Effect of Degassing Treatment on the Interfacial Reaction of Molten Aluminum and Solid Steel

The gas porosity is one of the most serious problems in the casting of aluminum. There are several degassing methods that have been studied. During smelting of aluminum, the intermetallic compound (IMC) may be formed at the interface between molten aluminum and solid steel of crucible furnace lining. In this study, the effect of degassing treatment on the formations of IMC has been investigated. The rectangular substrate specimens were immersed in a molten aluminum bath. The holding times of the substrate immersions were in the range from 300 s to 1500 s. Two degassing treatments, argon degassing and hexachloroethane tablet degassing, were conducted to investigate their effect on the IMC formation. The IMC was examined under scanning electron microscope with EDX attachment. The thickness of the IMC layer increased with increasing immersion time for all treatments. Due to the high content of hydrogen, substrate specimens immersed in molten aluminum without degasser had IMC layer which was thicker than others. Argon degassing treatment was more effective than tablet degassing to reduce the IMC growth. Furthermore, the hard and brittle phase of IMC, FeAl3, was formed dominantly in specimens immersed for 900 s without degasser while in argon and tablet degasser specimens, it was formed partially.