Speaker
Description
Additive Manufacturing (AM) has become a mainstream technique for layer-by-layer fabrication of parts with complex geometries directly from digital files. For metal parts, two primary limitations hinder widespread industrial adoption: low productivity and high cost, driven by the use of small-sized powder and wire feedstocks. As a result, AM is currently used mainly for critical parts in aerospace, avionics, and military applications, where cost is secondary. A key metallurgical advantage of AM is the reduction of segregation by minimizing the mushy zone through smaller liquid metal pools formed during layer-by-layer solidification.
Beyond conventional AM stereotypes, Electroslag Remelting (ESR) is an established AM technology for building heavy ingots layer by layer, offering superior quality with relatively high productivity. Solidification control is a major ESR benefit, ensuring high homogeneity and yield in heavy ingot production. By maintaining a shallow liquid pool, large cross-section ingots or billets can be produced — either using consumable electrodes with manageable segregation or by direct pouring of liquid metal.
Electroslag technology is also effective for manufacturing as-cast pipes and hollow ingots of various sizes and shapes, improving quality and efficiency compared to products derived from solid ingots. A significant advantage of hollow ingots is their favorable solidification pattern, achieved through effective cooling of the thin solidified layer between two concentric water-cooled molds. This allows large diameters and weights to be maintained while the volume of metal solidifying simultaneously remains considerably smaller than in a solid ingot of equivalent dimensions.
| Speaker Company/University | Ganna Stovpchenko, CFHI & UDUNT |
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