STOP POURING, START CASTING

The necessity to stop the pouring of liquid metals is becoming urgent. Pouring is the main source of entrained bifilms. Bifilms are the fundamental mechanisms which initiate all our familiar casting problems including porosity, hot tears, low mechanical properties, corrosion initiation etc. As lattice dislocations explain plasticity, bifilms explain pore initiation and fracture initiation. Only when pouring is eliminated (or, at second best, sufficiently controlled) will casting processes start to achieve their potential to deliver routinely sound and reliable castings (with the additional potential to make healthy profits!). Furthermore, with simplified foundry designs, including the elimination of pouring, the casting industry has the potential to produce products which in some cases might expect up to 1000 % improvement. Engineering throughout the world would be revolutionized. Although not widely realized, evidence for massive benefits from bifilm-free metals already exists in the Al alloy and Ni alloy casting industries. The groundwork is in place for a historical revolution in the casting industry.