Evaluation on the Efficiency of Cored Wire Feeding in Addition of Alloying Elements into Cu Melt

To add alloying elements into a pure copper melt, the wire-feeding efficiency of cored (alloy containing) wire was evaluated using a commercial, computational fluid-dynamics program. The model design was based on an industrial-scale production line. The variables calculated included wire feed rate, melt temperature, wire diameter, melt flow rate and wire temperature. Efficiency was evaluated after a series of calculations based on the penetration depth of the alloy-wire into the molten copper bath. Of the five variables investigated, the wire feed rate and wire diameter were the most influential factors affecting the feeding efficiency of the cored-wire.