Patent ID: 6113666
Filing Date: 2000-09-05
Classification: C22B

Abstract:
A method of melting comprising:(a) in a crystallizer including structure defining an enclosed vacuum chamber having an electrode end and an opposed crystallizer end and having a shiftable electrode holder configured to couple electrically with and hold a consumable electrode in said chamber, attaching a consumable electrode to said holder spaced from said crystallizer end adding flux to said chamber, said consumable electrode composed of material selected from the group consisting of spongy titanium, spongy titanium with alloying additives, titanium and titanium-based alloys;(b) imposing a voltage between said electrode and said crystallizer end in order to produce a current for melting said electrode and flux in order to form metal and slag pools;(c) feeding said electrode toward said crystallizer end at a selected, substantially constant feed rate, step (b) including the step of decreasing said voltage as needed in order to maintain said current at a selected, substantially constant current flow in coordination with said constant feed rate in order to stabilize the formation of the total length of said ingot; and(d) cooling said crystallizer end in order to form a metal ingot adjacent thereto from said metal pool.