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X-Ray and Neutron Radiographic Experiments on Particle-Laden Molten Metal Flows

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Materials Processing Fundamentals 2021

Part of the book series: The Minerals, Metals & Materials Series ((MMMS))

Abstract

In metallurgical processing, non-metallic inclusions contaminating metallic materials are one highly relevant challenge. Bubble injection into molten metals boosts the inclusion control and removal, thus enhancing metal homogenisation and purification. Although this principle of bubble flotation has been used for a long time, the effects of bubble–inclusion interactions in molten metals are not yet well researched. Imaging measurements of multiphase metal flows are challenging for two main reasons: the metals’ high melting temperatures and their opaqueness for visible light. This work focuses on X-ray and neutron radiographic experiments employing low-melting gallium alloys laden with model particles smaller than 1 mm in diameter. Both, bubbles and particles, are visualised simultaneously with high spatial and temporal resolution in order to analyse their motions by tracking algorithms. We demonstrate the capability of time-resolved X-ray and neutron radiography to image multiphase flows in particle-laden and optically opaque liquid metals, thus contributing to pave the way for systematic investigations on bubble–inclusion interactions in molten metals.

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Acknowledgements

We gratefully acknowledge the financial support provided by the Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR) and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) within the collaborative French-German research project FLOTINC under grant number ANR-15-CE08-0040 and EC 217/3-1. The experiments on neutron radiography were performed at the Swiss Spallation Neutron Source SINQ, Paul Scherrer Institut, Villigen, Switzerland. We thank Sylvain Martin (École des Mines de Saint-Étienne, France) for his valuable support with particle coating tests. Special thanks are due to Michaela Roßner, Peggy Jähnigen, and Michael Knobel for their excellent technical assistance with particle characterisations.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Fluid Dynamics, Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, Bautzner Landstr. 400, 01328, Dresden, Germany

    Tobias Lappan, Mārtiņš Sarma, Sascha Heitkam, Natalia Shevchenko, Kerstin Eckert & Sven Eckert

  2. Institute of Process Engineering and Environmental Technology, Technische Universität Dresden, 01062, Dresden, Germany

    Sascha Heitkam & Kerstin Eckert

  3. Laboratory for Neutron Scattering and Imaging, Paul Scherrer Institut, 5232, Villigen PSI, Switzerland

    David Mannes & Pavel Trtik

Authors
  1. Tobias Lappan
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  2. Mārtiņš Sarma
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  3. Sascha Heitkam
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  4. David Mannes
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  5. Pavel Trtik
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  6. Natalia Shevchenko
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  7. Kerstin Eckert
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  8. Sven Eckert
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Tobias Lappan or Sven Eckert .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA

    Jonghyun Lee

  2. Oculatus, Marietta, GA, USA

    Samuel Wagstaff

  3. Gopher Resource, Tampa, FL, USA

    Alexandra Anderson

  4. Åbo Akademi University, Turku, Finland

    Fiseha Tesfaye

  5. Boston Metal, Woburn, MA, USA

    Guillaume Lambotte

  6. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Antoine Allanore

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© 2021 The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society

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Lappan, T. et al. (2021). X-Ray and Neutron Radiographic Experiments on Particle-Laden Molten Metal Flows. In: Lee, J., Wagstaff, S., Anderson, A., Tesfaye, F., Lambotte, G., Allanore, A. (eds) Materials Processing Fundamentals 2021. The Minerals, Metals & Materials Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-65253-1_2

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