Lamellar Spacing Selection in Regular Eutectic Solidification at Low Velocity

Based on the Jackson and Hunt＇s analysis, the selection of lamellar spacing in regular eutectics was reexamined at low velocity. The isothermal assumption was released and the effective interface undercooling was determined by the weighted average of the eutectic phases. It is found that the lamellar spacing minimized the effective interface undercooling depends only on the intrinsic characteristics of a given system at a fixed velocity. In addition, the selection of lamellar spacing is related to the relationship between the average interracial undercoolings of the eutectic phases and the lamellar spacing. The selected lamellar spacing obviously deviated from that predicted by the Jackson and Hunt＇s analysis if the variation of the average interracial undercoolings of the solid phases with the lamellar spacing was markedly different at a constant growth rate.

A NUMERICAL MODEL OF LAMELLAR SPACING OF Al-Si EUTECTIC

A numerical model is established to simulate the concentration field in irregular lamel- lar eutectic of Al-Si system. Both the undercooling and spacing are dependent on the growth rate and the temperature gradient, and increasing growth rate causes an in- crease of undercooling but a decrease of lamellar spacing, while increasing temperature gradient Leads to a decrease of Lamellar spacing. The computed results are in good agreement with experimental observations.

Refinement and fracture mechanisms of as-cast QT700-6 alloy by alloying method

The as-cast QT700-6 alloy was synthesized with addition of a certain amount of copper, nickel, niobium and stannum elements by alloying method in a medium frequency induction furnace, aiming at improving its strength and toughness. Microstructures of the as-cast QT700-6 alloy were observed using a scanning-electron microscope （SEM） and the mechanical properties were investigated using a universal tensile test machine. Results indicate that the ratio of pearlite/ferrite is about 9：1 and the graphite size is less than 40 tJm in diameter in the as-cast QT700-6 alloy. The predominant refinement mechanism is attributed to the formation of niobium carbides, which increases the heterogeneous nucleus and hinders the growth of graphite. Meanwhile, niobium carbides also exist around the grain boundaries, which improve the strength of the ductile iron. The tensile strength and elongation of the as-cast QT700-6 alloy reach over 700 MPa and 6%, respectively, when the addition amount of niobium is 0.8%. The addition of copper and nickel elements contributed to the decrease of eutectoid transformation temperature, resulting in the decrease of pearlite lamellar spacing （about 248 rim）, which is also beneficial to enhancing the tensile strength. The main fracture mechanism is cleavage fracture with the appearance of a small amount of dimples.

Microstructure and microhardness of Ti-48Al alloy prepared by rapid solidification

To improve the microstructure and microhardness,Ti-48Al(at.%)alloy was rapidly solidified by melt spinning under different cooling rates.The microstructure and microhardness of rapidly solidified Ti-48Al alloy were systematically investigated.Results show that the average lamellar colony size of the alloy reduces from 60.6μm to 11μm as the cooling rate increases from 2.3×105 to 5.1×105 K·s-1,caused by the increase of nucleation rate at a higher cooling rate.At the high cooling rate of(4.3-5.1)×105 K·s-1,theαphase is the primary phase,and a few metastableαphases are reserved,which then transform intoα2 phase and subsequently lead to the formation ofα2 equiaxed grain.The lamellar spacing also decreases with the increase of cooling rate.The relationship between lamellar spacing(d)and cooling rate(v)is d=33.6v-1.34.The microhardness increases with the increase of cooling rate because the refined lamellar spacing and grain size can improve the microhardness.

Lamellar morphology of directional solidified Ti–45Al–6Nb–xW alloys

Directional solidification of Ti-45Al-6Nb-xW（x=0,0.4,0.8;at%） alloys was performed by Bridgeman method with the stable growth rate of 5,10,and 20 μm·s^（-1）.The differential scanning calorimeter（DSC） results indicate that both the eutectic temperature and the transition temperature of α（Ti_3Al） to γ（TiAl） increase with W content increasing from 0 at%to 0.8 at%.For the stable growth rate of 10 μm·s^（-1）,the orientations of α_2（Ti_3Al）/γ（TiAl）lamellae change from 45°（0 at%W） to 0° and near 0°（0.4at%and 0.8 at%W） to the crystal growth direction,and the spacing of α_2/γ lamellae decreases with W content increasing from 0 at%to 0.4 at%,while it increases when W content is 0.8 at%.With the increase in growth rate from5 to 10 and 20 μm·s^（-1）,the lamellar spacing of α_2/γbecomes smaller,and the lamellar thickness becomes more uniform.

Effect of B_4C on the Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of As-Cast TiB+TiC/TC4 Composites

Different additions of BaC were introduced into TC4 to alter the microstructure and mechanical properties. The morphologies of reinforcements are related to the solidification paths. The refinement of lamellar spacing 2 is based on the precipitation pattern of [3-phases. Microhardness, compression elastic modulus （Ec）, and elastic modulus of the matrix （Em） appear non-linear relationships with B4C additions. Due to the refinement of lamellar spacing with Hall-Petch-type relationships, and the solution strengthening of C on the α＋ β matrix, the effect of reinforcements on the mechanical properties will be more efficient when the additions of B4C are no more than 0.19 wt%. When the additions of B4C are more than 0.19 wt%, the efficiency will decrease.

Effects of Spiral Magnetic Field on Structures Transformation and Macrosegregation of Sn-Pb Alloy

The effect of spiral magnetic field （SMF） on the solidification process of Sn-20 wt.%Pb hypoeutectic alloy was studied in this work. The temperature distribution and the macrosegregation together with the eutectic lamellar spacing during solidification were measured under different magnetic fields. The results indicate that the compositions in the top and bottom portions of the sample are nearly the same and the segregation phenomenon is basically eliminated by SMF at an exciting current of 125 A. The morphology of the primary phase transforms from coarse dendrite to rosette or ellipsoidal equiaxed crystal and the spacing of the eutectic lamellar increases from 1.6 to 3.9 μm when the exciting current increases from 0 to 125 A. Moreover, if the exciting current is high enough, the forced fluid flow caused by SMF will enhance the process of transition from lamellar eutectic structure to anomalous rod-like one.