VAR Skull Melter – Titanium Casting

Overview

VAR Skull Melter – Titanium Casting melts and casts Titanium and Titanium based alloys under vacuum due to titanium's high affinity for oxygen. A consumable titanium electrode is melted by an electric arc into a water-cooled tiltable copper crucible; when the desired pouring weight is obtained the electrode is retracted and the molten titanium is poured into a mold. The melting and pouring process is automatically controlled and can be remotely observed from a modern control desk. The equipment supports casting of Titanium Aluminides (TiAl) and offers pouring weights from 25 to 1000 kg, with an example unit listed as 500 kg VAR Skullmelter VAR L 500 SM and laboratory systems with 500 gram casting weight; systems are also described as suitable for casting weights above 1000 kg. Furnaces are offered in various sizes and designs, with a standard furnace for casting into static molds and an optional centrifugal-casting unit to improve mold filling of shapes with small and complex cross sections. An argon cooling system is available as an option for enhanced mold cooling. ALD states the Skull Melter design is reliable and easy to operate and includes state of the art process control. The system features allow automated operation with reproducible results, provide process control and documentation as required for process certification of aircraft or medical applications, and are claimed to deliver high productivity at low operation costs; pouring and tilt turn are optimized and adapted to the product. Applications explicitly listed include commercial goods (golf clubs), industrial components (pump bodies), medical parts (implants) and various components for the aircraft industry. The system is used for casting Titanium and Titanium based alloys and for homogenization and casting of Titanium Aluminides (TiAl). The product range covers laboratory casting weights (500 gram) through pouring weights from 25 to 1000 kg and systems suitable for casting weights above 1000 kg, and supports casting into static molds or, with the centrifugal-casting unit option, improved mold filling for small and complex cross sections.