Abstract
The established industry standards for assessing the cleanliness of aluminum melts are PoDFA (Porous Disc Filtration Apparatus) and LiMCA (Liquid Metal Cleanliness Analyzer) analyses. PoDFA provides the necessary qualitative and quantitative differentiation between the inclusions present in the molten metal, but it is slow and subject to human biases. LiMCA provides real-time data without sufficient differentiation, limiting its usefulness for metal quality and process control. Complementary solutions are in demand that can provide similar quality results as PoDFA at the speed of LiMCA. With the Automated Metal Cleanliness Analyzer (AMCA), an alternative solution is suggested that combines the strengths of both established approaches by standardized on-site sampling and automated image analysis for real-time quality control. The present study shows a validation of the image analysis method by replicating the main cleanliness indicator of PoDFA in real industry samples at high precision.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
D. Doutre, B. Gariépy, J. P. Martin, and G. Dubé, ‘Aluminium Cleanliness Monitoring: Methods and Applications in Process Development and Quality Control’, in Essential Readings in Light Metals, J. F. Grandfield and D. G. Eskin, Eds. Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2016, pp. 296–304.
R. Guthrie and M. Li, ‘In Situ detection of inclusions in liquid metals: Part II. Metallurgical applications of LiMCA systems’, in Metallurgical and Materials Transactions B, vol. 32, 2001, pp. 1081–1093.
ABB Inc., ‘PoDFA, The complete solution for inclusion measurement, Inclusion identification and quantification analysis’. 2016, [Online]. Available: https://library.e.abb.com/public/b706913462934969befe277d80880795/PB_PoDFA-EN_A.pdf.
C. Stanica and P. Moldovan, ‘Aluminium melt cleanliness performance evaluation using PoDFA (Porous Disk Filtration Apparatus) technology’, UPB Sci Bull Ser. B, vol. Vol. 71, no. Iss. 4, 2009, [Online]. Available: https://www.scientificbulletin.upb.ro/rev_docs_arhiva/full6739.pdf.
P. V. Evans, P. G. Enright, and R. A. Ricks, ‘Molten Metal Cleanliness: Recent Developments to Improve Measurement Reliability’, in Light Metals 2018, O. Martin, Ed. Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2018, pp. 839–846.
MATLAB (2019). Natick, Massachusetts: The MathWorks Inc.
H. Zedel, R. Fritzsch, S. Akhtar, and R. E. Aune, ‘Estimation of Aluminum Melt Filtration Efficiency Using Automated Image Acquisition and Processing’, in Light Metals 2019, C. Chesonis, Ed. Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2019, pp. 1113–1120.
N. Etemadi, ‘An elementary proof of the strong law of large numbers’, Z. Für Wahrscheinlichkeitstheorie Verwandte Geb., vol. 55, no. 1, pp. 119–122, Feb. 1981, https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01013465.
Acknowledgements
The authors wish to express their gratitude to the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and the Department of Chemistry at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) for the intensive usage of the optical equipment in the microscopic laboratory, to NTNU Technology Transfer AS (NTNU TTO) for their administrative and strategical support of the project, as well as to Norsk Hydro ASA in Karmøy for the provision of PoDFA samples and continuous support of the project.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2021 The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society
About this paper
Cite this paper
Zedel, H., Fritzsch, R., Akhtar, S., Aune, R.E. (2021). Automated Metal Cleanliness Analyzer (AMCA)—An Alternative Assessment of Metal Cleanliness in Aluminum Melts. In: Perander, L. (eds) Light Metals 2021. The Minerals, Metals & Materials Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-65396-5_102
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-65396-5_102
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-65395-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-65396-5
eBook Packages: Chemistry and Materials ScienceChemistry and Material Science (R0)