# Patent

## Title
Chemical switch for detection of chemical components

## Abstract

This application is a continuation of Ser. No. 09/047,756 filed Mar. 25, 1998 now abandoned.

## Background
This invention relates to a steel for foundry roll shells, especially for aluminum casting machines.

It has become increasingly common to use scrap for the production of semi-finished aluminum products. For this purpose the scrap is melted, cast and hot rolled. The casting of the aluminum melt is performed in such way that it is poured into the gap between two cooled foundry rolls which are pivoted on horizontal axis. Upon contact with the cooled foundry rolls the aluminium melt solidifies and is shaped by the rotating foundry rolls.

Foundry rolls generally consist of an axis and a foundry roll shell shrinked or mounted thereon. The material used for foundry roll shells must meet certain requirements. One requirement is a low thermal expansion coefficient to ensure an exact positioning of the shell on the axis even at elevated temperatures. Furthermore, the material used for foundry roll shells must be of high hardness and, in addition, show good ductility at elevated temperatures up to 750.degree. C. After prolonged time of operation a network of cracks is formed due to thermal strain. The aim is to prolong the time until unavoidable formation of cracks happens by using a shell of optimum quality. It is thus essential for materials used for foundry roll shells to have a high resistance against hot cracks.

Up to now steels having chemical compositions as described in table 1 have been used for foundry roll shells. All percentages are % by weight. Alloying elements in %-by weight Steel   C      Mn       Cr   Ni     Mo   V ______________________________________ P911    0.53   0.47     2.05 0.50   1.03 0.35 P912    0.53   0.50     1.13 0.48   0.48 0.15 P914    0.16   0.96     1.40 0.20   0.90 0.26 P916    0.32   0.30     2.95 0.20   2.80 0.20 P917    0.30   0.55     2.55 0.50   1.10 0.60 P918    0.18   0.50     5.00 0.15   1.10 0.90 ______________________________________

The steels listed in table 1 are chromium-, nickel-, molybdenum- and vanadium-alloyed steels having a carbon content of 0.16% and higher. By use of these steels it was possible to adjust the desired properties of the foundry roll shells in a satisfactory manner.

It is one object of the present invention to further improve the steels presently known in the art for use in foundry roll shells so that the foundry roll shells exhibit an improved resistance against mechanical wear and against hot cracks and thereby have an extended life time.

According to the present invention this object is solved by a steel for foundry roll shells having (in % by weight)

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention the composition of the alloy is:

A further preferred composition of the material according to the invention is as follows:

The steel may also contain up to 0.1% aluminum and/or up to 1.0% tungsten.

The steel according to the invention differs from the materials previously used for foundry roll shells in that it additionally contains columbium in an amount of 0.15 to 0.30% by weight. Columbium combines with the nitrogen which is contained in an amount of 0.1 to 0.3% in the steel to form columbium nitride. Columbium nitride particles precipitate in a finely dispersed manner, resulting in the formation of a fine-grained structure, which is a prerequisite for good ductility of the material and for reducing the tendency of forming hot cracks.

Tests that have been conducted using the material according to the present invention showed that the material not only has the required hardness necessary for minimizing wear but also sufficient ductility up to the range of the operating temperature of the foundry rolls of 600 to 750.degree. C.

Foundry roll shells made of a steel according to the present invention are expexially useful for foundry machines for continuous casting aluminum semi finished products.

## Claims

1. Steel for foundry roll shell comprising (in % by weight)

2. Steel according to claim 1 comprising (in % by weight)

3. Steel according to claim 1, comprising in % by weight