[Determination of titanium flow by the tracer element molten method in the dental precision casting. 1. The principle of flow visualization and application to simple castings].

The tracer element molten (TEM) method has been developed for flow visualization of molten Titanium in dental precision casting. The principle of this technique is as follows. When Titanium is cast, the tracer element wire inserted previously into the selective point of the sprue is molten little by little and distributed according to the molten Titanium flow in the mold cavity. After solidification, to observe the flow pattern, the tracer element needs to be analyzed on a section of the casting by EPMA equipped with the stage scan mapping system. This technique using Ag, Au, Pd or Pt as a tracer has been applied to some simple castings in shape and has been confirmed to be a very powerful technique for Titanium flow visualization in dental castings.