On Vertical Drag Defects Formation During Direct Chill (DC) Casting of Aluminum Billets

During air-slip direct chill casting of aluminum billets, one of the major defects occurring includes traces along the billet called vertical drags (VDs). If the VDs are too deep or too many, then they cause scraping of the billets. As in the subsequent extrusion process, the surface quality is known to impair both the productivity and quality of the profiles. In cast-house practice, many theories circulate about the causes of VD defects and how to avoid them, but in the literature, no thorough treatments have been made to explain this phenomenon. In the current study, the outer appearance, structure around, and compositions at the defects are analyzed. A theory for the formation of the defects, their cause, and how their appearance is coupled to different alloy types is presented. The segregation in the vicinity of the defects is discussed based on deformation of semisolid materials and coupled to Reynolds dilatancy in granular materials. The theory can explain differences between 6063 and 6005 alloys.