Electromagnetic shaping and solidification control of Ni-base superalloys under vacuum

This paper aims to introduce two novel techniques of electromagnetic confinement to process Ni-base alloys for castings and ingots with shaped cross-section. Based on systematically investigation on the distribution of magnetic and temperature fields and their coupling effect, a containerless electromagnetic shaping of aluminum alloy and superalloys samples was successfully realized by means of a specially designed apparatus with dual induction coils and dual-frequencies and by using a tailor-made crystallizer under vacuum condition. A near-net shaped turbine blade of superalloys with directionally solidified microstructure by electromagnetic soft-contact confinement technology was also obtained. The dynamic stability and profile behavior of melt and temperature gradient during electromagnetic confinement are presented.