Light alloys and the technology of their production play an indispensible role
in modern industrial society. Even with the advent of new materials such as
nanocomposites and advanced ceramics, aluminium and magnesium remain
two of the most important structural materials, second only to steel.
Direct-chill ( DC ) casting is the main technology for producing billets and
ingots of light alloys, and its history over the last 60 years shows that, with
many innovations, it will hold this position for the foreseeable future.
Several books on DC casting of Al and Mg alloys have been published in
the USSR from the 1950s to the 1980s and are quoted in this monograph. No
such books have ever been published in the Western world despite numerous
papers in journals and conference proceedings. Recently (2008), a book on
physical metallurgy of DC casting of Al alloys has been published by one of
the co-authors (DGE), but it touched only slightly on the technology.