Genjiro Motoyasu*, Hideki Kadowaki* and Hiroshi Soda**
* Department of Metallurgical Engineering, Chiba Institute of Technology, Narashino 275-0016 ** Department of Metallurgy and Materials Science, University of Toronto, Toronto, M5S 3E4, CanadaZinc wires of 2 mm diameter have been produced using the horizontal Ohno Continuous Casting(OCC) process at casting speeds of 0.5, 1.7, and 2.8 mm·s−1. The effects of casting speed on crystal orientation and the mechanical properties of the cast wires have been studied. It was found that the cast wires produced under the above three speeds were single crystals. At higher castling speeds (1.7 and 2.8 mm·s−1), the crystal orientation of the wires in the casting direction tended to be [0001]. With a slow casting speed of 0.5 mm·s−1, the orientation of the cast wires varied the most. Some of those single crystal wires were ductile and could be bent repeatedly before fracture occurred. The cast wires with an angle between the (0001) cleavage plane and wire axis of less than about 1 rad (wire axis near [1211] direction) were significantly more bendable than those with an angle of over 1.3 rad (wire axis near [0001]) which fractured with only a single bending. It was also found that the cast wire with its wire axis close to the [1210] direction (a cleavage angle of approximately 0.6 rad) exhibited tensile elongation as large as 350%.
zinc, single crystal, continuous casting, crystal orientation, mechanical properties, bending fatigue life