Study on direct chill continuous casting of 3003/4004 clad slab

The 3003/4004 clad slabs are prepared by direct chill continuous casting. The microstructures on the interface are investigated by optical and scanning electron microscopes, chemical composition distributions across the interface are detected by EPMA, and tensile strengths are evaluated by MTS NEW-810 Materials Test System. The results show that 3003 alloy and 4004 alloy are metallurgical bonding on the interface on the interface, which is results from fusion and diffusion bonding. The thickness of diffusion layers is about 30 mu m on average. The tensile strengths of the top, center and bottom regions of the bimetal slab tend to be uniform. The tensile properties of the interface for 3003/4004 clad slab are better than that of 3003 alloy.