Preparation of 2024/3003 gradient materials by semi-continuous casting using double-stream-pouring technique

The 2024/3003 aluminum gradient alloys are prepared by semi continuous casting. The influences of throttle bore diameter of embedded nozzle and temperature of internal melt on composition distribution, macrostructure, hardness are analyzed, and the stability of gradient distribution of composition, macrostructure and hardness along the axial direction of the ingot is also studied. The results show that diffe rent composition profiles can be achieved by adjusting the processing parameters; the volume fraction of inner alloy in the ingot can be increased by enlarging the throttle bore diameter and elevating the temperature of inner melt; quasi steady solidification can be realized within 20 s during cast processing, and consistent quality ingot is obtained by controlling the casting speed and liquid height of inner melt.

Filling mode and regularity of vertical centrifugal casting process of titanium alloy in thin-walled cylinder cavity

The mold filling process of titanium alloy in a thin-walled cylinder cavity under vertical centrifugal casting process was studied by means of the hydraulic simulation experiments. Results show that the filling mode of the melt in the cylinder cavity varies with casting wall-thickness. When the casting wall-thickness is less than or equal to the thickness of the first layer during the filling process, the melts fill the cavity from the bottom to the top.When the casting wall-thickness is greater than the thickness of the first layer during the filling process, the melts first fill the largest radius parts of the cavity with a certain thickness of the first layer from the bottom to the top of the cavity, and then they fill the cavity from the larger radius part to the smaller radius part. The melt filling ability increases with the increment of the mold rotational speed and the pouring temperature. In another aspect, the melt filling ability rises with the decrement of the melt viscosity, and the melt with the better filling ability is prone to fill the cylinder cavity layer by layer.

Effects of casting process on microstructures and flow stress behavior of Mg-9Gd-3Y-1.5Zn-0.8Zr semi-continuous casting billets

Mg-9Gd-3Y-1.5Zn-0.8Zr alloys own high strength,good heat and corrosion resistance.However,it is difficult for the fabrication of large-scale billets,due to the poor deformation ability and strong hot-crack tendency.This work investigated the casting process on the microstructures and flow stress behaviors of the semi-continuous casting billets for the fabrication of large-scale Mg-9Gd-3Y-1.5Zn-0.8Zr billets.The casting process(electromagnetic intensity and casting speed)shows outstanding effects on the microstructures and flow stress behavior of the billets.The billets with the specific casting process(I=68 A,V=65 mm/min)exhibit uniform microstructures and good deformation uniformity.

Effects of heat treatment on microstructure and mechanical properties of Mg-8Gd-3Y-0.5Zr(wt.%)alloy fabricated by semi-continuous casting

The microstucture,mechanical properties and fracture behaviors of semi-continuous cast Mg-8Gd-3Y-0.5Zr(wt.%,GW83K) alloy after different heat treatments were investigated.Almost all the eutectic compounds were dissolved into the matrix and there was no evident grain growth after optimum solution treatment at 500 ℃for 4h.Further ageing at low temperatures led to significant precipitation hardening,which strengthened the alloy.Peak-aged at 200 ℃,the alloy had the highest ultimate tensile strength(UTS) and lowest elongation at 395 MPa and 2.8%,respectively.When aged at 225 ℃ for 15 h,the alloy exhibited prominent mechanical performance with UTS and elongation of 363 MPa and 5.8%,respectively.With regard to microstructure and tensile properties,the processes of 500 ℃,4h+225℃,15 h are selected as the optimal heat treatment conditions.The alloy under different conditions shows different fracture behaviors:in the as-cast alloy,a quasi-cleavage pattern is observed;after solution treatment,the alloy exhibits a trans-granular quasi-cleavage fracture;after being peak-aged at 200 ℃ and 225 ℃,the fracture mode is a mixed mode of trans-granular and intergranular fracture,in which the inter-granular mode is dominant in the alloy peak-aged at 200 ℃.

Solidified structure of thin-walled titanium parts by vertical centrifugal casting

The solidified structure of the thin-walled and complicated Ti-6Al-4V castings produced by the vertical centrifugal casting process was studied in the present work.The results show that the wall thickness of the section is featured with homogeneously distributed fine equiaxial grains,compared with the microstructure of the thick-walled section.The grain size of the castings has a tendency to decrease gradually with the increasing of the centrifugal radius.The inter-lamellar space in thick-walled casting parts is bigger than that of the thin-walled parts,and the profile of inter-lamellar space is not susceptible to the centrifugal radius.

Numerical simulation and experimental investigation of two filling methods in vertical centrifugal casting

A mathematical model of the centrifugal filling process was established. The calculated results show that the centrifugal field has an important influence on the filling process. Moreover, the process of liquid flow and the location of free surface in sprue were simulated based on the Solution Algorithm-Volume of Fraction (SOLA-VOF) technique. In order to verify the mathematical model and computational results, hydraulic simulation experiment was carried out. The results of experiments and numerical simulation indicate the accuracy of mathematical model. Two kinds of filling methods were investigated and the results show that the bottom filling is better than the top filling that can achieve stable filling and reduce defects.

Freeze-assisted Tape Casting of Vertically Aligned MXene Films for High Rate Performance Supercapacitors

Conventional electrode preparation techniques of supercapacitors such as tape casting or vacuum filtration often lead to the restacking or agglomeration of twodimensional(2 D)materials.As a result,tortuous paths are created for the electrolyte ions and their adsorption onto the surfaces of the active materials can be prevented.Consequently,maintaining high rate performance while increasing the thickness of electrodes has been a challenge.Herein,a facile freeze-assisted tape-casting(Fa TC)method is reported for the scalable fabrication of flexible MXene(Ti3C2Tx)supercapacitor electrode films of up to 700μm thickness,exhibiting homogeneous ice-template microstructure composed of vertically aligned MXene walls within lamellar pores.The efficient ion transport created by the internal morphology allows for fast electrochemical charge–discharge cycles and near thickness-independent performance at up to 3000 m V s-1 for films of up to 300μm in thickness.By increasing the scan rate from 20 to 10,000 m V s-1,Ti3C2Tx films of 150μm in thickness sustain 50%of its specific capacitance(222.9 F g-1).When the film thickness is doubled to 300μm,its capacitance is still retained by 60%(at 213.3 F g-1)when the scan rate is increased from 20 to3000 m V s-1,with a capacitance retention above 97.7%for over 14,000 cycles at10 A g-1.They also showed a remarkably high gravimetric and areal power density of 150 k W kg-1 at 1000 A g-1 and 667 m W cm-2 at 4444 m A cm-2,respectively.Fa TC has the potential to provide industry with a viable way to fabricate electrodes formed from 2 D materials on a large scale,while providing promising performance for use in a wide range of applications,such as flexible electronics and wearable energy storage devices.

Numerical Simulation of Bubble Migration in Liquid Titanium Alloy Melt During Vertical Centrifugal Casting Process

The bubble migration in liquid titanium alloy melt during vertical centrifugal casting process has been predicted. The effects of different parameters, such as the initial bubble location, the mold rotational speed and the mold rotational direction on the bubble in the migration process are investigated. The results show that the bubble migration can be divided into the radial movement to the mould rotation axis and the circular movement to the mould wall opposite to rotational direction of the casting mould. The casting mould wall has an impeditive effect on the circular movement of the bubble during its migration process. And the bubble finally migrates like a straight line along the mould wall located at the opposite direction of the rotational casting mould whether it rotates clockwise or anti-clockwise. The bubbles at the position near the mould wall located at the opposite direction of the rotational casting mould are much easier to migrate in a straight line. The instantaneous speed of the gas bubble increases with the increment of the mould rotational speed. However the mould rotational speed is high or low, the moving speed of the gas bubble increases slightly at the primary stage, and then decreases gradually like a ladder.

Effect of Middle-frequency Electromagnetic Field on the Semi-continuous Casting for ZK60 Billets

The semi-continuous casting of ZK60 magnesium alloy under different middle frequency electromagnetic field conditions was examined.Effects of middle frequency electromagnetic field on microstructure,precipitations and tensile properties are investigated.The results show that the microstructures of ZK60 magnesium alloy are refined and distribution uniformity of precipitations is observed after applying the middle frequency electromagnetic field.And the tensile properties of the billets produced by middle frequency electromagnetic field are increased.

Effect of Cooling Intensity and Position on Solidification in Semi-Continuous Casting of Copper

Cooling heat flux effect in both primary and secondary cooling zone has been studied in semi-continuous casting of copper billet. Sufficient cooling is essential to reduce casting defects and to get high productivity, however low rate of solidification is aimed in order to get coarser grain size and softer metal for less losses in extrusion. A three-dimensional numerical model has been developed including solidification behavior of copper through mushy zone. At steady state and constant casting speed, solid shell thickness is monitored during the reduction of cooling rate at mould region to avoid breaking out. Heat flux intensity at mould plays important role not only in the formation of solid shell thickness. But, pool length and mushy zone thickness can be significantly increased by decreasing primary cooling intensity. Increase intensity of secondary cooling zone for two particular cases of primary cooling is tested. First case is tested at mould inlet water temperature of 38°C, and second case at water temperature of 63°C. Results showed that the combination of increasing secondary cooling intensity and reduction of primary cooling intensity can increase pool length and mushy zone thickness. Also, it is shown that, secondary cooling intensity can be magnified by up to 1.5 times for cooling water temperature of 63°C to get pool length close to that of water temperature of 38°C.

Inhomogeneity of microstructure and mechanical properties of a 500 mm diameter heavy section semi-continuous cast AZ61 magnesium alloy ingot

For the large magnesium alloy ingot, there is a considerable difference in cooling rate of different parts in the ingot, which leads to non-uniform distribution of the secondary phases, solute segregation and tensile properties. In the present research, an heavy AZ61 alloy ingot with a diameter of 500 mm was made by semi-continuous casting. The microstructure and mechanical properties at different positions along the radial direction of the large ingot were investigated by using an optical microscope(OM), a scanning electron microscope(SEM), an energy dispersive spectroscope(EDS), and a micro-hardness tester. The results indicate that the microstructure of the AZ61 ingot is non-uniform in different locations. It changes from equiaxed to columnar grains from the center to the edge; the average grain size gradually reduces from 1,005 μm to 763 μm, the secondary dendrite arm spacing reduces from 78 μm to 50 μm, and the Mg17(Al,Zn)12 phase is also refined. The micro-hardness value increases from 55.4 HV at the center to 72.5 HV at the edge of the ingot due to the microstructure differences, and the distribution of micro-hardness at the edge of the ingot is more uniform than that in the center. The tensile properties at room temperature show little difference from the center to the edge of the ingot except that the elongation at the edge is only 3.5%, much lower than that at other areas. The fracture mechanism is ductile fracture at the center and cleavage fracture at the edge of the ingot, and at the 1/2 radius of the ingot, a mixture of ductile and cleavage fracture is present.

Preparation of AZ31 magnesium alloy strips using vertical twin-roll caster

A newly developed technology for manufacturing magnesium alloy strip,vertical twin-roll strip casting,has been described.This manufacturing process is easy to be facilitated in an economical way to manufacture wrought magnesium alloy strips. As an example,AZ31 magnesium alloy was used to investigate the appropriate manufacturing conditions for vertical twin-roll strip casting by varying the temperatures of the molten materials and rolling speeds.The effects of manufacturing conditions on forming quality were clarified in terms of roll speeds and casting temperature.In addition,microscopic observation and X-ray diffraction of the as-cast strips were performed.It has been determined that AZ31 alloy strip of 1-3 mm in thickness can be produced at a speed of 30 m/min by a vertical twin-roll caster.The microstructure of as-cast strip only containsα-phase(Mg)and no other phase,and the twin-roll casting process can effectively refine the grain size.The fine equiaxed grain of as-cast strips is beneficial to the plastic deformation of the strips,and it is also suitable for direct cold-rolling with a maximum cold-rolling reduction of 40%.

As-cast structure of DC casting 7075 aluminum alloy obtained under dual-frequency electromagnetic field

We have experimentally determined the as-cast structures of semi-continuous casting 7075 aluminum alloy obtained in the pres-ence of dual-frequency electromagnetic field. Results suggest that the use of dual-frequency electromagnetic field during the semi-continuous casting process of 7075 aluminum alloy ingots reduces the thickness of the surface segregation layer, increases the height of the melt menis-cus, enhances the surface quality of the ingot, and changes the surface morphology of the melt pool. Moreover, low-frequency electromag-netic field was found to show the most obvious influence on improving the as-cast structure because of its high permeability in conductors.

Melt flow,solidification structures,and defects in 316 L steel strips produced by vertical centrifugal casting

Vertical centrifugal casting can significantly enhance the filling capability of molten metals,enabling the production of complex thin-walled castings at near-rapid cooling rates.In this study,the melt flow,solidification structures,and defects in 316 L steel cast strips with a geometry of 80 mm×60 mm×2.5 mm produced by vertical centrifugal casting were numerically and experimentally analyzed under different rotation speeds.With gradually increasing the rotation speed from 150 r/min to 900 r/min,the simulated results showed the shortest filling time and minimum porosity volume in the cast strip at a rotation speed of 600 r/min.Since a strong turbulent flow was generated by the rotation of the mold cavity during the filling process,experimental results showed that a“non-dendritic”structure was obtained in 316 L cast strip when centrifugal force was involved,whereas the typical dendritic structure was observed in the reference sample without rotation.Most areas of the cast strip exhibited one-dimensional cooling,but three-sided cooling appeared near the side of the cast strip.Moreover,the pores and cracks in the 316 L strips were detected by computed tomography scanning and analyzed with the corresponding numerical simulations.Results indicated the existence of an optimal rotational speed for producing cast strips with minimal casting defects.This study provides a better understanding of the filling and solidification processes of strips produced by vertical centrifugal casting.

C70600白铜空心锭立式连铸工艺参数对凝固过程的影响

为了获得Ф260×Ф80 C70600白铜空心锭立式连铸合理的工艺参数,通过数值模拟定量分析了各种工艺参数对温度场和应力场的影响。结果表明:浇铸温度每提高20℃,液穴深度增加10 mm;拉坯速度每提高10 mm/min,液穴深度增加20 mm;液穴深度随着石墨芯管冷却强度的增大而减小。基于正交试验和方差分析发现,F_(A)>F_(0.01)(3,3),F_(B)>F_(D)>F_(0.1)(3,3),F_(C)<F_(0.1)(3,3),因此,拉坯速度对液穴深度的影响最显著,一冷强度对其影响不显著。根据模拟结果提出了合理工艺参数为:一冷强度24 m^(3)/h、拉坯速度80 mm/min、浇铸温度1280℃、芯管采用空冷。在此基础上成功试制出了合格的C70600白铜空心锭成品。

钢管混凝土立柱桩一次浇筑成形技术研究

为解决基坑支护中内支撑立柱垂直度控制及钢管内外混凝土浇筑标高控制的问题,结合工程实际,设计了可周转的工具式套架平台以及防止钢管立柱下口混凝土回流的防回流环,并在工程中进行了实践。总结形成了钢管立柱桩一次浇筑成形施工技术,解决了在深空孔立柱桩的钢管立柱垂直度控制难题及浇筑过程中钢管立柱下口混凝土回流的难题,提高了施工成形质量,增加了桩撑结构的安全系数,可为类似工程提供借鉴。

5系高镁合金扁锭铸造垂直褶皱裂纹的原因分析及改进措施

介绍铝合金扁锭铸造过程中铸锭表面出现垂直褶皱缺陷的机理,得到不同系别的铝合金在铸造过程中及使用不同过滤器(管式过滤器、板式过滤器)时,铸锭垂直褶皱裂纹的产生趋势,由此分析了高镁铝合金铸造过程中褶皱裂纹产生的主要原因。通过试验验证,找到解决裂纹敏感性较高的5系高镁合金在铸造过程中产生褶皱裂纹的措施,并应用于实际生产中,有效地防止铸造过程中褶皱裂纹的产生。

竖向轴心荷载作用下的公路桥梁桩基设计与施工技术研究

以钻孔灌注桩为研究对象,结合工程实例,对承受垂直方向负荷的公路桥梁桩基的设计进行分析,通过桩型和持力层的选择、单桩竖向承载力特征值的验算、桩基数量和桩长选择来确定设计方案,并对公路桥梁桩基钻孔灌注桩施工工艺进程详细介绍。

大直径高精度后插法逆作柱施工垂直度控制

对于采用盖挖逆作法施工的结构,其临时竖向支撑体系是逆作施工的关键结构,一般为一桩一柱形式,施工方法有先插法和后插法两种,北京城市副中心站综合交通枢纽工程02标段逆作柱采用后插法施工,该建筑B3层为国铁轨行层,对逆作桩柱的施工精度要求非常高,通过对后插法逆作桩柱施工工序分析,可分为两个施工阶段,分别为逆作桩施工阶段和逆作柱植入施工阶段。分析逆作桩柱施工的两个阶段,研究在深厚砂层地质条件下,对后插法逆作桩柱的关键工序:逆作桩成孔、逆作柱加工精度、逆作柱植入施工等,分别制定相应的控制措施,确保逆作桩柱达到设计精度。

装配式后浇竖缝剪力墙结构计算及有限元分析

针对装配式后浇竖缝剪力墙的结构性能表现,文章制备了四组剪力墙试件,对L型和凸型竖缝形式进行了正交试验,探究了不同轴压比(0.2和0.3)下的性能,计算得到墙体与地梁、加载梁连接的强度,通过施加荷载作用,模拟弹性至弹塑性状态的转变,分别对剪力墙的正截面和斜截面的刚度和承载力进行计算分析,采用ANSYS有限元软件,模拟分析了荷载作用下的开裂行为和峰值荷载响应,为装配式后浇竖缝剪力墙的工程实践提供了技术支撑。