Emphasizing cost, defect control. (Copper Alloy).

The Copper Alloy Div.'s five panels and presentations covered a range of topics including furnace use, technical advances and casting defect analysis.

In the presentation, "Copper Base Melting in Coreless Induction Furnaces" (02-179), M. Eckert, Inductotherm Corp., walked attendees through a typical electric bill and offered suggestions to cut melt costs. Eckert suggested looking at the capital equipment involved in melting, revisiting the reasons for purchasing the existing melt equipment to see if it is still economical, and understanding how equipment operates within the electric company's set rate structure. He suggested optimizing operations by checking the utilization rate of equipment (a higher rate means less metal is being held, which equates to less energy consumed), spreading out melting by aiming for a lower peak power level, and altering the melt schedule.

Easy maintenance tricks also can cut electric costs, Eckert explained. These include:

* covering the furnace to reduce heat loss;

* maintaining the manufacturer-specified refractory thickness;

* preserving the correct coil diameter;

* checking that water-cooled leads are the correct length and tightly bundled together.

S. Ducharme, H. Kramer & Co., offered a presentation on identifying common defects in copper alloy castings (02-175).

He explained that dross defects appear as spongy, multicolored areas of loose metal, and shrinkage is usually a depression, crack or microporosity that becomes worse deeper into the casting.

Ducharme emphasized that the initial defect diagnosis is not always the right one--castings should be fractured before making a final conclusion.

Other presentations covered advances in pressure diecasting, grain refinement of permanent mold cast copper alloys, and improved melt conditioning and filtration of manganese bronze sand castings.