Effect of melt superheat on structural uniformity of lotus-type porous metals prepared by unidirectional solidification

Structural uniformity is an important parameter influencing physical and mechanical properties of lotus-type porous metals prepared by directional solidification of metal-gas eutectic (Gasar). The effect of superheat on structural uniformity as well as average porosity, pore morphology of porous metals was studied. The experimental results show that, when the superheat is higher than a critical value (ΔTc), the bubbling or boiling phenomenon will occur and the gas bubbles will form in the melt and float out of the melt. As a result, the final porosity will decrease. In addition, a higher superheat will simultaneously cause a non-uniform porous structure due to the pores coalescence and bubbling phenomenon. Finally, a theoretical model was developed to predict the critical superheat for the hydrogen to escape from the melt and the corresponding escapement ratio of hydrogen content. Considering the escapement of hydrogen, the predicted porosities are in good agreement with the experimental results.

Hydrogen diffusion coefficient in liquid metals evaluated by solid-gas eutectic unidirectional solidification

Based on the solid-gas eutectic unidirectional solidification technique and the principle of unidirectional solidification of single-phase alloy, a new method for evaluating the diffusion coefficient of hydrogen in liquid metals was proposed. Taking Cu-H2 system for example, the influences of argon partial pressure and superheat degree of melt on the diffusion coefficient of hydrogen in liquid metal were studied and the predicted values were similar to each other. The obtained temperature-dependent equation for diffusion coefficient of hydrogen in liquid copper is comparable with experimental data in literature, which validates the effectiveness of this method. The temperature-dependent equations for diffusion coefficient of hydrogen in liquid Mg, Si and Cu-34.6%Mn alloy were also evaluated by this method, along with the values at the melting point of each metal and alloy.

Fabrication of pure copper rods containing continuous columnar crystals by continuous unidirectional solidification technology

Pure copper rods containing continuous columnar crystals were fabricatedusing the downward CUS (Continuous Unidirectional Solidification) equipment. When the technologicalparameters were set as the ranges of mould temperature 1100-1300℃, cooling distance (the distancefrom the exit of the cast mould to the start point of cooling) 10-20 mm, casting speed 0.2-2.5 mm/s,cooling water (20-25℃) volume 1000-1320 L/h, and when these parameters matched reasonably, the CUSprocess was performed stably, and pure copper rods containing continuous columnar crystals withbright and smooth surface were produced. The dendritic arm spacing of the crystals in copper rodsdecreased with increasing the casting speed. The results of the texture by X-ray diffractionanalysis showed that the rods has strong <100> fiber texture.

Formation of twinned dendrites during unidirectional solidification of Al-32%Zn alloy

The present study focused on the formation and crystallographic orientation of twinned dendrites coexisting with equiaxed grains in unidirectional solidification of Al-32%Zn(mass fraction)alloy.The morphology was investigated by optical metallograph and electron back-scattered diffraction technique.Results showed that the macrostructure of the alloy exhibited a typical feathery and fan-like structure while the microstructures were elongated lamellas,which were separated by coherent and incoherent twin boundaries.Both the primary trunk and all lateral arms of twinned dendrites grew along〈110〉directions,unlike regular〈100〉α(Al)dendrites.The facet growth of crystals at solid/liquid interface was responsible for the origin of twinned dendrites during the weak local convection,and high thermal gradient and medium solidification velocity had significant contribution to the formation of twinned dendrites.The formation mechanism of twinned dendrites which consisted of three multiplication ways of new twin boundaries formation and one way of dendrite evolution in twin plane was shown schematically.

Macrostructure and properties of thin walled copper tubes prepared by the downward continuous unidirectional solidification method

The macrostructure and properties of the thin walled copper tube prepared by the downward continuous unidirectional solidification （DCUS） method were studied. The result shows that the macrostructure is closely related to the solid-liquid interface profile, which is influenced by the distance between the cooling water location and the solidification front. The mechanical properties of the thin walled copper tube prepared by the DCUS method are near those of the normal cast copper, and it has good relative density, electrical conductivity, and elongation, which are not greatly affected by casting speed. The thin walled copper tube prepared by the DCUS method also has good processing properties that can be taken to further drawing procedures directly without an intermediate process, and obtains good mechanical properties with the total processing rate of 89.8%.

Simulation of stray grain formation during unidirectional solidification of IN738LC superalloy

The influence of casting parameters on stray grain formation of a unidirectionally solidified superalloy IN738LC casting with three platforms was investigated by using a 3D cellular automaton-finite element （CAFE） model in CALCOSOFT package. The model was first validated by comparison of the reported grain structure of AI-7%Si （mass fraction） alloy. Then, the influence of pouring temperature, heat flux of the lateral surface, convection heat coefficient of the cooled chill and mean undercooling of the bulk nucleation on the stray grain formation was studied during the unidirectional solidification. The predictions show that the stray grain formation is obviously sensitive to the pouring temperature, heat flux and mean undercooling of the bulk nucleation. However, increasing the heat convection coefficient has little influence on the stray grain formation.

INTERFACE MORPHOLOGIES AND SOLUTE SEGREGATION OF Al-Li ALLOY 8090 DURING UNIDIRECTIONAL SOLIDIFICATION

The solid-liquid interface morphology and solute segregation behaviour of AI-Li alloy 8090 during unidirectional solidification were studied by the liquid metal quenehing method under varied processing conditions.When solidification rate,R<O.13 or>O.75 mm/min (temper- ature gradient,G_L=130℃/cm),the structure revealed of planar or dendritic interface respectively.With the increase of R,the interface morphology becomes cellular from planar gradually,within a narrow range.And the greater the R,the,finer the dendrite.Segregation of element Cu and impurity elements Fe and Si are quite severe,the interface morphology markedly influences on solute segregation.During solidification at coarse dendrite interface, their segregation ratios are rather great and solidified structure is coarse.

Microstructure Evolution of Cu-6%Ag Alloys by Modified Unidirectional Solidification Under a Horizontal Static Magnetic Field

The microstructure evolution of Cu dendrites in Cu-6%Ag alloys by modified unidirectional solidification under a static magnetic field has been investigated experimentally and quantitatively.The results show that the proeutectic Cu dendrites are finer when they are closer to the water-cooling copper mould and the unidirectional effect is more obvious,which is attributed to the higher solidification velocity.The quantitative analysis of the microstructure indicates that with increasing external magnetic flux density,the primary arms of the proeutectic Cu dendrites are refined and along a given direction.The analysis indicates that it is both the thermoelectromagnetic convection effect by the external magnetic field and the branch effect of the dendrites.

Nature of large (Ti, Nb)(C, N) particles precipitated during the solidification of Ti, Nb HSLA steel

To investigate the microsegregation phenomena and complex （Ti, Nb）（C, N） precipitation behavior during continuous casting, a unidirectional solidification unit was employed to simulate the solidification process. The samples of Ti, Nb-addition steels after unidirectional solidification were examined using field emission scanning electron microscope （FE-SEM） and electron probe X-ray microanalyzer （EPMA）. In such specimens, dendrite structure and mushy zone can be detected along the solidification direction. It shows that the addition of titanium, niobium to high-strength low-alloyed （HSLA） steel results in undesirable （Ti, Nb）（C, N） precipitation because of microsegregation. The effect of cooling rate on （Ti, Nb）（C, N） precipitation was investigated. The composition of large precipitates was determined using FE-SEM with EDS. Large （Ti, Nb）（C, N） precipitates could be divided into three kinds according to the composition and morphology. With the cooling rate increasing, Ti-rich （Ti, Nb）（C, N） precipitates are transformed to Nb-rich （Ti, Nb）（C, N） precipitates.

DIRECTIONALLY SOLIDIFIED MICROSTRUCTURE OF AN ULTRA-HIGH TEMPERATURE Nb-Si-Ti-Hf-Cr-Al ALLOY

The directionally solidified samples of an ultra-high temperature Nb-Si-Ti-Hf-Cr-Al alloy have been prepared with the use of an electron beam floating zone melting (EBFZM) furnace, and their microstructural characteristics have been analyzed. All the primary dendrites of Nb solid solution (Nbss), eutectic colonies of Nba, plus (Nb, Ti)3 Si/(Nb, Ti)5 Si3 and chains of (Nb, Ti)3 Si/(Nb, Ti)5 Si3 plates align along the growth direction of the samples. With increasing of the withdrawing rate, the microstructure is refined, and the amounts of Nbss+ (Nb, Ti)3 Si/(Nb, Ti)5 Si3 eutectic colonies and (Nb, Ti)3 Si/(Nb, Ti)5 Si3 plates increase. There appear nodes in the (Nb, Ti)3 Si/(Nb, Ti)5 Si3 plates.

Effect of growth rate on microstructure and solute distribution of Al-Zn-Mg alloy

An Al-5.3%Zn-5.3%Mg alloy was unidirectionally solidified to determine morphological transition and solute distribution by a modification of the Bridgman technique for crystal growth with growth rates ranging from 4-500 μm/s and a temperature gradient of 25 K/cm. It was determined that growth rates from 6.5-9.5 μm/s generated a cell morphology, where the lower limit corresponds to the plane front to cellular transition and the upper limit indicates the cellular to columnar dendrite transition. The microstructures of the alloys solidified from 30 μm/s to growth rates less than 500 μm/s were mainly composed of columnar dendrites, while the microstructures solidified at growth rates greater than 500 μm/s were equiaxed. Regarding experimental results on solute distribution, a prediction of the model developed by Rappaz and Boettinger for dendrite solidification of multicomponent alloys was applied with excellent agreement. Results of solute distribution were employed to derive the precipitation fraction of τ-phase needed to increase the electrochemical properties of the alloy to be used as an Al-sacrificial anode.

INFLUENCE OF ELECTROMAGNETIC STIRRING ON MACROSEGREGATION OF CAST IRON

Enrichment of massive graphite on lateral surface and evident macrosegregation along both longitudinal and axial directions were found by the influence of intense electromag- netic stirring during unidirectionally solidifying grey cast iron ingot.A secondary flow within the region near solidliquid interface seems to be the cause of axial segregation, and the solidification rate may also be influential in the macrosegregation.

Prediction of Solid-Liquid Interface Stability by Coupling M-S Model with CALPHAD Method

A method to predict the solid-liquid interface stability during unidirectional solidification is developed by coupling M-S model with CALPHAD method. The method was applied to AI-0.38 Zn and AI-0.34 Si-0.14 Mg (wt pct) alloys, and the predicted results were compared with some former experimental data of the two alloys. The good agreement between the calculation results and the experimental data demonstrates the superiority of the present method to the classical one based on constant parameter assumptions.

The effect of melt flow induced by RMF on the meso-and micro-structure of unidirectionally solidified Al–7wt.%Si alloy Benchmark experiment under magnetic stirring

During the last two decades,many algorithms were developed to simulate the solidification process for different casting methods like ingots,continuous casting of steel and the direct chill cast of aluminum.Experiments performed under exactly known conditions and with the detailed knowledge of meso-and micro-structures are required for validating these simulations.The aim of this paper is to give a data set to validate these simulations.Unidirectional solidification experiments were performed by using a rotating magnetic field(RMF)to study the effect of melt flow on the solidified micro-and meso-structure of the Al-7wt.%Si binary alloy.The first and the third 1/3 parts of samples were solidified without magnetic stirring,and the second(middle)1/3 part was solidified by using magnetic stirring.The magnetic induction was 10 m T,the temperature gradient was~7 K/mm,and the sample movement velocity was 0.1 mm/s.On the longitudinal section of the sample,the columnar/equiaxed transition(CET),the equiaxed/columnar transition(ECT),the secondary dendrite arm spacing(SDAS),and the macrosegregation(concentration distribution and the amount of eutectic)were investigated.The primary dendrite arm spacing(PDAS)and the grain structure were studied on the cross-section after color etching.

Formation and Thermal Stability of Large Precipitates and Oxides in Titanium and Niobium Microalloyed Steel

As-cast CC slabs of microalloyed steels are prone to surface and sub-surface cracking. Precipitation phenomena initiated during solidification reduce ductility at high temperature. The unidirectional solidification unit is employed to simulate the solidification process during continuous casting. Precipitation behavior and thermal stability are systematically investigated. Samples of adding titanium and niobium to steels have been examined using field emission scanning electron microscope （FE-SEM）, electron probe X-ray microanalyzer （EPMA）, and transmission electron microscope （TEM）. It has been found that the addition of titanium and niobium to high-strength low-alloyed （HSLA） steel resulted in undesirable large precipitation in the steels, i. e. , precipitation of large precipitates with various morphologies. The composition of the large precipitates has been determined, The effect of cooling rate on （Ti, Nb）（C, N） precipitate formation is investigated. With increasing the cooling rate, titanium-rich （Ti,Nb）（C,N） precipitates are transformed to niobium-rich （Ti,Nb）（C,N） precipitates. The thermal stability of these large precipitates and oxides have been assessed by carrying out various heat treatments such as holding and quenching from temperature at 800 and 1 200℃. It has been found that titanium-rich （Ti,Nb）（C,N） precipitate is stable at about 1 200 ℃ and niobium-rich （Ti,Nb）（C,N） precipitate is stable at about 800 ℃. After reheating at 1 200℃ for 1 h, （Ca,Mn）S and TiN are precipitated from Ca-Al oxide. However, during reheating at 800 ℃ for l h, Ca-Al-Ti oxide in specimens was stable. The thermodynamic calculation of simulating the thermal process is employed. The calculation results are in good agreement with the experimental results.