The OCC Technology Guide
This section is currently under construction and will have regular updates. Apologies for the current level of incompleteness.
Research Publications
Dr. Ohno has authored numerous OCC research publications. Many of these publications were co-authored with colleagues and post-graduate students at both the Chiba Institute of Technology in Japan as well as the University of Toronto in Canada. The Chiba Institute and University of Toronto are the two leading OCC research universities in the world and are still in regular contact with Dr. Ohno who has officially retired.
The research paper Continuous Casting of Single Crystal Ingots by the O.C.C. Process published in the Journal of Metals in 1986 provides an excellent primer on the process.
Books
Dr. Ohno has authored a number of technical books. His definitive work is Solidification - The Separation Theory and its Practical Applications first published in Japanese in 1984 and translated to English in 1987. In this book, Dr. Ohno talks about the science of metal casting culminating in the OCC process which is described in the final section of the book.
Here is a brief excerpt of the publication which includes chapter 3.5 Separation Theory and the O.C.C. Process. It is worthwhile to read the entire excerpt, to gain some insight on Dr. Ohno's articulate thought process and personality.
This book is one of my most treasured posessions (being a practicing professional engineer) and has been personally autographed by Dr. Ohno and includes his University of Toronto Department of Metallurgical Engineering business card.
Patents
Dr. Ohno has five patents related to the OCC process. The most often quoted patent is 4605056 issued in 1986, where he describes in detail the actual casting apparatus.
Continuous metal casting - Atsumi OhnoPatent number: 4515204
Filing date: Dec 14, 1982
Issue date: May 7, 1985
Process and apparatus for the horizontal continuous casting of a metal molding - Atsumi Ohno
Patent number: 4605056 Filing date: Jun 13, 1984 Issue date: Aug 12, 1986 Method of producing a metallic member having a unidirectionally solidified - Atsumi Ohno
Patent number: 4665970 Filing date: Nov 20, 1985 Issue date: May 19, 1987 Process for continuous casting of metal ribbon - Atsumi Ohno
Patent number: 4789022
Filing date: Mar 18, 1988
Issue date: Dec 6, 1988
Method for horizontal continuous casting of metal strip and apparatus - Atsumi Ohno
Patent number: 5074353
Filing date: Nov 23, 1990
Issue date: Dec 24, 1991
OCC Links
The OCC Process and PCOCC-A