Evaluation of the mold-filling ability of alloy melt in squeeze casting

The mold-filling ability of alloy mclt in squceze casting process was evaluated by means of the maximum length of Archimedes spiral line. A theoretical evaluating model to predict the maximum filling length was built based on the flowing theory of the incompressible viscous fluid. It was proved by experiments and calculations that the mold-tilling pressure and velocity are prominent influencing factors on the mold-filling ability of alloy melt. The mold-filling ability increases with the increase of the mold-filling pressure and the decrease of the proper mold-filling velocity. Moreover, the pouring temperature relatively has less effect on the mold-filling ability under the experimental conditions. The maximum deviation of theoretical calculating values with experimental results is less than 15%. The model can quantitatively estimate the effect of every factor on the mold-filling ability.

Design of process parameters for direct squeeze casting

On the basis of the analysis of solidification interval and temperature distribution of components manufactured by the squeeze casting method, formulas for calculating the solidification interval and compaction pressure were deduced according to the principal request that the compaction pressure should be equal to or greater than the plastic deformation resistance of the forming component when solidification ended. The solidification interval was proven to be associated with many factors, such as weight of the component, specific heat of the alloy, latent heat, pouring temperature, component temperature at the end of solidification and heat-transfer coefficients. The compaction pressure was related to the strain rate, deformation temperature, and dimension of the de- forming component. The solidification interval and compaction pressure calculated by the formulas deduced in this article were adopted in the production of 45 steel bidirectional chapiter valves, and components with excellent oerformance were manufactured.

Rheologic behaviors of A356 aluminum alloy billet produced by semisolid continuous casting process

The experiments for rheologic behaviors of semisolid continuous casting billets of A356 alloy in semisolid state had been carried out with a multifunctional rheometer. The results show that the deformation rate increases with loading time, the maximum strain reaches to 120％ （which is one time larger than that of traditional mold casting billet） and the strain can be rapidly eliminated to 10％ after unloading. Moreover, there is a critic stress for billet deformation even in semisolid state, which is named as critic shear stress. This stress increases with the decreasing of heating time. The theologic behaviors can be expressed by five elements mechanical model （H2- [N1|H2]-[N2|S]） and can be modified with the increasing of heating time.

Effect of lanthanum addition on microstructure and hardness of brass alloys produced by rheological squeeze casting

The effect of La addition(0-0.30 wt%)on the microstructure and hardness of rheological squeeze casting brass alloys was experimentally investigated.The rheological squeeze casting process is improved by controlling the wall surface crystals and melt flow rate to realise the preparation of semi-solid melt with flow,and a brass alloy workpiece with La is produced.The microstructure and properties of the brass alloy samples were investigated using metallography,scanning electron microscopy,energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy,X-ray diffraction and hardness testing.The results indicate that the hardness of the rheological squeeze casting brass alloy is increased by 20.4%from 108 to 130 HBW with an increase in the La content from 0 to 0.30 wt%.The micro structural analysis results show that La significantly refines the primary a-phase grains,and the main mechanism is the constitutional undercooling and heterogeneous nucleation caused by the La enrichment in the front of the solid-liquid interface.The squeeze pressure promotes undercooling,which improves the nucleation rate and affects the solute diffusion and nucleus growth.The dual effects of these two aspects aggravate the grain refinement process,consequently increasing the number of grain boundaries and improving the hardness of the brass alloy.