Covering a Crucible With Metal Containing Channels

In a procedure that partly resembles the lost-wax casting process, a crucible made of a brittle material (ceramic, quartz, or glass) is covered with a layer of metal containing channels. The metal cover and the channels can serve any or all of several purposes, depending upon the application: Typically, the metal would serve at least partly to reinforce the crucible. The channels could be used as passages for narrow objects that could include thermocouples and heat-transfer strips. Alternatively or in addition, channels could be used as flow paths for liquid or gaseous coolants and could be positioned and oriented for position or direction-selective cooling. In some cases, the channels could be filled with known gases and sealed so that failure of the crucibles could be indicated by instruments that detect the gases.