Solder, as an indispensable connecting material in many fields such as electronics, automotive, aerospace, etc., its quality and performance directly affect the reliability and stability of products. With the continuous advancement of technology, the requirements for the purity, microstructure, and performance of solder are becoming increasingly high. As an advanced metal casting equipment, the vacuum horizontal continuous casting machine has gradually attracted attention in the solder industry, providing an effective solution for high-quality production of solder.
1、 Working principle of vacuum horizontal continuous casting machine
The vacuum horizontal continuous casting machine is mainly composed of a furnace, a crystallizer, a billet pulling device, a vacuum system, and other parts. Firstly, place the solder material into a melting furnace and heat it to reach the appropriate liquid temperature. Then, the casting area is evacuated to a certain degree through a vacuum system to reduce the mixing of gas impurities. Under the action of gravity and external pressure, liquid solder flows into a horizontally placed crystallizer, which is cooled by circulating water to gradually solidify and crystallize on its inner wall, forming a shell. With the slow traction of the casting device, new liquid solder is continuously replenished into the crystallizer, and the solidified solder shell is continuously pulled out, thus achieving a continuous casting process.
vacuum horizontal continuous casting machine
2、 Advantages of Vacuum Horizontal Continuous Casting Machine
（1） Improve solder purity
Casting in a vacuum environment can effectively prevent gas impurities such as oxygen and nitrogen from entering the solder, reduce the formation of oxide inclusions and pores, significantly improve the purity of the solder, and enhance its wetting and flowability during the welding process, thereby improving the quality of the welded joint.
（2） Improve the microstructure of solder materials
During the vacuum horizontal continuous casting process, the solidification rate of liquid solder is relatively uniform, and the cooling rate is controllable, which is conducive to forming a uniform and fine grain structure and reducing segregation phenomena. This uniform organizational structure makes the mechanical properties of the solder more stable, such as tensile strength and elongation, which are improved and meet some demanding application scenarios for solder performance.
（3） Efficient continuous production
Compared to traditional casting methods, vacuum horizontal continuous casting machines can achieve continuous and uninterrupted production, greatly improving production efficiency. At the same time, it has a high degree of automation, reducing manual operation steps, lowering labor intensity and production costs, and making the production process more stable and reliable, which is conducive to consistent control of product quality.
（4） Reduce raw material waste
Due to the continuous casting process and precise control of the size and shape of the billet, compared to other casting methods, it can more effectively utilize raw materials, reduce material waste caused by cutting, machining allowances, etc., improve the utilization rate of raw materials, and reduce production costs.
3、 Specific applications in the solder industry
（1） Production process
In solder production, the first step is to accurately mix the required solder ingredients and add the prepared raw materials to the furnace of the vacuum horizontal continuous casting machine. Start the vacuum system, reduce the pressure inside the furnace to a suitable vacuum level, usually between tens of pascals and hundreds of pascals, then heat and melt the solder and maintain a stable temperature. Adjust the casting speed and the cooling water volume of the crystallizer to ensure that the liquid solder solidifies uniformly in the crystallizer and is continuously pulled out, forming a certain specification of solder billet. The blank is processed through subsequent rolling, drawing and other processing steps to produce various shapes and specifications of solder products, such as welding wire, welding strip, solder paste, etc., to meet the welding needs of different fields.
（2） Improving the quality of solder materials
Taking Sn Ag Cu lead-free solder commonly used in the electronics industry as an example, when produced using a vacuum horizontal continuous casting machine, the oxygen content in the solder can be strictly controlled at an extremely low level, avoiding impurities such as tin slag caused by oxidation and improving the effective utilization rate of the solder. At the same time, a uniform organizational structure enables solder to better fill small solder joint gaps during the micro soldering process of electronic components, reducing welding defects such as virtual soldering and bridging, and improving the welding reliability and electrical performance of electronic products.
In the brazing process of the automotive industry, for high-strength aluminum based solder, the solder produced by vacuum horizontal continuous casting machine has better strength and corrosion resistance. Its uniform grain structure ensures the stability of the solder during high-temperature brazing, which can firmly connect automotive components and improve the overall performance and service life of automotive components.
（3） Application examples
A well-known solder production enterprise has introduced a vacuum level continuous casting machine, which has increased the purity of its tin lead solder products from 98% to over 99.5%, and significantly reduced the content of oxide inclusions. In the welding application of electronic circuit boards, the welding failure rate has decreased from 5% to less than 1%, greatly improving the market competitiveness of the product. At the same time, due to the improvement of production efficiency and the reduction of raw material waste, the production cost of the enterprise has been reduced by about 15%, achieving good economic and social benefits.
4、 Development prospects
With the rapid development of industries such as electronics, new energy, and high-end equipment manufacturing, the quality and performance requirements for solder materials will continue to increase. The vacuum horizontal continuous casting machine has broad application prospects in the solder industry due to its unique advantages. In the future, with the continuous advancement of equipment manufacturing technology, its vacuum system will be more efficient and stable, the degree of automation control will be further improved, and more precise process parameter control can be achieved, producing higher quality and more personalized solder products. Meanwhile, with increasingly strict environmental requirements, the advantages of vacuum level continuous casting machines in reducing energy consumption and pollutant emissions will also make them an important supporting technology for the sustainable development of the solder industry.
5、 Conclusion
The application of vacuum horizontal continuous casting machine in the solder industry provides strong guarantee for the high-quality and high-efficiency production of solder. By improving the purity of solder, enhancing the organizational structure, achieving continuous production, and reducing costs, the increasing demand for solder in modern industry has been met. With the continuous development and improvement of technology, its application in the solder industry will become more extensive and in-depth, promoting the development of the solder industry towards high quality, high performance, and green environmental protection, providing more high-quality and reliable connection materials for many industries that rely on solder connections, and promoting the technological upgrading and progress of the entire industry chain.
In the future development of the solder industry, enterprises should fully recognize the potential and value of vacuum level continuous casting machines, actively introduce and apply this advanced technology, strengthen technological innovation and process optimization, continuously enhance their market competitiveness, and jointly promote the solder industry to move towards a new stage of development.
Post time: Dec-27-2024
