The Impact of the Melting and Pouring Process on the Quality of the Biggest Rocking Bell Called Vox Patris

Abstract The paper describes the process of melting, metalworking and pouring the form of the world's largest 55-ton rocking bell called Vox Patris. The project was carried out by Pracownia Ludwisarska of Jan Felczyński from Przemyśl in cooperation with Rduch Bells & Clocks from Czernica and Metalodlew SA from Kraków. Comprehensive scientific and technical support of the project was provided by the Department of Foundry of the Silesian University of Technology. The bell is made of bronze, which is an alloy of copper and tin with a content of tin at the level of 20%. The foundry, where the melting and pouring process took place, had two 14 ton electric furnaces, 15 ton transport pouring ladle and a 60 ton collection ladle. Therefore, it was necessary to determine the minimum temperature of the pouring and the conditions for holding the liquid metal so that the metal from the first cast would not solidify before accumulating its total amount (four melts) (Bartocha and Baron, 2015; Bartocha and Baron, 2016). The study presents the tests of alloy properties and a series of computer simulations. Thanks to them the maximum and minimum permissible temperature of metal overheating has been determined (Bartocha, 2017). The final stage of the cast was the mold pouring process. The filling system was responsible for the correct performance of this process. This system comprised a tank (collector) under a doublestopper 60-ton main ladle, an eleven-meter tapping spout, an infusion tank and a downgate. The task of the gating system is uniform and continuous supply of liquid metal to the mold until it is completely filled. The unusual layout, that was used, required checking many factors. Various configurations of the system parameters have been tested based on the series of computer simulations (Czochlarski and Bukowski, 1935; Ignaszak, 1999).