The effect of casting parameters on the quality of thin gauge foils

In Aluminum industry, wrought material products with a thickness of 6-200μm are known as foils. Aluminum is a preferable material in packaging industry due to its excellent electrical and heat conductivity, strength, corrosion resistance, cleanliness, compatibility with laminates, impermeability to gas and light, easy of folding, non toxicity, etc. In today's market a large percentage of foil production is the results of a combination of conventional casting and hot rolling. The high production costs and time involved in conventional casting has led foil producers to consider continuous casting techniques especially twin roll casting. One of the challenges in continuous casting is the solidification process. In this study, the effects of caster parameters on the quality of foil products have been investigated using two different casters. Quality characteristics such as number of pinholes in foil, microstructure of cast product, macro-micro segregation and grain size have been examined by using mechanical, metallografic and surface characterization techniques.