Effects of process parameters on morphology and distribution of externally solidified crystals in microstructure of magnesium alloy die castings

During the cold-chamber high pressure die casting(HPDC) process, samples were produced to investigate the microstructure characteristics of AM60B magnesium alloy. Special attention was paid to the effects of process parameters on the morphology and distribution of externally solidified crystals(ESCs) in the microstructure of magnesium alloy die castings, such as slow shot phase plunger velocity, delay time of pouring and fast shot phase plunger velocity. On the basis of metallographic observation and quantitative statistics, it is concluded that a lower slow shot phase plunger velocity and a longer delay time of pouring both lead to an increment of the size and percentage of the ESCs, due to the fact that a longer holding time of the melt in the shot sleeve will cause a more severe loss of the superheat. The impingement of the melt flow on the ESCs is more intensive with a higher fast shot phase plunger velocity, in such case the ESCs reveal a more granular and roundish morphology and are dispersed throughout the cross section of the castings. Based on analysis of the filling and solidification processes of the melt during the HPDC process, reasonable explanations were proposed in terms of the nucleation, growth, remelting and fragmentation of the ESCs to interpret the effects of process parameters on the morphology and distribution of the ESCs in the microstructure of magnesium alloy die castings.

Effect of die structure parameters on deformation behavior of bent tube in free bending process

The bending section of tube between the bending die and the guider is in a less constrained state during the free bending process.The free bending dies have the important impact on the plastic deformation behavior and the forming quality of tube.To study the evolution law of the deformation behavior of tube with the die structure parameters and optimize the free bending die parameters,the free bending experiments and the corresponding numerical simulations were carried out.The design principle of free bending die was illustrated.The free bending experiment was conducted to verify the reliability of the numerical simulation method.Based on the numerical simulation results,the influence of the distance between the center point of bending die and the front end of guider on the forming quality of bent tube is more obvious than that of the fillet of guider.However,the fillet of bending die hardly affects the stress and strain distribution and the evolution of the wall thickness.Finally,the free bending experiments with the newly determined free bending dies were conducted.The ultimate bending radius of bent tube is reduced and the forming quality is improved.