Vermicular cast iron is used in certain fields because of its special physical properties. However, it is difficult to control the quality from the front of the furnace owing to the narrow range of vermiculizer and other elements that can be added to the iron. A real time method was developed to monitor the vermicular- graphite ratio of the cast iron based on fast measurements of the melt surface tension. The system includes a detector and a control unit that measure the amplitude and frequency of bubbles rising in the melt. This paper describes the methodology for measuring the surface tension of the melt and test results monitoring the vermicular-graphite ratio of the vermicular cast iron from the front of the furnace. The relationship between surface tension and graphite shape has been established. The results show that this system can quickly evaluate the vermicular-graphite ratio of the cast iron.
A new method based on the surface tension measurement for fast evaluating modification effect of Al-Si alloy in front of furnace and an automatic system for fast measuring surface tension of molten Al-Si alloy are introduced. By theoretical analysis the relation between surface tension σe of molten Al-Si alloy and information parameters △P , N , φx and T has been established, namely, σ e = a △P + b . N + c . (φ x- φ0)+ d . T +e . By ex- periments the relationship between surface tension and modification level of Al-Si alloy has been also got that σ e > 530 mN/m, 400 ≤σe ≤530 mN/m and σ e < 400 mN/m are corresponding with AFS 1-2, AFS 3-4 and AFS 5-6 of Al-Si modification effect. Depending on the conclusions, modification effect can be recognized in a few seconds, which is of practical significance for real-time evaluating modification effect of Al-Si alloy in front of furnace.
