Preparation of semi-solid ZL101 aluminum alloy slurry by serpentine channel

Semi-solid slurry of ZL101 aluminum alloy was prepared using serpentine channel. The influences of the pouring temperature, the number of curves and the serpentine channel temperature on the microstructure of semi-solid ZL101 aluminum alloy were investigated. The results show that, satisfied semi-solid slurry of ZL101 aluminum alloy was prepared with pouring at 630-680℃. The morphology of primaryα（Al） grains transforms from rosette to spheroid with the decrease of pouring temperature. At the same pouring temperature, increasing the number of curves can improve the morphology of primaryα（Al） grains and decrease the grain size. Qualified slurry can be attained with lowering the pouring temperature when the serpentine channel temperature is higher. The alloy melt has the effect of“self-stirring”in the serpentine channel, which can make the primary nuclei gradually evolve into spherical and near-spherical grains.

Effect of Pouring Temperature by a Novel Micro Fused-Casting on Microstructure and Properties of ZL101 Semisolid Slurry

A novel micro fused-casting(MFC)process is developed for semisolid aluminum alloy slurry.The microstructure evolution and properties of semisolid ZL101 aluminum alloy slurry with difierent pouring temperature by MFC are investigated in this paper.During the cooling process,the effects of the pouring temperature on microstructure and properties is primarily analyzed.The microstructure of the semisolid ZL101 aluminum alloy is more homogeneous and the grain is smaller under proper pouring temperature.Temperature of liquids and solids of ZL101 aluminum alloy is measured by difierential scanning calorimetry(DSC).Distribution and characteristics of the microstructure of samples are examined by optical microscope(OM),scanning electron microscopy(SEM)equipped with energy dispersive spectrometer(EDS).The results show that the ZL101 semisolid slurry fabricated by MFC presents uniform shape and good grain size under the pouring temperature of 594°C and the stirring velocity of 600 r/min,and the fine grains of the primary a-Al phase with average grain size of 55μm and shape factor up to 0.67 were obtained.Besides,the ultimate tensile strength and the average Vickers hardness for semisolid ZL101 aluminum slurry are 178.19±1.37 MPa and 86.15±1.16 HV,respectively.