µm. This paper reports results of a parametric study to assess the capability of the LiMCA system to monitor non-metallic inclusions in the particle size range of 10-20µm through changing the orifice hole size and by adjustment of the basic measurement parameters.