Ultrasound assisted solidification process of ternary Cu–Sn–Sb alloy

It is well-known that the application of ultrasound during liquid to solid transitions for alloys can refine the solidification microstructure and thus improves the mechanical properties. How- ever, most published work focuses on single phase dendritic growth, whereas little has been con- ducted on the multiphase alloys with complicated phase transformations during solidification. In this work, the solidification process of ternary Cu40Sn45Sb15 alloy was realized within intensive ultra- sonic field with a resonant frequency of 20 kHz and ultrasound power from 0 W to 1000 W. The ultrasound refines the size of the primary ε（Cu3Sn） intermetallic compound by two orders of mag- nitudes. If the ultrasound power increases to 1000 W, η（Cu6Sn5） phase nucleates and grows directly from parent liquid phase without the occurrence of peri-eutectic reaction on the top of the alloy sam- ple where the ultrasound intensity is sufficiently high. These microstructural variations lead to the enhancement of compressive strength and elasticity modulus of ternary Cu40Sn45Sb15 alloy.