Melting and alloying practice in aluminium and its alloys

In the production of high quality castings of aluminium and its alloys several factors are to be considered right from charging the metal into the furnace to the stage of pouring the melt into the mould. Any negligence in not properly observing these factors during the stage of production can cause high rejections. The various factors involved and the methods to overcome the difficulties have been discussed in the paper. The factors to be considered are mainly the types of furnaces, hydrogen pick-up, fluxing, degasing, effects of grain refinement and modification of structure and mechanical properties. Some of the important alloys in use and their characteristics have also been described. The contributions made by National Metallurgical Laboratory in the technology of aluminium and its alloys have also been outlined. (Messrs G.G. Nair, Senior Scientific Assistant, V.S. Bhandary, Scientist and P.K. Gupte, Scientist, National Metallurgical Laboratory)