Development and operational experience on cold crucible levitation melting apparatus for light metal casting

An experimental Cold Crucible Levitation Melting system has been designed, built and commissioned at the Dept. of Management and Engineering (DTG) of the University of Padova in Vicenza. The system is able to process few hundreds of grams of light metal alloy in air, in medium or high vacuum conditions or in inert gas atmosphere, and it has been designed as a tool for the exploration of various processing techniques for light alloys, such as outgassing, levitation melting, inclusion removal, electromagnetic stirring and controlled solidification in levitation. The paper presents the original design of the system as well as various improvements and upgrades which have been implemented and tested in the course of the experimental campaigns. The approaches adopted for the solution of specific operational problems as well a brief overview of the results obtained in terms of metallurgical properties of the alloys are described.