Eutectic Solidification in Near-eutectic Al-Si Casting Alloys

Eutectic solidification in near-eutectic Al-13 wt pct Si casting alloys and the effect of trace addition of boron or strontium on it have been investigated using thermal analysis and microstructural characterization. In unmodified alloy, dual eutectic structure has been observed. The coarse eutectic （dendrite-like Al＋ coarse Si flakes） is formed above the equilibrium temperature of eutectic （Al＋Si） reaction （577℃）. The coarse eutectic （CE） grains nucleate from the primary silicon particles formed earlier due to local enrichment of silicon solute and grow in a divorced mode between the dendritic Al phase and large silicon flakes. The fine eutectic （FE） grains nucleate later on other potential sites activated by melt undercooling and grow in coupled-growing mode with the silicon crystals as fine flakes. The formation of the FE grains is favored in the alloys containing boron because of a great number of potential nucleation sites being added from boron-containing particles. Addition of strontium to the alloys restrains completely the formation of primary silicon particles and hence limits the nucleation of the CE. This is because the eutectic point has moved far enough to make the alloy, at this composition （Al-13 wt pct Si）, hypo-eutectic. Local cooling rate during solidification has an important influence on competition formation of these two eutectics.

Effects of samarium addition on as-cast microstructure, grain refinement and mechanical properties of Mg-6Zn-0.4Zr magnesium alloy

In this paper, the microstructural evolution, grain refinement and mechanical properties of as-cast Mg-6Zn-0.4Zr alloys with varying Sm contents（0, 2 wt.%, 4 wt.% and 6 wt.%） were investigated by using an optical microscope（OM）, a scanning electron microscope（SEM） equipped with energy dispersive spectroscope（EDS）, an X-ray diffractometer（XRD） and mechanical tests at room temperature, respectively. The experimental results indicated that the addition of Sm could obviously refine the as-cast grains, modify the eutectic morphology and affect the mechanical properties of the alloys. The main phases in Mg-6Zn-xSm-0.4Zr alloys included matrix α-Mg, Mg2Zn3, Mg（41）Sm5 and MgZ nS m. With Sm content increasing to 4%, the MgZ nS m phase was created, meanwhile, the morphology of some eutectic phases revealed apparently lamellar structure, which had a bad effect on the mechanical properties. In addition, the maximum values of ultimate tensile strength（UTS, 214 MPa） and elongation（EL, 7.42%） were simultaneously obtained from the alloy with 2% Sm. However, Sm addition had no obvious effects on the fracture behavior of the alloys, namely, the fracture pattern of Mg-6Zn-0.4Zr alloy belonged to inter-granular and brittle modes while the fracture regimes of all the Sm-containing alloys were dominated by the mixture of inter-granular and trans-granular modes.