Melt spinning

[2] A typical melt spinning process involves casting molten metal by jetting it onto a rotating wheel or drum, which is cooled internally, usually by water or liquid nitrogen.

Consequently, melt spinning is used to develop materials that require extremely high cooling rates in order to form, such as metallic glasses.

Due to their rapid cooling, these products have a highly disordered atomic structure which gives them unique magnetic and physical properties (see amorphous metals).

The resulting stream of liquid is directed onto the outer circumferential surface of a rotating wheel or drum which is cooled internally.

Since every material acts differently, the exact cause-effect relationship between each of these variables and the resulting ribbon is usually determined experimentally.

Other less commonly adjusted variables exist, but their effects on the final ribbon dimensions and structure aren't all documented.

[1][10][11] Different processes and techniques have been developed around melt spinning which offer advantages to the industrial applications and product consistency.

Planar Flow Casting (PFC) is a commonly used melt spinning process for the industrial fabrication of wide metallic glass sheets.

[9] PFC is commonly cast in a vacuum to avoid oxidation of the molten material, which would affect the quality of the resulting product.

Normally, when a metallic material cools, the individual atoms solidify in strong, repeating patterns to form a crystalline solid.

This makes amorphous metals particularly useful in applications requiring the repeated magnetization and demagnetization of a material in order to function.

Certain amorphous alloys also provide the ability to enhance and or channel flux created by electrical currents, making them useful for magnetic shielding and insulation.