Effects of solution treatment and aging process on microstructure refining of semi-solid slurry of wrought aluminum alloy 7A09

A new method was exploited using solution treatment and aging process as a pretreatment in preparing semi-solid slurry with fine microstructure before isothermal treatment of wrought aluminum alloy 7A09.Parameters of pretreatment were optimized by orthogonal experiment design and proper precursor was prepared.The evolution of microstructure of semi-solid slurry during isothermal treatment was analyzed and the mechanism of microstructure refining was discussed.The result of orthogonal experiment design shows that the optimum parameters are 462 ℃for solution temperature,40min for solution time,132 ℃for aging temperature and 14 h for aging time.Microstructure of isothermal treatment is fine,homogenous,with globular solid grains and a solid fraction between 50%and 70%,which is qualified for later semi-solid forming process.Mechanism of microstructure evolution includes the agglomeration ofα-phase and Ostwald ripening.Precipitations prepared by solution and aging treatment prevent the grains from coarsening and promote the grain ripening to globular shape.

Microstructure of semi-solid ADC12 aluminum alloy adopting new SIMA method

A semi-solid microstructure of ADC12 aluminum alloy containing spherical solid particles was studied.A new strain-induced melt activation(SIMA) process was proposed.In the treatment,chips were cut from ADC12 ingot by lathe machining and the plastic deformation was produced through cutting.The chips were put into a metal mold and compressed into a billet at 473 K.The microstructures of chip and billet were studied.The effect of the isothermal treatment on the semi-solid microstructure evolution of ADC12 aluminum alloy prepared by the new method was analyzed.A series of heating treatments were carried out from 823 to 838 K.The effects of heating temperature on microstructures were studied.The experimental results show the ADC12 aluminum alloy prepared by the new method can reap homogeneous and spherical grains at 828 K.The average grain size is about 82 μm.Also,the grain microstructure obtained by the present process is better than the traditional one.These results prove that the ADC12 aluminum alloy can be applied to semi-solid processing with the new SIMA method.

Effects of Extrusion Processing on Microstructure of 7075Al Alloy in the Semi-solid State

A recrystallization and partial melting(RAP) process was introduced to prepare the semi-solid 7075 aluminum alloy used for thixoforming. In order to obtain an ideal semi-solid microstructure, a series of extrusion experiments were conducted to comparatively investigate the optimum extrusion process parameters. Commercial 7075 Al alloy samples were firstly extruded with varying extrusion ratios below the recrystallization temperature followed by homogenization, then these samples were reheated to the semi-solid state and held in the range of 5 to 50 minutes. The experimental results show that varying process cause the difference in the deformation degree and microstructure for as-extruded samples, resulting in various semi-solid microstructure. It is verified that the formation of equiaxed grains in semi-solid microstructure depends on recrystallization behavior of extruded samples during partial melting. Both relative high extrusion temperature and low extrusion ratio lead to high volume fraction of recrystallized area, thus entirely equiaxed solid grains in semi-solid 7075 Al alloy samples can be obtained finally. In addition, Ostwald ripening was determined as the dominate coarsening mechanism of solid grains in semi-solid state for this 7075 Al alloy during the RAP route. The influence of predeformation on recrystallization behavior of this 7075 Al alloy was discussed in detail.

Direct preparation of semi-solid billets by the semi-solid isothermal heat treatment for commercial cold-rolled ZL104 aluminum alloy

Semi-solid isothermal heat treatment was proposed to directly process cold-rolled ZL104 aluminum alloys and obtain semi-solid bil-lets.The effects of two process parameters,namely,temperature and processing time,on the microstructure and hardness of the resulting bil-lets were also experimentally examined.Average grain size(AGS)increased and the shape factor(SF)of the grain improved as the process temperature increased.The SF of the grain also increased with increasing processing time,and the AGS was augmented when the processing time was prolonged from 5 to 20 min at 570℃.The hardness of the aluminum alloy decreased because of the increase in AGS with increasing temperature and processing time.The optimal temperature and time for the preparation of semi-solid ZL104 aluminum alloys were 570℃and 5 min,respectively.Under optimal process parameters,the AGS,SF,and hardness of the resulting alloy were 35.88μm,0.81,and 55.24 MPa,respectively.The Lifshitz-Slyozov-Wagner relationship was analyzed to determine the coarsening rate constant at 570℃,and a rate constant of 1357.2μm3/s was obtained.

Preparation of semi-solid aluminum alloy slurry poured through a water-cooled serpentine channel

A water-cooled serpentine channel pouring process was invented to produce semi-solid A356 aluminum alloy slurry for rheocast ing, and the effects of pouring temperature and circulating cooling water flux on the microstmcture of the slurry were investigated. The results show that at the pouring temperature of 640-680~C and the circulating cooling water flux of 0.9 m3/h, the semi-solid A356 aluminum alloy slurry with spherical primary a（A1） grains can be obtained, whose shape factors are between 0.78 and 0.86 and the grain diameter can reach 48-68 ~am. When the pouring temperatures are at 660-680~C, only a very thin solidified shell remains inside the serpentine channel and can be removed easily. When the serpentine channel is cooled with circulating water, the microstructure of the semi-solid slurry can be improved, and the serpentine channel is quickly cooled to room temperature after the completion of one pouring. In terms of the productivity of the special equipment, the water-cooled serpentine channel is economical and efficient.

Rheo-diecasting Process for Semi-solid Aluminum Alloys

A novel one-step semisolid processing technique, the rheo-diecasting （RDC） process, was developed, which adapts in situ creation of semisolid metal slurry with fine and spherical solid particles followed by direct shaping of the slurry into a near-net shape component using the existing cold chamber diecasting process. The RDC process was applied to process A356 and A380 aluminum alloys. The resulting microstructures and mechanical properties of RDC products under as-cast and various heat treatment conditions were analyzed. The experimental results show that the RDC samples have an extremely low porosity, a fine and uniform microstructure throughout entire casting, and consequently much improved strength and ductility in the as-cast condition. The strength of RDC A356 alloy can be substantially improved under T5 and T6 heat treatments without loss of ductility.

Investigation of rheo-diecasting mold filling of semi-solid A380 aluminum alloy slurry

The rheo-diecasting mold filling capacity and the microstructure of the semi-solid A380 aluminum alloy slurry were investigated. The results show that the mold filling capacity was strengthened with increasing pouring temperature or increasing injection pressure. Under certain process parameters, the mold cavity was fully filled. However, the mold filling capacity decreased with increasing holding time. The mold filling capacity was improved with increasing shape factor of primary α(Al) grains; however, the solid fraction and the grain size significantly increased at the same time. In addition, the microstructures along the route of the spiral samples obviously differed. The grain size decreased gradually from the near-end to the far-end, whereas the shape factor increased gradually.

Formation and Evolution of Non-dendritic Microstructures of Semisolid Alloys Prepared by Shearing/Cooling Roll Process

The shearing/cooling roll （SCR） process was adopted to prepare semi-solid A2017 alloy. The formation and evolution of non-dendritic microstructures in semi-solid A2017 alloy were studied. It is shown that the microstructures of semi-solid billets transform from coarse dendrites into fine equiaxed grains as the pouring temperature of molten alloy decreases o.r roll-shoe cavity height is reduced. From the inlet to the exit of roll-shoe cavity, microstructure of semi-solid slurry near the shoe surface is in the order of coarse dendrites, degenerated dendrites or equiaxed grains, but fine equiaxed grains are near the roll surface. Microstructural evolution of semi-solid slurry prepared by SCR process is that the molten alloy nucleates and grows into dendrite firstly on the roll and shoe＇s surface. Under the shearing and stirring given by the rotating roll, the dendrites crush off and disperse into the melt. Under the shearing and stirring on semi-solid slurry with high volume fraction of solid, the dendrite arms fracture and form equiaxed grain microstructures.

Mechanical properties and microstructural evolution of rheocast A356 semi-solid slurry prepared by annular electromagnetic stirring

Nowadays,having an effective technique in preparing semi-solid slurries for rheocasting process seems to be an essential requirement.In this study,semi-solid slurry of A356 aluminum alloy was prepared by three-phase annular electromagnetic stirring(A-EMS)technique under different conditions.The effects of stirring current,pouring temperature and stirring time on microstructural evolution,mean particle size,shape factor and solid fraction were investigated.The rheocasting process was carried out by using a drop weight setup and to inject the prepared semi-solid slurry in optimal conditions into the step-die cavity.The filling behavior and mechanical properties of parts were studied.Microstructural evolution showed that the best semi-solid slurry which had fine spherical particles with the average size of~27μm and a shape factor of~0.8 was achieved at the stirring current of 70 A,melt pouring temperature of 670℃,and stirring time of 30 s.Under these conditions,the step-die cavity was completely filled at die preheating temperature of 470℃.The hardness increases by decreasing step thickness as well as die preheating temperature.Moreover,the tensile properties are improved at lower die preheating temperatures.The fracture surface,which consists of a complex topography,indicates a typical ductile fracture.

Study on Multiple Electromagnetic Continuous Casting of Aluminum Alloy

To obtain semi-solid Al alloy billet with high quality, an investigation was carried out by imposing a multiple magnetic field from the outside of a copper mold in the continuous casting. AISi6Mg2 alloy designed for semi-solid metal （SSM） processing was continuously cast through a submerged entry nozzle under various conditions. Effects of multiple magnetic field on meniscus motion, temperature distribution and billet quality were examined. The experimental results showed that meniscus disturbance caused by electromagnetic stirring could be controlled effectively and the surface quality of semi-solid AI alloy billet was improved greatly, and an uniformly fine, globular microstructure across the transverse section of the billet was achieved by optimizing the distribution of multiple magnetic field.

Microscopic characterization of semi-solid aluminium alloys

The microstructural evolution and element distribution of the Al-4Cu-Mg alloy during semi-solid compression were investigated, and the precipitate behavior and dislocation morphology were discussed. The experimental results show that the microstructure, the number of CuAl2 （θ phase） precipitates, and the dislocation density of the Al-4Cu-Mg alloy depend apparently on the process parameters. More segregation of Cu at the grain boundary happens with an increase of deformatinn temperature and a decrease of strain rate, leading to an increase in the number of θ phase. With an increase of height reduction, Cu segregation at the grain boundary decreases gradually. Moreover, unique dislocation morphologies including helical dislocations and dislocation loops appear at different process parameters and evolve to reduce the stored energy.

LSPSF工艺对A356铝合金大体积半固态组织的影响

利用低温剪切浇注半固态浆料制备技术(LSPSF),进行了A356铝合金大体积半固态浆料制备试验。从浇注量、输送管转速和冷却速度等角度,研究了A356大体积半固态组织的变化,分析了其非枝晶组织的形成和演变机理。结果表明,利用LSPSF技术,可制得品质较好的A356大体积半固态浆料,该浆料初生晶粒具有近球状的非枝晶组织特征,初生晶粒的等效直径为54.0～93.6μm,形状因子为0.74～0.84,制浆效率可达1kg/s。