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Recognized Early! Ultrasound Detects Inclusions in the Aluminum Melt

Source: Fraunhofer IZFP | Translated by AI 2 min Reading Time

As part of its presence at the Sensor+Test trade fair in Nuremberg (Germany), the Fraunhofer Institute for Nondestructive Testing is demonstrating how aluminum melts can be checked for foreign bodies ...

Effort saved! The Fraunhofer IZFP in Saarbrücken knows how to detect unwanted inclusions in molten aluminum. Here, the researchers reveal how they do it ...(Image: Fraunhofer IFZP / U. Bellhäuser)
Effort saved! The Fraunhofer IZFP in Saarbrücken knows how to detect unwanted inclusions in molten aluminum. Here, the researchers reveal how they do it ...
(Image: Fraunhofer IFZP / U. Bellhäuser)

In times of scarce resources and the trend towards lightweight construction, aluminum is becoming increasingly important, according to researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Non-Destructive Testing (IZFP) in Saarbrücken, Germany. The light metal weighs around a third less than steel for the same volume and can also be recycled with relatively little energy input. This makes aluminum indispensable for many fields of application. However, a sufficiently good material quality is crucial for the safe and sustainable use of aluminum. Even the molten aluminum should be as pure as possible because foreign particles have a negative effect on the component properties later on. These mostly non-metallic inclusions reduce the mechanical properties because they act as a starting point for notch and crack effects in the component. This type of defect can have serious consequences, particularly in the automotive or aerospace industries. Inclusions should therefore be detected in the melt in order to eliminate them. However, previous methods are either too time-consuming, too expensive and too imprecise, not reproducible or can only be carried out by experts, as the researchers point out.

Measuring With Ultrasound Adapts to the Aluminum Melt

With the "AloX" measuring system, however, the industry now has a revolutionary method at its disposal that is fast, safer and cheaper, as the IZFP emphasizes. It works with an innovative, ultrasound-based approach. And because "AloX" detects impurities in the molten aluminium during production, the metal already achieves a very high quality in this production phase. As already mentioned, the principle of ultrasonic backscattering is used for this. However, the ultrasound is now coupled into the molten aluminum and the reflected ultrasonic components are detected. This allows the number of inclusions as well as their size and distribution to be qualified. "AloX" is also described as very flexible and can be used both in the channel and in the crucible. The system can also be used in difficult measuring positions, providing seamless monitoring of the melt quality. Moreover, operation does not require any expert knowledge, as the foundry employees can do the whole thing themselves. Work is now underway in Saarbrücken to transfer this type of measurement in the melt to other metals.

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